Anyone had dealings with Birchall Blackburn sollicitors?

joolsybools · 24 July 2013 at 11:19PM

Is this thread getting a bit spamtastic?

CompleteNutta · 3 September 2013 at 9:41AM

I am currently using Birchall Blackburn (leyland) and must say the level ofservice I am receiving is poor, at best! Trying to reach them on the phone isnext to impossible and they have never responded to a single e-mail oranswerphone message, which is beyond frustrating and means you simply have tocall and call until you hopefully get an answer.

We are hoping to exchange/complete soon but the only response I get whencalling for progress is that the file is on the solicitors desk for approval,which apparently is where it has been for the last week.

Purchasing/moving house is up there with the most stressful things you willdo in life and having a conveyancer that simply doesn’t communicate, at all,has made the past few months of my life even more unnecessarily stressful.

ASP27 · 5 October 2013 at 6:01PM

My advice is DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!! Used them to purchase our first home and the service was disgraceful from beginning to end and still having problems now! Never once did I speak to the solicitor dealing with our case and constantly had to phone up and guide her assistance through what they should be doing next! I even had to phone the other sides solicitor myself to get some information because they were incapable!!! We have been in the house 2 months now and yesterday received a letter from Revenue and Customs... Our stamp duty hasn't been paid and as a result we have incurred a payment penalty and in invoice for the full stamp duty which I gave to BB the week before completion!!!! NOT HAPPY TO SAY THE LEAST!

I have already sent in a complaint to the customer relation department of BB which I am currently waiting for a response but I will be phoning up on Monday morning to inform them I am taking this further and writing to the Ombusman Services!!

easilydistracted · 5 October 2013 at 8:09PM

Oh dear. Am a bit worried to see this. We are currently using Birchall Blackburn and they have been really good so far. Our conveyancer is a legal executive, but is very competent. We have emailed her quite a few times and she's been prompt in response, even sending emails late or at weekends to keep up. She has helped our purchase move forward.

They are also no completion no fee. We had an initial purchase fall through, and they were very reassuring and friendly that there was nothing to pay. We instructed them through Halifax, which gives us an online system where each stage is marked off when done. I think this made things a little more expensive perhaps, but is incredibly handy.

Looking at online reviews I found one really bad review against them but mostly good. The Leyland branch we use seems good. I will be sure to check the stamp duty gets paid!

Moneysaver05 · 9 October 2013 at 2:52PM

I am currently dealing with BB on a property purchase and the experience has been horrendous. Not only has the legal executive in charge of my purchase proved virtually impossible to get hold of throughout the process, her incompetence has also help it up. On the rare occasion I do manage to speak to her she is incredibly rude.

As a first time buyer I would have appreciated a little more guidance or explanation as to what stage we are at. Instead I received poor communication, attempts to add on extra charges for their mistakes/misunderstandings and being spoken to unpleasantly.

I have still not exchanged or completed, around a month after I expected to, and the unnecessary stress this whole process has caused me has been unbelievable.

When this process does eventually finish I will be filing a complaint with the firm and the legal ombudsman. I will never use them again for any legal procedure and I will certainly not advise anyone I know to use them!

Moneysaver05 · 9 October 2013 at 2:53PM

I am currently dealing with BB on a property purchase and the experience has been horrendous. Not only has the legal executive in charge of my purchase proved virtually impossible to get hold of throughout the process, her incompetence has also help it up. On the rare occasion I do manage to speak to her she is incredibly rude.

As a first time buyer I would have appreciated a little more guidance or explanation as to what stage we are at. Instead I received poor communication, attempts to add on extra charges for their mistakes/misunderstandings and being spoken to unpleasantly.

I have still not exchanged or completed, around a month after I expected to, and the unnecessary stress this whole process has caused me has been unbelievable.

When this process does eventually finish I will be filing a complaint with the firm and the legal ombudsman. I will never use them again for any legal procedure and I will certainly not advise anyone I know to use them!

foxsake123 · 30 October 2013 at 9:30AM

Was thinking of using them. Then I came here to see users with very few posts complaining about them. So now I will look elsewhere for hopefully impartial reviews on them.

SplanK · 12 November 2013 at 8:20PM

My brother is using these guys....

FTB, buying a house with no chain and so far its taken 5 or 6 months! They told him "it can take 5 working days to draw down the money from the mortgage co" which I thought was BS but thought, they have given him a date so lets see what happens...

Today is the 5th working day and they have yet to get the keys.

This company appears to be a complete joke, even worse is they were recommended by Halifax as a suitable solicitor for the job!!!!

I have told him to ring them first thing, and to keep ringing until there is an answer and demand that its sorted before 12... if not, we are going to take a quick drive to their office and to ruffle some feathers!

jetsetwilly_2 · 13 November 2013 at 9:06AM

My view is do not use. I also used the Leyland branch and found them impossible to contact and they do not update the online tracker. The work only got done properly after I complained and even then it was done by a non-solicitor.

Having moved 3 times now, this was easily the worst service I have had.

Please send me a pm if you want more info about the person who was meant to be dealing with my work.

weeblesim · 13 November 2013 at 9:32PM

I have used BB briefly, a year ago we were trying to buy our first home but the purchase fell through after a few weeks. About a month ago we found another property and contacted them as we wished to use them again. Time is of the essence with this purchase but after a week of calling, emails, voice mails, being fobbed off by other staff ... nothing. Decided to change to another company, only after they realised we had done this did they bother to get in touch. After reading these reviews I'm happy with the decision to change!

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Anyone had dealings with Birchall Blackburn sollicitors?

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