Has anyone dealt with Alexander JLO Solicitors for conveyancing?

Ithappenedtometo

I seriously wish I would have seen this before using them, They are actually terrible and everything you have said resonates with me as I had the same experience! I could never get through to one of the solicitors named Paul if my life depended on it! How convenient that they ask for your name and who you are first before telling you that he is not available to speak to you or suddenly he is on another call.. Seriously! All the time? And why no return calls?

I don't understand why there are not more complaints about the firm because everyone I have spoken to (4 people) who have dealt with the firm personally all complain that Paul is ridiculously slow and impossible to reach. This is because he takes on way too may clients I suspect along with their £450! You do the math! He must obviously finds it hard to follow up with everyone. You sign up as a new client and he will respond straight away, Pay that deposit and expect to hardly hear from him at least this was my experience anyway. The receptionist was even sympathetic to my pain She seriously must get irate clients calling her all the time. By all means try for yourself don't take my word for it, he may be fabulous to you and my experience along with others may just be in the minority.

hazyjo

Ithappenedtometo wrote: »

You do the math!

Eek - do people actually say that seriously!!!!


As above, I found them slow but very particular. Things were found that the vendor's solicitors had missed when they bought it. I've been on these boards for years so hopefully anyone stumbling on this will look at both my opinions and that of the most recent newbie to complain about them, and form their own opinion.

Jx

dc197

Ithappenedtometo wrote: »

I seriously wish I would have seen this before using them, They are actually terrible and everything you have said resonates with me as I had the same experience! I could never get through to one of the solicitors named Paul if my life depended on it! How convenient that they ask for your name and who you are first before telling you that he is not available to speak to you or suddenly he is on another call.. Seriously! All the time? And why no return calls?

I don't understand why there are not more complaints about the firm because everyone I have spoken to (4 people) who have dealt with the firm personally all complain that Paul is ridiculously slow and impossible to reach. This is because he takes on way too may clients I suspect along with their £450! You do the math! He must obviously finds it hard to follow up with everyone. You sign up as a new client and he will respond straight away, Pay that deposit and expect to hardly hear from him at least this was my experience anyway. The receptionist was even sympathetic to my pain She seriously must get irate clients calling her all the time. By all means try for yourself don't take my word for it, he may be fabulous to you and my experience along with others may just be in the minority.

I think ist is common and reasonable for any receptionist to ask names and companies of callers before transferring them. My office (not conveyancers) does the same.

If this company is a conveyancing factory, this is par for the course. They have a team of phone operators and admin assistant surrounding and shielding one central qualified conveyancer.
If you don't want this style of conveyancing you should use a high street firm.

hazyjo

dc197 wrote: »

I think ist is common and reasonable for any receptionist to ask names and companies of callers before transferring them. My office (not conveyancers) does the same.

If this company is a conveyancing factory, this is par for the course. They have a team of phone operators and admin assistant surrounding and shielding one central qualified conveyancer.
If you don't want this style of conveyancing you should use a high street firm.

No, they have offices - the one I used was at Highams Park (small area), E4.

tbh, I find it much easier to just email then they can respond when they are free, with the correct information to hand. I dread to think how many calls they have in a day and how many cases they're dealing with. I don't blame them for not wanting to take every call. They'd never get any bloody work done lol.

Jx

Ithappenedtometo

They don't respond to emails apart from the odd one word answer! That's the problem. If they did answer questions when asked I don't think anybody would need to call in so much. As far as not picking up the phone some of the time, TRY ALL THE TIME I kid you not! If you want the worst experience of your life when buying/ selling a home, then by all means use these people! They are in my opinion useless. They are the opposite of particular in fact the biggest complaint after not being able to reach them is the fact that they miss things important things! Just do your homework and speak to people, go off personal recommendations . Paul will refer you to the good lawyer guide with fantastic reviews.... Try talking about his service to real people! Don't get me wrong, its a well known firm that get the business, but honestly they need a kick up the backside! I couldn't find one website which offered independent reviews about this firm but I'm telling you they have a terrible reputation through word of mouth! I actually feel duty bound to warn others not to be fooled by the initial quick responses you get from them when asking for a quote! Call a few estate agents and ask how smooth the sale went when their clients used them... I'm not sure if they will be wary as many have a business relationship with the firm as you can imagine but off the cards they will tell you to stay well clear! Do what you want but for me, honestly the worst firm I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with.. I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.

