Sparlings Avis 

Without doubt the worst professional services firm I have ever encountered. They estimated that administering my relative’s estate would take 9-12 months. Now, four and a half year’s later, they are holding my family’s money and paying almost no interest on it, while refusing to answer my emails or return my calls. Along the way they have got the law wrong (admitted), neglected to claim the nil rate band for inheritance tax, provided an incorrect IHT reference number so the payment could not be traced by HMRC, taken money from our client account for a bill which they hadn’t showed us (and which proved to be grossly inflated), failed to request the deceased’s money from banks for over two years and consistently failed to respond when asked for updates. The process took so long the estate had to be registered for income tax, further complicating matters. There are clear breaches of the SRA rules here: taking money before invoices are sent to the client, holding money in client account without good reason, not acting with due expedition, communicating with government agencies contrary to the client’s interests and without their knowledge and failing to respond to a complaint for over 8 months. This firm should not be in business. The ombudsman process is glacial, doubtless because Sparlings are deliberately dragging it out as much as they can. If this doesn’t sound like the sort of experience you are looking for, avoid Sparlings like the plague.

My father's Will was not at all straight forward, however we presumed that the best people to quickly decipher and administer the provisions therein were the people that wrote the Will in the first place, Sparlings. We could not have been more wrong. We dealt mainly with the Frinton on Sea office, and though the solicitor in question was one of the Partners he was very expensive and too slow to catch a cold! The equivalent of one mornings work in nearly two years was singularly unimpressive, and this despite our continually requesting a quicker conclusion to our case. In the end we decided to dispense with his services. We are hugely disappointed with this Company and would never use them again.

I asked for a price to make minor alterations to a will they hold for me
I was quoted £250 + VAT
Gulp !!! That is ridiculous !!!

This saga started on the 2nd June when I tried to engage Sparling's to assist with the property aspect of my late brothers will. Got a note back from Sarah Crew saying she would get her colleague Harriet Frost to get in touch the following week. No contact ever received so I decided to handle the matter myself with the assistance of another solicitor.
Yesterday I phoned Sparlings in Frinton to check whether they would be able to help with an ID verification and also witness the signing of a land registry document. They said yes and I went in today with the two documents only to be told they did not provide the identity verification service and they had no record of telling me to come in. I checked that I had phoned the right branch and I had as it was the number on the business card of the previous named contacts.
From my experience don't rely on these people doing what they say they will or getting back to you when they say they will.
Went straight on down to the new solicitor in town, totally different 'can do' attitude. (Fisher Jones Greenwood)

We had a traumatic experience recently with conveyancing and an equity release mortgage which could easily qualify for a ‘no stars’ rating.
Although Sparlings will no doubt respond to this review by saying that they agreed compensation – this both admits their failings and can never make up for the months of stress and hassle we experienced. The fact that at a second solicitor at the firm completed our sale/purchase only highlighted the negligence of the first one.
Documents were misplaced, procedures not followed and we had to try and deal with so much of the chasing, seeking explanations, following up phone calls etc. When we decided to explore taking our case to the Legal Ombudsman, we could see it was clear from their guidelines that Sparlings were at fault. However, even the complaints procedure demonstrated poor communication and obstinate delays on their part, eventually pushing us to accept a lower settlement figure.
As professionals ourselves, we are able to compare this woeful lack of care and service provided to other professional bodies. We would be embarrassed and held to account if something similar occurred in our situation.
Our advice – never use Sparlings for conveyancing – you deserve so much better.

Dreadful company my grandma had left me a gift in her will, when the cheque from sparlings arrived and I put in my bank it bounced! Because one of their managers signed it with a unrecognised signature! He is a manager! Then to top it off they wanted me to pay £48 to get it paid on the day after it bounced straight to my account or I had to wait for 2 to 3 days to have it by bacs or wait for another cheque. They had to be joking if they think I was gonna wait for a cheque where more than likely it would bounce. As a so called gesture of goodwill they said they would only charge me £15 instead of £48 to wait for 1 day! That was a gift from my grandma and sparlings basically had £15 of it. Not to mention all the charges they charge my family to even sort the Will out it was something like £50 a letter I can’t remember how much they charge for all phone calls they make rip off! no doubt I will probably get a reply from them saying I have to remove my review well I’m not going to.

Manningtree branch , wills and probate , dealt with Sue Morsley ( now retired )
I received exceptional prompt, professional, knowledgeable service .