Incomplete survey and biased ombudsman decision

pako77

Hi all,

Last September we have bought a house after having the Woolwich Homefile Level 2 report done (equivalent to RICS HBR). The terms of this report hilighted the problems which it was supposed to tell us, including major repair items, dampness & decay.
To our horror few days after we moved in we discovered that the whole of the kitchen floor under the vinyl was damp and severely decayed. As it came apparent this was caused by an underfloor plumbing problem.
The real problems began when the surveying firm, Goodfellows Professional Services, refused to accept our complaint and claimed they can not be held responsible. They insisted that it was not reasonable to discover such damage as the floors were covered. They also suggested that the damage may have happened after the inspection which was only 9 weeks before we moved in. However, we have since contacted several experts and they are all certain that such levels of dampness (over 90% on the floor and over 80% at the wall's lower edges) are easily detectable with a damp meter. The nature and the extend of the damage made it clear that it was a long term problem, over 6 months. ...
So much for the surveyors handling our complaint. .. In December 2007, after the deadlock with Goodfellows, we have desided to take the complaint to the Surveyors Ombudsman Service. After unexplained delays on their side we finally received their provisional conclusion at the end of April 2008, eight weeks past the timescale they initially gave us. It was a huge surprise to read the document as it was full of incorrect information, some of which supplied by the surveyor, but not verified by the ombudsman investigators. The document also intentionally misinterpreted the terms of engagement under which the survey was conducted and made unfair judgements. This came as a real shock to us and we are currently rejecting their provisional conclusion on the grounds it is unfair and biased.

We now lost all faith in these institutions and the industry they represent. According to the logic of the surveyor and the ombudsman, there is no way a damage like this can be discovered (one can only wonder whats the point of this industry being existent ?!?!). Pretty lame, considering that the whole kitchen floor was literally hitting the dmp-meter scale and also the external door threshold was extremely wet (not to mention the lower edges of the walls). One can accept the fact that businesses will try and lie and be dishonest in order to protect their corporate interests, but it is a real shock to discover that the supposedly independent and impartial ombudsman service will behave in the same manner.

We are currently trying to publicise this case and made people aware of what they can expect if the property survey they paid for turns out to be a con. If anybody have shared similar experience we will be happy to hear from you.


Thanks.

Pavel

tbs624

Have sent you a PM.

pako77

tbs624 wrote: »

Have sent you a PM.

I think we are past the stage where we need to establish the damp levels, but nevertheless considering the ridiculous investigations by the ombudsman so far we may need to get somebody to prove this case and perhaps take the surveying firm to court.

Thanks anyway for the links.

pako77

ha ha..
.. obviously honesty and respect for the truth are things as familiar to the surveyors ombudsman as is the surface of Mars to a donkey....

to our remarks that kitchen floor surface was uneven (therefore indicating possible dampness damage) the all-wise ombudsman replies:

„Furthermore, the unevenness of the floor can also be due to several reasons, not only dampness but if the gas pipes have been installed in a poor manner this can make the floor uneven“.

.. now that should probably go in the books teaching logical thinking for a 5th grade students. A solicitor by profession, appointed to act as an Ombudsman issues this as an excuse (one of many similar) for the surveyor... Because the unevenness can also be due to other reasons this is a good reason for an excuse. So what happened with the case when the reason can be due to dampness?

Have people in this country forgotten what truth is and how to defend it?

What a circus ... I'd not advise anyone bothering with their so called redress system, just wasted 6 months of our time in childish plays with words and total disrespect for the truth..