Name: Burlow & Spencer Ltd
Rating: 3.90

“Absolutely shocking, disgusting abhorrent service received. Very very quickly to the £2800 from us to appeal against home office decision about deportation of my son. Obtained the medical file for them, was delivered to Shahista Ahmed who was dealing with the case. Was told they had lodged the appeal on the Thursday morning. On the Friday night my son passed away. This was in June 2018. I have been asking for his medical file back and proof of what they have submitted on his behalf . I am a grieving mother who had lost her son to be told on the phone today by a MR Ahmed thst he does not have to listen to me. I have been asking for this for 5 months and a refund but nothing. They are not regulated by the Ombudsman and have notified Immigration about them . Am going to approach Watchdog about them and all national papers . As a grieving parent this is soul destroying . Do not go near them!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I cannot explain the emotional distress this company caused us. They took our money and at the beginning sometimes chose to respond, made endless mistakes and had no interest in our application progressing being pushed forwards. They eventually just stopped all contact totally. Complaints been ignored for months. The receptionist is hands down the rudest female I have ever encountered and would often laugh at us down the phone. I urge people to avoid this "company" and I am sad that we got conned like we did. On other websites any bad reviews, they respond by being defensive. I am not sure anyone in this company has any idea the distress they cause people and the severity of their behaviour .”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Anonymous, We have just experienced the worst year of our lives thanks to the professional negligence of this firm. They misrepresented us, sending us to the application late, with the incorrect documentation. the application was refused and they blamed the Home Office. The appeal used the wrong pronoun, calling my husband, 'her'. It was such a pour appeal based on human rights that we were forced to start a new application with another qualified OISC lawyer. This firm should not be operating and I am amazed that they are still ripping vulnerable people off. We have just been issued the visa and now we intend to sue. for damages. They are presently in court for not being legally qualified to give immigration advice. Do not in any circumstances use this firm!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“SCAMMERS who took £900 up front, I was told I had a straightforward case which would only take approximately 6 weeks. 3 months later I sacked them as their service was none existent. I must have rung them 50 times and sent over 20 emails with hardly any response. They never once returned a phone call. Staff are rude, liars and very defensive if you complain. The generic email after me asking for my money back said they would get back to be in 5 days but that was 6 weeks ago now. I have reported them to the Office of Immigration Services who are fully aware of the numerous complaints about them and are putting a case together. The Law Society too have had numerous complaints about them. They prey on vulnerable and desperate people and should be ashamed of themselves.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“They are not humans briefly They take from my account 5000 thousand pounds. They are big looters I take this campany to the court to get my money back Also I will give the news peepers in London all local news peppers For people to knows them if money not back...”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Easily the worst experience ever! - Stay away from this firm. They took our money - 800 GBP upfront and didn't provide the services we paid for. They basically ignored our calls and emails after a certain time. We even requested to have some if not all our money returned - no response. Big scam!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Stay clear away from these people their aim is to steel your money and make you an illegal immigrant.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND BURLOW SPENCER FOR ANY PURPOSE DUE TO MY OWN EXPERIENE..PHONE CALLS/E MAILS NOT RETURNED AFTER VISA FOR GOOD FRIEND REFUSED...I HAVE BEEN INFORMED BY RELATIVE,RETIRED SOLICITOR,THAT THIS CASE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN TAKEN ON AS NO WAY WOULD HE HAVE RECEIVED VISA..AS JUST GRADUATED..WITH NO MONEY,HOUSE OR JOB.I WAS NOT INFORMED OF THIS WHEN MY MONEY TAKEN FOR APPLICATION.. WAS TOLD HE STOOD GOOD CHANCE..I WILL BE COMPLAINING TO LEGAL OMBUDSMAN VERY SHORTLY.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Burlow & Spencer LTD Is really disappointed to give a trust to the company that’s not responsible for they work and I have been with this company for almost 9 months for my Visa application Leave to remain With out any support to my case, even they having problems for sending the post to the correct Address ( it’s Happened twice) from this two ( Mr Ahmed ) And ( Miss Kira). And after waiting all of this time I have refused to my visa and again never had any support form Burlow and Spencer team. Never again”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“I was promised due to my situation with my health and pregnancy at the time my case could be DONE FROM THE UK as I needed my husband for support. Now they took all my money (I'm on disabilities benefits) and made my husband OVERSTAY HIS CURRENT VISA BY SAYING HE WAS FINE TO STAY then.. 8 months later HES DENIED AND NOW BANNED FOR 5 YEARS. because they told false information. Now my husband won't see his daughter for 5 years and I'm left to cope on my own with my illness etc.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“It took 2 mintutes to take the money out of my account and took me 2 months to be able to talk to one of the manager! Very bad customer service, the staff keep changing so you are dealing with so many people during your case and they are not even professional. My case was refused through them and I sorted my self through home office.