Sloppy Service from London & Country

amyface

I have to say I found L&C poor as well. Very limited contact and customer service lacking. Calls not returned, errors in their responses & an advisor who by his 'service' showed that he appeared less knowledgeable than me, which was worrying. All in all, I felt they were a hindrance rather than any real help.

A disappointing experience & I will never use them again. Thankfully they didn't 'cost me' anything & only slowed down, rather than completely messed my application.

Rick62

So MortgageMan, I take it you work for L&C?

6x salary for someone on less than £30k, thats totally irresponsible, would Abbey really do that? Even if they do they would knock off the car loan from the calculations, why did your advisor not take that into account?

I don't know how you're still profitable if it takes your guys all morning just to chuck some figures into Abbey's online affordability calculator!

Conrad

Mortgageman gives a considered explanation and I cant see how the customer really has great cause for complaint.

Mortgageman I am perplexed as to how firms such as yours that operate a fee free models will survive going forward. Do you not feel being 'free' undermines and under values your service in tight - margin world?

homer_j_3

L&C are like Tesco and the rest of us who work for smaller brokerages or for ourselves are like the day and nights and corner shops.

When you operate on large volume, you can afford to work with tighter margins and you will establish good contracts where leads are like beer in a pub - constant flow.

If you work on a more personalised basis where you want to spend time with your clients and visit them and establish personal profesisonal working relationships then clearly you cannot work on the same tight margins.

That said, I do believe it is possible to work fee free on a small scale. If you have to pay for leads and you waste a lot of money on advertising that doesnt work, or can't smell the timewasters from the genuine customers then I can understand why brokers charge.

It has nothing to do with the fact that these brokers want to see less people to do better quality business. It is the fact that the brokers are recouping the expensive loss of income through marketing badly and expensive operating costs.

I see it more from a case of that my service and advice can be well rewarded in a non fee environment. Charging fees will not alter the dedication or level of service that I provide.

Out of interest - what do you charge conrad?

Perspective

Without going into all of your details I would suggest you try Northern Rock, their income multiples are good and you may be offered their option of a Together Product, which would make things a little more affordable for you on a monthly basis.

I am a Mortgage Adviser

You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.

Dan_Collins_2

Perspective wrote: »

Without going into all of your details I would suggest you try Northern Rock, their income multiples are good and you may be offered their option of a Together Product, which would make things a little more affordable for you on a monthly basis.

I am a Mortgage Adviser

You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.

Were Good! LOL

Dan_Collins_2

Conrad wrote: »

Mortgageman gives a considered explanation and I cant see how the customer really has great cause for complaint.

Mortgageman I am perplexed as to how firms such as yours that operate a fee free models will survive going forward. Do you not feel being 'free' undermines and under values your service in tight - margin world?

You really talk out of your !!! Conrad!