Coodes Solicitors - St Austell

My experience is fabulous my solicitors understand me, listen to my requirements, patient and very professional. Explains things so I understand, Would recommend that department, however not the family solicitors.The family side of the company is awful, my friend used them for his divorce, on my recommendation as i was using the company in a different area, and I couldnt praise my two enough, however the family area was terrible, constantly chased, my friend did most of the work himself, and at one point he felt they were defending the other party!! It was frustrating to watch how bad they were in 'representing ' him.

It was felt there had been severe Procrastination, believed not to of been transparent with upfront fees, requests for checks to be done were made by the solicitor which is believed were not to be completely necessary as the necessary “checks” had sufficiently been carried out by a legal department of the council and these checks were not a requirement in law to proceed with the matter in hand , yet this firm refused to proceed and this was after a six week delay were nothing had been accomplished within that time frame yet suddenly money was being demanded upfront when upfront fees had been priorly enquired about and I was led to believe by the firm was not required, including when I had enquired particularly about any possible upfront fees with the main branch .very peculiar. communication difficulties very tardy with replies and very difficult to communicate with, difficult to speak too when necessary, it felt that it was “too busy” to bother with a client/my business due to being preoccupied , caused severe distress and alarm to the client with long delays lasting 6 weeks or more in my own personal experience, believed to be a severe lack of communication on the solicitors side, we felt there was a break down of communication not only between client and solicitor but between colleagues themselves , was initially refused the company’s complaints procedure when requested from the solicitor which was later provided without hesitation by a receptionist of the firm when I attended in person to address the difficulties and inconsistencies , I personally felt discriminated against due to my circumstances as I had been signed off from work due to ill health during a period of grief after loosing a loved one , I believe I was looked down upon due to these personal circumstances and felt I was instantly treated alternately with what seems to be a very different negative attitude and outcome , what appeared to be very unfairly, as a cheerful comparison the receptionists of this firm have been a delight to deal with, very informative, helpful and couldn’t of done more to encourage the communication between solicitor and client providing my messages and requests of call backs and updates due to my deep concerns of little communication and movement regarding my requirements from the solicitors and a lack of a copy of terms of business after over a 6 week period. I would personally not recommend due to delays and attitude, this is not a reflection on the firm itself but my personal experience dealing with the people who I had endeavoured to employ to assist me with my legal requirements. Very distressing. A huge loss of my time and efforts during a time sensitive matter, huge anxieties due to lack of communication which has made my daily life very difficult in the interim due to my concerns and what I believe to be a lack of information provided which could quite easily be due to the lack of communication.

I used Coodes for the purchase of a small property and it was problematic start to finish.Sometimes I would go multiple days in a row without being able to talk to the particular people that were handling my case. I would be told that they are in a meeting, busy at the moment or working from home today or perhaps out at the minute!!It would also seem ( by no fault of the individual workers ) that they're very overworked and expected to handle far too many cases at once. I would always have to chase them to get things moving, for example- I was days away from being homeless and coodes were delaying the completion / move in date because they refused to email a document to the vendors solicitors instead of faxing it across, which was their preference. After stressing the situation for days they agreed to email the document instead of Fax so we could complete. Moving is always stressful, but unnecessary delays like this certainly didn't help.The one thing that was positive about my experience with coodes was one receptionist- H**** who was always super friendly and very apologetic when I couldn't talk to anyone else and was incredibly helpful whenever I needed to come in and sign anything.In the end they got the job done, but would not reccomend.

