Giffen Couch & Archer - Leighton Buzzard

DL E. (.

Used them when buying my property very efficient reasonably priced and friendly. Answered all my queries quickly. Also useful to have them in town I could drop the paperwork to then before dashing for my train in the morning. Haven't really got anything bad to say about them. Hope they keep up the excellent customer service

Mark L.

I received fantastic advice from GCA and the entire process ran smoothly and efficiently. The team were a pleasure to deal with, all of my (many!) questions were answered promptly, no hesitation in recommending them to others. Thank you

Rich W.

Truly Exceptional. I have never dealt with a legal firm that is so organised and on the ball. We had a very difficult process with very short time scales and Felicity and her team dealt with everything efficiently and effectively. I cannot recommend them enough. Thank you

Drew D.

Great communication, answered all my (stupid) questions and caught something pivotal in a contract that would have been a real pain in the proverbial. Thanks so much Felicity & team! Highly recommended.

Sue K.

poetic jurstice closed, arranged house purchase and conveyance on my property, only to find when put on market for sale that part of garden at back of house and path from front door to public path at front not registered to my property! When confronted GC&A said would rectify at cost to Me!

J

I'm not a customer but a customer of theirs purchased a property from me

Have to say simply the worst solicitor I have ever encountered. To begin with, they demanded additional Anti Money Laundering (AML) checks be carried out on me, despite my solicitor and estate agent carrying out these checks and being perfectly satisfied with the results. Giffen, Couch and Archers reason behind this was because they wanted to ensure that I was who I said I was to ensure the purchase money went to me! (That was very kind of them but Giffen, Couch and Archer have to send the money to my solicitor not me directly! so it's my solicitors problem to carry out AML checks to ensure I was the correct person) this was explained to Giffen, Couch and Archer however they refused to progress the sale until this was carried out. This cost me an additional £70 as Giffen, Couch and Archer demanded I had to see a solicitor in person (my solicitor was in Wales and I live in Scotland) so I had to see an independent solicitor. This delayed the whole sale and almost lost their client the purchase as the chain almost fell through due to this delay

Bad communication with their client! Giffen, Couch and Archer never informed their client that they had received rent money upon their purchase (their client was purchasing a property from me with a tenant in place) As their client had no idea that they had the first month's rent. The client ended hounding me for the rent. Giffen, Couch and Archer were 100% certain they hadn't received the money until my solicitor finally sent back billing info showing they had the first month's rent. This process took one month during which I was harassed by their client and my ex tenant (who had to pay an additional months rent) finally Giffen, Couch and Archer admitted they had the first month's rent and the matter was resolved. However no apology from them.

Giffen, Couch and Archer also demanded that deposit money be held and stated, specifically, that they would release the money once I had provided proof that the deposit money was held in a secure account. This was provided within 4 days of the sale being complete (4th June 2019) (this was a last min demand by Giffen, Couch and Archer). After chasing Giffen, Couch and Archer for the withheld money to be released and sent to me as per the agreement Giffen, Couch and Archer changed their terms! They now decided not to release the money until the deposit monies had changed name from me to the new client (this is normally done by the purchaser as they have to prove ownership through land registry deeds which can take several weeks to sort out)

Today is now 1st July and finally Giffen, Couch and Archer have released the money. The name on the deposit scheme was changed to the new owner by us over a week ago but the delay was caused by Giffen, Couch and Archer saying they will transfer the money when they get the time to do so! (No rush hey! It's not your money!) Giffen, Couch and Archer released the money via BACS transfer instead of CHAPS so this means I'll have to wait a further 5-7 days until the funds are received by my solicitor. The purchase funds were sent by CHAPS so Giffen, Couch and Archer have the ability for faster payments, they just chose to use a slower payment.

All in all simply the worst solicitor I have ever dealt with, and I've dealt with many!

If Giffen, Couch and Archer want to challenge any part of this story I fully invite them to provide email proof that none of this is true.

Nick J.

Rafi Adnan was my solicitor, would highly recommend, worked very quickly on issues.
Was a shame GCA was shut down due to the company owning them flouting the law, what a shame this happened.

Paul H.

Known Tony and his firm for many years, excellent solicitor and will be sorely missed, a huge loss for Leighton Buzzard. Thank you for all your assistance over the years.