Beyond shocking and incompetent
After the paralegal incorrectly took down our address (of course, compromising GDPR), we waited over a week before she realised this was why we had not received our documents. We were again promised they would be sent out. Finally, another week later, we received the documents. We booked an appointment to meet them in person. The paralegal emailed what we expected would be a confirmation of our appointment, however what she had emailed us was a TEMPLATE of the document she should have updated with the details of our appointment. Needless to say we were not filled with the greatest of confidence.
So, as I said, we arranged an appointment to meet with our solicitor. We did not get to meet with her, as we dealt with the paralegal whose lack of competence is beyond me. We went into the office, and she sat down and looked at us, expectantly. Having not done this before, we were waiting for her to begin the meeting with what was required from us. We looked at each other, and asked her why we were there. She kept nipping out to ask our solicitor questions. I am unsure as to why we were unable to meet her directly.
They could not cope with a simple name change and my passport being in my previous name, despite my bank account being in my current name, and a very recent DBS check (which had my previous and new name on it) and therefore rejected my photo ID. I was told I would have to renew my passport with updated details. Take into consideration that our mortgage advisor accepted these documents. My bank and the DBS also accepted these documents. I rang numerous solicitors who also said it would not be a problem, and that there were no issues with these documents. The GDPR-breaking paralegal was reluctant to even approach our invisible solicitor with additional documents I felt would contribute to their acceptance of my photo ID. Needless to say, we walked out and transferred solicitors, who, last minute on a Friday, EMAILED the required documents over and took on our case, despite an upcoming bank holiday weekend. We were told we didn't have to meet them in person, and that everything could be done online. We were sent guidelines of exactly what we would need to do, and assured that everything was in hand. We got further with them on a Friday afternoon than with Mander Cruickshank in almost three weeks.
All in all, we are about three weeks delayed with our conveyancing. We wasted time, fuel and precious printer ink, on something that has been confirmed by numerous other solicitors is NOT an issue. Should your case not be straight forward and plain sailing, I would advise you to avoid at all costs. I'm glad I did not pay their fee in advance, particularly as that is all they were seemingly bothered about, despite them saying they could not do anything until I updated my passport.
23 August 2024
Unprompted review