We're having a right nightmare with getting our exchange completed. Accepted our house offer in mid-September and still no where near completion. The solicitor recommended by the estate agent are very slow at getting things done and they recently had a cyber attack which took their systems down for a few weeks which has caused a massive backlog of work for them. Even before the cyber attack the sale and purchase should have progressed further than it has but they're using it as an excuse. We had hoped to be in for Christmas but that isn't going to happen. The sales office of the new build we're buying is threatening we could lose our reservation on the plot if this drags on much longer and it's really starting to get to my partner who ended up in tears on the phone to the conveyancer today. We're stuck in middle trying to do what we can and it's causing us to get very frustrated especially when they are incredibly hard to reach on the phone.
Paperwork comes in dribs and drabs and they need the original form returned at our own cost every time and won't accept it signed, scanned and email back. Our house is leasehold and there is also a service charge on the estate which is complicating matters. It feels like it is me that is having to do the leg work for them. The buyer of our house is also using the same solicitor in the hope that it would speed the process up but it has been anything but. There's no risk yet of them pulling out of the deal as they still live at home and are a first time buyer but we're wanting out ourselves as soon as we can.
We saw the house for the first time today (bought off plan as no show home) and it just made us want to move in there and then. It's so frustrating. I guess this is the downside to dealing with online only estate agents and their recommended solicitor. In hindsight we should have gone with a trusted solicitor and paid the premium for the service provided. They're getting slated in recent reviews so they have a lot of disgruntled customers all wanting answers.
Sorry to hear of your problems. I've never heard good stories from people using solicitors recommended by the estate agent.
We were on the opposite foot with the first house we almost bought. Our vendors were using a solicitor firm attached to the estate agent they were using to sell the house. They were absolutely beyond useless, to the point we actually ended up pulling out and accepting the loss on fees paid for searches/surveys etc.