120 reviews (4/5) and information for Cook Taylor Woodhouse Limited, Eltham

15/01/21 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Absolutely shocking service. Avoid at All costs. You are not treated as a human being but as just another file. No empathy or humanity, the conveyancing executive (in other words legal secretary) was inexperienced, lacked legal knowledge, unprofessional and in the end made the transaction personal. Obstructive at every aspect. Never answer the phones, rarely answer e-mails and the Directors are no better. For sake of sanity avoid like the plague!

Was this review helpful?  
43   30

Respond   Report abuse

31/12/20 - Reviewed by Anon

Absolutely awful company. Avoid at all costs. They acted on behalf of our buyer and the next time I sell or buy a house I will be asking who my buyers or sellers are using & if it’s CTW we will be walking away. They turned a reasonably stressful experience into a living nightmare. The original completion date was scheduled for October 5th, we finally completed on November 27th, after accepting an offer in June! They don’t answer phone calls or emails, they
don’t communicate. They told my solicitor in June the name of their solicitor dealing with the purchase of our property, we found out in October that she had been on Furlough since February and instead they were using a secretary called Meg Morris to do the conveyancing for our buyer. Avoid Meg at all costs. At one point, out of pure frustration at the lack of communication and several missed exchange dates I threatened to put my house back on the market, they 100% did not care. They gave poor or no advice to their client. I cannot stress enough the fact this company just do not care, everything in our chain was done to their agenda, their benefit and I’m not talking about their client here, I’m taking about them. They wouldn’t even respond to their client. Even on the day of completion, they dragged their heels to the point our solicitor had to serve them notice, we eventually completed at 17.10 hrs, our seller then had a very nervous 30 mins (it was a Friday) where they almost didn’t complete being faced with being homeless for the weekend with their worldly belongings in 2 vans. The reviews on here are quite surprising with lots similar to mine, the company I recognise and those very short ones praising individuals by name. If you’re still reading this I think I’d take those with a pinch of salt. My solicitor is reporting them and I’m reporting them to the ombudsman, if I had any legal recourse against them I would be exercising it. It’s all history now, but I want to help others, avoid them like Covid and ensure your prospective buyers and sellers are not using them, if they are, request they change or walk away.

Was this review helpful?  
46   43

Respond   Report abuse

06/11/20 - Reviewed by Disappointed

The service is bad and inexperience staff caused the delay in my selling process. It took me from June till now Nov 20.. The buyer wanted to disburse money, my solicitor still on hold it! Covid is stress period but Cook Taylor made me more stress than covid!

Was this review helpful?  
45   30

Respond   Report abuse

04/08/20 - Reviewed by Wen

The service we received was absolutely awful. Communication non existant. Time taken to do anything was ridiculous, even allowing for COVID. Wish we had not used them , would not recommend to anyone.

Was this review helpful?  
35   34

Respond   Report abuse

12/06/20 - Reviewed by Vlad

Worst service you can receive from a company ever! We contracted them in January and still have no replies to our enquiries. No one answers calls or emails and when they decide to send 'stuff' over there are no decent clarifications and we realised they omitted numerous critical questions/enquiries. DO NOT RECOMMEND!

Was this review helpful?  
38   24

Respond   Report abuse

05/06/20 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Appalling. They’re delaying the progression of our house sale and holding up the chain. Avoid at all costs.

Was this review helpful?  
48   28

Respond   Report abuse

30/05/20 - Reviewed by Anonymous

The service provided by CTW has been woefully inadequate. Their quotes are accompanied with bold statements like “We offer a highly efficient service so that you can relax and enjoy a modern approach to conveyancing” and “We know a Big investment deserves the best service so you will get continuous support”. Don’t believe any of it, the experience dealing with this firm has been anything but.

The do not pick up their phones and they do not respond to voicemails. They do not respond to emails or even read emails sent to them. They only contact you when they are eventually ready to ask you to sign the next document. They ask for information already provided. They lost my hand delivered signed contract for my purchase.

They tell you’ll have 24 hour online access 24 hour online access “which will give you a full picture as to all the activity including what has already been completed and that which remains outstanding. This will allow you to see a clear picture of where your purchase is in real time”. The system is so basic it gives no meaningful picture, and it has not been updated once in the four months dealing with them. I have been completely blind to where I am in the process and the only updates have come via the estate agent.

