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Original poster

don't use Countrywide Property Solicitors

13 replies

carlajean · 07/02/2014 17:11

...and make sure your buyer doesn't either. Our purchasers are using Countrywide after being recommended by the estate agents, Hamptons. They are slowing down the sale, which has been grinding on for months already. We still haven't exchanged and it looks as though we will loose the house we're buying because of it.

OP posts:
everlong · 07/02/2014 17:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Quoteunquote · 07/02/2014 17:23

I'm amazed anyone does still use them.

Original poster
carlajean · 07/02/2014 17:33

They sent us the form for us, as sellers, to fill in. Two weeks later, another, with more questions. Three weeks later, the same again. Some questions were redundant or duplicated ones already answered. Our buyer can't get through to them on the phone and they don't respond to emails. Our solicitor has had the same problem with them. Next time we sell, i'm going to make it a condition of sale that our purchasers don't use them.

OP posts:
CokeFan · 07/02/2014 17:40

I'm sure it's not unique to them. All the solicitors in our last house purchase (ours, sellers' and our buyers') were quick and efficient but in our first house purchase the solicitors were very slow and kept trying to blame the other solicitors. Unfortunately for them, the "other solicitors" were from the same company so the blame game didn't work so well.

ohhifruit · 07/02/2014 17:47

I've heard terrible things about them time and again.

everlong · 07/02/2014 18:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Shakey1500 · 07/02/2014 18:12

They are worse than useless. I made an.official complaint about them and was given a goodwill payment.

LondonGirl83 · 07/02/2014 18:14

All solicitors blame each other. Our buyer actually had our personal contact details. At one point when our sale slowed down, we asked our lawyer what was going on and she said nothing was outstanding on ourside. When we spoke to our buyer, apparently there were loads of outstanding questions their solicitor had based on weeks before that our lawyer hadn't gotten to passing on. Between the two of us, we resolved it in a day just copying in the lawyers. All of these firms take on more work than they can handle and because there is usually no way for you to check what's going on, lie about delays.

AnythingNotEverything · 07/02/2014 18:17

We had a dreadful time last year with buyers who used Countrywide. Both slow and incompetent. Our first time buyer, no chain sale too almost 6 months!

dontcallmemam · 07/02/2014 19:24

HSBC made us use them (as well as our own conveyancer) . They were utterly dreadful, we almost lost the sale through their incompetence. Never again.

Rhubarbgarden · 07/02/2014 19:54

We were forced to use them by HSBC too. Truly awful.

Mintie190 · 07/02/2014 20:26

I used them too. They were awful and I'm sure when we go to sell our place, we will realise the full extent of their incompetence. They were on our lender's panel of firms and when I complained to the lender about the poor service we had received, they were surprised as others have given them good feedback on them.

But they did answer their phone and emails back then.

This is their Law Society entry. You may want to get in touch with them via the details contained in it rather than the details CW gave you. www.lawsociety.org.uk/find-a-solicitor/?view=lawfirmdetails&orgid=271504&searchType=S

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