Countrywide Private Conveyancing

claire87uk_2

Hi all, just wondered if anyone has experience of solicitors at countrywide? We were recommended by our estate agent so used them as have not had experience of anyone before (first time buyers). Well they have been useless and we feel really disappointed and frustrated with their service. Our purchase still isn't complete, it has taken 5 months, we have to constantly prompt them to do stuff for us, no1 does it off their own backs. We don't have any contact for the sellers or their sols so are relying on ours to get the job done. If we have a day where we cannot phone them due to our shifts, we find they have done nothing for us. And we have had lots of dishonest answers to our questions. We have complained over phone and have been referred to a manager, we have told them the issues and have said that we expect a reduction in our legal fees that we are about to pay them because we don't think that amount of money reflects the service we have recieved. What do you think - is it feasible asking for reduction in fees and is it likely to happen? A few sorry's over the phone isn't really going to do it for us because we complained before xmas and still no action. We have to be out our rented flat tomorrow which we are paying a van and storage for, and we are going to have to pay for a van again to move our stuff into the new place once they exchange and complete.

julieb1987

First mistake was using the ones recommended by the Estate Agents!

Second mistake was giving notice before exchange. If your tenancy agreement is up, you would have gone onto a rolling tenancy.

I haven't used them personally, but have heard bad things on here. Just put it down to being a FTB and not doing your research, and learn from your experiences.

vegasbaby100

Worst company I have ever used, I always check now when an offer is made who their solicitors are i would rather reduce the price than have to deal with them again! there are lots of threads on here and other sites with the same subject

Pupnik

Terrible! Our sellers are using them and they are really holding our purchase up - they can't even photocopy properly, they just end up cutting the bottoms off important documents like the flippin' lease and ignore our own solicitor's plea for various documentation. Our purchase has been at a complete standstill for over a month now - all because of Countrywide.

claire87uk_2

Thanks for the tips everyone yes after looking around I can see other people have similar problems. Really would like a discount from them but will see what they say.

Julieb1987 thanks for your advice unfortunately we did not give notice, our landlord gave us 2 months notice in november as he is selling up and ready the exchange now.

LogisticsGuy

I have to say, I must be one of the lucky few. I used Countrywide recently (back end of last year) for conveyancing on a property as recommended by my estate agent. Usual sort of thing (my own fault) - went with them and then checked this site to find some of the horror stories...Aside from having to give them a bit of a nudge, I had no real problems whatsoever with them and went from accepting an offer to completion in about 2 months - as I have only ever sold/bought once in a chain, I'm not sure whether this is a long time or about right.

Majority opinion should be considered over the minority (myself) but, for me, they were fine...

Yorkie1

claire87uk wrote: »

Julieb1987 thanks for your advice unfortunately we did not give notice, our landlord gave us 2 months notice in november as he is selling up and ready the exchange now.

Are you sure the notice was validly given (deposit protected, prescribed information provided, dates correct)?

Even if it was validly given, you do not have to leave at expiry of the notice. The LL still has to go to court to get an eviction notice, which can take some weeks - buying you extra time - although if you leave after the expiry of the notice from him, consensus on here is that you have to serve your own correct notice on the LL.