If this firm is recommended to you by an estate agent, it is only due to the kick back they receive. If you want to stay sane during your property transaction, you are best to avoid this firm.

Was this review helpful?  
35   32

Respond   Report abuse

30/04/20 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Buying a house is stressful enough, buying a house during the COVID-19 crisis is even more stressful. Cook Taylor Woodhouse has made the process 100 times more stressful then it needed to be. They don’t answer emails or answer the phone. They don’t even inform you that the solicitor appointed to you has been furloughed. No advice given, they just ignore you. I finally ended up talking to a supervisor and she was so rude to me she left me in tears! All I wanted is an update on my file, there is no need for the rudeness of the staff that works there! Do yourself a favour and appoint different solicitors, I wish I had!

Was this review helpful?  
47   27

Respond   Report abuse

28/04/20 - Reviewed by Anonymous

ZERO STARS

No reply to email, not returning urgent messages I am leaving since yesterday.
I am about the lose my mortgage because of how long they are taking to confirm a letter of two sentences to my lender.
In this pandemic, they insisted a letter with a wet signature (the whole world using an electronic signature) I dropped the letter myself to avoid delays by the post
It has been with them for 6 days they confirmed that the letter is with them within hours but don't confirm content to my lender.

Was this review helpful?  
51   19

Respond   Report abuse

17/04/20 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Terrible. No reply to emails. No answer to calls. Nearly lost property because of how long they took. It’s also very worrying when you have to tell your solicitors they have forgotten half of the searches they should be doing - that’s what you pay them for right? Pay a bit more and use someone reliable.

Was this review helpful?  
45   20

Respond   Report abuse

02/04/20 - Reviewed by Anonymous

If I could give zero stars I would. Avoid at all costs! These were recommended to us by the estate agent dealing with our purchase, and I wish I had researched the firm before instructing them. All the reviews that state that they do not answer the phone, do not keep your updated on your case and the staff being rude and lazy are all true. Most shockingly the so called supervisor is the worst out of all of the staff there!

Was this review helpful?  
47   29

Respond   Report abuse

20/03/20 - Reviewed by M.C.

My opinion through personal experiance. Absolutely terrible. Either incredibly slow or just don't bother to return calls. Can never get through to them. Rude Superior member of staff N..... ...... should be ashamed of herself. Superior !!! Ha. They do not listen to the people who are paying them their wages. I think they are above everyone else that think they know it all I'm quite clearly they don't. They don't explain things they are not helpful. My advice, try someone else. check out other reviews on them like Google. I wish I had.

Was this review helpful?  
34   21

Respond   Report abuse

08/11/19 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Very rude staff, completely lack of interest with dealing with former clients. Kim Beattie was very impatient and very unprofessional with her approach and appeared annoyed when seeking advice. Considered reusing services but will now decline giving further business to CTW based on this

Was this review helpful?  
50   35

Respond   Report abuse

18/06/18 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Very unprofessional, not responding back to emails

Was this review helpful?  
45   23

Respond   Report abuse

06/06/18 - Reviewed by Anonymous

One star is one star too many. Communication is the worst from any solicitor I've ever had the misfortune to work with.

Was this review helpful?  
55   36

Respond   Report abuse

22/03/18 - Reviewed by Matthew

I have recently sold a property using CTW, their service I received was diabolical, and incompetent beyond belief. Asking the same questions time and again, mislaying documents, never being able to speak to my assigned conveyer, and calls never returned. A simple enquiry with Land Registry took an age, and I was not keep up to date with progression. Today having chased 3 times since completion in early January I have been sent important Probate and freehold/leasehold company documents in a very old fragile envelope that has split and had to be placed in a plastic bag by Royal Mail to secure the contents. Everything with them was a drama, even the supervising solicitor was a nightmare calling me 'mate' when I made a complaint . Glad to say I will never have to deal with this dreadful company again, good riddance.

Was this review helpful?  
58   31

Respond   Report abuse

01/12/17 - Reviewed by Ian

Worst company to deal with. Never pick up the phone and never call you back. I felt like I was working for them rather than they did. Most shockingly Robinson Jackson recommended it. No chance I will use again.. no chance..

