Homebuyer Online Reviews

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.

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.

Home buyer reports are clearly floored. Homebuyer online we're easy enough to deal with but I have reservations, not all about the company.
When I booked the appointment I made it clear I wanted to be present at the inspection.
It was carried out without me and I wasn't given the opportunity of being present. Other companies flatly refused to let me be present.
Why wouldn't a home buyer want to be present? The home inspector is working for me, supposedly, but they treat you like they're not interested in your queries or concerns.
I later found out the inspector was onsight no more than an hour and spent a lot of that talking with the vendor.
It's just not possible to inspect a detached home properly in an hour.
The actual report revealed nothing I didn't already know from my own inspection, and I'm no home inspector.
In short, the report isn't worth the paper it's written on.
It's not just this company, they were easy enough to deal with but there was a distinct lack of communication, it's the system.
I don't doubt there are some good inspectors out there, but finding them is more luck than judgement and the average purchaser is entirely in their hands.
Home buyer reports are - in their present form - a necessary evil & nothing more than a money making exercise for those that provide them.
I would recommend finding a very good reputable builder - with experience of the type of property to be inspected - to do the inspection, and also engaging independent specialists like an electrician & a plumber to carry out their own specific inspections on the property.
It will cost more but the result will be a whole lot more accurate.
These type of specialists should be offered as optional extras by any company offering to do inspections but in my recent experience they're not.

One of the reasons I went with HomeBuyerOnline was because of the speed. The website said about five working days. Two weeks after my survey I'd heard nothing so decided to call HBO. Number not working. Called the surveyor on his mobile and office numbers but no answer, so I left a message but was not called back. The next day I tried again, but still nothing. I was starting to wonder if I'd been conned. My last attempt was an email to the surveyor, to which he replied, which was a relief!

The survey report was very comprehensive and was much more than what I was expecting so no complaints there, but seriously HomeBuyerOnline, if you are going to display your number at the top of the homepage, make sure it actually works!!

Ordered and paid online 6th August. Heard nothing for three days so called to ask when survey would be done. Was told they would check and call me back. Approx one hour later they called to say they had "changed" surveyors and that survey would be done 17th August which was a week away. By 21st August not heard anything so called the Surveyor. He talked me through his findings and said the report would be ready in a few days. 27th August I called Surveyor again and was told report would be ready to view in 24 hours. That deadline passed and Surveyor called to say it would be ready this morning. By 1.20pm I started chasing again.......... Now I have the report, which is fine. I have had 2 surveys done on other properties (not through Homebuyer) and this is equally as good. My main complaint is the time it has taken from start to finish is just over three weeks.

Report should be quicker, as in this day and age with the internet, it should be received within 48 hours.

I have used homebuyer online for 2 different properties in the last few months as they are very competetive with the price. Only gripe i have is that the surevyour was very slow completing my report on the first occasion and i am still waiting for him to send me my second survey which will be nearly 1 week since he attended the property. So in summary they need to keep a better eye on thier Surveyors as they can be very slow and i'm sure i will recieve some excuse as i did the first time.

Pleased with the detailed report but not with the lack of phone response.Received one call but left a message again to be called back but I am still waiting.I will not use online service again not enough communication.The office should ring the client to make sure they understand any problems with the property that have been highlighted.