HSBC not using Countrywide Conveyancing for our mortgage

harvey115

You need to bother the people higher up the chain, call them regularly until it gets resolved. If that person is no help keep moving up in the management and keep complaining.

Cupcakes2012

We had the same thing with the ID too! We sent off what they had asked for, but then they decided that an estate agent as a witness wasn't good enough. They got loads of other details wrong too, such as putting the wrong house price on the contract agreement, sending us somebody else's searches results...

Thanks for the advice Harvey115.

Cupcakes2012

harvey115 wrote: »

You need to bother the people higher up the chain, call them regularly until it gets resolved. If that person is no help keep moving up in the management and keep complaining.

We just managed to speak to somebody. It turns out 'Vicky Morley' left the company about a week ago, and we recieved an out-of-office reply from 'Lisa Morley' when we tried to email Vicky beacause Lisa is Vicky's replacement (but is on leave until our completion date.)

Confused and angry and feeling sick about paying Shulmans their fees which they really do not deserve.

harvey115

There we go, now you need to speak to their manager/head to sort this out for you i.e. assign someone else etc.

If he/she does not listen, try to call their head and keep trying until you get a reliable person working with you.

Best of luck.

Yorkie1

When you instructed them, you will have received a client care letter which contained the details of the partner to whom any complaints should be addressed.

You should contact that person with your complaints.

Cupcakes2012

Yorkie1 wrote: »

When you instructed them, you will have received a client care letter which contained the details of the partner to whom any complaints should be addressed.

You should contact that person with your complaints.

Yeah, we've tried speaking to her, but have been told she's not directly involved in the case and been fobbed off with reasons for not speaking to her. I have told them I don't care and that she is to call me today. We'll see...

Yorkie1

Cupcakes2012 wrote: »

Yeah, we've tried speaking to her, but have been told she's not directly involved in the case and been fobbed off with reasons for not speaking to her. I have told them I don't care and that she is to call me today. We'll see...

In which case you write a proper letter to her, headed Complaint. State that you are writing to her in her capacity as Head of Complaints (or whatever she is called in the Client Care letter) as stated in your Client Care letter.

Set out your complaint and what you want to happen as an outcome. Ask for an acknowledgement within 2 working days and a full response within 10 working days.

If they don't respond properly, you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman but you need to be able to show you've exhausted the internal process first.
http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

harvey115

Yes, you need to push them hard.

The problem is that solicitors do not make a lot of money with conveyancing as compared to other professionals such as conveyancers and advisers. So they would usually take ages to reply to queries, however this does not meant that you should suffer. They should charge more if their costs are higher and try not beat the competition by cheaper quotes.

I have found that solicitors usually would only reply once they have good enough details to tell you. They do not like to give partial details throughout the process, seems like this is a habit.

So if you ask 3 question to your solicitor and one of them requires further investigation that could take a couple of days. The solicitor will not reply until they found answers for all three instead. Sounds strange but the ones I am working with seems to do these kind of things.

Yorkie1

harvey115 wrote: »

Yes, you need to push them hard.

The problem is that solicitors do not make a lot of money with conveyancing as compared to other professionals such as conveyancers and advisers. So they would usually take ages to reply to queries, however this does not meant that you should suffer. They should charge more if their costs are higher and try not beat the competition by cheaper quotes.

I have found that solicitors usually would only reply once they have good enough details to tell you. They do not like to give partial details throughout the process, seems like this is a habit.

So if you ask 3 question to your solicitor and one of them requires further investigation that could take a couple of days. The solicitor will not reply until they found answers for all three instead. Sounds strange but the ones I am working with seems to do these kind of things.

As long as there is an immediate acknowledgement of receipt, plus a timescale for full response, I would prefer my solicitor to take their time (within reason) to give me a full and considered response rather than one which might end up being inaccurate or misleading through being rushed.