surreysurveyors.co.uk

My survey was cancelled a day before by Surrey Surveyors

I was in two minds about instructing this firm due to the fact that they have only been established for a few years. I went against my better judgment & instructed them for a survey & market valuation, which was verbally agreed with one of the surveyors to occur today. Upon then receiving their terms of engagement, I queried certain terms, most notably the following:1. They were excluding liability for all damages (including direct) arising out of the use of their services. I asked what would happen if any damage was accidentally caused by them to the property during the survey. They responded that they carry Public Liability Insurance, to which I responded that we would need to be comfortable that the company would be responsible for rectifying any damage it if it did occur and please can this point be reflected in the contract before we sign? 2. Since the terms also said the surveyor will not comment upon the possible existence of noxious substances, landfill or mineral extraction, or other forms of contamination, I also wanted to confirm that (whilst my solicitor was obviously carrying out an environmental search) the surveyor would be making enquiries about contamination or other environmental dangers and if they suspected a problem, recommend a further investigation. This point is set out in the RICS Level 3 Survey description and should therefore be something that the surveyor does.I received the most unprofessional response to the above, cancelling the survey A DAY BEFORE saying their terms of engagement are standardised and they don't edit them on a case by case basis. Given they aren't willing to change their unreasonable total liability exclusion, this means they are a surveying company which is not willing to take any responsibility for damage they cause to a property in the course of surveying it. I don't know who would be willing to let a company like this survey their property. I have now gone with a company which does NOT have this unreasonable provision in their contract and which has said they would repair any damage caused in this situation. This is the response any client would expect and is the response the surveyor should have given, but failed to. It is also alarming that the surveyor was not willing to confirm they would do something set out in the RICS Level 3 description.Furthermore, in his response, the surveyor said they do not normally undertake guided inspections, which was highly confusing because I had not asked for one. I had simply said we'd be in the area at the time, and given that, could we meet him at the property after he'd conducted the survey to have the debrief call he would have made to us that day in person instead. He could have said no, but he said yes without hesitation, so reneging on that in a cancellation email is the epitome of being unprofessional.Below are other examples of how their terms are more unreasonable than the surveyor I am now going with (who is more experienced & has better ratings):1. They require payment prior to the release of their report, but confusingly they then by email request payment upon receipt of the invoice or prior to the survey occurring. This is inconsistent with their contract and therefore bad practice for any business. My new surveyor has a more relaxed requirement of payment within 21 days of the report being released and hasn't requested payment earlier than this by email.2. Their terms allow them to charge interest for late payment of fees at an interest rate of 8% above the Bank of England Base Rate. There is no mention of this in my new surveyor's terms.3. Their terms allow them to charge an abortive fee of 50% of the agreed fee if: a) their attempts to carry out the inspection are frustrated due to matters beyond their control; or b) if a survey is cancelled for reasons beyond their control within 48 hours of the inspection. My new surveyor does not have any abortive fees and allows you to cancel 24 hours prior to the survey.4. Their terms don't permit disclosure of the report to your lawyers - you need to request this. My new surveyor's terms permit disclosure to professional advisers so you don't have to ask for permission for this.My advice to anyone considering this company is that the "competitive" price comes with unreasonable terms, poor customer service and the possibility of cancellation the day before the survey if you dare to question their unreasonable terms. Whoever is in charge should seriously consider amending the contract term that has caused the issue here & providing the surveyor who sent the cancellation email with customer service training. I cannot recommend this company and can confirm that there are better, more experienced competitors to give your business to and trust with your property/one that you wish to buy.

Date of experience: Jun 21, 2024