Warning - do not use wolstenholmes solicitors

hoverdonkey

I don't even care about the money at the moment. I'll chase that up at a later date. I just want my files back so I can get on with it

psyurmh_2

cakinwande wrote: »

Someone has mentioned that a "Jack" has helped them get their £526 back. Can we have some contact details for him please?

Yeah it was SuttonJon, I have just PM'd him. Hopefully he can provide some details.

They told me that they have posted all of my documents back on Wednesday. They didnt arrive yesterday, I just pray they are there when I get home today.

vonandpaulstevens

hi naz perhaps you can help me i am an unfortunate customer of wolstenholmes and need help, after paying £450 and sending all our paperwork and passports i now realise i cannot continue to use a company that will not answer phones or emails, so i need my paperwork returning asap after being promised 3 days ago it was in the post ? i am considering driving up there, if there is anyone actually at the heald green office my paperwork was sent to mathew roberts.can you help please

melodeon

I've been reading this thread for some weeks, I am selling my house and the buyers have been led a merry dance by this company. This week they drove a round trip of 8 hours to their office in Cheadle to sort out their contract. They agreed there and then that exchange would take place either yesterday or today so that completion could take place on 22nd December. My solicitor has made several attempts to contact them since 16th Dec- all to no avail and the result is that exchange will not now take place this side of the new year. The buyers will now have to find stamp duty and so will I on the property I'm hoping to buy .It's possible that my sale will fall through if the buyers ( first time ) cannot afford the stamp duty. We agreed terms at the beginning of September when solicitors were instructed.
This company should be exposed to the world for their incompetence and inefficiency. The worry and stress caused by their unprofessional attitude
is shameful.I am at the end of my tether - I am an old age pensioner and still in recovery from a serious operation early this year.Yet I have no legal right to sue Wolstenholmes.
The national news this week is full of the Scottish holiday airline Globespan going bust. Why aren't the media exposing Wolstenholmes? Many people have suffered as a result of their inaction and delay.
This morning I phone them and was put through to , surprise surprise - an
answering machine... again....
What might shame them is a burly BBC investigative reporter going to their office with a camera and showing it on prime time TV.
It's just as well I live in the South and Xmas is coming - otherwise I'd be up there on the first train to put in a personal appearance with or without legal rights!

hoverdonkey

Has anyone spoken to Homes solicitors, the apparent heirs to Wolstenholmes? I called them this morning before I realised the two companies were linked on the off chance they knew where my file had been sent. They said they knew nothing about it but were very helpful on the phone.

Now I have realised the two are linked, that phone call feels very disingenuous. Surely they know where my case file was sent. It's probably in their office. In fact, now I think about it, I suppose I should expect a call from Homes Solicitors saying they have taken on my case.

I think I'm going to call them back and see where I get. It's going to be difficult not to get angry though...

Why_Delilah

It's terrible to read all these posts. Thankfully we have our file now although no money back yet. We paid by credit card so we should get this back, shouldn't we?

We have our file but not the searches, when asked for them we were given details of the company who provides them. Guess what, they won't provide the searches as Wolstenholmes have not paid them!

Nobunaga

I don't think Home Solicitors are actually linked to Wolstenholmes.
I have heard though that they are in a lot of trouble

hoverdonkey

OK, I have held off calling them. Going to calm down over the weekend and figure out our next move

keiran

Horray!! Wolstenholmes completed the sale of my flat today.

I'm sat here with a very nice bottle of red to celebrate and thought I'd put some points together.

Despite what other posters are saying, I think all these difficulties are NOT A SCAM!

Rather, Wolstenholmes are guilty of bad management, having inefficient systems and a poor business model

So who should we blame?

1) Managing partners
for having a very poor business model at best, perhaps shady dealings high on up

2) Solicitors working within the firm
who could have raised concerns at an early stage with the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA)

3) The SRA
for not being clear and open about what has been going on with Wolstenholmes, and thus contributing to the fenzied panic/confusion as is evident on this board (But remember that the SRA, like, I think, all regulators have a tendency over time to identify with and support the very people they are supposed to be regulating, against the interests of the innocent consumer)

4) ALL OF US!!!!!!!!!
I know we are all "money savers" on this website,
but really, a quote which is less than half the price of any other quote?????
"If it's too good to be true, then it probably is" is a mantra which we have chosen to avoid here
I do often go for the lowest cost, etc but on a transaction worth hundreds of thousands, saving a couple of hundred quid is a false economy indeed!
I could still justify it if I had a named contact with whom there is regular communication, and I could guide and cajole this person (not the case with Wolstenholmes)



I have resolved to make restitution for this stupid error by ensuring that I do pay what would have been an appropriate amount, not to Wolstenholmes, but to a worthy cause.



