English
Rachel
Conveyancing - would not recommend
We did not have a good experience with Peter Dunn for the sale of our property. At the offset I was concerned that our buyers may pull out so I was hesitant about instructing solicitors and potential cost implications - I discussed my concerns with Chloe in detail and felt assured that if the buyers did pull out, given that we were committed to selling, the file could simply transfer over to a different buyer. Unfortunately our buyer did pull out before any exchange and I was shocked to receive a bill for around £700 and was advised that whilst our file could be transferred to a new buyer, the fees would start from scratch (fixed fee rate of £1200). Whilst we expected some minor costs to be associated with the work completed, the amount seemed excessive and having worked in law myself, when I asked for a break down of the bill it was clear they would be billing again for work already completed, which I queried. Chloe confirmed they would reduce the bill slightly but would not move from their stance that any future work would be billed from scratch, despite initial work already being complete. I felt completely mis led from our initial conversations and when discussing costs and concerns in this regard, had she advised from the outset that this would be the case we would never have instructed them. In hindsight I should have followed the initial conversation up in writing, however I genuinely trusted Chloe as I made my concerns very clear regarding costs and she sounded genuine. If this is standard practice then I would have expected to be advised of this. They were not concerned about losing a client, which is the case as I could not continue to work with this firm who I no longer trust and who are purposely charging excessively. I would be very cautious with this firm - if our buyers hadn’t pulled out we may have been able to have a different experience, however this was out of our control and our experience with Peter Dunn added additional stress to an already stressful situation - I would not take them at their word and would ensure everything is followed up in writing to protect yourself.
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