Gift for my solicitor?

Murphybear

TBagpuss said:

ohdarn said:

The real headline is that we expect to be treated so poorly by the conveyancing system, that we feel the need to shower then in gifts for doing their jobs properly.

Not really. It's possible to recognise that someone has been particularly good at their job, and / or to feel grateful for what someone has done even if they were simply doing their job.

A couple of years ago, I was blue-lighted to hospital with a life threatening condition. The paramedics and doctors were only 'doing their jobs properly'  when they saved my life, but I was, and am, very grateful all the same, and yes, i did send gifts and letters saying so, afterwards. Conveyancing is a lot lower stakes but you can still appreciate the work and the person doing it. 

Hopefully you are ok now.

in 2020 I slipped over at home, hit my head on the corner of a wall and had a nasty injury.  My husband called the ambulance, they arrived swiftly (even in the middle of the Covid crisis) and after a thorough examination took me to A & E for a CT scan  Head injuries are always treated seriously.  Fortunately I was seen fairly quickly and the injury was not internal so I went home.  I looked ghastly for weeks.

both the ambulance crew and A & E staff were amazing.  I wrote to the appropriate departments to let them know.

A few years earlier I had a planned operation.  The hospital staff were amazing, Drs, Nurses, Physios etc.  I contacted the hospital admin about buying thank you presents and was told that patients weren’t really allowed to give gifts to individuals, it had to be the department.  I would assume this is a general NHS rule. 

ohdarn

TBG01 said:

ohdarn said:

The real headline is that we expect to be treated so poorly by the conveyancing system, that we feel the need to shower then in gifts for doing their jobs properly.

It's no coincidence that clients that do leave gifts, or even go as far as simply saying thank you, are the clients that have realistic time expectations. Listen to advice. Follow instructions. Appreciate they're not the only client.

It's also no coincidence that the clients that tend to leave negative reviews, are the clients with unrealistic expectations. Turn to people with no experience or knowledge for advice because they tend to tell them what they want to hear. Don't follow instructions. Think they're the only client. 

That's weird, because a cursory glance of the negative reviews left on the pages of the conveyancers we've had the misfortune of being in contact with suggest the main complaints are ineptitude and extensive waiting times.

But then maybe we have different definitions of what constitutes "realistic time expectations" and "professionalism".

I'd perhaps stupidly assumed a "realistic time expectation" meant "sometime before the heat death of the universe".

I have tried "listening to advice" though and found twenty seven inconsistencies and lies contained within it. I'm unsure what the average amount of lies and inconsistencies should be included in said "advice", so if you could advise, that would be great?

Cheers!

ohdarn

TBagpuss said:

ohdarn said:

The real headline is that we expect to be treated so poorly by the conveyancing system, that we feel the need to shower then in gifts for doing their jobs properly.

Not really. It's possible to recognise that someone has been particularly good at their job, and / or to feel grateful for what someone has done even if they were simply doing their job.

A couple of years ago, I was blue-lighted to hospital with a life threatening condition. The paramedics and doctors were only 'doing their jobs properly'  when they saved my life, but I was, and am, very grateful all the same, and yes, i did send gifts and letters saying so, afterwards. Conveyancing is a lot lower stakes but you can still appreciate the work and the person doing it. 

A positive review seems pretty appropriate for decent service.
Do you start giving out presents to everyone you get decent service from?
"Thanks for checking out my shopping for me, here's a Freddo bar".
Lol.

TheJP

I think a card and a positive review should suffice here. As others have said, they did what you paid them to do and would you 'tip' everyone who delivers a service you pay for. 

Skiddaw1

When we last moved our solicitor and the EA were fantastic. I gave our solicitor a bunch of sunflowers, a card and some home-made biscuits and took more home-made goodies (biscuits, a couple of cakes) to the EAs office along with a thank-you card.

Mr Skiddaw and I have both had routine day surgery over the course of the past few years and both times I dropped off a card and home made cakes/biscuits afterwards (just because everyone at the hospital were so lovely). I think things like that are always appreciated.