Spencer Lockwood Solicitors Reviews 362

It's taken me a while to write this review but the whole conveyancing experience with Spencer Lockwood (and Ackroyd Legal!) was bad from the start.

I was sorting out my late mother's property. The house was sold after only having it on the market for three weeks to a first time buyer with no chain.
Communications were very bad from the start - we lost one solicitor (she left after a week) and only after chasing did we find this out.

The new contact was a guy called Amritpal Panesar.
We had to constantly chase him for updates. Our buyer was keen to move in and get settled. He also had a deadline on his mortgage offer.
Weeks and months passed by and our buyer had to twice extend his mortgage offer.

One time I was actually sent the contracts for a completely different house and buyer.

We started calling on a daily basis . This would result in being put on hold and then often just cut off. Emails would go unanswered for weeks.
Then we had a bounce back email that advised us to stop chasing for an update!
Finally we got a completion date - but this was missed as Amritpal did not send over the paperwork in time .

I believe they have now closed and are trading under a new name - they have done this before.

Avoid at all costs!

My property purchase was handled by Spencer Lockwood. It was the most exhausting process. My case had to be taken over by a team leader because the initial case handler was clueless and actually just not a nice person. I have given two stars as we just about managed to complete after 6 months. However, I am back facing the same frustrations as they never sent me the post completion documents and once again no one wants to take responsibility or answer any emails. Even making formal complaints is useless as they don’t answer.

This company has closed and renamed themselves twice, they appear to be calling themselves LAW SKILLS LTD according to Companies House, this company has so many terrible experiences, i tried to contact again to get an update and now their website is down - it looks like they are rebranding again to inconvenient more paying customers. Been 8 months forced to use this company as the seller was unaware and now we are trapped incurring more expenses and useless experiences

My experience with Spencer Lockwood (and Ackroyd Legal) was terrible. Due to their incompetence during the purchase of my flat, I was threatened with legal action by my building management company—an entirely avoidable situation had they handled matters properly.
Throughout the process, I was passed from one case handler to another, with no clear point of contact or accountability. It was impossible to speak to anyone who could offer real help or information.
To make matters worse, the response to my formal complaint—sent by Peter Benjamin—was dismissive and completely inadequate. Even my new conveyancers, who had to step in to clean up the mess, struggled to obtain basic information from them. Avoid at all costs.

Would give no stars if I was able to. Lost me sale of my property due to their incompetence and lack of communication. Solicitor then conveniently had left the company when I complained. Terrible service, do not use.

This has been the worst experience I’ve had with any company. It’s nearly impossible to speak directly with anyone – you’re always met by a dismissive receptionist who refuses or is unable to connect you to your case handler.
Peter Benjamin, who handles complaints, consistently fails to respond to emails and does not adhere to the 8-week complaint response timeline. Stephen Mulonso is apparently always unavailable, and on the rare occasion you do speak to him, he makes numerous promises that are never fulfilled.
The level of customer service is extremely poor and needs serious improvement. Reception staff have been rude, unprofessional, and on several occasions have hung up the phone – I have recordings to confirm both the hang-ups and the aggressive tone used.
The complaints process is ineffective and misleading – the promised 8-week resolution period is simply not honored. I’ve now been waiting over 7 months with little to no progress on my matter. Since January, nothing has moved forward, and now the seller’s solicitors are considering withdrawing due to Ackroyd’s lack of competence in handling the casE

In November 2024 I decided to save money by using an online intermediary instead of a high street solicitor who referred me to a conveyancer. Being a cash buyer, and the seller not using an estate agent as I was already living in the flat and renting it, I was referred to a conveyancer in Rotherham(I live in Dorset) but I accepted that it was going to be cheaper. However, a building safety issue reared its head with my block being 5 floors and this meant that for some reason it was taken out of their hands and I was referred to a London firm “Spencer Lockwood Solicitors.” By now we’re in January/February 2025 so considerable wasted time. Then the new solicitor re: Spencer Lockwood Solicitors sadly had a bereavement in his family but it took more wasted time - weeks/months before I was assigned a replacement solicitor Ikram Islam but out of all this chaos, he came up trumps and did his upmost to speed up the whole process for me and by the 19th of May finally contracts were exchanged. I agree with other comments that phone call communication is below standard and extremely frustrating but Ikram always answered my emails and we got there in the end and though stressful, it was probably half the cost of a high street solicitor. I do recommend Ikram Islam and Spencer Lockwood Solicitors ….. “Thank you” Ikram for doing your very best to speed up the process.

