Castle Surveyors Omdömen 

I've just had the most odd email exchange with Wayne at Castle Surveyors.

Castle was one of 3 companies that replied with I used a quote system to contact surveyors. I'd explained what I wanted in enough detail for Castle to reply with a price of £900. When I clarified that I didn't need an insurance valuation, the price rose to £3000. When I asked what a £900 survey (their initial response price) would give me, his next reply was "Further to previous and below.

Apologies, this is not an instruction we’re able to assist you with. "

Strange and disappointing.

My husband and I booked Castle Surveyors to survey a property we were buying. They had good reviews so we chose to go with them. They asked for full payment upfront for the survey (£595)
After booking in the date, unfortunately the vendors of the house made a huge (and annoying) mistake and weren’t home for the survey. They got their days mixed up.
Wayne from castle surveyors wasn’t able to get access and couldn’t complete our survey.

When we apologised on the vendors behalf, explained what had happened and asked if we could please rebook for another suitable date, we were told that there would be NO refund of the £595, even though the survey was not completed and we didn’t get a report. He told us that the vendors should pay for an entire new survey as it’s their fault and that ‘they don’t care about us so we should make them pay again’.
We asked, of course, but they weren’t happy as this was pretty unheard of. We ended up losing the house as the owners couldn’t afford to pay for another survey (plus some other things) but this added to it massively and caused a rift between us that wasn’t necessary or normal.

Everyone we have told about this is in utter disbelief. Estate agents, solicitor, and even surveyors that we have recently got quotes from for our next property purchase. It is a horrible way to treat customers and you cannot justify it by saying ‘the slot was booked and we could have taken another booking’ because we all know that if you run a business like this, it’s not a common thing to happen and you can CHOOSE to be kind if you want to be as these things don’t happen often and it was obviously a genuine mistake.

When our house fell through, I emailed and asked again for any refund they could give us considering we are now no longer buying the house and definitely won’t get it covered by the vendors as they pulled out. They then only offered me £100 back. So £495 of our money went down the drain. For an hours work (driving to the house and knocking on the door) they got a pretty good hourly rate.

Before the refund was offered though, I received a rather misogynistic response saying that because my husband had booked the survey, they wouldn’t talk to me and he had to grant me ‘permission’ to discuss the matter. It was pathetic and completely over the top. The £595 was actually my money too and it was a survey on the house I was buying too, being married to my husband and all…

My advice to anyone wanting to use these guys, is to be very careful as they don’t treat customers like humans and with respect.

I have just booked a survey where I’ve been told I don’t need to pay upfront and that they’d never take our money if something went wrong last minute as they ‘Trust their customers’.

Happy surveying! And I hope you enjoyed spending our £495 at Christmas, Castle Surveyors.

Bought house in Broadstone Jan 2023. Paid circa £700 for full house survey . I would have honestly got better value donating the £ to charity . Wayne Norcliffe was the surveyor.
We received survey results on 1 page of an e mail and approx 30 pages of disclaimers , informing us they took no responsibility for ANYTHING .
After living in the property we have found several faults that should have been identified by Mr Norcliffe .
Electrical work had been done by the owner of the house in the utility room giving extending power to the outside rear garden . This has been condemned as DANGEROUS by my electrician.
The loft wasn't insulated yet not picked up .
The mains fuse box was missing a cover which is a fire hazard and fitted 15 inches from the floor ..... .illegal and dagerous. The owner also boxed in the fuse box so access is restricted and dangerous ?
All the outside lights in the front border were set on cheap wood which has rotted ?
The outside shed was built on thin wood which is rotten ......no concrete base . This will be repaired at huge cost .
The mains water inlet hose to the house is 8 inches below ground level ......should be 2 1/2 feet.
He missed all the important stuff you'd expect a surveyor to pick up on . He did manage to highlight an internal glass door that could potentially shatter if you ran a hoover into it .
Do not waste your £ .
They just want your £ and are accountable for nothing .
I hope he uses some of the £700 & takes himself off to specsavers .