Beaumont Legal - what's your experience

[GatheringRequirements]

We are purchasing a property and using Beaumont Legal, so far I found them to be awful.They wont answer emails and when questioned they pointed out teeny bit in their contract saying they will reply in two working days,they will also only work on any documentation received from seller's solicitor's 5 working days after receiving them, they don't update anything in the online account they created.I'm annoyed but can't do much in the middle of the purchase,has any one else had better experience with them?

[SasherinSuite]

We're coming to the end of our relationship with Beaumont Legal as thankfully we are due to compete on 4th July. I have to say our experience has not been positive - they nearly lost us our purchase due to delays on their side and issues that should have been picked up in the early stages were only chased up on the day we were due to exchange. Replies to emails usually arrive at the end of the working day so you can't contact them if there is an issue and when our named solicitor went on leave there was no proper handover which meant things that had already been resolved were looked at again adding to the delays. I would not recommend them unless you have a very relaxed attitude to timescales!

[BLPaul]

Hi to both,

I work in the customer service team at Beaumont Legal and these posts have been highlighted to me through Google alerts - I'm really sorry to hear about both of them.

Please could both of you e-mail your details to our feedback address, which is [email protected], so that we can look into what has happened with your cases as quickly as possible?

If anyone else has any issues at all with their service we would also encourage them to use this feedback e-mail address - mails to this get immediately forwarded on to the Director of Conveyancing as well as the senior Partners within the firm. The vast majority of feedback we receive to this address is genuinely positive so when it isn't we aim to make things better however we can as quickly as we can.

Paul

[GatheringRequirements]

Shall I complain and wait a minimum of 2 working days to get a simple reply,that's what the contract says(not that it's being followed anyway)

[pilates]

My friend works in a Conveyancing Dept and she is always complaining that clients are sending so many emails in a day that they can't get on and do their job.

[SugarMiceInTheRain]

I think it's par for the course with conveyancing solicitors. Everyone I have spoken to has had to push and push before anything gets done. We used Beaumont Legal 7 years ago and it was the same then. I was heavily pregnant when we moved and got so fed up I threatened to pull out if the solicitor kept delaying things. Magically things suddenly started moving! Solicitors always seem to have lots of work to do, so whoever shouts the loudest is heard IME. We had 2 last minute extra things to pay for, was a bit that they only mentioned them right at the end when it would have been highly inconvenient to pull out.

[GatheringRequirements]

I do understand that they are busy , contract says they should reply to emails in 2 working days but they never did ,I have to call them up and solicitor never answers calls the phone just rings out, emails not answered and calls not answered so how am I supposed to know what's happening. One day I called 5 times , reception puts me through to solicitor and she never picks up so I had to beg reception to put me through to some one else like a legal assistant just to get an update

[GatheringRequirements]

BTW half the way through I just paid an extra £40 + VAT which wasn't in the original quote ,don't know how many more to come .My estate agent mentioned yesterday that he emailed the solicitor and didn't have a reply also he tried calling few times and the phone just rang out.

[jre371]

Our experience with Beaumont Legal has been less than impressive. Response to emails has been slow, information has been scant and so called fixed fees are increased by Beaumont Legal's charges for bank transfers.

They seem to have a lot of good reviews however my experience and that of many others doesn't seem to be that good. I wish I'd gone with the Building Society's own solicitor rather than the one recommended by my mortgage broker.

[plinkyplonker]

We used them last year and were very happy with them. I chased them for updates at appropriate stages (eg are searches back yet etc) via email and generally got a response at the end of the same day. We went from offer to completion in under 10 weeks. The only additional charge was a form I needed to sign as I'm not listed on the mortgage/deeds so had to sign a tenancy clause thing.

[GatheringRequirements]

I started getting same day replies (miracle)for emails as I have complained.
They have a 5 day turnaround time which is fine, as long as they stick to it.
They have received some documents last Monday and offer letter from the bank on Thursday.So the first documents should be checked by today but I was told they wont be looked into until end of this week, reason being the mortgage offer is the latest so the count for 5 days starts again from last thursday.And if they receive something new today ,the count of 5 days turn around time starts again. This goes on until the sale falls through.
I wish I have never signed up to them.

I tried complaining and received less then an impressive reply.They think I'm crazy to be asking an update, they forgot I'm paying them.
I don't think all the good reviews of them are real

[JosieNozey123]

My buyer is using this dreadful company and my sale has taken 5 months! We are still not completed either, they keep losing things, they never answer the phone it is always on answerphone and they never call anyone back! Be warned, you pay peanuts and you get monkeys....use a local solicitor it is just not worth the hassle!

