Online conveyancer delaying exchange?

[LauraMJJ88]

I hope someone can help!

We sold our house using Purple Bricks and on the promise of not paying their fees upfront we used their solicitors - DC Law.

They have mucked us about royally, our convenyancer has changed 3 times and our new one is just useless. The last person assigned to us was decent and told us the 27th November would be okay to go ahead, we have this in writing. Someone else in the chain was not ready so all agreed for the 3rd Dec.

DC Law stated they need to do a 'final check' on our documents last Monday, we were promised this would be done by last Wednesday, then Friday and then today. This morning our convenyancer said she expected it to be reviewed and signed off today. We rang at 3pm and she stated her team leader was on annual leave and won't pick it up until tomorrow!

I guess what I'm asking is if anyone else has been in this position and what the outcome was? We don't have any leverage to push them to review quicker. If there are any outstanding tasks it then has to be reviewed again! She couldn't sound more disinterested and unhelpful over the phone and won't give any definitive answers.

Sorry that was so long - I guess I'm just looking for reassurance!

Thanks!

@NewHouseNewMe honestly I can't tell you how stressed out/ill we both feel 🙁 thank you. We hope so too!

@WhispersAnonymous we can't recall the exact time frame unfortunately but we know it was definitely before the 8 week mark. 100%. Sorry to say but you will need to start pushing the sellers to chase them, and I would refer to all the recent negative reviews for the reason why you're pushing. (Check them out on Trustpilot, once you filter out the fake good reviews). Honestly you do not want to be in this position, it's the absolute worst x

@ChocolateBiscuit1 it's a probate property, apparently the sellers are chasing them as are the estate agents and even my own solicitors... Kinda want to bury my head in the sand of I am honest. My house sale is almost complete so we will end up homeless otherwise will lose our buyers. 😖

An update everyone. We finally got in and can begin to relax! If anyone is in the same situation and needs some help please PM me. Thanks everyone for your replies x

Never use Purple Bricks' conveyancers. Our solicitor says her heart sinks when she sees that they are involved as they are so utterly useless. We sold a house to someone using them, it was a nightmare. I'd always go for a specialist conveyancer with great reviews, preferably locally.

Yay congratulations @ChocolateBiscuit1 so happy for you!!! You must be feeling so relieved. Enjoy your new home! Pass on the house moving Good luck to the rest of us

Thank you @Watermelon39 😊 and yes of course, will keep my fingers crossed for all of you!

I've never paid for conveyancing up front, other than an occasional 'opening file' fee of £150.
Dislike Purple Bricks - if a house was listed with them I'd be less likely to view it.

Mini update, apparently the draft contract was sent last week. Yet no one has received it, they tried to claim that it must of gotten lost in the post.. for my solicitor to come back and say well that's funny as you normally email them nowadays..

@WhispersAnonymous have you managed to get anything sorted with the contracts? Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

@ChocolateBiscuit1

Well they have ditched their solicitors now and have gone with different ones. You really can't make it up.

@WhispersAnonymous they've ditched DC Law? Honestly I know it's annoying but I think they've done the right thing. If we didn't complete Monday the 7th we were in talks with another solicitor who said they could do it for us in a month. At least you all won't be in this position (failing to complete). Will keep my fingers crossed for you!

@ChocolateBiscuit1

Yes ditched DCLaw, they have instructed the conveyancers we are using, I am hopeful this means that it shouldnt be as problematic. We are waiting for our buyers mortgage offer so I am hoping that doesn't end up holding things up 🙄😒. Who would buy a house eh?

You should always use a local firm of solicitors you will get a much better service with a properly qualified solicitor. Online conveyancers take on too much work and the result is a very poor service for their clients and the rest in the chain. They use unqualified staff who don’t spot potential problems at the outset and these are only picked up at the end when everyone else is ready to exchange. You are making the biggest purchase you will ever make and yet people want a cheap job done. You get what you pay for.

I used a local firm some years ago, as did the lady I was buying from.

There was certainly no good service from either, so in my case using a local firm made no difference- the service could not have been worse- four months for a no chain sale, no leasehold.

@WhispersAnonymous they shouldn't really use the same solicitors as you - it's a conflict of interests, although sometimes they do allow two different solicitors within the same firm to act if they are not working closely together.

@WhispersAnonymous fingers crossed the new conveyancer will sort everything out much quicker for you! @Barton10 I know. Lesson learned! Unfortunately in our case they were no cheaper than a local firm.

Hi, we made the mistake of using DC law and we have had a hellish time. Never use either purple bricks or DC law again. Horrendous.

Our buyer is using DC Law and it's been hellish. Our original target completion was 11th Dec then after two bumps it was last Friday. Then they just didn't answer any calls or emails to Purplebricks, our solicitors or the buyers after the festive break. We are all in limbo and our onward purchase is due to complete at the end of this week so I have no idea what to tell our seller now. We have already had to relocate due to the delays so temporarily with in law's our 8 week old and 2 year old. At breaking point with it all and just don't know what else we can do to move things along. Don't understand why purplebricks are still recommending these people its so bad for their rep. I certainly won't be using them again or recommending!