To be annoyed at solicitor

[Legawein]

Am in the process of buying a house, had an offer of mortgage, with solicitors now for them to do their checks and to arrange the exchange of contracts. We were told that we should complete by middle to end of August. Rang twice last week (Mon and Thurs) to see where we were with things, had to leave a message as both times our solicitor was away from their desk. DH rang today as still not got back to us, same thing. Decided to try again, only to be told they had gone home for the day. Surely it's not unreasonable to think that a week is long enough for them to return a call!

'Doing their checks' has taken about two months with ours, there's alway something new!

We were supposed to exchange today but we've been waiting two weeks for buyers solicitors to confirm they are happy (nothing new in that time).

Until now they were waiting for our purchase to be ready, and said they were good to go ASAP, but now we're ready nothing from them and latest informal contact suggests she's dithering about leave and a completion date (which we informally agreed weeks ago outside of official channels to prevent this exact situation as our vendors have a long lead in to book leave themselves!)

Argh!

@HugoSpritz it was the solicitor who told us it should be middle to end of August, rang them to ask whether I need to to anything else apart from sign the contract and pay the deposit when we got offer of mortgage in middle of July. That was the only contact as well. Not a fixed price one, but even so if a message is being left surely someone should call back.

Also, there's no chain, we're currently renting, and the house is a new build standing empty.

@Frlrlrubert if that was the case and I'd been told, it wouldn't be as much of a problem. But bless you, its so frustrating waiting, isn't it! I hope you get your exchange soon

I used to work in property, and my advice is ring the solicitor first thing in the morning, and then hourly till you get to speak to them. At the same time, call the agents, say you want to exchange and can they phone the other parties and find out what the delay is. Ask them can they do anything to conclude the deal? They will be worrying about losing commission if the chain breaks down.
Email the solicitors and agents saying you're worried about the chain breaking down, give a written timeframe and ask them to pass it on to everyone else in the chain. If your mortgage has an expiry date, make sure everyone knows it: there's no guarantee it will be extended.
Quite frankly we're getting closer and closer to Brexit, and no ones job is safe, and property prices might well be affected. I'd be pulling all strings to get this tied up ASAP, with as short a completion date as possible.
I'd be phoning the solicitors and agents twice a day minimum to push this through, if its what you really want. No waiting 3 days between chasing calls!

Just seen your update. If you are in rented, and are buying an empty new build, I don't follow your comments about your purchasers and vendors leave arrangements.

Thanks @Legawein

If you're no chain it should be a lot simpler.

Do what @DelphiniumBlue says and pester them until you know what the issue is. Phone them hourly, email then daily, get your EA or any other party involved (never bought a new build so not sure how that works) to pester too if you can.

We found that our solicitors were more likely to reply to the EA than us!

YANBU it seems to be part of the training for solicitors -
1.Do promise to keep clients updated
2.Never actually do this

Every time I have needed a solicitor, for house purchase or anything else , I have to chase up any info and on rare occasions I get to actually talk to someone there is a delay and a rustling of paper or frantic keyboard tapping whilst they look up what is(n't) happening.

Can I just stick up for conveyancers here?

People want to pay less and less for legal work. Insurance, premises, training is all expensive. You have to take on so many clients at the prices they want to pay to get the job done that you can’t always give everyone first class service.

@DelphiniumBlue thank you for your advice, I'll have to be more assertive tomorrow. Plus I'll check the mortgage offer tonight, although we have signed the paperwork accepting the offer, just not had the main mortgage agreement yet. It wasn't me that posted about purchasers/vendors leave though.

@Frlrlrubert a new build goes through the developers. We didn't go through an EA. Have been in touch with development manager and they're waiting for our solicitors to get in touch with theirs!

@familycourtq that's how it was the only time I managed to speak to solicitor! As you say, must be part of the training lol

Yes, unpopular opinion but I think it kind of depends what you paid here. Sometimes people are paying enough for it to be feasible for them to be kept in the loop as much as they would like. Sometimes they're not.

Email them and get shirty. I was on at my solicitor daily by the end of our last move but it got the job done in good time. God she must have hated me but it was so worth it.

Can I just stick up for conveyancers here?

No - you are entitled to say we are getting shit service due to insufficient funding if you work for the Police or something.

I haven't been cost cutting - always taken lawyers on recommendation and not been trying to beat them down on costs so no reason for the shit service I've had.

Most conveyancing solicitors work extremely hard. I know it’s frustrating but they are not ignoring you for kicks. The likelihood is they just have far too much to do and something isn’t ready on your matter

No-one is saying the OP is being "ignored for kicks". Shit service is stills shit service even if the people delivering it are worthy poorly-paid hard-working artisans toiling in the slavish drudgery of Local Authority Searches etc.

A week is certainly far more than I would expect to wait for a call to be returned. I would be telephoning the practice manager by now and demanding an explanation for the lack of communication.

I was a receptionist at a solicitors, at least half the time you're told they're unavailable they're probably lying - either because they're too busy on another case or are behind on your one or just can't be arsed talking to you. I hated that job, had to lie for the conveyancing more than any other solicitor.

I'm a conveyancing solicitor.

I can't always return calls immediately (otherwise no actual legal work would get done, the amount of calls and emails from clients, other solicitors, estate agents and mortgage brokers is far, far more extreme than I could put into words!), but leaving somebody unanswered for a week is unacceptable.

Personally I always respond the same day, or pass a message via my assistant (making it clear that I have directed this) at a minimum, even if it's just to say "I'm waiting for X before I can update you, I'll give you an update whether I've heard anything or not by the end of the day on (date)". Then always diarise it and follow through. That way there's no ambiguity about when people will hear from you and clients don't feel as stressed and out of the loop. I am trying to drum this into our trainee's heads too as it leads to much happier, calmer clients.

I would suggest putting in an email all of the occasions that you've called and that you are still yet to receive a response. If you don't receive a reply by the end of tomorrow, you'll commence the firm's internal complaints procedure due too poor client care and lack of communication. And I'm definitely not one to say "start complaining!" lightly

Actually, I’ll rephrase that I wasn’t asking permission.

I actually think it’s a bad business model to keep prices the same, accept all the work and then give shit service, but many are at the mercy of their employers!

@Bubsworth Remember that one dishonest solicitor/department in a firm doesn't reflect the entire profession.

Ask for your file and go to another solicitor - they sound incompetent to me

Similar here. We’re using a recommended local firm, not a budget option. We were told we were close to the end two weeks ago and were promised an email update last week but nothing, and they don’t answer the phone ever.

They dealt with the sale of our property a few months ago and were great. We’re living in my parents spare room and buying a property with no chain so are getting fed up now.