"Great Service"

I used Bennett Oakley for a remortgage and the service was brilliant. Helpful staff that know their stuff. Would recommend.

"Really great team"

Really great team. Helpful kind and able to convey the issues clearly

"Our experience was great. Would recommend"

Our experience was great. Staff were professional and offered sound and helpful advice. Service we received was exactly what we required and was done in a really friendly, helpful and efficient manner. We would recommend.

"Pi$$ poor"

Pi$$ poor. I had them do a deed of trust that 2 other solicitors couldn’t make head nor tail of. Then they also made a farce of a house sale. I would not recommend

"I have just sacked this firm as my…"

I have just sacked this firm as my solicitors. They used to have good staff but now no longer return emails or calls and are weeks and months late, then don't deliver. Avoid like the plague!

"Don't waste your time"

Don't waste your time; find someone else.
I contacted them for a simple transfer of property months ago, and it's still not done. I rarely get a response from emails, no one answers the phone. I've gone all the way into their office several times to follow up, and they usually say they will get onto it straight away. If they just told me they couldn't do this simple document from the get-go, I could have just gone somewhere else. Instead, they've wasted months of my time and I'm still in Limbo. When they do get back to me, they give silly excuses like "lots of people take holiday this time of year". It's been 4 months. EDIT: Their reply states it is because I needed to provide more documents. They only requested these two days ago (4 months into the process), all of which have now been sent on my end.

"I am extremely unhappy with the service…"

I am extremely unhappy with the service and charges that I received from Bennett Oakley. I instructed them in the "purchase" of my shared ownership property as a first time buyer on low income. Just weeks prior to completion and before the exchange of contracts, they informed me that there was a footpath that crossed my property and would need to be re-routed. I feel aggrieved that I was not told about the footpath crossing the plot that I was purchasing until a few weeks before completion and about paying for searches that did not show up the footpath that needed to be re-routed. I was told that the meeting to discuss re-routing the footpath would not be held for another 8-10 months. I was told by Bennett Oakley that the housing association would not provide me with indemnity insurance so I decided to pull out of my purchase for fear of being left with a potentially unsaleable property in the future. Bennett Oakley told me that they had done most of the work on my purchase and would be charging me accordingly. They invoiced me for 527.94 in addition to the 500.00 I had already paid to them on account. So total charges of 1027.94 were invoiced for.
As per their website, I raised my issues with them but they still continued to chase me for payment and Samuel Cash threatened to pass it to their debt collection department. I was obviously mindful of having my credit rating adversely affected by non-payment of their invoice so I eventually paid them the additional amount they were chasing of 349.54. This was only after they had started charging me interest at the rate of 8% on the outstanding monies. They even got the amount wrong that they were chasing me for!
I was asked by yourselves prior to exchange of contracts to close my Help to Buy ISA, with hindsight this should not have been done until after contracts had been exchanged. This was confirmed by the Halifax Building Society during the very lengthy process of re-opening my Help to Buy ISA, which involved many phone calls and three trips into branch to achieve this. I had to explain to yourselves that I would need a Purchase Failure Notice which you stated you had never heard of!
I have lost the following monies:
08/12/2020 Kent Reliance Admin Fee £145.00
08/12/2020 Kent Reliance Valuation Fee £200.00
08/12/2020 Opal Financials - Broker Fee £349.00
07/01/2021 Bennett Oakley Solicitors £500.00
06/04/2021 Gold Crest Surveyors £75.00
04/05/2021 Bennett Oakley Solicitors £527.94
£1,796.94
I do not feel adequate explanation and guidance was given about shared ownership leasehold property issues even though I checked before engaging Bennett Oakley to make sure that they had plenty of experience and expertise in dealing with shared ownership purchases.
I feel I have no alternative but to write this truthful review of my experience and I hope other potential clients will find helpful. I am also considering making a complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and/or the Legal Ombudsman.

"The worst communications from any firm…"

The worst communications from any firm I have ever dealt with - and that's really saying something. What an embarrassment. Total amateurs charging top prices. Never again.

Nearly every other firm I've dealt with during the pandemic have stepped up their customer service. These ineffectual part-timers seem to think they're above all that nonsense.

Awful.

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