Ombudsmen Complaints Handling Survey

 What can you expect from a meeting or conversation with a solicitor from Vincents?

In a nutshell we give friendly, open, uncomplicated advice.

Which would seem to set us apart from most other legal advisors by all accounts. Legal services consumers feel intimidated by jargon and for that reason are more likely to take their complaint to the Legal Ombudsman, research has found.

A survey published this week of 1,000 people who had complained to the Ombudsman found significant barriers between consumers and providers of legal services over language used in communication. The research found examples that could be interpreted as confrontational and threatening.

How odd we thought!

The language used was too difficult to understand or was felt to be intimidating, leaving consumers either angry or resolved to take the complaint elsewhere.

Of clients who had complained to the Legal Ombudsman before giving their lawyer the chance to resolve the complaint ¬- what the ombudsman calls a ‘premature complaint’ ¬- 63% said it was because they had no confidence they would be taken seriously or that their complaint would be resolved fairly.

The report, fairly blunt and hard-hitting, reveals why so many consumers don't complain about poor service by a lawyer - people are confused about what to do, get completely thrown by legal jargon, believe they won't get a fair hearing and fear that upsetting their lawyer could have repercussions for their case. Just as bad, a quarter of those who do complain rate their experience as one out of 10.

Here at Vincents, we want to make our customers’ experience as easy and stress-free as possible. We aim to give advice that is not only powerful and efficient, but also user-friendly and straightforward. Therefore, in addition to having offices located across North Lancashire, close to our customers, it should come as no surprise that we’re easy to do business with.

Over the years, we’ve developed a pretty decent style of doing business, a combination of (we hope) the right balance of confidence in what we do and comfort in knowing that we can have a very open conversation with people, and, if we hit it off, brilliant. If not, then it wouldn't have been the right work to undertake anyway.

Open, honest, straightforward communication - it's at the core of our training for our professionals, so it should be at the core of our doing as well.

Let me be really honest though, and confess that I'm far from a saint when it comes to discussing one particular issue. The price. It's embarrassing. Where do you start? I'm essentially putting a monetary value on me, and if it's too low, I don't value myself enough, and if it's too high, it's either arrogance or will price us out of work. I confess - it's the one, big, area that I've tended to fluff, to bluster, and to deliberately be as unclear as possible, because of fear.

The good news is that I'm overcoming it. On all three occasions this week, I was able to look my potential client in the eye and say Here's what it costs. It felt comfortable, it was a relief to just do it, and no-one was in the least bit surprised (apart from me, a bit!) or offended

So, welcome to a C21st Law firm, that is not your average law firm. At Vincents we’ll give you a price, and stick to it. It’s about the value, not the cost.

The Vincents Way of doing business is simple:

• Our business is about you, not us
• Our approach is friendly, encouraging and enthusiastic
• Our unique attitude is our genuine care for you.

So give us a call, pop into your local office, or contact us via the web. I can guarantee, the Vincents experience, is far, far more pleasant than the hideous thoughts going round in your head. Just take the plunge!

Olivia Robinson