Conveyancing - overly slow or just too high expectations

Sammydog

It has to be one of the most frustrating things known to man and everything above resonates with our issues too.


Unanswered emails, vague 'we're waiting for information' replies when you chase it up for the 4th time that week in the hope of just wearing them down.


Our buyer is pushing to exchange in August yet we haven't got a clue if the searches are even back.


I find it hard to believe people can charge a couple of grand and treat the customer with such disregard.


Never, ever again.

alchemist.1

Sammydog wrote: »

It has to be one of the most frustrating things known to man and everything above resonates with our issues too.


Unanswered emails, vague 'we're waiting for information' replies when you chase it up for the 4th time that week in the hope of just wearing them down.


Our buyer is pushing to exchange in August yet we haven't got a clue if the searches are even back.


I find it hard to believe people can charge a couple of grand and treat the customer with such disregard.


Never, ever again.

If you are being charged a couple of grand for solicitors base fees you are probably paying too much.

Thrugelmir

Sammydog wrote: »

I find it hard to believe people can charge a couple of grand and treat the customer with such disregard.

Do you understand what you are actually paying for?

mrstick

We had an issue with our conveyancer initially as we never received the welcome pack and didn't realise that we should have received it pretty much the next day.


I called them a couple of times over the next 2 weeks and they said that they had sent it, but we still never received it. In the end, they sent it again and it came the next day as expected.


Turns out that the secretary that created the file had created it with our home address and the purchase address the wrong way round, so our welcome pack was sitting on the mat at an empty house for a couple of months before we actually found out!


This also caused subsequent confusion because the EA was told on several occasions that they had not done anything on our case because they had never received the documents and search fees back. This was in fact because the secretary kept looking at the same incorrectly addressed file...

mrstick

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Do you understand what you are actually paying for?

As long as you realise that it's not for timely responses and returning of phone calls, or even the same level of customer service that you would expect to receive when purchasing a happy meal, then you are probably ok.

Sammydog

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Do you understand what you are actually paying for?

Yes, we have a break down of the costs and no, it doesn't mention answering questions as they occur to us or keeping us in the loop. I assumed that was just good business practice but by the look of things, it isn't just our solicitor who is sorely lacking in this area.

Thrugelmir

Sammydog wrote: »

Yes, we have a break down of the costs and no, it doesn't mention answering questions as they occur to us or keeping us in the loop.

Then you'll have to pay more if you expect a constant update every time your file is touched. Conveyancing is cheap as it's a competitive business. Sadly quality of customer service is poor across a swathe of commerce now. Reflection of society in general in my personal opinion.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Brief recap of my timeline so far with updates - reminder that so far, this is a sale only to a first time buyer with a mortgage in principle:

Monday 17th August @ 2pm - hand deliver the "Client Information Form" which gives them all my contact details etc

Tuesday 18th @ 9am - Receive an e-mail from solicitor confirming receipt and advising I will "shortly receive the Client Care Pack in the post"

Friday 21st @ 4pm - Still nothing received in post so I call her. She fobs me off so I explain that i'd be happy to receive the Client Care Pack by e-mail to save them the time/effort/cost of posting it. She agrees to this and says she will "ask one of the secretary's to sort it".

Monday 23rd @ 4pm - Still nothing received on e-mail so I e-mail just to confirm our conversation on Friday (i.e. happy to receive it on e-mail) and that this still hadn't happened yet.

Monday 23rd @ 4.45pm - receive an e-mail back advising

"Lifes Grand Plan,

As discussed last week; we will send this out to you as soon as possible. I put a note on the file confirming that that you would like this to be sent to you by email."


26th August @ 9am - Still nothing received on e-mail.


So far, every time I have called the solicitor or e-mailed her she always takes my call or e-mails back quite promptly..... but I just don't understand how, from 9am Tuesday last week, 7 working days later they still haven't been able to find the time to attach a template form to an e-mail and press the send button....

Should I ring / e-mail today or should I wait?

AFAIUI - no one can do anything on my sale until I have completed and returned this form, but I can't complete the form if I haven't blinking got it.

Question for you knowledgeable folk - after the memorandum of sale from the EA, would it normally be the sellers conveyancer that contacts the buyers conveyancer first, or vice versa?

Sedge123

I would be looking to change solicitors, if it takes them this long to send a simple form imagine what might happen when you get further down the line.

easilyamused

At this early stage I'd also look to change solicitors if I were you - they sound horrendous, and I'm someone who is dealing with the dreaded Premier Property Lawyers group of incompetent monkeys, so that's saying something!