Countrywide Property Lawyers - are they as bad as I've read?

DelilahFP

Having suffered the shock of our solicitors failing us bigtime and finding another firm who have done more than anyone could ask to get us to exchange readiness (after threats from the top of the chain that if we failed to meet the exchange date they would pull out and the chain would collapse) we now find they themselves (meaning the top of the chain) are using Countrywide - they have failed to meet the exchange deadline and we and the rest of the chain are now having nightmares.
Now we have looked up reviews on Countrywide - oh crikey. Why oh why is this company still allowed to practice? We have been to hell and back in these last weeks - we have been made to feel guilty because our first solicitors let us down..and now this.

gpb998

Countrywide conveyancing services are CRAP. I was co-erced into using them by estate agents Bridgfords in the North of England and paid extra for 'fast track'. Three months on (after agreeing a sale) we are no further on. You ring about letters (following progress on line) which they say they have sent to you (which never arrive) and are then 'fobbed off' by whoever you speak to (different person each time). If we do eventually sell we will be doing so from our own efforts. Even Bridgfords asked them to ring us one day on that day; of course, they did not. Still waiting for that call..........Useless

leanneq

Are there any positive reviews of this company?? Team 3 Cardiff?

dontlinewindows

We are having a nightmare experience, I was so stupid enough not to read this forum.. Please please please do not use these people (countrywide lawyers) and if your buyer / seller is using them, refuse to take the property off for sale until contracts are exchanged... or even better refuse to sell or buy off anyone who are using these monkeys.

In short - they are incompetent, dont do anything until called, have a really bad and slow process, you speak to 15 different people all who tell you different things. They probably pay their staff rubbish and you will not get a decent service at the price you are paying. Please don't be lazy and find a decent solicitor your self to deal with the sale or purchase. We are 3 weeks in and the searches have just been initiated, despite sending a cheque 15 days ago.

LiveOnce

DO NOT USE COUNTRYWIDE LAWYERS! I thank f*** I didn't go through with them. Even one process has taken ages to finish.

Tumtitums

Some sellers need to research the estate agent they use for their properties as some are not impressive at all.
Bairstow annoy me as i went to view a property they were advertising. I went to their office and did a stupid mortgage search which they insisted on . The search was through countrywide mortgage services. After this was done the estate agent then told me that the property had gone under offer the day before !!!
In addition i am not overly impressed with countrywide surveyors therefore i would avoid you to run a mile when you hear countrywide solicitors

mrtimharrison

I have recently moved house, and despite my better judgement I allowed myself to be talked into going with Countrywide Conveyancing.
The whole 'journey to moving' was HORRENDOUS.
They decided they were too busy and sent my file to another company, but I had already paid 'non-refundable' fees so I had no choice.
This company, Fraser Brown, then lost all my paperwork, including original documents (gas, electric safety etc..).
It took them nearly two months to tell me this, and this is on the fast track service.
Then two weeks later they still had done nothing as I hadn't given them £50! I had given them £400, but not £50, which by the way they had not asked for.
Every email and letter had to be sent to them multiple times, nothing happened for months.
The service is utterly horrendous. I have friends who offered on houses after me and moved well before me.
I am now fighting over the bill, which is more than twice what I was quoted.
Countrywide have been no help at all.
They were also useless as mortgage advisors!!

Never, ever, ever use countrywide or Fraser Brown. That's my advice.

nick100*2007

Call centre conveyancing. Bad Idea. Never speak to the same person twice, very expensive and the lovey staff at countrywide estate agency offices have great pleasure in literally forcing you to use. My advice is always use a local solicitor and look for reviews first. As with most things in this industry, you get what you pay for so cheapest is not best!

linnc

How do you get a reduction in fees from these cowboys? Our vendor as well as us are using them. We are cash buyers with no chain yet they still !!!! everything up. Exchange date of march 7 came and went with no contact from them./ i phone every other day and get a numpty who blames the sellers lawyer who is sitting at the desk next to them. How can they get away with it and what redress do we have??

linnc

Please could someone let me know how to do this???

I have suffered so much stress and my vendor has been very ill this week because of their incompetency

Soup27 wrote: »

We still haven't gotten over the stress and trauma that Countrywide put us through with the purchase of our house. Like others, we were taking out a mortgage with HSBC. We chose our own solicitor for various reasons rather than one from the panel and everything and everyone was on target for beating the stamp duty exemption in March '12 until Countrywide's involvement. We missed the exemption deadline. I can't begin to tell you the categorical failures to deliver that they caused in our case and the lies they told us were phenomenal. I could write an essay on the failures they made but I think to go back into it here will only make my blood pressure soar! In our situation we found Countryide to be unprofessional, incompetent, irresponsible etc etc etc and they cost us money as a result of fines for not completing on time as well as the devastation of being faced with losing everything, our deposit (life savings), the house etc. We felt it important to log our complaint formally. I did hear that other solicitors have tried to get the Office of Fair Trading interested in Countrywide however apparently they are not receiving enough complaints to investigate - have no idea on the authenticity of this information though. Perhaps someone on this forum knows? If true it seems somewhat contrary because we've read hundreds of negative reviews from people online but perhaps they are not taking the time to make a formal complaint?! It's worth logging a complaint with the Conveyancing Association, Law Society, Financial and/or Legal Ombudsman as well as direct to Countrywide themselves and HSBC (if you've taken a mortgage out with them). Our solicitor has now stopped taking on new clients who are taking out a mortgage with HSBC who in turn use Countrywide. I'm aware many other solicitor firms have followed suit. Whilst I appreciate this covers their own back it does also mean that the result will potentially be that people have less and less choice and will need to use the panel and Countrywide. Before this year Countrywide simply managed this panel and now they are on it - I would be interested to know if their application to be on the panel was objectively and independently reviewed? Plus there aren't 'that' many solicitor firms on the panel, there are only 43 nationwide. I was told there was only one solicitor on this panel in my county alone - I have no idea if there are higher numbers of firms in other counties - therefore in our locality there is a higher probability of ending up with Countrywide (was this a strategic move of theirs??). Anyway, we feel we have come out of it older and wiser (and battered and bruised!) and would never wish Countrywide on anyone.