FTB - Bad solicitor or just part of the process?

davidmcn

Akira181 wrote: »

a call to confirm is professional courtesy at the very least surely?

No, I wouldn't expect a solicitor to make a phone call to confirm receipt of everything they send out - in this case your offer had already been accepted in principle, so it wasn't particularly time-critical or important. The important next stage was the seller instructing their solicitor, and (as far as I can tell) you got told the same day your solicitor heard from them.

akira181

AdrianC wrote: »

They have confirmation that the fax was reported as being correctly received by the EA's fax machine. They have no way of knowing the EA's fax machine then failed to print it correctly - or (more likely) somebody at the EA threw it away unread or simply stapled it to the back of the previous fax which then went into somebody else's file...

I don't want to get into the workings of fax machines but we both agree on the basic issue here. Like you said, the sender has no way of knowing if the fax was printed properly, if the correct person received it, if it was the right number, or if the machine was working at all, so the send receipt is in effect worthless. It should have been followed up with a call, which the EA also said was common practice.

AdrianC wrote: »

And that's the choice you have. Pay-as-you-go or fixed-no-sale-no-fee. If it's a simple one, the former will be cheaper. But there's less risk in the latter. Discuss it!

Yup, I will be calling once I get some time today. Got a lot of work to catch up on too

davidmcn wrote: »

No, I wouldn't expect a solicitor to make a phone call to confirm receipt of everything they send out - in this case your offer had already been accepted in principle, so it wasn't particularly time-critical or important. The important next stage was the seller instructing their solicitor, and (as far as I can tell) you got told the same day your solicitor heard from them.

I don't expect that for every piece of correspondence but I expected it for the first one considering it won't be listed as under offer until the EA has it and the vendor's solicitor wouldn't have known who to send anything to. So I do class the first piece of correspondence as important and somewhat time critical.

I got told the same day she opened the mail, which was at 4pm on a Thursday apparently. So who knows how long it sat there for

AdrianC

Akira181 wrote: »

I don't want to get into the workings of fax machines

It is kinda relevant...

...or if the machine was working at all, so the send receipt is in effect worthless.

...in that the receiving machine did confirm correct receipt. Else a failure would have been logged by the sender, not a successful transmission.


It's obvious you do not trust your solicitor any more, so it may well be for the best for all concerned if you simply find another, because it sounds as if you're going to be second-guessing everything they do on your behalf. This is not the basis for a healthy working relationship, and will not help progress your purchase.

davidmcn

Akira181 wrote: »

I don't expect that for every piece of correspondence but I expected it for the first one considering it won't be listed as under offer until the EA has it and the vendor's solicitor wouldn't have known who to send anything to. So I do class the first piece of correspondence as important and somewhat time critical.

But the problem was identified the following day. It's hardly delayed the transaction, has it?

I got told the same day she opened the mail, which was at 4pm on a Thursday apparently. So who knows how long it sat there for

Mail is generally opened and sorted as soon as received (otherwise you've got no idea what it is or how to prioritise it) but not everything is going to be actioned straight away.

I think you need to adjust your expectations here - the solicitors (and estate agents) have got dozens of other transactions on the go at the same time, many involving genuinely time-critical stuff. Yours isn't at that stage yet, and if you're still waiting for your mortgage offer there are limits to how far much further it can be progressed in the meantime.

akira181

AdrianC wrote: »

It's obvious you do not trust your solicitor any more, so it may well be for the best for all concerned if you simply find another, because it sounds as if you're going to be second-guessing everything they do on your behalf. This is not the basis for a healthy working relationship, and will not help progress your purchase.

That's a fair point.

davidmcn wrote: »

But the problem was identified the following day. It's hardly delayed the transaction, has it?

It's not delayed thankfully but if it wasn't for the EA calling me, I would be sitting here thinking all is in progress and my solicitor waiting for their response while the EA continuing with viewings as nothing was official. A simple 30 second phone call would have ensured the ball was actually rolling and that the correct parties have the correct contact details. I do consider first contact to be an important step.

davidmcn wrote: »

Mail is generally opened and sorted as soon as received (otherwise you've got no idea what it is or how to prioritise it) but not everything is going to be actioned straight away.

I think you need to adjust your expectations here - the solicitors (and estate agents) have got dozens of other transactions on the go at the same time, many involving genuinely time-critical stuff. Yours isn't at that stage yet, and if you're still waiting for your mortgage offer there are limits to how far much further it can be progressed in the meantime.

I've been told my mortgage offer has been issued, just waiting for a copy in the mail. I understand that my nerves are driving my expectations here, but the lack of communication over what's a significant financial commitment and simple mistakes in paperwork isn't helping either.

Now that the initial hiccup is sorted and things are moving, I'll give them a call later to sort out the open issues and see how the talks go. All I really want to be told is what is needed now and what is the next step. I don't think that's being too unreasonable.