They are absolutely useless. impossible to contact, despite the outlandish claims while you're waiting to not be connected that they're the best in the land, the customer experience is second to none, blah blah. They're terrible at communicating, reactive not proactive and we had no confidence in them at all

This incompetence of this company is absolutely astounding. They have been utterly unprofessional, disorganised and missed three deadlines to confirm exchange and completion. We are now about to miss a fourth. They cannot cover for employees who are off sick/away and have managed to drag out a chain free sale for over five months when everyone else involved has been ready for weeks.

I am the seller and this company are representing my buyer - He has reported them, e-mailed their directors, yet they still continue to conduct themselves in this very appalling way.

My customer service experience is bad. They have shown no initiative. I have been sent files in formats only they can open. In breach of GDPR rules, I have been sent documents for another client and property. They are painfully slow and the only way I have been able to progress this conveyance has been by being mean to them. I have copied every director of SL (and every director of Ackroyd Legal) into emails as the only was I can get them to do any work. My conveyance cannot be easier. It is a straightforward freehold with vacant possession and no chain. It is apparent that conveyancers are left to their own devices with no oversight and no quality control.

We were referred to Spencer Lockwood Solicitors (affiliated with Ackroyd Legal) by our property broker to manage the sale and purchase of our home. While things began smoothly—with regular updates from our original case handler—everything changed after completion.

After the purchase, communication came to a halt. We were left without updates for months, only to later find out that our case handler had resigned, and no one had been reassigned to our case. Since then, we’ve had at least two different case handlers, but the handovers have been poor and inconsistent.

We followed the complaints process and raised our concerns with the firm’s then-director, but our complaint was ignored. We later discovered that the director had also left the company, again without any notice or follow-up from the firm.

Despite being told to call early in the day, the phone is rarely answered. Emails are not responded to in a timely manner, and we’ve had to chase every step of the way just to receive basic information.

It has been almost a year now. To this day, we are still not officially registered as homeowners, which has caused us prolonged stress and delays. We’ve been unable to move forward with any home improvements, remortgaging, or even confirm our property boundaries or restrictions. Despite stressing the urgency multiple times, our concerns have gone unanswered.

We feel let down, having paid for a service that, in our experience, has not been delivered. While the initial process seemed promising, the overall handling of our case has been highly disappointing. Based on this experience, we would caution others—even if this firm is recommended by a broker—to look elsewhere for more reliable legal support.

Sale took a year to complete. Cash buyer, no chain. First conveyancer absolutely hopeless, never kept in touch and according to the second nothing done in six months, Second conveyancer went off work due to personal problems. I wrote a complaint to the address on their complaints procedure, no acknowledgement let alone a reply. After constant calls they allocated a third who actually did the job.

The fee quoted does not include anything else, they expected me to know who and what needed paying, and to do it without them telling me. I asked for a reduction in their fees due to the time taken and the treatment received. Nothing, Nada. Use at own peril, if you need a quick job, look elsewhere.

