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Six months of hell
Is PPL the worst conveyancing business in the land? Hand on heart I cannot assert this since, like most of us, I don't buy houses very often. However, it's hard to imagine that any conveyancers could be worse. Don't be fooled by the cheerful solicitor on the 'phone. They are merely a front. The real power lies with the shadowy "technical team". If nothing goes wrong with your transaction you will probably never hear of The Technical Team but, when problems arise, the friendly voice on the phone will speak of nothing else. "That's up to The Technical Team". "I'm waiting for The Technical Team". "The Technical Team will decide". The Technical Team The Technical Team The Technical Team until you want to SCREAM! So, can you speak directly with The Technical Team? HAHA, don't be silly! They lurk in the darkness and they certainly don't speak with paying clients. In fact escalation of any kind is all-but impossible. They advise on their website that you complain to "The Conveyancing Manager". Well I tried: that person, if they exist, is literally impossible to track down. It began with a recommendation from my brother-in-law who had recently moved and said that PPL were fine. The problems were immediate. We were invited to book an initial appointment call. There was no availability, none. The action was still outstanding six months later. The solicitor assigned to our case (who shall remain nameless, a nice person, completely out of his depth and totally in thrall to The Technical Team) was away for two weeks. My emails went unanswered. I was asked for £400 for something I felt I didn't need. I queried it and got no response. In the end I paid so as not to risk delay (HAHA, if only I'd known!). When I eventually spoke to our solicitor he had no idea what I was talking about. He hadn't even read the emails. But then the REAL problems began. An application to The Land Registry was pending. The Technical Team refused to proceed. The vendor's solicitors were dumbfounded. "It's been submitted. It's in the queue. You can SEE it's in the queue". This went on for weeks. The Technical Team were intransigent. My wife was in tears. Eventually I approached The Land Registry directly, something that evidently never occurred to PPL. The LR were brilliant: they got back to me in less than an hour; they explained the entire queue situation; how long the queue was, and why they couldn't and wouldn't allow us to jump the queue. And, crucially, they said we should ask our solicitors why they thought this pending application was a problem. Without saying it in so many words, the LR themselves were clearly implying that PPL were wrong. Thus armed I went for PPL all guns blazing. Eventually the phone solicitor's boss called me, said they'd reviewed the case, and they were willing to proceed. Hallelujah! Problems over? Not a bit of it. A week before scheduled completion PPL demanded a document from our vendor (a housing developer) that did not exist. Everyone was dumbfounded. I insisted that, as the client, PPL take my instructions and proceed without said document; that I understood perfectly well what this meant, and I would sign any disclaimer PPL required. The Technical Team refused. Flatly refused. I approached a local firm of real solicitors for advice. They said that our solicitors should explain the risks (I understood the risks perfectly) and then SHOULD TAKE MY INSTRUCTIONS. Still The Technical Team refused. Our buyers were desperate (a young couple, heavily pregnant, and facing a £10,000 Stamp Duty hike if they didn't complete within days). In utter desperation, the day before the completion due date, I instructed PPL to break the chain. We would complete on our sale, re-direct our removers to storage, and move in with my mother. Even then, PPL insisted that we sign this instruction in blood. The next morning our vendors told us, literally as the removers were emptying our house, that they had finally received the accursed document and forwarded it to PPL. We were following the removers up the motorway when PPL finally exchanged contracts. A couple of hours later PPL completed on our behalf and helped themselves to a hefty "expedition fee" as a consequence of the unnecessary delays they had themselves incurred. Six months of hell. We had no upward chain, no need of a mortgage, and we were selling to first time buyers. Easy-peasy. SIX MONTHS, ending with desperate brinkmanship. Avoid PPL like the plague. If a new build is involved use specialist solicitors. PPL simply have no idea what they are doing.