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“To say that Burlow and Spencer is a horrendous firm is an understatement. I first hired them back in January for a FLR application. They are quick to catch up with you when they're trying to take payment, but once they've got it don't expect them to do any work. I had someone named Shahista Akhbar handle my first application. She was rude, she took several months to get it done, only to rush it last minute. The worst part, in April the Home Office requested for more documents but she never notified me resulting in my application being refused. I tried giving them a second chance in hopes it was just one bad solicitor, they charged me £2000 with someone named Adam assuring me this would be handled professionally. They knew the application needed to be done within a weeks time. Not one phone call. When I rang I was put through to a Kiran who is probably the rudest staff member. Apparently it was my job to remind them multiple times when it needed to be done by, because twice wasn't enough. Then she sends me an application on Friday, which by then it's too late to send it, only for me to realise it's the first application they sent over, not taking into account any changes updating any info. She even had the nerve to leave my old IHS number despite me providing the new one. To anyone looking for an immigration solicitor DO NOT bother with this firm. They are a scam and what they're doing is fraud. I'm lucky enough that I've recorded all my phone calls with them since day one, and I fully intend on telling my bank to with-hold the payment for £2000 now, as well as making sure I get a refund for the first application Shahista Akhbar purposely neglected out of spite. Anyone else who's had issues, look into reporting them to the SRA. Clearly they don't know anything about law if what they're doing is fraud.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“If I have a choice I would never give you any star Because you people do not deserve it I believe you use your position to To collect my money But believe me every day for the thief one day for the owner Just continue what you doing 🤯🤯🤯🤯😫😭😤”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Recently engaged with them took complete fee From out set , with 10 min conversation with lawyer called shaista Akhbar she advise against the application , so didn’t proceed as advised refusing to give the refund and now charging me large amount nearly 400 pounds for 10 min Conversation and saying a lot of work done Rip off lawyers do not pay them any fee until you See the work Threatening that to sign the disclaimer or you will have to wait 8 weeks for some resolution I’m going to report you to proper authority and I’m going to take to you small claims court Stop conning people and righting fake reviews”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Words cannot explain how terrible the experience was. As soon as you have paid they have no interest. We ended up doing all the work ourselves. Forms were sent back with wrong information, phone calls and email constantly ignored. Rude receptionist who seemed to be laughing at our issues. The stress Burlow and Spencer caused was beyond belief. Not one person in that company seemed to have a clue what they were doing and it was hands down one of the most stressful experiences of my life. You would be better off doing it yourself.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Nothing has been done except a letter which I had too edit for grammatical and punctuation errors, not to mention inaccuracies . I actually want my money back. I haven't even got to the application stage and I am vexed. I cannot get hold of any one at all. My case worker decided to disappear into thin air and no one thought to tell me about it and I was told I was assigned a new case worker, 7 days later. On calling them practically every day I am being fobbed off with "A new case worker will call you back...blah, blah,blah". I cannot believe I was duped. Everything that has been done for my application has been done by me. I paid £1500 to do my own work and research the information for myself. This is tantamount to fraud. I am asking for my money back because this is a waste of my time, money, mental health and well-being. I was hounded for my clientele and once my money was secured, I was left to my own devices. I will be taking this matter further. I have given one star for the review only because there wasn't any option for no stars. The service they provide is ridiculous and in my case relatively non-existent. Bulow and Spencer I want a refund of my money. I don't have this kind of money to throw around. There is nothing you can do or say to make me change my mind about your company, so please do not try; just refund my money. I just needed to paste this blurb they have on this review forum; "Our case handlers and lawyers hold themselves to an extremely high standard, so you can be sure that everything in our power is done to assist you." Ahh...I don't think so! Not in my circumstance they havent!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“The adviser (Alessia) didn't guide us properly, asked a hundred unnecessary, Didn't know how to explain simple things. I spent over a thousand pounds and as result my partner has to return to her country. They just wanna your money after get it don't expect much! Destroyer of dreams and lives!”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“Very poor experience which led to the refusal of a important visit visa for a family member at a crucial time. I was promised first class customer care at my initial assessment - however that was quickly replaced once I paid my fees by uninterested and disjointed staff on the phone (one lady sounded like she was chewing gum whilst talking to me). My lawyer, Harris, was pleasant enough but didn't provide me with enough support and evidence based documents to get the visa over the line. I came to him with extra documents which he liked and agreed with, but he should have given me exactly what was needed in the first place to get the visa but the case wasn't strong enough and the way it was presented to the UKVI was weak to say the least. Emails remained unanswered and appointments had to be taken to speak to my caseworker unless it was specified as urgent. Take my advice and spend you £500 with another firm.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“They took our money £2500 and completed a visa application that had no chance of success. As a result my fiancée has had to return to the Phillipines. We also lost the Home Office application fee. I asked for a refund from Burlow but they refused. They have no skills in immigration advice - my advice is to avoid them like the plague. I have complained to OISC and my advice to anyone who has had dealings with this company to complain to OISC as well.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

