To think solicitors are f***** unprofessional and no other professions would get away with it

[Indigo93]

A chance to rant. Please tell me I am not being unreasonable to feel utterly pissed off and beyond exhausted over this???

After 5 months of attempting to buying home with no chain at either end, we have been "apparently" ready to change contracts since last Thursday but surprise surprise it hasn't happened. So far I have been the one to chase the seller, the agent, the lender and other parties to send stuff back as our solicitor prefers to sit on their bum and wait for days for snail mail. We needed to exchange today in order to not be homeless for a few days due to complications with renting. Today was finally to be the day but guess what?? The vendor's solicitor is "working from home" and has not responded to emails or phone calls all day!!!!! Her team have apparently said they can't do any more. The e. agent can't reach her either.

WT ACTUAL F??!!

How is this professional?!?!?!

How do they continually get away with slow and non-responsive practice!!!

Rant over

Who told you you were ready to exchange last week? Estate agents often say this without having a clue what is really going on.

Usually they are waiting for documents back such as mortgage offers or searches or answers to queries, instructions from client or cleared funds.

I get amazed by how slow solicitors are. I agree.

Is it at all possible the solicitor has had a family crisis or is ill? You know like a real person?

Are they actually solicitors? If you think that they have been unreasonable you can try contacting the SRA to make a complaint.

I think it depends on the firm.

Depends on the firm. Also you’ll be one of about a zillion clients. When you think about it, you don’t actually pay a conveyancing solicitor much, compared to how much you pay your estate agent (if you’re selling) or your surveyor - and they do pretty much all the work involved in the transaction, and take all the risk.

Osiros our solicitor has said we are ready to exchange since last Wed afternoon

ReservoirDogs - everything is ready and funds are cleared - have been since last week. This is why its so frustrating

Solicitors can be as slow as they like because they know they will get paid and don’t have to rely on customer feedback. I too agree that they don’t seem to be proactive and only deal with things at the last minute.
I have been unfortunate to deal with a few different solicitors and they have all been the same. They wait until exchange to actually start asking questions/following things up, even though they have had weeks to investigate.
They are always important queries and checks yes, but quite why the first time they are raised is when it is too late, I will never know (and sending a contract to sign in the post, on the day they need it back is just mind boggling)

Racecar can we do that about the seller's solicitor though? I have the firm's details and solicitor's name but not sure we can complain as we are not the client?

Judgemental much. Solicitors have other clients and are also real people.

Kitty thank you - yes this is so true!
There is no comeback or incentive for them do do an efficient job. Meanwhile families are made homeless and people's lives put on hold. The system is messed up.

PremierNaps Judgemental is a strange way to word it. I would call it expecting professionalism - as my clients would with me.

Solicitors can be as slow as they like because they ...don’t have to rely on customer feedback

This is just bobbins. Most conveyancing solicitors get all their work based on word of mouth.

“Solicitors have other clients and are also real people.”

No shite Sherlock. Pretty much every service industry is run by real people who have more than one client. And they still manage to be professional.

What I will say is that many (not all) conveyancers are pretty much third-division lawyers, with all that comes with that - including the (relatively) cheap fees.

I think snail mail is used to get the signatures.
Hard copy not scans of signatures.
~sure I will be told I am wrong.

I know it's way too late but for anyone going INTO this situation, I would really recommend WhenYouMove Legal. They were so helpful and HUMAN, totally unlike any other solicitors I've ever had to deal with

I agree. We bought a house last year. We didn't have one to sell, we had cash and the house was empty (owner had died).

I used to work as a legal secretary in conveyancing and I know it can be done fairly quickly. In our circumstances it should have only taken 6 to 8 weeks (we also didn't have any searches done).

It took just over 4 months! I think that was totally out of order. Oh and some posters may think they don't charge a lot but I think £1,600 for very little work is a lot of money

£1100 to sell a property and £1400 to buy a property (plus searches etc) is hardly peanuts to a lot of people.

From the other side of the fence, the conveyancing solicitor I know gets fed up because he frequently has to do his job, the other side's solicitor's job and the estate agent's job. All for peanuts, because the rubbish conveyancers are driving down prices.

The only thing that solicitors deal with at speed is sending out their bills.

I cannot believe that they are able to charge what they do.

Five months is ridiculous on a straightforward purchase.