Abode and Beaumont Legal

Richard_Webster

although they had sent me plans

What plans did they send then and what did they say when they sent them? Most solicitors would send plans of the property the seller was selling to make sure that the plans represented the area the buyer was expecting to buy. If you didn't tell them plans were wrong then they quite reasonably would have assumed that you were happy with them.

I think you have more of a complaint if your reasonably expected the papers to be explained to you or for you at least to be able to ask questions about them with someone who knew what they were talking about and if having made an appointment he had gone home early I would have expected/insisted his boss to come out and explain it all to you.

vik1491

hi. i just filled out my details on abode and asked to instruct solicitor. I have just been sent through the firms details by email and got beaumont legal. I thought I would see what the reviews on them were like and was horrified to see this thread. I definetly do not wish to proceed with them and I hope I will not incur any charges by the instruction I have performed through adobe?

charles_b_2

I would not be concerned. I had a very good experience, completing in mid-march with Beaumont legal. Deborah Booth was my Solicitor and and her team of assistants were easily reachable on phone and email and responded very promptly

As with EVERYTHING you read on this forum, there is always another side of the story and I have had a good experience with Beaumont on a Sale and Purchase, including 1 failed transaction.

chesneyoctopus

Did they stick to their original estimate of costs, or were extras added?

charles_b_2

It was a fixed price. No Addon's - I used https://www.compareandconvey.co.uk to find and register.

If you search their feedback, virtually anyone with Deborah has had a smooth conveyance.

mitnotlob

I had a lot of problems with my house purchase, but I would still have been unhappy had that not been the case. I made an official complaint about the poor service which they did not respond to after the initial acknowledgment of receipt. It ended up costing more than I had been quoted from other non-online conveyancers after extra charges were added anyway and the solicitor I was assigned did not act in a way I would expect from a professional. Maybe if I'd had Deborah, it would've been different. I complained to the Legal Ombudsman and they found in my favour so I did receive compensation, but it was 9 months of hassle and unpleasantness. I would NEVER use this firm again or recommend them to anyone. In my opinion, they made my house-buying experience extremely stressful.

Lazzza

If anyone is unhappy with the service they receive from a law firm they should raise complaints through the usual channels, starting with the firms formal complaints procedures and then going as far as you need to. The Law Society has strict and clear rules about service standards of its members and it's only by making formal complaints that any change results and you will likely get a fee reduction at an early stage.

davcom1

Hi all,

I've just registered as I wanted to leave a review of Beaumont Legal somewhere on the Internet and found this thread!

I have to say that overall, I am very happy with the conveyancing service I received on my sale and purchase through Beaumont Legal (B. Cox)

I called a few times and almost always got straight through to her or she returned my call the same day. My emails were always replied to in timely fashion too.

My only criticism would be that I felt that I had to become a bit pushy to get everything exhanged in time for our planned move date (actual exhange took place less than 2 days before move!), but to be fair I think this was due mainly to other solicitors in the chain.

At the end of the day, their service was at least as good as the large local firm we used last time we moved and a whole load cheaper too!

I would say that if cost is more important than move date, definitely try Beaumont Legal. If, however, you want a company who you can go and visit to hand over paperwork or chase up then get a local firm to do the work.

And remember there will always be people with good experiences and those who have not had the best of times dealing with any company. People who have been 'wronged' are much more likely to want to tell the world about it than those who are content.

I felt strongly enough to want to endorse them, not as the best conveyancers in the UK but perhaps one of the best in terms of "bang for buck", especially when comparing their service to British Telecom and TV Licensing(!!!) But that's another story

David

LilyRose15

Hi
I'm nearing exchange and completion with Beaumont Legal.
I had BC as my conveyancer at the beginning and she was pretty efficient, I now have AM, and from the sounds of it it's a good thing I didn't have him from the beginning.

The service is cheap so I wasn't expecting a bells and whistles, but boy are they aloof. I do feel I'm corresponding with a robot! I'm a first time buyer and have mainly done my research via the internet. I have had to press for explanations about bits and pieces and can truly say I wouldn't trust BL to act in your interests. On the one hand, I now know the buying process pretty thoroughly and all the pit falls to watch out for, but it definitely is a learning curve. In fact the estate agent who is acting on behalf of the vendor has been more insightful.

Hopefully, our relationship is coming to an end soon (fingers crossed). I would say be savvy if you are using an online conveyancer, you need to have an idea or be willing to learn about all the legal stuff, as you have to keep an eye out for things that do get missed. And don't expect an ounce of friendliness.

Grecian100

I went with Abode (and so Beaumont legal) after a little research on Google. I wish I'd done more and hopefully this will help somebody else.

Firstly, those saying "Excellent Service" no doubt had a hassle free purchase. If everybody does everything when they're supposed to and there are no glitches, then no doubt they're fine. Those purchases are easy.

Knowing what I know now, there is NO WAY I would have used Beaumont. It saves maybe £150 and just isn't worth it.

Like others on here, we got allocated to Alan Marlow. Our purchase was slightly tricky, needing some additional reports and a lease renewal but nothing really complex.

The first thing to know is that Beaumont will never, ever, call you unless they're returning a call of yours. Alan Marlow actually told me at one point "we don't make calls" when asked if he could please confirm the next day that an urgent document had arrived (our chain was in danger of collapse if things weren't done quicker.)

This means that your file will sit on a shelf, waiting for the next thing to happen. When Beaumont receive something, they'll file it and maybe mail a letter out and then put it back on the shelf. You just don't know what the status is or if you're the hold-up, or the other side, or the bank etc. You will never get a courtesy call to say e.g. 'if we can just get x off the bank, you're ready to go.' We wasted weeks through not being told certain documents were still needed, that we'd been told by the bank had been sent.

Once you realise that's the way it works, you start phoning for regular updates, so that you can make the next step happen yourself. At this point you find that Alan Marlow is quite a tough man to get hold of. Often I ended up talking with other people in his office who weren't familiar with the file and twice - after fairly lengthy conversations with these people as they paged through the file - I was then asked if I was buying the house or selling it. I took to emailing him after a while and that did make some progress.

Alan Marlow's phone manner could also be characterised as "bored, verging on rude". He's not a pleasant person to have a conversation with and gives the distinct impression that you're wasting his time.

If you really, really need to save that £150 then go with Abode / Beaumont. If you don't, then I wouldn't touch them with a barge-pole. It's a bare bones operation and priced as one, but house moves are stressful enough as it is, without your solicitor making life even more difficult. You will not get the same level of service as you would expect from your local solicitor.

I should point out that I've bought and sold a property before and wouldn't class myself as a difficult customer (who would?!) but wanted to put this here as this thread is ranked second on a Google search for Beaumont Legal. Hopefully others can avoid the mistake that we made.