101 reviews (3/5) and information for Grindeys LLP, Glebe Court, Stoke-on-Trent

30/11/16 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Was recommended through our mortgage advisor, this is by far the worst solicitors ever dealt with. Do not keep in contact with any of the parties involved, never meet there own deadlines. Never answer the phone, especially bad service noted from Sharon green, never in and hardly ever calls back despite several promises to do so!!! Stay away from this company if you want to actually get anything done!

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25/10/16 - Reviewed by Bharti

I am currently in the process of buying my Right to buy property, unfortunately using this firm, I am so dissatisfied and angry. I don't get updates, my emails are ignored and it's been four months and still waiting on completion. Poor customer service.


Avoid at all cost.

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24/10/16 - Reviewed by andy

Very slow. Very rare they return calls and can never speak to the person dealing with your sale. For a straight forward house sale with no chain take 4 months is a joke

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18/10/16 - Reviewed by Hannah

I have found this service to be extremely poor. Emails have gone unanswered and ignored. False information being given numerous times to all parties involved. This process was meant to be completed 14th September, its now 18th October. Despite them being informed this is now an urgent issue, they have not seemed to take this onboard. When informed that this needs to be completed before end of October they didn't seem to care. The only time they contact is when they seem to want more cheques.
I have dealt with many solicitors before but this has by far been the worst service I have received and this company has pushed my stress levels to the limit!!

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12/08/16 - Reviewed by A.L.L

We used Grindeys to buy a property and would recommend people to avoid this company. Phone calls are never returned, emails stay unanswered. When they want money they call but try to get you off the phone as quickly as possible when they have your card details even when you are trying to ask questions. Considering that buying a house is stressful enough they do not help in the least. The secretaries try to help as you can not get through to your allocated solicitor, and it is not their fault they cannot answer questions. Pull your socks up Grindeys.

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08/08/16 - Reviewed by SC

Terrible. So uninterested, gave no advice, ignored our emails and calls and caused untold amounts of stress. Avoid at all costs

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28/07/16 - Reviewed by Charlotte Baines

I am currently buying a property and Grindey's are acting on my behalf. The deadline date for completion is the 10th August 2016 (the vendors mortgage offer runs out so we need to complete by then). I cannot stress enough how many times I have highlighted this to Grindey's but they do not seem to care. My vendors solicitors sent the replies back to the enquiries to my solicitor on the 22nd July and I am still sitting waiting and twiddling my thumbs to receive the contract to sign. Every time I call them and ask if they have checked the replies I get 'this takes time'. How can checking through replies take up to 6 days?? They will do anything to get you off the phone (if they ever answer). I will be taking this further if they do not make my deadline and we lose the property due to this.

If you have the choice of picking your own solicitor when purchasing a property I would advise you to stay clear of this company. They are useless and do not care about their customers deadlines.

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10/06/16 - Reviewed by In Staffordshire

The most incompetent and frustrating group of solicitors I have ever encountered. Avoid them. They delay responses to build their bills. They provide contradictory information. Save yourself heart ache and find someone esle

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04/03/16 - Reviewed by Alex

We are currently using Grindeys for their conveyancing service. The understanding of any urgency & customer service seems to escape them completely!!! We have a tight deadline to adhere to otherwise we have to pay additional fees to a 3rd party. 3+ months down the line on a small 3 chain transaction & we're now waiting on a certificate that should have been obtained when we originally bought the house 18 months ago... They were our solicitor for that transaction too!! We have to continuously chase them for any sort of update on our transactions. Frustrated, angry & upset doesn't start to explain how we feel... avoid at all costs, we definitely won't be using them again!!