“We are just scared to death. We have been trying to obtain our residence through Burlow and Spencer. My partner (de facto partner) is Italian. We are currently running the fourth attempt to gain residence in the UK with B&S. We feel the assistance we received from Burlow and Spencer was just unacceptable, at least for our standards. Our first application was refused (the first time). B&S charged us another £2500 approximately for the re-submission. We paid the first £2000 approx fee to learn then we have to pay another £2500 approx. Both payments made in one single instalment and on the same respective days. After the first refusal, they told us the situation was extremely delicate, and they pushed us to pay the next full amount. You can't imagine the stress we had to go through. When you are in a situation like the one we went through you are incredibly vulnerable. We are a couple that has been together for long years. We had an interview on that day. B&S set up a meeting with a solicitor that was not informed about our case. We had to re-explain everything from scratch. He helped us filling the forms we re-sent the papers ourselves. This time we sent them without having completed the payment details for the home office to take the money out of our account for the processing fees -£65 appox.- All after we have completed the form in front of a B&S solicitor. When the application was refused the second time, they blamed it on us for not having filled the payment section. B&S tried to charge us again £2500, by all means, telling us that if we didn't pay the fees back, we were taking the risk of being deported. I was firm this time, and I said I wasn't going to pay any more for this terrible service and I said we should have been advised better on how to fill the form. The form should have been revised before being sent instead of leaving us all stressed up and trying to fill the documents on our own and the same day -something that we have paid B&S to help us with - by that time, already £4500!- Fortunately, one of the advisors acknowledged the situation was a bit tricky, and they agreed to make the application again for us at no extra charge. This time WE worked very hard on it. We gathered testimonials etc. The testimonies were something WE discovered we should do by reading all documents carefully. This third time and out of desperation, we started learning about the whole process ourselves. Then we realised testimonials are indeed essential, so we added them. When we called B&S asking for their advice on adding testimonials, they said the Home Office wasn't going to care about them. Finally, the residence got refused for the third time. We received the usual call from B&S this time prompting us to pay again so they could submit, for the first time, the form directly from their firm. I answered, no, "I'm not paying any more for your services". Then one of the advisors suggested they could do it for free. We agreed to allow them to do it one more time... They advised us a solicitor was going to give us a call. The solicitor that called us knew nothing about the case! He was asking us if we sent any documents at all. You can imagine how we felt. I said: "Please check our folder and call us again. We are making the effort of paying for your professional advice, but for you to be able to do so, you need to analyse the case first; otherwise, we will have our residence rejected all over again." To which he answered, don't worry, I will take a look and get back to you. He never called again.a Finally, I started calling myself to recover my documents, and they answered: "your caseworker will call you later today". They did this two times. I called again, and I said: "Please give us back our documents and most importantly, our passports, we have been left without any identity documents" To which they answered: "Your caseworker has already uploaded your documents and they don't have them anymore" I was shocked and petrified. They were expecting us to print our passports! At that point, we had no supporting documents and no passports. At that point I was facing the worst situation in my life; this firm had left us with no way of accrediting our identity. These lawyers have managed our case irresponsibly, and we didn't know what else to do… It was then when we felt all was lost, and we posted the review above. This review was then visible on many review sites. Then, Riaz called me. He was agitated and said my behaviour was unacceptable. I explained to him that we felt very vulnerable and that's why we didn't know how to obtain a call from a responsible individual who can help us. I said I was very thankful for his call and I felt sad I needed to post a review to get a professional call from the firm finally. He offered to submit our application directly from the firm. OUr assigned professional was Mr James Short. James Short sounded very professional and down to earth. He gave us, what we thought was beneficial advice and we proceed to send him all the documents he requested from us. We then received an email from him asking if we have sent him our bank statements. We said we were not sure, but if we were informed about these documents being missing, we would indeed have sent them again. Then we asked if they still needed these documents or if they have sent the application at all. The latter email was the last one received from James Short -dated 12.02.2018- Since then we sent emails to James Short and Riaz on the 13th, 18th, 19th, 23rd of February and 29th of March and 5th of May. We received no written answer. We also called the office at B&S. Different people called us back confirming they have sent our documents on the 18th of January, and then on the 22nd of January. We have no information about the bank statements and their inclusion in the application. We have no written confirmation of the documents being sent at all. At the moment we have no passports, no tracking number of visa application, neither of our documents. B&S and Riaz individually wouldn't contact us; no one sent us any certificate prooving our documents are safe or located in any particular office. We are vulnerable, and we don't know what else we can do. We are sad and worried about all the people that might have hired B&S and might be going through the same. Just a real shame.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

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