The victims in this scandal are, I think, the "para-legal" employees of Wolstenholmes, who clearly have had to work in difficult, chaotic conditions with poor support and supervision.

On Monday, they were told that their Birmingham office was to close today. I suspect there won't be any redundancy money unless they fight for it through employment tribunals. And this is just before Christmas, and they will have to disclose to prospective employers that they worked for Wolstenholmes.



With regard to my conveyancing, I experienced all the things that have been mentioned on this board since instructing Wolstenholmesin early October. The file was transferred two weeks ago to Salma Khatoon, licensed conveyancer.

I wish to state that Ms Khatoon was exceptionally professional in her work.
She picked up all the loose ends of the file, and responded to emails and calls
It must have been difficult to carry on working normally in such a toxic environment this week, but she told me that she "had to leave with a clear desk and a clear conscience". She has even attended to post-completion matters, which would usually go to another department

This shows the dangers of us thrashing Wolstenholmes . There may be other workers like Ms Khatoon, who found themselves in this situation through no fault of their own, and I am told they do read these boards with distress.


I suppose I have been lucky that my matter has resolved. Even then, it was the sale of an investment property, without a chain. I sympathise greatly for those whose transactions have fallen through or who need to start again with another law firm

Why_Delilah

keiran wrote: »

Horray!! Wolstenholmes completed the sale of my flat today.

I'm sat here with a very nice bottle of red to celebrate and thought I'd put some points together.

Despite what other posters are saying, I think all these difficulties are NOT A SCAM!

Rather, Wolstenholmes are guilty of bad management, having inefficient systems and a poor business model

So who should we blame?

1) Managing partners
for having a very poor business model at best, perhaps shady dealings high on up

2) Solicitors working within the firm
who could have raised concerns at an early stage with the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA)

3) The SRA
for not being clear and open about what has been going on with Wolstenholmes, and thus contributing to the fenzied panic/confusion as is evident on this board (But remember that the SRA, like, I think, all regulators have a tendency over time to identify with and support the very people they are supposed to be regulating, against the interests of the innocent consumer)

4) ALL OF US!!!!!!!!!
I know we are all "money savers" on this website,
but really, a quote which is less than half the price of any other quote?????
"If it's too good to be true, then it probably is" is a mantra which we have chosen to avoid here
I do often go for the lowest cost, etc but on a transaction worth hundreds of thousands, saving a couple of hundred quid is a false economy indeed!
I could still justify it if I had a named contact with whom there is regular communication, and I could guide and cajole this person (not the case with Wolstenholmes)



I have resolved to make restitution for this stupid error by ensuring that I do pay what would have been an appropriate amount, not to Wolstenholmes, but to a worthy cause.



The victims in this scandal are, I think, the "para-legal" employees of Wolstenholmes, who clearly have had to work in difficult, chaotic conditions with poor support and supervision.

On Monday, they were told that their Birmingham office was to close today. I suspect there won't be any redundancy money unless they fight for it through employment tribunals. And this is just before Christmas, and they will have to disclose to prospective employers that they worked for Wolstenholmes.



With regard to my conveyancing, I experienced all the things that have been mentioned on this board since instructing Wolstenholmesin early October. The file was transferred two weeks ago to Salma Khatoon, licensed conveyancer.

I wish to state that Ms Khatoon was exceptionally professional in her work.
She picked up all the loose ends of the file, and responded to emails and calls
It must have been difficult to carry on working normally in such a toxic environment this week, but she told me that she "had to leave with a clear desk and a clear conscience". She has even attended to post-completion matters, which would usually go to another department

This shows the dangers of us thrashing Wolstenholmes . There may be other workers like Ms Khatoon, who found themselves in this situation through no fault of their own, and I am told they do read these boards with distress.


I suppose I have been lucky that my matter has resolved. Even then, it was the sale of an investment property, without a chain. I sympathise greatly for those whose transactions have fallen through or who need to start again with another law firm

I think you are one of a lucky few, as for the thousands who are not so lucky. (and it is Thousands)