Was this review helpful?  
41   26

Respond   Report abuse

08/11/17 - Reviewed by Anonymous

We nearly lost our buyers because our solicitors delayed things so much through their lack of effort or urgency. Certainly wouldn’t recommend them.

Was this review helpful?  
36   25

Respond   Report abuse

08/11/17 - Reviewed by Faust

I need to offer a word of warning to people. Cook Taylor Woodhouse Solicitors often get referrals from Robinson Jackson - but beware! If you are buying or selling a property via Robinson Jackson, discount their "referral"!

Firstly, they are terrible at communicating and managing a project as personally stressful as buying or selling a house. Your timelines and their timelines are not the same. Expect poor or late communication, weirdly timed letters arriving via post or email and problems just before exchange/completion (usually a document delay) that require you to wait a few extra days.

Secondly, when you complete make sure that they actually do the basic like register information with the council etc. It was truly shocking to me that they had not done the basic things to register that I purchased the property.

Thirdly, you need to understand that CTW do not employ highly-qualified solicitors. They are a suburban soliciting firm with people who went to poor, 3rd or 4th rate, colleges for their legal education. This does not mean that they are unintelligent, just ill-educated.

Finally, expect them to be lazy getting back to you but prompt in getting money from you. CTW will suddenly shake away their laziness the very moment they need cash from you.

If you need someone to avoid, examples include Arun and Sally.

Was this review helpful?  
43   29

Respond   Report abuse

26/10/17 - Reviewed by House buyer

It’s difficult to convey our dissatisfaction with CTW, and with Amy Reehal in particular, in words. Do not listen to these fake reviews.

Buying a house is stressful enough as it is, without being allocated with a shower of amateurs like CTW and their staff with ‘law’ degrees from Kingston and South Bank. It is an absolute travesty that they are allowed to call themselves solicitors.

Any attempt on getting any kind of information from Amy was fruitless. Letters, phone calls and emails with direct questions went wholly ignored, and we had to rely on random ‘letters’ that were two or three jumps behind the last matter that we were dealing with. I only ever spoke with her once, essentially by surprising her on the phone and the attitude was very much ‘leave me alone peasant’ - most of the donkey work of actually talking to clients was left to her poor, put-upon assistant Jess.

At times we honestly felt we were part of some kind of elaborate candid-camera setup - this level of incompetence can’t really be possible from an actual ‘law firm’, surely? But there was no punchline. The joke was on us.

Cool Taylor Woodhouse are fulfilling a function that will soon be superseded by artificial intelligence, which society in general should be thankful for. We’re just gutted that we still had to shell out £1.5k to a person who could have been outperformed by a toaster. Cook Taylor Woodhouse - a sorry bunch of unprofessionals who need putting out of business. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

Was this review helpful?  
41   23

Respond   Report abuse

20/09/17 - Reviewed by Disappointed Dami

Without a doubt the 5* reviews should be checked and verified- using this company was the most stressful- the only stressful part of my buying and selling process! I got a feeling of dread when I needed to call and chase for updates, so condescending and patronising with their responses. Even via email my assigned lawyer, Andrew would never directly answer my questions or give clear details to the status of the process. I feel like they don't have to be like that but choose to be like that because they know our hands are tied and we will ultimately pay them at the end.
So sad.

Was this review helpful?  
36   28

Respond   Report abuse

15/08/17 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Our buyer is using them at the moment - their solicitor is slow. There were no enquires from the buyer until the last minute and responses were delayed or documents were lost. Those that were lost had to be provided again by our solicitor.

Planning permissions documents were confused and clearly not understood - information which is publicly visible and available on the council website weren't checked and looked at. For some reason we were had to reiterate what was already on the council website, why they couldn't do that I'll never know.

The buyer also wasted a huge amount of time and cause an incredible amount of stress regarding the electrics. Their surveyor claimed it was an unsafe installation - even though all completion certificates proved otherwise. I would have expected the solicitor to explain this to the client as it's in their best interests, but no. It needed an engineer and electrician to confirm the electrics were fine. So angry at this and the surveyor as he provided inaccurate details to the buyer - I am looking into suing them for incompetence.

