Eaton Smith Reviews 9

Sadly I do agree with a number of the other bad reviews for this company. Used these guys recently for a civil property dispute, I agree with previous comments saying "charged like a raging bull"!

Attended court on one of the occasions only for the entire day to be unrequired (but still billable to the client e.g me)

Ramped up eye watering amounts of bills for a simple case, solicitors pushed for mediation with a party that clearly did not intend on mediating, putting me on the back foot .Mediation was wildly expensive and not the route I wanted as my proposal was for us to propose a stay on the proceedings to the judge, due to preferred alternative routes being available than court. Nobody seemed to support the alternative (cheaper and less risky) routes.

Ultimately agreeing and pushing to mediate with an opposing party not willing to was just forcing yourself into giving in, which the solicitors must know from so much experience.

Backed into a corner on a strong case, when the other side refused to settle, my own legal advice was to give up even on a strong case or risk bankruptcy levels of costs (£80-120K+ was quoted).

If this was the best advice I wish I had received it at the outset before incurring £20K+ legal fees to get nowhere.

The whole legal system is rigged to extract as much money as possible from the clients in the dispute

I was charged beyond the original quote, when I brought it up I was told that the scope of the work had expanded. I thought this kind of changes should be told the clients before continuing.

I tried to raise a complaint with Phil Clarke, who is in charge of complaints. He kept hiding from me. No answer from his direct line or email.

What this company really cares about is just money. Customer satisfaction seems non-existent in this law firm.

Stay away from them.

12 Years ago Eaton Smith did the conveyancing on a property I bought. Turns out I don't own all the land (and house) I thought I did. Taken them weeks to come back to be and have to chase many times. Obviously they have denied its their fault and even had the cheek to tell me I have to pay to sort it out. Off to the solicitors ombudsman.

I used them for conveyancing. There only appears to be one part time solicitor who deals with conveyancing, this in itself delayed progress.

During the transaction, the key issues (there were many others) were that:
- They failed to communicate virtually anything, even when I sent them details and asked them to confirm they had what they needed they did not respond until I followed up a week later (on multiple occasions)
- When I got fed up with waiting for an update on searches, I asked what they were waiting for, by chance they had everything the following day!
- On multiple occasions I was promised an update the next day, but they failed to provide any update, on one occasion due “important meetings the planning for Christmas”!
- They made incorrect assumptions despite being provided information which did not support the assumptions.
- When they asked me to provide details from my Accountant I provided exactly what was requested, I was then told it was not what they needed as an email was not suitable, they needed a letter on letter headed paper.
- I was informed by 1 person that we would complete early January, then 2 hours later I was told by someone else that she wanted to complete 15 December
- I received a document with multiple errors in it.
- When things went wrong their default action was to blame the client.
- I escalated the issues to the partner in charge (Julie Bales) and asked her to address them. She never even acknowledged my communication, let alone address the issues.

I can't tell you what went wrong because, after several months Eaton Smith don't seem to be able to make a start on the matter they have been briefed on. Avoid if at all possible - it will save you time, money and effort al round!

In 2021 I purchased a property with the help of Eaton smith solicitors. I would not give a recommendation of any sort. Poor service throughout my purchase. My property is a lease hold and they failed to update the management company of my purchase. They retained the fees required by the management company around £360.00. Basically stollen. I am being charged for ground rent which the previous owner is responsible due to not correctly updating the account. I made a formal complaint and they acknowledged. But after eight weeks no response my next step is the ombudsman.
The stress this caused is unacceptable.

We've had a really poor experience with ES in their conveyancing department. I was in 2 minds whether to review them as you're just so relieved when the sale goes through you just want to forget the whole event. But I think it's important to share my experiences so others can benefit.
Initially ES were positive and responsive. They have an APP where you can track your case. All sounded good - we could keep on top of it too.
Unfortunately they sat on the case for 2 months waiting for responses from the sellers solicitor. No heads up to us that they weren't getting anything back, the seller was desperate to sell as much as we were to buy. No chain, just a simple sale. Having eventually got clarity on the outstanding queries there were 20! And we were supposed to be completing that week. We missed the first completion date and eventually had to indemnify them of any responsibility - in which case what was the point in using a conveyancer anyway? At the second attempt the property was sold but the sale price was wrong as was the spelling of the surname of the purchaser. It was laughable at this point.
I'd encourage them to change their processes immediately. Find better ways of tracking progress on a case, use the APP you have invested in to update cases, keep clients informed - no news is still news. Do the preparatory work for exchange in advance that you can so everything isn't left to the last minute.

Lacking in various ways.
I would not use again.
Matters raised met with what I can only describe as threats.

Abilities very suspect.
Dismissive of matters raised.
Response to hearing criticisms met with what can only be described as threats.