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04/03/16 - Reviewed by Spencer

Awful. The worst customer service I have ever experienced. They made the whole process so much more stressful than it should have been and I will never, ever use them again or recommend them to anyone

Genuinely disgraceful company

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12/01/16 - Reviewed by Alex Evans

We have had to use Grindeys re a remortgage application with Bank of Ireland. I have to agree with all points here regarding their appalling 'customer service' and lack of communication. Firstly, a request to 're-set' their online questionnaire as requested by our financial planner was ignored, although my query regarding this (emailed 14th December, responded to on 17th December - 4 days to answer a question marked as 'urgent') was the only email/call to date that has been answered. Calls and emails from both my wife and I regarding queries on certified documents and buildings insurance schedules (which was posted to them, but according to the Bank of Ireland still outstanding) have been utterly ignored, only some concerted efforts from our IFA elicited any response from them, but we have still had zero confirmation as to the suitability of documents emailed to them a week ago. They seem to have no sense of urgency whatsoever.

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17/12/15 - Reviewed by Sick of these idiots

What a pack of monkies. We lost our house purchase after being forced to use these people by the bank of Ireland.
DI NOT USE THESE PEOPLE IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN SAIN.
13 weeks of being ignored. Rude phone receptionists. Jane and Dylis are so used to pissing people off its easy to them.
I repeate do not use these arse holes.

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14/12/15 - Reviewed by Anon

I am a property solicitor. I too have had problems with this firm and my own clients have had to pay the price for their buyers'/ sellers' cheap conveyancing job. Having seen what this firm charges for its conveyancing service, I don't know why people are surprised that the service they have received is less than optimal.

Competition has forced down fees but this has been achieved by employing semi qualified or less experienced and less well paid staff who take on an unmanageable caseload and turn it over as quickly as possible. Staff are under pressure, cut corners and do not have the time to communicate with their clients as they would like. Instead of the emphasis being on providing a thorough professional service, they work on a wing and a prayer and factor in the cost of paying out for errors through insurance. It's bad for the profession and it's very bad for clients.

A straightforward sale will take around five hours of my time; £900 plus VAT and disbursements and this is what people should expect to pay but everyone wants a Rolls Royce service at Aldi prices these days. Unrealistic expectations are a recipe for disappointment for everyone.

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01/12/15 - Reviewed by Pupper

Utterly appalling. The worst service I have ever received. I urge anyone reading this not to use them - have a look at other review sites online and you'll get an idea of how poor they treat customers. It's just not worth the stress

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24/11/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

I would not recommend. I agree with a previous comment that the firm made you feel like an inconvenience when queried how the sale was progressing (an email every three weeks or so, hardly daily hassling). These emails were only sporadically answered. The solicitor was slow, disorganised and I feel like I have been let down by the service. I am a first-time buyer, on my own, which is a pretty overwhelming experience; but I did not feel in any way supported throughout it. I would have been clueless over the delays if it hadn't been for a solicitor friend of mine who was able to give me reasonable timeframes for when to expect things done by.

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11/11/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

The level of service I received was unacceptable. I have bought a number of properties and feel I understand what I need to do, but there were mistakes in the paperwork. I had to make 20 phones before I spoke to anyone about my conveyancing, even then I could not speak to the correct person. I was also given incorrect information and they are considerably more expensive. Whilst I do not wish to put anyone off using them, please check them out before you commit. My experience may have been isolated, but I feel it may not be.

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11/11/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

The level of service I received was unacceptable. I have bought a number of properties and feel I understand what I need to do, but there were mistakes in the paperwork. I had to make 20 phones before I spoke to anyone about my conveyancing, even then I could not speak to the correct person. I was also given incorrect information and they are considerably more expensive. Whilst I do not wish to put anyone off using them, please check them out before you commit. My experience may have been isolated, but I feel it may not be.

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11/11/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

The level of service I received was unacceptable. I have bought a number of properties and feel I understand what I need to do, but there were mistakes in the paperwork. I had to make 20 phones before I spoke to anyone about my conveyancing, even then I could not speak to the correct person. I was also given incorrect information and they are considerably more expensive. Whilst I do not wish to put anyone off using them, please check them out before you commit. My experience may have been isolated, but I feel it may not be.

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25/08/15 - Reviewed by Disgusted!

Locally Grindeys Solicitors are thought of as being professional they are from this.

They are slow and inept and if questioned regarding your dealings with them they make you feel like an imposition and they are “The Professionals and know what they are doing.” which we found quite condescending.