AVOID AVOID AVOID. I wish I had seen the reviews before instructing Spencer Lockwood. They don't respond to emails and are always conveniently in meetings when you call, my estate agent and the solicitors in the chain also complained how useless they were. If you can even get through on the phone you get fobbed off by reception that they're in a meeting and they've been left a post-it to call you back which never happens. I've asked repeatedly to escalate my issues to someone more senior because my solicitor was so incompetent. Customer service is zero. When my husband called up he was told 'I've spoken to your Missus' not even my name or 'our client'. Two months on from completion I am still calling weekly as my final invoice didn't match what I was quoted and I think I've been overcharged. They're probably embezzling so if you have the misfortune of using them check your invoices thoroughly! I was owed a huge refund because I had incorrectly been charged an early repayment fee on a mortgage I had ported and the wrong completion date was sent to the lender so I was wrongly paying interest on a loan for a property I didn't own yet. Ironically, they asked me to leave a review and mention their name if I was happy with my service- well Ahmed Thebo, I was not happy but I'll still name you as your employers should know just how bad you are. If Spencer Lockwood don't resolve my outstanding queries soon I'll be reporting them to the legal ombudsman. I have no clue from reading these other reviews how they are still in business. Would have given zero stars if that was an option.

Absolutely usless company.
For one year cannot proceed with lease extension.
Twice send incorrect documents, and got reply from them takes months after tones of emails and calls

Do not use this company.
Never get back to you, my property took 8 months to convey and only happened because
I called them to chase every couple of days. When it did happen, it took them 2 weeks to send me the balance back!!
Then they did not pay HMRC the stamp duty and
I was getting threatening letters from the HMRC.

Avoid, process started in January now June approaching still now completion date, regret going with this company as was trying to save some money but paid ALOT more in rent.

I cant express how bad a service they offered to the extend the deal fell through because the seller lost all patience. I tried to buy 2 leasehold properties both handled by Khushi Patel. As a cash buyer and having bought before a property in the same development i was confident to complete quickly. It took Khushi a month to confirm to the other party she was appointed my solicitor. Once she received the sales pack and draft contract she did nothing… for more than 2 months she never even raised any enquiries making the seller believe i was not interested to buy. On the other properties just before completion she said that enhanced due diligence was required for my funds. I provided the same day all answers but after 6 weeks still no decision. The Seller then gave a 72 hour deadline to complete. I then found out that Khushi had not even forwarded the mails with all my statements. I raised a complaint with the legal ombudsman and informed Spencer Lockwood. I was then told Khushi had gone on extended leave.. (after all that work she didn’t do, she clearly needed a long holiday). The new solicitor was more proactive and send the file to the compliance only to be told the next day that that person was on leave (another person that required some extended leave after all the hard work). A new person at compliance would look at my file with priority but when i tried to follow up, i was told she would be in meetings the whole day. With the dead line looming, i tried to push for an answer but the person i was told was not answering phones or emails while working remote… a few minutes before the deadline I was told compliance had more questions but couldn’t tell me which ones and from the email i afterwards got I i understand the questions I had answered weeks ago… the end result the deal fell through and only because they have been so slow. I probably sent 100 emails and only got maybe 1 email back from Khushi saying we are working on the file. I made an official complaints but never got an answer. Both estate agents told me they had never seen such poor performance. I m so sorry i used this company. Pls dont make my mistake and see your sales fall through because their negligence and incompetence .

I can't express how terrible this company is. I am on my 5th case handler for a simple lease extension. Staff seem to leave the company, no communication on why, no handover, no comms with clients. I would not use them ever again. I can't believe how badly i've been treated and how bad a service from a Solicitors or all people. Please do not use them and find a professional , company i would hate for people to go through what i have if they were buying or selling a house. ( I even went down their complaints procedure! They do no care)

Horrific and highly stressful experience in using Spencer Lockwood for both sale and purchase conveyancing. Error strewn (exs being incorrect completion statements, not filing necessary information at Land Registry); dreadful communication - I managed to speak to casehandler twice over six months, never received call backs, took 2,3,4,5 emails to garner responses; senior staff rude and with zero customer service focus- sick of hearing the 48 hour response timeliness when I'd had nothing for weeks - and even months latterly when trying to sort out Land Registry. I could go on and on, but avoid like the plague!
Caveat Emptor!!

Seriously shoddy client service from Spencer Lockwood as a firm. Slow, rude and chaotic service nearly derailed my transaction, and then delayed the process of getting registered with the management agent of my block by 3 months