Townends - Dismal (Townends)

Member Name: manorhill

Product:	Townends
Date:	11/09/07 (146 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: usefully located

Disadvantages: As a buyer, you're just a cost of sale to these people

I suppose it's in the nature of sites like this that the bad reviews tend to outnumber the good, but buying a house through Brentford Townends was such a dismal experience that I feel obliged to pass it on if only to help set expectations for others.

To sum it up in two words: spiteful and incompetent.

I suppose the signs were there from the beginning with the information leaflet containing details from a different property. The trouble really started, however, when the seller had problems getting a tenant to move out. From that point on, Townends lost all interest, leaving me sitting in limbo unable to find out whether the house was ever to be for sale. The seller himself eventually felt obliged to call.

Interest was only renewed when the problems were resolved, but only to push things forward as aggressively as possible. No help was provided with searches or advice on local environment checks; just "when are you going to close so that can we have our commission please?". The icing on the cake was when the keys to the property "went missing" after the sale was agreed while I had a decorator down from the north of England to give me an estimate. Two days later, the oh-so-professional sales agent "found" them in her handbag. Not a word of apology was forthcoming and I was made to feel that this was punishment for the delays in the sale.

Why do they tolerate such woefully petty, unprofessional and disinterested staff?

As a word of advice, I cannot recommend their conveyancer partners, Shoosmiths, either. I suppose it's my fault for doing it on the cheap - the centralise all the work at a centre in the Midlands - but you really get what you pay for with these folks. The only person you get to deal with is an office clerk. This is fine, unless things start to get complicated, at which point you're on your own. Think of them as being able to do the basic requirements of conveyancing but be prepared to become an expert yourself if you hit a complication, and you'll have it about right.

Overall: a dismal experience of slow, often inadequate service, combined with the feeling that you and your house purchase are just a huge inconvenience standing between them and their fees.

Avoid wherever possible.

Summary: Frustrating and aggravating. Prospective buyers may wish to think twice.