On passing over documents, the receptionist rang for someone to collect this and said “Miss Xxxx” the secretary on the other end of the phone gave my first name: it appears we are a marked couple.

Like other reviewers we have had lost documents, and information not being passed to third parties.
If you have to deal with these solicitors ensure you:
1) Keep copies of all documentation you pass over
2) Notate all correspondence dates and times of telephone calls or paperwork given to them, if posted send it recorded delivery (we did this and they still denied receipt)
3) bcc copies of emails sent to a trusted third party – e.g. a family member, financial advisor just to confirm you sent them

Avoid this company at all costs, all the 1* reviews can’t be wrong, very, very poor service.

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24/08/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Agree with all the other one star ratings. Poor communication. Incompetence - stating documents have not been received when they had, stating they would post documents then not bothering to do so. Added massively to the stress of moving. Don't bother with your standard response, Eileen Banks. Empty words.

Avoid this firm at all costs!

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24/07/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Terrible. Utterly terrible. I thought solicitors were professionals? Nothing professional about this outfit. Unbelievably slow and impossible to contact. They never update me with details of my conveyancing and when trying to contact them, they never answer their calls. When you finally get through to their answer phones it's never of the person you are trying to contact.
I am not in a chain and neither is the seller. What is wrong with these people?

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10/02/15 - Reviewed by Anonymous

By far the most incompetent solicitors I have ever come across. They are currently dealing with my late mothers estate and it has been a disaster from start to finish. Completely incompetent and disorganised. Even simple administration tasks seem to be a challenge for them (at one point they actually miss placed the death certificate and were unable to locate it in there offices. Slightly worrying to say the least) completely incapable AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

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19/12/14 - Reviewed by JFE

Grindeys acted on my sale and purchase. The sale was a lengthy process, hardly rare, and the buyers solicitors and my estate agents became pretty irate, but my paralegal from Grindeys assured me she was doing all she could and each delay was firmly layed at the door of someone else. It wasn't until my purchase that I started to feel the brunt of the extreme incompetence and appaling service of Grindeys. There was no chain, no mortgage, no survey with this purchase, but it took 5 months and 1week to complete, I nearly lost the property on several occasions. There was a period of just under 3 weeks when I had no response at all from the para legal dealing with the purchase, despite emailing or calling at least once a day. I was passed to another paralegal twice during the purchase without being told that I would be dealing with someone new first. On one occasion I had to email the manager simply to get a response from the person I was dealing with. Perhaps the worst of it is that I paid extra to have Grindeys manage the legalities of me taking over existing tenants in the property, (this was agreed at the beginning before I realised their incompetence) they did nothing! No new contract was issued and the deposit was not transferred. Luckily the tennants are reasonable people and we are trying to sort this out, but I now have no deposit protecting my property. The basic lack of care and professionalism are challenging enough, but their legal incompetence is to be avoided at all cost. Avoid!

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19/11/14 - Reviewed by Anonymous

After reading the other one star reviews I echo the frustrations experienced when using this firm of solicitors however I have sold a property and the purchaser used Grindeys. My warning is to be careful if the person purchasing your property is using Grindeys as this will add on considerable time to reach the exchange of contracts and completion. We nearly lost the property we were buying due to the slow pace of Grindeys who never responded to our solicitor. Inevitably there is always a chain of buyers and sellers but if your purchaser is using Grindeys then everyone in the chain suffers so beware.

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31/10/14 - Reviewed by Anon

I have to agree with so many other people on here - Grindeys are terrible. I wish I'd read these reviews before instructing them.
I constantly have to chase them - things only move another inch further along if I call and nag. I haven't had any excuses as other people have; my contact can't even be bothered to offer any. I can almost hear her shrug on the other end of the phone as she again says 'I don't know' to all my questions.
Quick to blame everyone else for the lack of movement, but no help is forthcoming.
Will never recommend them, or use again.

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23/07/14 - Reviewed by Disgruntled Customer

Shocking slow service. Bad attitude from the egotistical paralegal. No concept of deadlines and timescales. Failed to advise us correctly. Best avoided at all cost.