I share the same view of the previous reviewer. They were repeatedly told that I would be staying with my parents throughout the sale of my flat in Cornwall. My parents live near Sheffield, but still they repeatedly sent documents (without telling me) to Cornwall and then waited without notification, for me to sign and return information that I didn't have, and didn't even know I'd been sent.Lots of holidays seemed to be taken throughout the sale, believe me, I needed one more than they did by the end of it.This and the fact that it took them months to find out that my ex hadn't properly arranged the exchange of ownership on my property so that I could sell it, meant that what should've been a straightforward sale, took the best part of a year. My estate agents complained, I lost my buyer and I was left with the bill. After hearing nothing from them for over a year - I got an extremely threatening letter from them stating that they were going to take me to court or strip my assets if I didn't pay them outstanding monies owed. Firstly, I had no idea I still owed money (I was in a clinically depressed state by the time my sale broke down years previously) and secondly I hadn't had any letters, emails or phone calls prior to this horrifying letter informing me of such a bill. The one I did finally get wasn't even sent by registered post despite threatening such things as having my employes pay them and not me to recover debts! They had probably been sending prior warnings to the wrong address!! Awful, do not use them. I have bought and sold various properties before this and have never had such a terrible experience before. You may lose your sale or purchase or both and they will still charge you through the nose, even if they probably caused the breakdown of the sale and it's abortion was through no fault of your own.

Coodes enabled me to complete on my house purchase speedily. Sarah kindly answered all my questions, helped me navigate through all the legal jargon and explained the process each step of the way clearly. Hannah was really clear and prompt in keeping me updated and well informed throughout. Thank you! Much appreciated :)

I can't recommend at all from my first experience with Coodes. They're very closed off - so won't answer emails, respond to questions, respond to queries easily. It takes a few asks or chacers, and if you don't chase, you'll likely not ever see a reply. I procured them in late April for a Leasehold sale. My solicitor is, at the time of writing, a *partner* in this firm. Although complex, my solicitor was not forthcoming with her communication, and would never reply to emails. Nothing had progressed since May 19th of the same year, and as the vendor's worked in the solicitor firm they were dealing with - I can't see them (the vendor's solicitor) not being forthcoming with information. Although frustrated from about the June of that year after raising concerns with her directly, in the September I had no option but to formally request with the Head of the Residential Property department that she at least ackowledge my emails. The straw that fianlly broke the camel's back was that I then asked for a deadline to be set for two weeks time from the date of the first email - for which I sent a further two times - I recieved no reply (where I specifically asked for a reply and cc'd in Head of Residential Property to show what I was up against). After this, I, as politley as I could, told them that their services were no longer needed. I received two replies from the Head of Property, and one from her - even tho they were both sending OOO replies. They couldn't quite grasp that I wasn't pulling out for any other reason than their own inadequate communication.

I have just completed a house sale with Coodes. I chose them because a family member recommended them and because they are a bigger company (I assumed correctly that if someone was away there would be a contingency plan). I have been very pleased with their speed of service response and professionalism. During the sale my solicitor had a few days holiday and this was seamlessly covered by a very experienced locum solicitor. I could not be happier with the service that they have provided us with. I was not at home much during the whole process and asked that the team email me the documents as well as posting them to my house. This worked extremely well as in several cases I was able to print, sign and send the document to them the very same day ensuring that things moved as swiftly as possible. I would recommend Coodes and would certainly use them again in future.Some extra thoughts for you if you are about to buy...It might be worth knowing that I took a very active role in the purchase of the house. I called or emailed our mortgage broker, estate agent and solicitor daily to ensure that I knew precisely where all parties had got to and to make sure that the seller would (via the agent) know that I was very serious. I made sure that no job stayed on my desk any longer than absolutely necessary so that they could not say they were waiting for me at any point.Due to the ridiculous set up in England for buying houses the buyer carries all the risk. We have to pay the solicitor (regardless of whether the sale goes through), pay for searches, pay to set up the mortgage, lose interest on monies we withdraw from savings, pay for surveys and sometimes specialist surveys.... meanwhile the seller can go back on their agreement with you without any penalty at all (as mine did). Whilst at times it felt a little over the top to be calling so frequently I am convinced that this approach helped secure our sale in the end.Good luck!

I can highly recommend working with Coodes. Sarah Evans has both represented and supported me throughout my case. Finding Coodes after a previous bad experience with a solicitor was a godsend at a really difficult time in my life. Having a solicitor I could trust made the whole experience far easier. Professional and approachable.

We sold our house and used Coodes after recommendations. We are extremely glad we did. They kept us fully informed throughout the whole process. If you are looking for a solicitor then we would highly recommend.Thanks Hanna you were excellent.