SDL Surveying Arvostelua 

My daughter’s buyer’s lender commissioned SDL to carry out a mortgage survey. The surveyor valued her property (a well-kept end terrace) at £0. My daughter subsequently lost her buyer. The surveyor claimed both ownership AND rental in the area was ‘poor’ (clearly everyone who lives locally are squatters then…). Identical properties in the same row sell and rent well - there is non-disputable evidence of this. Raised a complaint with SDL directly (using the customer relations link mentioned by someone else in this thread). Was told politely to not contact them again as we didn’t have any authority to do so. Sellers are losing their buyers due to inaccurate and ignorant surveying, and will continue to do so while incompetent surveyors are protected by their employers.

Thank you for your service, you all did my job very quickly and efficiently thanks

The SDL gentleman( forgot the name!) Is such a genial person, who went beyond his call of duty, to assist me in checking out a block drain and making recommendation for way to sort it out. I would surely recommend his service any day.

Surveyed my house on behalf of the buyers, reported it needed a Mundic test, this area in question was built in 2006 from the foundations up i have all documentation including the completion cert from the Council. Mundic was in the 1950`S buyers have withdrawn their offer as this unnessary test would cost another £700. Thanks. YOUR REPLY IS COPY & PASTE THE DAMAGED OF SALE HAS BEEN DONE THE IGNORANCE IS SHOCKING.I WILL REPORT YOUR COMPANY LOOK AT YOUR NEGATIVES MANY HAVE EXPRESSED TOTAL DISPARE AT YOUR SURVEYORS INCOMPETANCE.I ASKED FOR THEIR RICS REGISTRATION NUMBER THEY WOULDNT SUPPLY IT, WHAT ARE THEY HIDING FROM ?????????????

If the SAS were going to use a surveying company to remortgage Stirling lines they’d use SDL Surveying.
They sent a seasoned trooper who stormed my semi going through the building like the lads did in operation Nimrod. Professional, quick and got the job done. He who uses SDL, Wins!

Really great and professional. Survey was done professionally and with integrity and felt comfortable with the experience..five stars.

Is it me, or does this demonstrate horrific customer service??
Background:
I waited 10 days for a valuer to attend as it was earliest appointment that could be offered. Already cutting things too fine for my remortgage. Today at 1230 I heard that he had not turned up for the 12 o'clock appointment. Checking with the mortgage provider I was told they cancelled at 10.54 having not been able to gain access. . I now understand they should have issued a 'time slot' yesterday by text or email, but didn't.

Agent:
hi, it looks like the agent was meant to come back to us to confirm the tenants contact number but as no body came back to us no text msg was sent out. The valuer will not be able to re-attend today as has moved on out of the area and is to far for them to come back to.

Me: you had the agent's contact number. that's who went to attend

Agent:
Okay well what I have down here differs from that we had to go straight to the property and that we were meeting the tenant and that the number was to be confirmed.

Me: The most helpful thing would be to get it re-arranged asap. If they're not available now. It sounds like a misunderstanding. The agent always planned to attend. They had let me kow they were 'informing the tenant' rather than that the tenant would meet the valuer there. Literally we have never relied on the tenant before so would not think that was what they meant. Regardless, disaster for me. How do we sort?

Agent:
The next dates i have are Tue 9th Jun, Wed 10th Jun, Thu 11th Jun, Fri 12th Jun. If something is to come up we will call to the agents or yourself to move this forward but which of these would work best?

Me: (I appreciate you need to protect your company/system/colleagues, etc, but hope you can accept that given there were some contact details provided, it would have been very helpful to use them and has become a nightmare purely because zero communication happened)

(various other messages, none of which addressed the above, purely practical re dates and phone numbers, all of which the company already had)

Agent:
Perfect i have added both those numbers so the surveyor can contact them 30 mins before arrival. i will also have the text sent to both yourself and letting agent with the timeslot for the 9th.

Me: Thank you. Do you have my number?
Agent:
yes i have it as (correct number)
Me: (And if you do, do you think it might have been good if someone had used it at any point, eg yesterday or today?)
Me: Yes, that's correct number. I can't emphasise how much of an impact this mess up has had on me.
The financial impact of the time delay is huge
Agent:
Is there anything else I can help you with?
Me: I'd like you to apologise on behalf of SDL for the mess up. Even if you don't mean it, it's basic customer service.

And finally, the heartfelt apology arrives:

Agent:
I am sorry for the inconvenience caused if you do want to take this further you can contact (email), who will aim to respond within 48 working hours.

Quick, efficient and friendly service.

Warning of the call came on time and behaved in a responsible, efficient and capable manner.

Friendly, helpful and respected our property.

Very friendly. Said thank you for accommodating him. 10 min job, in and out. Couldn't fault him 👍

Based on my recent experience, I would be very cautious when using SDL Surveying.

The valuation report provided showed a lack of clear understanding of the technical construction details of the property. Important aspects of the building appear to have been misinterpreted, particularly around the wall construction and extensions.

This led to an inaccurate valuation outcome, which had serious consequences for the mortgage application, including delays, additional costs, and unnecessary stress during the purchase process.

In my opinion, the inspection did not reflect a sufficiently thorough or technically informed assessment of the property.

Given the impact this has had, I would advise other buyers to ensure they obtain independent verification or clarification where SDL Surveying is involved, as the report may not always reflect the true condition or construction of the property.

Had a survey carried out on a property I was looking to purchase by Paul Fieldson, very knowledgeable and approachable, he was a great help and offered advice.

Lovely guy, very pleasant and polite. Attended on time, respectful of our home and very efficient.

I had a bad experience the first time round with a Surveyor that I have not been allowed to name. He came to my house, took about 20 minutes to get out of his car, didn't introduce himself, I found him to be quite arrogant and didn't make me feel at ease. I almost felt as though I was being looked down on for owning a house in the valleys and he didn't take any measurements of the property. Alex majorly undervalued the property by 37K and so my buyer couldn't secure the mortgage.

On my buyer using another lender, SDL were going to send Alex again. After a phone call with a polite lady on the phone to explain the issue, she arranged for another surveyor to come out instead, Jonathan Neale. What a breath of fresh air he was. He listened to what I had to say, introduced himself, took measurements and was just generally pleasant to deal with. He also valued the property correctly. Thank you so much Jonathan Neale. I recommend that if anyone has a bad ed0erience with a surveyor sent to them, then they ask for someone else. I can see that this isn't the first bad review this person has had.

Extremely poor experience with SDL – opaque, dismissive, and completely unaccountable.
My property was agreed for sale and a chain complete, despite this, SDL issued a poor and unexplained severe under valuation.
I provided clear, recent, and directly relevant comparable evidence and requested a review. Instead of engaging with any of the data, SDL responded with what appears to be a standard template, stating they are “professionally and legally restricted” from discussing the report and directing all queries back through the lender.
In other words, no explanation, no accountability, and no willingness to justify a valuation that directly contradicts both an agreed sale price and local market evidence.
Hiding behind process is not a substitute for professional judgement or basic transparency. If a valuation cannot be explained or defended when credible evidence is presented, it raises serious questions about how it was reached in the first place.
This approach has had a direct impact on an active property chain, yet SDL have shown no interest in engaging constructively or resolving the issue.
Based on this experience, I would strongly caution others: expect poor communication, zero transparency, and a complete inability to challenge or even discuss decisions that carry significant financial consequences.
AVOID.

Met Paul 5 years ago and we met again today. What a great guy. Professional friendly and knowledgeable. Highly recommend.

Very supportive and well knowledgeable