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25/04/14 - Reviewed by Matthew

I was assigned these solicitors by HSBC since I don't have a choice and they are on their panel. From what I can say I was unable to call them - phone never gets picked up. I emailed them many times, they reply very rarely. I have pretty bad feeling about using them since they are pretty much ignoring me (and others probably too). My old solicitors were great - always on the phone, always prompt response but unfortunately I can't use them due to HSBC rules. Disappointed!!!

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01/04/14 - Reviewed by Anonymous

It would be nice to get a reply on an email rather than being ignored, surely the positive comments on here are fake. I am in the process of buying a house and I switched to Grindey's as they were part of the board for the West Bromwich, I have now changed to a Nationwide mortgage but due to having paid Grindey's some money I have stuck with them. Big mistake.

They respond when you to call them, only to say no movement, however I work in an open plan office and cannot be calling them every day. They do not respond to emails.

I have listed myself as anonymous as don't want the service to be any worse. I despair of this company. Shocking.....

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22/10/13 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Family members have recently come into contact with Grindeys and I would urge prospective clients to read the numerous one star reviews carefully!! I would echo the various comments that state recurrent poor communication, unanswered phone calls/emails and delaying tactics. An otherwise mild mannered, reasonable family member has been driven to near despair by the delays to an 'uncomplicated' house move caused by terrible communication and at times unprofessional behaviour!
With the stress and cost involved with a house move, I would strongly advise against employing the services of Grindeys having observed the frequent disappointment and frustration they bring!

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10/07/13 - Reviewed by Rebecca Thomas/Christopher Phillips

Currently in the middle of buying my first property (was appointed this firm through my mortgage company) which has been dragging on for what feels like a million months & nowhere near completion! I'd firstly like to emphasis their complete lack of communication. I am made to feel like a nuisance when phoning to enquire about the current status of my case. You have to ring/email on a daily basis only to be informed that yet again no progress has been made. They make errors which delay the process further & waste your time. For example, they performed the enviro, full flood & planning search on THE WRONG PROPERTY then had the cheek to say 'don't worry we won't be charging you for this.' If anything, they should be offering me discount for wasting my time & the added stress of trying to sort it out! I also received a phone call back (shock horror!) to be informed that they were still waiting on the local authority search. I then had to tell them, what are you talking about I have already received the local authority search via LMS and have emailed it to my estate agent & solicitor (basically doing the assistants job!). She then said 'hang on let me check, oh yes it is there isn't it!' I felt like I knew more than her. Please check before ringing your clients Grindey's because it makes you look incompetent! Forms were sent to me incomplete & the deeds were missing from documents in the post that said they were included. I have phoned twice asking for these to be sent separately and have also asked in email format and I still haven't received anything 3 weeks later. Considering solicitor fees are extortionate I would expect a far superior service. I have even considered changing solicitor half way through what is already a stressful enough process! I often ring my estate agent and they tell me that they can't get through to Grindeys, all they get is voicemail. I just want this process to be completed so I never have to ring again! DO NOT USE!

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20/06/13 - Reviewed by Anonymous

I am sorry to say that we are very disappointed in the work done by Grindeys. During what was a very important, difficult and traumatic time for us all, it became apparent that the case was not very big for Grindeys, and as a result we were made to feel as though we were not important. There were unacceptable mistakes made which we had to point out, albeit we were told that some charges had been deducted from the invoice as a goodwill gesture. We would definitely not recommend this solicitor.

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24/05/13 - Reviewed by mrssnodge

poor service< i had to constantly chase and advise the conveyancer on what steps whould be done next- mine was a right to buy and I liaised bewtween the council and Grindleys telling each side what was expected and I found this very stressful as I was constanly chasing, emailing and calling- got done in the end then three months later got hit for an invoice due to something being 'missed off' the final total! complained but paid up as could not be bothered with further hassle- do not use Grindleys!

