Please feel free to let me know if I am being unreasonable...

RuthnJasper

lessonlearned wrote: »

The general tone of that email, especially the bit highlighted in bold is totally unacceptable - irrespective of what else has happened prior to that.

Generally it does happen that some solicitors are not good at returning calls etc. However it appears that there are some personal issues that your Solicitor is having to deal with and allowances do have to made.

However the main fault here seems to be the Secretary who simply is rude, obnoxious and has no idea of how to speak or write to Clients and has no concept of either customer care or business etiquette.

I would definitely make a formal complaint. You have hard evidence in the form of that email to corroborate your grievance.

I agree. The secretary's attitude is disgusting. Whilst I have every sympathy with the solicitor's plight, arrangements should be in place for another colleague to look after his/her cases in the interim.

I've not encountered "Lord Baltimore" on the MSE Forum before, but his/her posts don't seem too helpful - it is a business matter between the OP and the firm of solicitors; the OP is paying for a service that is currently unacceptably poor, presumably in a situation where time is of the essence. Either parties' private non-business concerns are absolutely irrelevant. If the shoe were on the other foot and the solicitor's firm had done everything in a timely and professional way, would it be acceptable for the OP to not pay their bill and ignore repeated reminders and requests for payment because they were ill or bereaved? I doubt it.

And the OP is not being "over-sensitive" in taking offence at the disrespectful attitude of the secretary. In a business situation (or, actually, ANY situation) rudeness towards a customer/client, particularly one who is paying for the company's services, is utterly unacceptable.

Best wishes to you OP, hope things get sorted soon. x

P.S. I work in Winchester - not for a solicitor though...;)

sinbad182

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Forget all this nonsense about stabbing him in the back with a complaint. Simply contact another partner and ask if they will take your case forward.

Seriously, you have no idea what this man has been through and it does no good to cause him professional pain on top of his personal stress. He's lost a loved one.

As for the secretary and her all-too-apparent loyalty to her boss, well, are you so sensitive that "you're not going to let her speak to you in that way"? Life's too short.

Besides, you want your case dealt with not delayed further.

Some old-school, no nonsense trolling right there.

pops5588

Oh good, if that's all it is I won't bother adding it to my list of stuff to get het up about...

Thanks RuthnJasper, you put it better than I possibly could! I will certainly miss Winchester, I've always worked there until last year and unfortunately the property prices there aren't conducive to first time buyers getting a look in! Mind you the way I go on about it you'd think I was off to Leeds or something. Only popping over to Eastleigh. 10 minutes from my current front door!

Lord_Baltimore

pops5588 wrote: »

Woah woah woah woah woah! Where have I said that I intend on stabbing him in the back?! I've already said I understand why he isn't there and don't expect him to be! It is 100% fine that he isn't! My issue is that I don't know what is happening with our property purchase and for the last 2 and a half weeks we have been left in the dark about what is happening even though we are getting ready to exchange. I have tried to be as reasonable as I can on extremely limited information.

I don't know what thread you are reading but it can't be this one because you seem to be imagining things i've said?

Woah woah woah etc. I didn't say YOU were intent on stabbing him in the back, I said "forget all this nonsense about stabbing him in the back". There's a difference and the thread is rife with this style of advice. It isn't doing you any favours.

sinbad182 wrote: »

Some old-school, no nonsense trolling right there.

Not at all. Take a look at the thread title - it asks "Please feel free to let me know if I am being unreasonable..." and I am offering an opinion.

Now tell me exactly how your post is anything other than useless trolling? It makes no contribution at all. Duh.

RuthnJasper wrote: »

I agree. The secretary's attitude is disgusting. Whilst I have every sympathy with the solicitor's plight, arrangements should be in place for another colleague to look after his/her cases in the interim.

I've not encountered "Lord Baltimore" on the MSE Forum before, but his/her posts don't seem too helpful - it is a business matter between the OP and the firm of solicitors; the OP is paying for a service that is currently unacceptably poor, presumably in a situation where time is of the essence. Either parties' private non-business concerns are absolutely irrelevant. If the shoe were on the other foot and the solicitor's firm had done everything in a timely and professional way, would it be acceptable for the OP to not pay their bill and ignore repeated reminders and requests for payment because they were ill or bereaved? I doubt it.

And the OP is not being "over-sensitive" in taking offence at the disrespectful attitude of the secretary. In a business situation (or, actually, ANY situation) rudeness towards a customer/client, particularly one who is paying for the company's services, is utterly unacceptable.

Best wishes to you OP, hope things get sorted soon. x

P.S. I work in Winchester - not for a solicitor though...;)

My views may not seem helpful to you because you evidently don't understand them.

rrtt

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Woah woah woah etc. I didn't say YOU were intent on stabbing him in the back, I said "forget all this nonsense about stabbing him in the back". There's a difference and the thread is rife with this style of advice. It isn't doing you any favours.



