Lambert Pugh solicitors - anyone dealt with them?

Hi, must say i had a simular experiance as the above poster. they are ok to contact at first, but as things progress they are near impossible to contact.
They only gave me their bank details so we could transfer funds at 3pm on the day before completion, still had to chase them all day and finally told them i would hold them reponsible if we didn't complete.

Lets unpack the figures. He is buying for £165,000 and we know how much the SDLT and the Land Registry Fee will be.

£2,105 less £1,650 SDLT is £455

£455 less £200 Land Registry Fee is £255.

Now you will at least have to pay for a local search. These range from £50 to £280! So let's take a typical one and say £120 for that. That leaves £135 which when you take away 20% VAT is £112.50 for the legal work and also for the electronic bank transfer to complete.

Nobody could afford to do conveyancing for that amount so I would suggest there are some extras that you have not noticed. Did they miss out the search fees and say that you would also have to pay search fees which would vary in amount?

Is there some small print somewhere that says they will charge the amount shown in section 8 of your mortgage offer for the legal work on the mortgage?

FYI

What Our Quoted Fee Does Not Include


Our fee is intended to cover the work routinely carried out in a conveyancing
transaction. There will occasionally, however, be work which is not routine or which was not anticipated. For some of this, we may make fixed additional charges as follows:
i. Dealing with a title insurance policy including any necessary correspondence and statutory declarations £100.00 plus V.A.T.
ii. Issuing a Search Indemnity Policy in lieu of completing a Local Search £25.00 plus V.A.T.
iii. In the case of a more than one person purchasing a property, the preparation of a Deed defining their respective rights (N.B. we strongly recommend such a Deed where the purchasers are not married or there is a business relationship between them) From £70.00 plus V.A.T.
iv. The preparation of a Power of Attorney £45.00 plus V.A.T.
v. Where we are asked to arrange completion in under five working days of exchange of contracts (excluding the actual date of exchange) £50.00 plus V.A.T.; or within seven working days £25 plus V.A.T.
vi. Correspondence with a second mortgagee or bank in connection with a new mortgage or the redemption of an existing mortgage £45.00 plus V.A.T. for each additional mortgage.
vii. Correspondence with an independent management company £50.00 plus V.A.T. to £100.00.
viii. Sending purchase money or mortgage redemption money by same day transfer (often referred to as CHAPS payments) £35.00 plus V.A.T. in respect of each transfer – includes fee paid to Bank.
ix. Obtaining special clearance of a cheque if we are required to do so in order to have cleared funds before making payment. £25.00 plus V.A.T. – includes Bank fees.
Examples of other work for which we reserve the right to make a reasonable additional charge are:
i. Correspondence and work needed to resolve a non routine problem connected with the property, e.g. a right of way or planning difficulty or boundary dispute.
ii. In the case of a leasehold property, additional work required because of service charge provisions or particular problems in the Lease

This Firm will endeavour to inform you of any unforeseen additional work (for example, due to unexpected difficulties) or if your requirements or circumstances change significantly during the transaction. We will endeavour to inform you of the estimated cost of any additional work if this situation arises.

Unless we have an alternative arrangement with you we reserve the right to charge for abortive work at the rate stated above for additional work. Fees for abortive work will not exceed the fixed quotation you will have received.

Anyone? Recently?