*This review was originally posted 12 months ago. For reasons explained in the edit at the end, it was removed and now reposted with a lower star rating*
We approached Wooton & Bean at the start of the New Year for mortgage broking, as they came highly recommended and the reviews online were simply excellent.
As first-time buyers, we knew next to nothing about the process and the advisor (who shall remain anonymous for the purposes of this review) said he would take it all off our hands. He put us instantly at ease with his enthusiasm and talked us through the start of the process in a scheduled phone call.
Within four days he had encouraged us to increase our budget considerably by putting more into our deposit and trying for a higher value loan. Once he discovered that our credit history would not make this possible, the advisor lost all interest and simply stopped answering our emails. It became an increasing effort to contact him, after all the information he had requested from us and the work we had put in – the only way to actually catch him for an update was by calling the office without prior arrangement.
We allowed him plenty of time – obviously the advisor is not at our beck and call, people are busy and have lives - so after that we left at least one week between contact attempts. Space or no space, we got nothing back.
It’s now been three weeks of complete silence, despite having emailed him in the interim. The entire thing from start to finish has been 6 weeks of stress, uncertainty and a great deal of wasted time and effort on our part.
After approaching a different mortgage broker in the local area we got what we wanted within 4 days, with little to no stress and plenty of communication.
In summary, it’s a huge shame that during a time of great anxiety and uncertainty we have been fobbed off, avoided and ultimately ostracised. Had the advisor simply said, weeks ago, “I’m sorry, but I’m unable to help you” we would have accepted and moved on.
I do hope that the experience we had isn’t representative of Wooton & Bean as a whole.
*EDIT*
It is now 12 months following my original posting of this honest (and, I hope, fair) review.
Less than one hour after I posted it, our contact at Wooton & Bean called me. He apologised for not being in touch previously and said he had not received my emails. He then asked me to remove the review, to which I declined.
I was then subject to several emails from him within a few hours - in reply to my emails that he said he did not receive - asking me to remove the review. At one point he mentioned that the directors were going to telephone me "to find out what's going on".
Feeling harassed, intimidated and a little distressed, I was hopeful in the fact I would receive a chance to voice my opinion to the director on the phone. As a result I conceded to remove my review.
I never received the phone call, nor indeed any other contact from Wooton & Bean ever again.
I am reposting this review because I believe it is an unfair representation of a company if any negative or ambivalent reviews are removed due to pressure from the company.