[Spickle]

If you are paying around £500 for a conveyancing service (plus extra for searches, SDLT form filling, expedition fees, bank fees etc), then you are most likely getting a firm who put quantity over quality. Some of the online conveyancers are getting so much business that there isn't time for good client care as they are hard pressed to actually get the work done, let alone take client calls regarding updates. As JosieNozey123 says, pay peanuts get monkeys.

[specialsubject]

I paid about that figure for two separate transactions and got very good service! The high-street solicitors at both ends wanted a lot more. The other parties in the transactions were using the pricier high-street solicitors who were pig slow and often inefficient. Price seems to be no guarantee of quality.

if anyone wants the name of the firm I used, just asked. Found them through the reallymoving comparison engine, they are nowhere near me.

[Spickle]

Would be interested to know who you used specialsubject, for next time!

[specialsubject]

www.lambertpugh.co.uk/

no connection beyond being a twice-satisfied customer. They are nowhere near where I was or now am, but are able to use telephones, email and first-class stamps.

first time got the partner, second time another member of the team but she was also efficient and communicative. For instance, got a voicemail message saying she was in a meeting until x oclock, left message, call back at 10 minutes past the time she was out of the meeting. Emails always dealt with quickly.

it shouldn't be hard - but it is for some solicitors.

[SunnyUpNorth]

We actually used BL a few months ago and I was really impressed with them. To be fair the conveyancer we used the time before that was sooooo shockingly bad that anyone may have seemed good. It was also a simple BtL house with no chain so not complicated at all. But the guy I had (Daniel someone) was really good, always updated the online system immediately and whenever I did ring them even if he wasn't available whoever answered the phone helped me perfectly each time.

I expected them to be terrible but was pleasantly surprised.

[richarduk2007]

I too have recently instructed Beaumont-Legal on a simple purchase - chain-free on both sides.

So far the experience hasn't been entirely positive. When i called Friday afternoon to chase up / check if draft contract were received, was told NO - when in fact the seller's solicitor has emailed the contract Thursday morning.

I can appreciate solicitors are extremely busy at their work etc, but would have expected a higher level of service / professionalism.

I have sent a feedback email highlighting my not so positive experience to date - let's see if it gets someone's attention and the delays i am facing will be addressed.

[GatheringRequirements]

Update:I have complained and my case was transferred to another conveyencer(Francesca Richards )who was really extremely helpful went an extra mile to rush my transaction as my seller imposed a deadline.Its definitely worth sending an email to [email protected]

[rophotographs]

I am really pleased to have found this thread because I am also having major problems with Beaumont-Legal. It's now 8 weeks since I instructed them and we are no where near exchanging contracts. I have never had any communication from my solicitor, if I try to ring her direct line it just keeps ringing and ringing (no answering machine). I have left messages for her to call me back, and received nothing. I have sent emails asking her to respond and nothing.
The only way I get any information is when I speak to one of the secretaries who can only inform me of what notes have been made on my case. I called today to explain how disappointed I am with their service and the 5 day turn around clause was pointed out. That would be OK, but it's now way over 5 days since I emailed requested information, nothing has been done with that, and I've just been told that my solicitor is on holiday and nothing is going to happen until she comes back.
Oh, and I've also been asked to pay them another fee for them to put together a deed of covenance, something I wasn't made aware of in the original estimate.
I am very unhappy. It's clear that their solicitors have too many clients and cannot manage the volume of work in the allocated time.

[MsNikkiF]

These guys shouldn't be operating. They did a shoddy job on my move and if it had not been for my determination they could of lost me a mortgage offer due to their actions. I wrote to them telling them I intended to take legal action if they didn't refund my monies and they appear to want to try every excuse to get out of refunding me my money for their lack of service rather than dealing with my complaint. I would not recommend them. Its fair enough that companies get things wrong but at least fix it when it does go wrong!

[zonkin]

I've used Beaumont Legal three times in the past without any issues. I've also used more expensive local conveyancers and they haven't been any quicker and also needed a phone call every now and then to move things along. In fact, I remember thinking that Beaumont Legal were quite efficient. My emails were always answered within 24 hours, and usually by the end of the day I sent it.

My buying/selling was a while ago as we haven't had the urge to move so the last time I used them was in 2008 and at that time I would have recommended them. It sounds like things have gone a bit downhill since then.

[TheFantasticFixit]

How funny, VS79, that this post is the only time you have taken the time to contribute to a Mumsnet thread!

[TheFantasticFixit]

Ooo and you! Jenny Wilson.

You don't, by any chance, WORK for BL, do you?