Harrisons Solicitors Reading

Reviews

1. Erika Pickering ★☆☆☆☆

   I had a very poor experience with Harrisons Solicitors, especially as a first-time buyer. What should have been an exciting milestone quickly turned stressful due to their lack of transparency and poor client service. From the outset, the documentation was unclear, and we encountered hidden fees that weren’t disclosed until after we had already paid the initial £450. When we raised concerns about the lack of clarity, and politely asked if there is anything that can be done, as we would not have chosen them, should the additional fees have been clear, the situation only got worse. We were passed on to Julien, who was not only unhelpful but outright rude and dismissive. Rather than offering support or attempting to resolve our concerns, he focused on correcting the spelling of his name and was incredibly patronising throughout. His attitude was essentially: we're right, you're wrong and if you don't like it, go elsewhere. So after a lot of stress and upset we did move. The communication and attitude of Julien was appalling. Since switching solicitors, the difference has been night and day. Our new firm has been proactive, clear, and supportive throughout the process—highlighting just how poor Harrisons' service really was. The delays, lack of initiative, and poor communication at Harrisons were not just frustrating, they were completely avoidable. I've also spoken with others who’ve had similarly negative experiences with Harrisons, including repeated delays, unprofessional email exchanges, and even confidential documents being sent to the wrong recipients. Based on my experience (and that of others), I would not recommend Harrisons Solicitors to anyone.

   1 year ago
2. Anne Swindley ★★★★★

   David Woodward, Julien Barke and Kerry Burns provided an outstanding conveyancing service for the sale of my house. Very prompt replies always making the whole move experience less stressful. Thank you to the team!

   1 year ago
3. Abbey Hider ★☆☆☆☆

   I wish I could give less stars! The staff are completely rude and arrogant. Our legal rep was David (seemingly one of the owners) and our paralegal was Julien. On multiple occasions we called the council and other PubSec bodies (Julian refusing to make a single phone call himself, preferring to stick to emails at all times), to chase documents we had been waiting for between 2-8 weeks. On each occasion we were told by the council that they’d responded to Julien or David providing the documents requested within 24 hours by email. They had been using the PubSec’s perceived slowness to cover up their own lack of work. If you call them they only answer the phone occasionally, and are incredibly rude. We were unfortunate enough to have Julien negotiating certain aspects of our house sale for us and on each occasion it was clear that our buyers’ legal team had the upper hand and he wasn’t capable of handling these negotiations. We were lucky to get a single word response by email from our actual solicitor in most cases, despite addressing him directly. If we had to ask any questions he would answer in as few words as possible, leaving us comparing notes on his emails trying to work out what he meant. Honestly a completely awful experience and I would never recommend this company to anyone I like! The level of work was only made worse by the sheer arrogance of the staff. Julien clearly sees himself as a solicitor despite his lack of credentials, given his attitude. A complaint to David directly through our process was met with a disappointing and dismissive response by email (no offer of a phone call or apology of any form of course). All of this caused delays with both our Sale and Purchase, resulting in us having to exchange and complete within 48 hours (days after my husband’s major surgery, which we made them aware of months in advance). Harrison’s didn’t have any interest in our completion date and made no effort to work towards a timeline that suited us.

   1 year ago

1. Peter Daniel ★★★★★

   I have rarely ever been more thankful to someone I don't know personally. Myself and my partner used Harrisons twice this year as part of the process of buying our new home. When things became tricky with our buyer James had all the answers and we are extremely grateful to him and Grace for their hard work. Harrisons were recommended to us and I can see why, we will be recommending them ourselves. Thanks so much, Peter & Emma

   almost 2 years ago
2. Yulia Kemp ★☆☆☆☆

   Refused to work with us at the very beginning after learning that I’m originally from Russia. No one at Harrisons Solicitors even tried to find out that I’d been legally living and working in the UK for ages - paying taxes, saving money for over 4 years from UK-based employment and equally contributing to the society for many years like most people here. It was super easy to find another conveyancing service in Reading who dealt with our case professionally and treated us equally. Now we are happy owners of our first house. You may rightfully disagree with the behavior of world countries but ill-treatment of people based on the country of their origin is unacceptable and is called xenophobia.

   almost 3 years ago
3. Sarah Dunne ★☆☆☆☆

   Firstly, I have to say our sale was a high-pressured quick deadline situation. At First these solicitors were quick to respond with quotes and when we actioned everything from mortgage approval, then unfortunately it's all downhill from there. The communication was awful! We were the one chasing the entire time. It took for us to go down to the office to get anywhere and we were told they didn't even want us there and wouldn't have ever taken our case if they knew the pressure. I fully understand pressure in any job role and will always appreciate it can be hard in an industry that was turned upside down! HOWEVER, communication can still be 100% this was not. We ended up nearly losing our home, our sellers nearly lost their new home. Safe to say the whole experience with these solicitors put a black mark on buying a new home as first-time buyers. I would like to make it clear this is just for the Reading Branch. The only time we had good communication was when they needed money from us! Funny that! Just to make sure this isn't bias had spoken to other solicitors and mortgage advisors during the process to be told our solicitor was messing around and "dragging their feet" Good luck to anyone wishing to use these. I really wouldn't recommend unless you have an eternity to wait.

   almost 3 years ago

1. Karen Vale ★★★★★

   James at Harrison’s Solicitors has been extremely communicative and efficient over this last year during some very trying times buying and selling 3 properties for me. I found him to be very polite and helpful during the whole process and wouldn’t hesitate to engage his services again.

   almost 3 years ago
2. Cheryl Allen ★★★★★

   What can I say James and the team was amazing in every part of his job he went above and beyond. Selling and buying a property with them was great very understanding, very efficient from start to finish, kept us updated all the way through tell you when things are not right. A fantastic company we can't highly recommend them enough Thanks you all at Harrisons Solicitors

   almost 3 years ago
3. Katy Davis ★★★★★

   This the second time my family have used Harrisons to sell a house, and I have been just as impressed as with the first sale! David Woodward was absolutely wonderful to work with and kept me up to date throughout the process. He had great communication, responded so quickly and at all times was happy to answer any questions I put his way. David and his team were fabulous, keeping the perfect balance of professionalism and personable. A huge thank you to David and your wonderful team for your excellent work. I would not hesitate to recommend David/Harrison's Solicitors and will definitely be using you again in the future, as will my family too!

   almost 3 years ago

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