Homebuyer Online Reviews

I had a problem with let Leeds management services, so wanted to switch, and approached James at homebuyers, I found the level of service and quality on offer to be second to non, he was very knowledgable and professional, and the rates on offer were extremely competitive, so tried to switch but agents said I would have a £1000 penalty imposed, even though they had defaulted on our agreement, which meant I couldn't switch without financial loss, so I have chosen to stay with them reluctantly,but I would certainly contact home buyers again if things change, thank you James and homebuyers and I wish you all the success in the future you deserve it kind regards.keith taylor

Initially i found it efficient to place the order and get a survey scheduled, but as soon as i wanted to make changes it became very time consuming and inefficient. It took over a week for my survey to be rescheduled, and they picked up approximately 10% of my calls, the rest going to voicemail. Voicemails and emails were not responded to. I've finally had the survey done, and it's now over a week and i'm still waiting for the report. Another typically bad experience from an industry which has ZERO customer service standards.

This company are very good at taking your money and very good at little else. I cancelled my original survey as I pulled out of my house purchase.
When i tried to contact them, the phone went to straight to voicemail, regardless of how often I rang and the time of day. Despite leaving numerous request for a callback, all were ignored. I even sent emails regarding the issue and they again were ignored. It was only when I threatened to report them to the RICS that someone finally rang. They then said that they would investigate my refund, but again no callback, Eventually after yet another bout of voicemails ( again phone never answered ) and emails, and another threat someone deigned to call me and sort the situation out.
I would never , ever use this company again and will be strongly recommending that no-one else does. Customer service is non-existent

Online surveys like this suffer from a total lack of communication! I never knew what was happening and when. The report was completed some days before I happened to go online to find it there! Where was the simple email telling me what was happening? I am not a mind-reader. I would not use this service again because I was not in the information loop and yet, I was the fee=payer. This service needs a prompt change if it is going to get good reviews!

There were a few hiccups along the way, but finally got the report and pleased with the outcome.

HBO is just a broker, not surveyor. Based on my experience I will never use him again (I did not know I was using a broker due to the misleading web site) and would not recommend HBO to anyone. He is quick to take money but then washes his hands of any further dealings.
The web site when I viewed it gave the misleading view that 'they' do the surveys themselves, not that they allocate it to a third party. As such it is a lottery as to who you will get to do your survey. Don't take that chance.
I was given a totally incompetent surveyor who missed major problems. The surveyor we got was arrogant beyond belief, incompetent or lazy, or both, totally unhelpful and totally obstructive. I later discovered one of the surveyors in the company appointed to do my survey had been struck off. It happened to me, don't risk it happening to you.
I received terrible service from HBO which was not as described on the web site, resulting in building repairs costing several thousands of £'s and a court case with the surveyor. You have been warned!

A well laid out website that attracted me at first, however the communication was in my opinion poor. I had to chase the surveyor myself and coordinate aspects of the survey between the surveyor and the estate agent.

I felt that this was not a stress free service and in hindsight going direct to the surveyor may have been a better option.

Homebuyer online were helpful and did communicate, but were not as efficient as the website portrayed.

We were recommended to use homebuyeronline.co.uk by my son and are very glad that he did. The company was very good. The survey was very thorough pointing out both good things and bad. They valued the house we had surveyed indicating whether the property was worth the asking price and in good order or not. In our case they discovered a number of serious defects with the property which would have cost a lot of money to have put right. Without their advice we could have proceeded with the purchase finding ourselves considerably out of pocket. Very pleased with their service.

Excellent, prompt service. Clear and concise report. Highly recommend using this service.

There was a slight glitch at the start as I'd ordered my Homebuyers Report and paid for it but it took a little while to arrange the survey. Once that was done, survey carried out quickly and report sent a couple of days after that.

I chose this company based on other peoples reviews and to be honest I feel I have no possible recourse other than posting this to try to help someone else not to make the same mistake.

I paid for the premium service which cost me over £1000.

I believe a Mr. Hugh Greenhouse to be responsible for the website/company, Homebuyeronline.

I wrote the following to Homebuyeronline and to the company that carried out the survey called Sykes Robinson:-

On Tuesday 26th May a full survey was carried out by Mr T Sykes at my property.
Contracts were exchanged on Friday 26th June and completed on Thursday 9th July, this was when I moved into the property.

