ECOHDS Chartered Surveyors

Very friendly and professional advisors we throughout. Request was accommodated with prompt response.

Went the extra mile to get it done in a tight timeframe

I would certainly not recommend using this provider for your survey. I have ordered a homebuyers report for a property that I am buying. The surveyor Mr Khalil Rahman, who I believe is also a president of the Ecohds initially came across very friendly and accommodating. However, when I read the report draft he sent me I was unpleasantly surprised. The report of 33 pages contained about 80% unspecific template information, which can be applied to most properties. And the 20% which was meant to be about the flat that I am buying was in a few places actually describing some other property. My feedback to him was: The report does not mention significant defects of the property (such as damp patch with plasterboard sagging, and nearby train line with associated noise). The evaluation of the state of some parts of the property does not reflect the reality (bathroom is ranked as urgently needing repair and mouldy (3) while the kitchen is ranked as not urgent (2), while in reality it is the opposite, and there is no mould in the bathroom at all). Some parts of the report seem to describe objects and elements which do not exist in the property. F3: “...partition walls upstairs...” there is no upstairs, it is a top floor flat. F3: “...furniture... restricted our ability to test all areas” there is no furniture in the flat, it is empty. F7: “...The staircase is of conventional timber construction and easy to ascend and descend and no significant defects were evident apart from the dampness, although visibility was limited within the under stairs cupboard due to boarding and stored items” again there is no staircase, underscore cupboard or any stored items. This suggests he was likely hashing up my flat’s report from some other property’s report and did a bad job of it. Needless to say this sort of quality of work did not fill me with confidence that he paid enough attention to the flat that I am buying to spot any potential issues with it, which was the reason I ordered the report. I requested a full refund of £330, and after almost a month of chasing, the surveyor said that as “a gesture of good will” he can offer me £130. He also claimed that he went “above and beyond” to satisfy my additional requests (which by the way I made none). This made me think that maybe he just confused me with someone else and my property has fused in his mind with someone else’s. I think anyone can make a mistake, however the way mistakes are handled speaks volumes about professionalism and the frequency of them happening. The surveyor’s reluctance to own-up to any responsibility about the mistakes he made, not providing complaints handling procedure, and evading direct communication with me suggests it is not a one-off situation, and he is just hoping to get away with it. Updated 02/01/2020: Four months after the initial complaint the full refund was received using facilitation of an adjudication service

The service provided was slow and the firm many times was unresponsive which is quite worrying once you send your money. I understand if some emergencies happen but the Client must be informed about it - which wasn't my case. I chose this firm due to good rating which was a surprise to me due to extremely long experience. People working there are really nice and polite but they need to learn how to treat their customers till the end.

Khalil was a huge help from start to finish. We were very happy with the quality of his report, which was extremely thorough, and he was more than willing to accommodate specific requests on our part and to discuss his report with us over the phone. We would use his services again in a heartbeat.

Mr Khalil was very helpful throughout the process. Very fast with the building survey arrangements.

Throughout the process of me buying my flat, Khalil has been incredibly helpful. He’s proactive, polite and flexible. He went above and beyond in answering questions before and after the service was paid for. I felt well guided and could trust his opinion. A real big thanks to Khalil for everything he’s done.

No further comments

Having fewer reviews than other companies in the quote, I was slightly nervous about using ECOHDS, particularly as I'd never spoken to or met anyone from the company. You can never be too careful in the age of Internet scams. However the service has been excellent from start to finish. Khalil was easy to contact and offered a more personal level of service than other companies. The survey and report was completed in a timely fashion and I am very pleased with the result.

Khalil was professional, easy to deal with and communication was excellent. Would use again without any hesitation.