Foskett Marr Gadsby & Head LLP

“In summary: you will be surprised any conveyancing firm can be this incompetent.

We started the conveyancing process with Foskett Marr as we had found our dream house, and weeks onto the process we found out they were not on our mortgage lenders panel of approved solicitors (which is a requirement to complete a conveyancing transaction). So they had started work and were charging us while being 100% unable to actually complete the transaction. They tried and failed twice to be appointed onto the solicitors panel (raises questions as to why they werent up to standard but we never found out the reason why) and we were left with weeks of delay and a £1000+ bill with absolutely nothing to show for it. We had to proceed (from scratch!) with another conveyancing firm who were fantastic and actually kept us up to date proactively, and luckily got the transaction over the line. The stress this put us under is unimaginable, it also put the transaction under threat. At no appoint whatsoever did they offer any apology (nothing at all), they genuinely couldnt care less and was clear in their responses, they treat their customers with contempt. I asked to be passed over to a complaints person and was ignored, I actually had to look up their practice manager's contact details (Lynn Gooch) myself and send her my complaint. 9 weeks later and I still dont have any response to my complaint (according to their own service standards complaints take 25 working days to receive a response). I'll be taking my complaint to the legal ombudsman once I hear back from Foskett Marr, whenever that may be.

“I would not recommend Foskett Marr Gadsby & Head for first time buyers for conveyancing.

My experiences were poor, and echo the points raised by Sicong Chen and Ela about lack of financial transparency. 1. Estimates for searches were significantly lower than what either Tower Hamlets or Greenwich ended up charging (estimate of £180, actual £457 and £484). 2. Not updates on the initial estimate of fees once instructed on a particular property. 3. No updates on current outstanding balance forthcoming even when asked twice in writing. 4. No updates on process or timelines. Very little in the way of outputs were produced.