Don't use Hammonds Direct

The buyers of our house have instructed Hammonds Direct to act on their behalf. Hammonds Direct are a volume conveyancing firm and it is now clear three months into the sale that they are overworked and/or incompetant.

As I write we are waiting to exchange contracts but our solicitors cannot get through to Hammonds as their lines are busy because it is the last day of the month.

This is the latest in a catalogue of errors, in reverse order:

• We are now on our fourth and final completion date and are waiting to exchange contracts a full three months after accepting the offer. The chain is very simple, our buyers are first time buyers who are renting, the vendors of the house we are buying are moving out with no onward chain. That's it, three solicitors involved. Two of them competant, Hammonds Direct are not.
• Yesterday was our third completion date to fall through. On Monday all parties were ready to exchange until Hammonds realised that their clients (the buyers of our property) had not signed the contract they returned - not their fault, they're first time buyers - Hammonds should have instructed them clearly. So on Monday they sent them a new contract from Bradford to Reading. Our solicitor is in Reading and had volunteered to drop a contract round to them to sign to save time, but Hammonds being a team solicitor cannot work with such innovative methods. Two days later we expect the signed contract to have arrived in Bradford but as yet we cannot get through to them and they have not acted on the contract if it has arrived.
• Last Friday Hammonds were unavailable again, so our solicitor, our estate agent and the buyers left messages. Hammonds declined to call our solicitor and instead faxed a demand for a maisonette indemnity insurance payment. Our solicitor re-sent them a copy of the letter from three weeks before agreeing to pay the charge - they had clearly lost it or overlooked it in the file.
• Last Thursday we were given our first definite completion date by Hammonds - however, this was actually our third completion date in all. It had taken them three months, tens of calls by our solicitor, estate agent and calls to the Law Society, the Halifax (the buyers lender) and direct to Hammonds to get any movement on the case. Unfortunately, the vendors of our new property couldn't move on the date we picked so it fell through.
• The three months up to last Thursday we had had various demands from Hammonds but they were nigh on impossible to contact. Our solicitor had left numerous messages and rarely got a call back in good time. The conveyancing process has been slow, ill informed and non-communicative. All from a company who state on their website

"We are recognised for our partnership approach, tailoring our technology and processes to match our clients’ needs. In this way, we help them to improve the service they offer to their customers, making the process of buying and selling a house, and obtaining a remortgage as fast and efficient as possible." http://www.hammondsdirect.co.uk/

This was a simple sale and Hammonds Direct were totally obstructive. Our opinion is that they are not set-up to process the volume of purchases that they have agreed to act on. In this regard they are grossly negligent.

We intend to take the matter up with the Law Society and Office of Fair Trading. We have incurred costs in moving the removal firm dates and extended storage not counting the stress we have physically endured. This reflects badly on the Halifax who have partnered with this firm for volume conveyancing.

If you are involved in a sale or purchase where a party is using Hammonds Direct I recommend you look for an offer or property elsewhere.

EDIT: http://www.mortgageintroducer.com/story.asp?storycode=11193&sectioncode=12