Exchange of contracts were delayed because no-one else was able to handle the case in her absence. Contracts for some reason couldn't be emailed and printed by the client -
for some unknown reason. Maybe they don't know how to do this.

They were also suggested by Village Estates as they claimed they were very good and "highly recommended". Untrue I wouldn't recommend them - I'm glad I didn't use them. Village Estates and Cook Taylor must have a commission based deal between themselves.

Was this review helpful?  
33   28

Respond   Report abuse

02/05/17 - Reviewed by Lilly

I was advised by the estate agents to go for CTW and they turned out a nightmare. They never answered my phone calls, they made mistakes in the paperwork, progress was extremely slow and they were very unprofessional. I literally did all the coordinating and chasing of paperwork myself, that I might as well have been working FOR them! I made all the necessary phone calls myself. I would never ever use them ever again. I have bought and sold houses before via other more highly professional solicitors but never have I experienced such an awful and shocking service. Avoid at all costs.

Was this review helpful?  
31   32

Respond   Report abuse

22/11/16 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Similar experience to others here. Slow to answer never seem to check anything you send to them as they will ask for the same documents over and over again.

Expect you to do all the legal legwork which makes me question what you are paying them for even when you get told by people like the local authority that the solicitor would normally be involved to ensure that the correct documents are requested.

Never explain in detail your legal responsibility just constantly saying you have to pay this and you have to pay that. It would be nice to know why you are handing out hundreds of pounds to various people and why you legally have to do this.

If you use any estate agent that recommends them (usually the estate agent gets a fee for forwarding clients) I'd say look for your own solicitor and check reviews on sites like this before committing to anyone.

They have wasted time and give the most basic replies to everything never laying out what your legal responsibility is.

Was this review helpful?  
36   28

Respond   Report abuse

14/10/16 - Reviewed by Exasperated of Eltham

This company is staggering bad at even the very simplest tasks.

I needed to get my late fathers will out of storage so my elderly mother went in and asked for it. They said she didn't need it for the reason required.

I phoned them to tell them that I did indeed need it and they said she could come in and get it. They gave her a photocopy of HER OWN will.

My mum and I returned with the required id to try again.

They said that even though they knew who my mum was (she's been a client for around 40 years) they still wanted to see proof of address.

My mum returned with more id and they gave her HER OWN will again.

After speaking to them and pointing out the mistake again they told me to come and get it.

I drove straight there after putting the phone down and was told by reception that they had already given my mum the correct will......

I point out AGAIN that this was not the case and a woman called Frances came in and told me that I needed more ID.

At this point I was ready to blow a fuse.

She made return to my car to get my driving licence.

The whole set up is a complete shambles, no one knows what on earth is going on. Customer service is negligible.

Avoid at all costs.

Was this review helpful?  
35   33

Respond   Report abuse

12/08/16 - Reviewed by Dissatisfied customer

Poor customer service, poor communication, always chasing them up to do their job. I feel as if I have done all the calling and chasing up. Not sure what I have paid them for.
Their electronic system is pathetic and completely useless. They claim that their letters are sent by 1st class and each time we had to wait for up to a week for correspondence to reach us.
Avoid unless you thing that buying or selling a house is not stressful enough and you are looking to have incompetent bunch looking after your affairs.

Was this review helpful?  
38   31

Respond   Report abuse

24/06/16 - Reviewed by Nick

Used Nimmi Pabla for the sale of a property.
Forever chasing her up for answers, forever waiting for replies to emails and always listening to her voicemail through her not answering the phone.

The best bit.... When paying for a bank transfer of funds owed to my self following completion, the accounts department managed to send my money to account I didn't own. Ridiculous.

Please use Cook Taylor woodhouse if you don't mind doing the ground work for a sale or purchase yourself and are willing to donate your money to a random bank account.

Avoid!

Was this review helpful?  
29   29

Respond   Report abuse

14/05/16 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Poor service I would not recommend using them for conveyancing - they asked me to pay for things when I'd already paid, asked for documents we'd already sent days before. Customer service was poor, we felt patronised and like they couldn't be bothered to answer our questions. I wouldn't recommend this company. I felt that one property we had that fell through would have been resolved a lot earlier if CWT had been more responsive and effective.