Ithappenedtometo

dc197 wrote: »

I think ist is common and reasonable for any receptionist to ask names and companies of callers before transferring them. My office (not conveyancers) does the same.

If this company is a conveyancing factory, this is par for the course. They have a team of phone operators and admin assistant surrounding and shielding one central qualified conveyancer.
If you don't want this style of conveyancing you should use a high street firm.

Not when it is being used to avoid clients! They do not speak to their clients. Not just me, several clients, estate agents have the same issue! Is it normal not to speak to your solicitor once throughout the whole purchase? Is it normal for your solicitor to ignore your instruction? Is it normal for your solicitor to respond with a one word answer? I signed up to give a honest review. Use them at your own risk!

hazyjo

I beg to differ, but hey ho.

Our local EA (in E4) said use Lyn as she'll get the job done.

She was very meticulous, and spotted a MAJOR problem that our vendors' solicitors (when they bought) had missed. Meant getting a Deed of Variation or something similar which added a month or so to the purchase/sale. It did take 5 long months, but mainly because she was so thorough, along with the issues with our purchase.

She didn't always email us every step of the way, but I'd often ask things and she'd say she'd already done that and list a heap of other associated bits. She certainly gave more than one word answers, but was concise and not waffly (unlike my emails to her!).

Jx

Ithappenedtometo

hazyjo wrote: »

I beg to differ, but hey ho.

Our local EA (in E4) said use Lyn as she'll get the job done.

She was very meticulous, and spotted a MAJOR problem that our vendors' solicitors (when they bought) had missed. Meant getting a Deed of Variation or something similar which added a month or so to the purchase/sale. It did take 5 long months, but mainly because she was so thorough, along with the issues with our purchase.

She didn't always email us every step of the way, but I'd often ask things and she'd say she'd already done that and list a heap of other associated bits. She certainly gave more than one word answers, but was concise and not waffly (unlike my emails to her!).

Jx

Well I honestly wish I would have used her instead based on what you have said because I will never go near another solicitor in that firm again! My experience was so terrible!

I am genuinely surprised that your experience was positive! Their slow to act nature wouldn't matter so much if the client was at least updated.


The Solicitor that traumatized me is called Paul (the name now makes me shudder)!!

His service to me was disgraceful and very sloppy. He constantly misses things and seems to have no understanding of basic decorum. It drives me mad that others are unaware of what they are letting themselves in for! I just hope they have the common sense to go off personal recommendations! They don't need to take my word for it! Research! Research! Research! Definitely DO NOT go off of the rigged good lawyer guide!

hazyjo

Ithappenedtometo wrote: »

Well I honestly wish I would have used her instead based on what you have said because I will never go near another solicitor in that firm again! My experience was so terrible!

I am genuinely surprised that your experience was positive! Their slow to act nature wouldn't matter so much if the client was at least updated.


The Solicitor that traumatized me is called Paul (the name now makes me shudder)!!

His service to me was disgraceful and very sloppy. He constantly misses things and seems to have no understanding of basic decorum. It drives me mad that others are unaware of what they are letting themselves in for! I just hope they have the common sense to go off personal recommendations! They don't need to take my word for it! Research! Research! Research! Definitely DO NOT go off of the rigged good lawyer guide!

It does seem to vary hugely on which solicitor you use. I never go with an EA's own, but sometimes they can be helpful in telling you which named solicitor to use in the practice you have chosen to instruct. I had a similar experience with my next lot of solicitors in Brentwood. They were fine, but I got the name of someone via the EA. Some of the others really didn't have great reputations!

If you're using a solicitor local to the EA, they will more than likely have dealt with everyone at that office before so can tell you who's best to use.

Jx

nekro

I have to agree with the comments on this thread and really wish I had done a bit more investigation about this company before using their services.
I did check on the Good Lawyer Guide but I think most of these reviews are fake and posted by JLO themselves.

Problems started with Paul Outhwaite, he made a big error when writing up the notes for my case and failed to pass over vital information to Priti Jobanputra which has cost me a lot of money.
None of their staff ever answer the phone, reply to voicemails or emails. Only when I threatened to make a complaint and report did I get a response.
Avoid at all costs.