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07/05/13 - Reviewed by Kate Tomblin

Its such a shame people are still having problems with these solicitors. I had a hard time a couple of years ago with my own experience of using Grindeys (through our mortgage people) - slow reponses, no responses, emails never being received etc etc. Moving home is stressful enough without you having to chase someone you are supposed to have support from.

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08/03/13 - Reviewed by Scott Campbell

One small detail was not dealt with and allowed to go on for almost 3 weeks without anyone at the office being proactive and doing something. Always find myself having to prompt and push. No one ever contacts me to update on progress. All the excuses in the book have been used and then blatant ignoring of me. Highly pressured time buying a home and Grindeys have no desire to make it easy show any empathy. I was forced to use solictors by mortgage company so I will complain to them as they need to know who they are sending their clients too. Really disappointed and left feeling I have let people down yet I've done all that has been asked promptly.

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01/03/13 - Reviewed by Penny Hollands

Use a local firm. Grindeys have some major communication issues. Terrible service from the start.

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16/01/13 - Reviewed by A.nnoyed

Terrible service !Unable to contact our given paralegal ,best method of contact was email and a reply was normally given in 48 hours. We kept on receiving nag letters chaseing documents that have never been requested. Stick to you Local solicitor people theses guys are amateur

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22/11/12 - Reviewed by Anonymous

After reading the reviews here and experiencing dreadful service thus far, we are hoping to complete our conveyancing with much trepidation. I have reluctantly inserted 1 star here but they certainly do not merit this.

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29/10/12 - Reviewed by Anonymous

This lot cause more stress than they are worth, they just don't communicate. And fob you off with lies or worse still incompetence.

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15/08/12 - Reviewed by Anonymous

I was also recommended this solicitor by the Post Office so I assumed they'd be good but they were appalling. I had to chase at every step of the way, and as the first reviewer, I was asked at the last minute for the full insurance schedule and faxed it successfully 4 times before they actually managed to find it. They told me inaccurate information regarding my searches and my mortgage resulting in stress and upset that could have easily been avoided. Iended up having to call the council myself to get a clear answer. I ended up doing most of the work myself and at no time felt that I was in safe hands. If the Post Office recommends this solicitor, I advise you to ask for an alternative.

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31/07/12 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Despite having their own eta dates for parts to be completed, these were not only not kept to but took months longer than quoted, when they had any issues they didnt contact us for us to rectify this and awaited us to chase them, which we had to do on a daily basis towards the completion date. appalling overall, do not use

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21/04/12 - Reviewed by Anonymous

We went to Grindeys to have a will made, they made lots of mistake, we were not impressed.

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06/03/12 - Reviewed by Anonymous

Appalling service - used Grindeys to purchase a house after they were recommended via LMS/Post Office. Numerous issues:

- Completion contract was sent to us with amendments to major clauses, names and addresses all in pencil. We were told by legal secretary it was final version and we needed to sign. We refused to sign it. Complained to supervisor of paralegal representing us and we were then issued with a revised version (no pencil!) and some excuse about people being on holiday.
- Enhanced financial checks were carried out on my partner after exchange of contracts when it turned out someone with the same name as him but different address had been declared bankrupt. This should be done before exchange to prevent delay of completion.
- On day before exchange of contracts paralegal said we needed to send bank statements dating back 3 months for the account where our deposit had originated. We had sent them statements previously but they only bothered checking them at the last minute. Their original request letter had said recent statements were required but omitted the fact it needed to be 3 months.
- On the day of exchange, other solicitors and estate agent were unable to reach Grindeys even though they were informed what date exchange would take place. This was not uncommon, it was extremely rare for any of us to reach our paralegal. We had to continually contact her via complaining to her supervisor and that was the process we had to go through to ensure we exchanged that afternoon.
- We were required to fax a copy of buildings insurance before we could complete. We sent this 4 times over 3 days. Each time they said they had not received it (despite us getting a successful transmission confirmation) and told us to try again. We ended up complaining to the supervisor yet again about lost personal data and in the end the supervisor found the latest copy we had faxed on a machine near to her. I don't think they had even bothered looking.

Please do not use them if you need a quick service or a professional service. You may end up with a contract in pencil like we did!

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