Not at all. Take a look at the thread title - it asks "Please feel free to let me know if I am being unreasonable..." and I am offering an opinion.

Now tell me exactly how your post is anything other than useless trolling? It makes no contribution at all. Duh.

Cripes, haven't we all got enough problems up against and coping with dodgy agents, tardy solicitors, rogue builders and the English system of buying/selling houses generally, without having a go at each other? Basically, we're on this forum cos we're helpful people, and/or seeking help in the nightmare process, not cos we enjoy warfare!!

Lord_Baltimore

rrtt wrote: »

Cripes, haven't we all got enough problems up against and coping with dodgy agents, tardy solicitors, rogue builders and the English system of buying/selling houses generally, without having a go at each other? Basically, we're on this forum cos we're helpful people, and/or seeking help in the nightmare process, not cos we enjoy warfare!!

Well, I don't regard differences of opinion as "warfare". Nor do I feel I am "having a go" at anyone.

The thread asks "Please feel free to let me know if I am being unreasonable..." I'm merely responding to that request.

Sorry if it's not all nicey-nicey. Sometimes, the truth isn't.

pops5588

Believe me I certainly don't enjoy warfare.

Lord Baltimore, I can only repeat myself one last time before I completely lose my marbles. I have no intention of making my initial solicitor's professional life difficult for him. I have no intention of launching a complaint and I have no intention of making financial demands once the bill comes through. I can only assume there will be a natural shift in costs now that a Partner is no longer undertaking the work and the hourly rate will probably be slightly less, but who knows. Right now, the money side is at the bottom of the worry list. All I want from the firm, is for someone who is present in the office to be allocated our file, to contact me so that I know who they are and that they have it, and to continue as normal. That is it.

Obviously I do not know zzzLazyDaisy personally, but she provided me with a useful template of ideas that will assist me in maybe kick-starting a bit more communication between the firm and myself, and to make sure that I am updated as I would have been if my initial solicitor were still in the office.

I'm not calling for anyone's head on a platter. I just want to exchange. That's it.

Now i'm going for a lie down...

pops5588

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Well, I don't regard differences of opinion as "warfare". Nor do I feel I am "having a go" at anyone.

The thread asks "Please feel free to let me know if I am being unreasonable..." I'm merely responding to that request.

Sorry if it's not all nicey-nicey. Sometimes, the truth isn't.

You are responding to a request that I made when I didn't know where my solicitor was or what was happening. This is now no longer the case. I am no longer asking this question.

I am very happy for you that you deem your opinion to be "the truth"! It's a kind of confidence I wish I possessed!

Lord_Baltimore

pops5588 wrote: »

Believe me I certainly don't enjoy warfare.

Lord Baltimore, I can only repeat myself one last time before I completely lose my marbles. I have no intention of making my initial solicitor's professional life difficult for him. I have no intention of launching a complaint and I have no intention of making financial demands once the bill comes through. I can only assume there will be a natural shift in costs now that a Partner is no longer undertaking the work and the hourly rate will probably be slightly less, but who knows. Right now, the money side is at the bottom of the worry list. All I want from the firm, is for someone who is present in the office to be allocated our file, to contact me so that I know who they are and that they have it, and to continue as normal. That is it.

Obviously I do not know zzzLazyDaisy personally, but she provided me with a useful template of ideas that will assist me in maybe kick-starting a bit more communication between the firm and myself, and to make sure that I am updated as I would have been if my initial solicitor were still in the office.

I'm not calling for anyone's head on a platter. I just want to exchange. That's it.

Now i'm going for a lie down...

Which all goes to show what a perfectly reasonable person you are.

Thankfully you're disregarding the more rabid suggestions made in this thread by the so-called well-wishers, several of whom sound as if they have an axe to grind.

pops5588 wrote: »

You are responding to a request that I made when I didn't know where my solicitor was or what was happening. This is now no longer the case. I am no longer asking this question.

I am very happy for you that you deem your opinion to be "the truth"! It's a kind of confidence I wish I possessed!

It's the truth as I see it others may not agree.

pops5588

Well, I stand by the fact that their back-up plan for when things go t*ts up is at at best insufficient, at worst non-existent. What's done is done, I just hope that they can perhaps learn from this and improve their systems and how they speak to people when under pressure. Ultimately, the way that his secretary reacted can't have helped her own blood pressure levels, let alone mine...

Today our file has been passed on to someone new and they have assured me that they will get back to me today about how we proceed. Also no longer dealing with the secretary. Hopefully things are on their way to getting back on track now. Touch wood, jinx, salt over the left shoulder and all that jazz. Maybe some research on breathing techniques.....