Was this review helpful?  
39   35

Respond   Report abuse

13/04/16 - Reviewed by Anonomous

Stay away from these solicitors at all cost. They are incredibly inefficient and near impossible to get hold of. It has been mentioned that they give estate agents back-handers for work, which is the only way they get clients, definitely not by good customer service.

Was this review helpful?  
39   23

Respond   Report abuse

14/01/16 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Poor poor communication. They are awful

Was this review helpful?  
27   28

Respond   Report abuse

20/03/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Having been recommended to use Cook Taylor Woodhouse Solicitors by the Estate Agent that I was purchasing from I have to report that I would definitely NOT recommend them. My paperwork moved from Eltham to Dartford and I had to continuously chase them up to get things done. I know of two other people
who also experienced problems and even the initial quote for the conveyancing work was much lower than the final invoice. Far better to use a company that has been personally recommended (not by an Estate Agent) and save yourself the stress and cash that I experienced.

Was this review helpful?  
33   36

Respond   Report abuse

19/03/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

This company were conveyance's for our buyers. They consistently failed to communicate vital information. They failed to return search information until day of exchange which meant exchange could not happen. They further requested additional time when arranging completion date 'just in case' or in other words in case there is something else we realize we have neglected to do. Overall very disappointing and frustrating experience.

Was this review helpful?  
31   27

Respond   Report abuse

14/12/14 - Reviewed by Shocked customer

Absolutely SHOCKING service! My advise, make sure you check your invoices. I will never use them again and will make sure I pass the message to others. My estate agents were brilliant and I don't think they should recomend this company.

Was this review helpful?  
37   25

Respond   Report abuse

27/06/14 - Reviewed by Stressed and disillusioned user of CTW

A shocking service, emails, calls never answered and a struggle to arrange an appointment. On the day of exchange our solicitor was on holiday and hadn't responded to any of the buyer's solicitors questions. As a result we couldn't exchange and still cant! This came as a shock as we had understood legal questions had been dealt with right at the beginning. I had to personally gather all the necessary information, requesting our estate agent to send me the buyers solicitors questions otherwise nothing would have been achieved. Everyone - estate agent, council lawyer, buyers solicitor and friends were all telling me my solicitor needs to speak to the other solicitor and gather the necessary info. As much as I tried this just didn't happen. We are now likely to loose our on going purchase as we still cant exchange due to the legal questions not being dealt with on the sale of my property. I wouldn't want to wish this experience upon anyone so AVOID CTW!

Was this review helpful?  
33   26

Respond   Report abuse

18/06/14 - Reviewed by Tiredand stressed

Please think twice about using this solicitors. The person I dealt with expected me to chase everything and do the job I was paying them to do. Nearly caused me to loose the house I was buying due to laziness and disinterest. But I suppose as long as they get paid, they don't really care. That is the only thing they were quick to do, ask for money...

Was this review helpful?  
30   32

Respond   Report abuse

15/01/14 - Reviewed by Anonymous

I have given this solicitor 1 star because there isn't the option to give none.
The person who was assigned to process our property purchase was not only rude and inefficient but also went on holiday on the day of our completion without telling us. When we called because he was ignoring our emails he would be short and exasperated with us.
Our flat took three and a half months to go through when neither party was in a chain. Believing this to be as straight forward a process as a house purchase can be we handed in the notice on our rental flat (expecting to have completed within 3 months) and then almost ended up homeless (luckily we were able to extend our rental agreement for two weeks. The reason it took so long for us to exchange and complete is because our solicitor never chased the vendor's solicitor until we started calling or emailing to remind him of what he still needed. He also forgot to send us various forms to sign and return - the last time was three days before our exchange date! Then on the day of completion we called to make sure all was going smoothly and he had taken a day off without saying anything. Another person helped us because they had lost our payment and hadn't checked with the bank to see if it was being processed. We did finally get there but it was a more stressful than necessary process.
All in all, find another solicitor because you couldn't do worse than Cook, Taylor Woodhouse.

Was this review helpful?  
34   41

Respond   Report abuse