On the 9th July when I moved in to the property it became apparent that there were some small beetles in one of the bedrooms, on further investigation I have been told that these beetles are wood boring and that other parts of the property also has active wood worm.
Can you please advise me of my course of redress, as now I am now faced with the cost of putting this right.

The report stated ‘On older timbers we found attack by wood boring beetle which did not appear to be active. We would expect to find woodworm on all older buildings’

The treatment could have been carried out prior to moving into the property had it been highlighted.

I am not an expert, as I understood it I was paying for an expert this is why I paid £1050 for a premium building survey, I do not visit houses on a regular basis to carry out surveys, yet on day one I recognised that something wasn't right.

Please advise.

The response I received: -
Further to your query in connection with the above property, we refer to page 16 of our report where we stated that your legal represenatative should make the necessary enquiries in connection with treatment.

I replied to Homebuyeronline, copying in Mr. Sykes fro Sykes Robinson.

Good afternoon Hugh
You will have received a copy of the email below.
I paid for a premium survey, I don’t believe that the website description of a premium survey is the same as the survey I received from Sykes Robinson.
They refer to page 16 of the report.
I refer to page 22 which states ‘On older timbers we found attack by wood boring beetle which did not appear to be active. We would expect to find woodworm on all older buildings’
The fact remains that the woodworm is active and potentially that could cause structural damage.
I could have just had a standard survey and relied upon the information from the vendor, however, this is not the case.
I wanted assurances and felt that your website offered this.
My solicitor has made the following comment
‘I agree wholeheartedly with you that the surveyor should have advised that expert opinion should be sought in relation to wood boring insect damage firstly because there was some evidence of it having been present in the past and secondly because in older properties this is quite a common occurrence I believe.

I do not think it to be sufficient to endeavour to pass responsibility for an apparent structural defect to your conveyancing solicitor.

I think the very least I should receive is a refund of the fee I paid, this will go towards the cost of me having to resolve this problem.

Today, 17th August 2015, I am still waiting for the courtesy of a response.

They are very quick to take your money and then just ignore you!

I actually ended up not using Homebuyer Online for our survey but this was due to a mix up with our estate agent rather than any fault of theirs.
Robert was very helpful in trying to get us a survey as quickly as possible.
And, despite me booking and then quickly cancelling 2 surveys, he remained helpful and courteous in arranging a refund on them both.

I would happily approach them again if I needed a survey.

The survey was organised within a week and I was very satisfied with a comprehensive and easy to understand document afterwards.

Fast and professional service. The report for my Homebuyers survey was received the day after the survey was done. It was easy to understand and thorough. Thanks and well done.

Very straightforward to order the premium building survey, and my surveyor Mr Donald Churchman was very thorough and helpful

From going on line my surveyor was quickly in touch and within a week in possession of a detailed survey of the property intending to purchase. Well done !!

Excellent in all aspects of customer relations. Report and communication was of the highest standards. Thoroughly recommended.

Great price and service. Would recommend

Homebuyer Online are totally efficient, thorough, even with after-service queries re the survey. They are also the best price. We highly recommend them.

Having shopped around they were by far the cheapest ,The home buyers survey was carried by Donald Leslie and co and they were GREAT ,the survey itself was so informative and easy to read and in the long run will same me tens of thousands,booking was so easy and i would not hesitate to recommend this service to all .Also a big thank you to Donald Leslie and a great report.

A good efficient service and at a reasonable price....
I was found another surveyor very quickly when the original surveyor could not complete within the timeframe

We hired a property surveyor from here. The one we chose turned out to be less than professional. He missed the documentation for the central heating system, although it was in plain view. He decided not to examine the plumbing, because the water was turned off - the stop tap was in the garage! And he decided it was too dangerous to enter the loft, so gave no report on the roof space; a vital area for any homebuyer. He later went back, at extra cost, to examine the loft, when the estate agent offered to accompany him to hold his ladder.
All this seemed unnecessary to me. He knew the property was uninhabited, so why didn't he check with the estate agent, where he had to go to collect the keys, before he made his inspection? Unprofessional.

Took a while to be informed about allocated date & surveyor but am very pleased with the report which was ready to read the very next day.

a really good service, helpful, accomodating and reliable.

The Report was delivered before its promised date and contained most of the information required.
I had to respond to the Surveyor as the report failed to report the full number of rooms in the building making us wonder how thoroughly the inspection/survey of the building was carried out.
No corrected accurate Report was reissued.