I chose Hek Jones on recommendation from my broker, L&C. In hindsight, I should have been more fastidious in my research.
I have found my solicitor to be unapproachable, unavailable, and on one occasion, incredibly unprofessional - making a thinly-veiled threat to drop my case should I continue to question why it has taken up to 14 days to respond to very basic questions asked via email. My solicitor’s reaction was astonishing - a woe-is-me, self-pitying email demonstrating a fragility and instability, questioning how I dare ask why the process has taken so long. All communications have been kept.
We are now in a situation where the seller’s solicitors have indicated readiness to exchange and complete. I was informed of this by my solicitor - only after having chased them up - almost two weeks ago.
Since then, we have had zero movement. No contact with either me or with the seller’s solicitors. I know this because the house I am buying currently belongs to a family member.
This process has dragged on for months. I appreciate that this is often normal but at every stage, the seller’s solicitors have been infinitely more responsive, professional and have demonstrated a willingness to move the process on at every opportunity.
I cannot fathom why my solicitor at Hek Jones has consistently dragged their feet.
There is no chain, there have been few issues with the process; those which have arisen - minor issues with searches - have been responded to promptly. And yet, we have been involved in this process for almost five months now.
Not only can I not recommend Hek Jones to those going through the conveyancer selection process, I must actively recommend that you remove them from your list. This experience has made a ‘slam-dunk’ house sale a stressful and unpleasant process. I would even go as far as saying that I have rarely come across someone as ill-suited to a customer/client-facing role.
Avoid.