"Clueless and aloof throughout the…"

Clueless and aloof throughout the entire purchase. I then had an email afterwards saying a piece of paperwork of missing- having already completed. Incompetent.

"Lack attention to detail"

I used Direction Law for both my original purchase of a shared ownership property and then the staircasing transaction last year.
Both transactions were initially straightforward. I had numerous different contact and the file was passed from person to person and I never knew who was owning it, but I was kept up-to-date during the process and it completed on time.

Unfortunately, I've come back to review with only 3* as I am now selling this property using another conveyancer who has unearthed a number of paperwork errors made by Direction Law in the Land Registry filing which are holding up my current sale.

I've been asked by neighbours if I'd recommend them for their staircasing, and now I would struggle to do so. Let's see if they respond to my current conveyancers with any urgency.

"AVOID"

AVOID. Disgusting and awful company who took my money and did not register my home on the Land registry for over two years! Hard to get thru the phones and no option to raise a complaint. They shall not be practising law as they are full of unlawful people themselves.

"Horrible service - avoid definitely. All bad reviews are true!"

Avoid this bunch of solicitors. All the bad reviews you see here are very true.
We had a really stressful time dealing with them between August and November 2023. They responded to emails when they wanted. They rudely gave instructions here and there, failed to answer calls, and had even refused to have a video call with us. They even refused to meet with us one day when we traveled all the way to their office in Wells (3.5 hours) to discuss and resolve the issues. They did not even offer us a seat in their reception! But kept me, my wife, and daughters standing at the door in the cold for over 30 minutes!
Eventually, we terminated our engagement with them, got another solicitor and we have now completed the purchase.

"Personally wouldn't use this company…"

Personally wouldn't use this company again. If you like to speak to your case worker on the phone especially during a scary time of buying a house it won't happen unless you go through the receptionist. This was also the same with the compliance team who check your documentation. Professionals just respond to emails, albeit usually within 24 hours which was positive. I was also sent an incorrect Lease with information that would of caused me to pay more rent and I was the one to find the mistake. Just felt a bit worried using them during the process and not very re-assured considering the amount of money I incurred to pay them for work.

"Impossible to reach out to their staff"

Impossible to reach out to their staff. Called the reception several times in order to speak to Rebecca and Tamlyn but have never been able to reach them at all. Wrote them a couple of emails, not getting a reply at all. I wonder if their people are actually working.

"I WOULD AVOID AT ALL COSTS"

I transferred funds to cover service charges, electricity, and energy as part of the completion process. However, these charges were later deemed inaccurate by the housing association, necessitating a refund. For the past seven months, my solicitors and I have diligently pursued the return of these funds, yet they either deflect our inquiries or fail to respond to our emails. Given this experience, I would never consider utilising their services, and I would actively avoid any involvement with them in future transactions. Their lack of responsiveness and accountability has caused considerable frustration and inconvenience, and I have no confidence in their ability to handle any future dealings effectively.

"Awful service- couldn’t care less "

Awful service including delays , administrative errors and lack of response.
We used them to buy a shared ownership property and was impressed with their reasonable quote and recommendation on the share to buy website.
Delays include asking for our mortgage offer 6 weeks after it was uploaded to their portal- what were they doing during those’6 weeks? They got names and dates of birth wrong, missing people off of the inhabitants list. Then sending mortgage paperwork to the wrong address after we had to move out of our previous property as the sale wasn’t completed in time - amongst many others.
Constant excuse of ‘waiting on searches’ or ‘waiting for enquiries’ but no information on what they were waiting for until I asked and got a list to send to the housing association solicitors myself. Seems we had to chase a lot of stuff ourselves and push them for completion dates .
To top it off we made a formal complaint and didn’t get a reply within the 8 week period - despite my emailing to ask for information on how complaint was proceeding. On the final day they replied and promised to get back to us in 3/4 days and never did ! We have now passed complaint to the ombudsman.
Avoid at all costs

UPDATE Sept 24:
Made formal complaint with Ombudsman who are proceeding with their investigation. This firm didn’t even respond to the ombudsman’s initial enquiries so have now progressed complaint to next level !

"AVOID AT ALL COSTS"

Had the most awful experience with this solicitors just under 2 years ago whilst buying our new build home. Raised our concerns multiple times without response or success and have since had to return to them about their poor representation and not picking up very specific areas of failure. This evening I have received a response from Andrew Theoff, a supposed Partner who has been nothing but patronising and presumptive. Our issue stems from the fact that as experts they have failed to notify us of key information but have chosen to totally ignore this and the impact it has had and kept us waiting 3 months for a response that is less valuable that the qualifications these people hold. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

"Horrific - avoid at all costs"

Horrific - avoid at all costs.
The whole experience from start to finish was awful. We had no communication with our case handler who disappeared and continued to ignore calls and emails. We didn’t complete on the day we expected as she left it until that morning to request funds from our lender - continuous delays throughout the process.
We spent endless money on next reg postage of documents that were requested weeks late.
Our estate agent advised us we were not the only ones having issues with the same solicitors and this seems to be an ongoing issue.
The whole process tarnished our experience of buying our first home. I submitted a complaint on 24th October and have not had any response to this.