The Wrong Arm of the Law

Solicitors (for my non-UK readers, these are lawyers of the workaday, but still very well-off, kind, who handle home conveyancing and wills, rather than the people who represent you in court, who are called barristers) should of course be upright, honest and capable of keeping one's business to themselves.

As my will needs rewriting, I walked into an office in the local shooping centre and made an appointment. "You'ree lucky," I was told, "We have 10% off will-writing at the moment." As prices were from £85, this seemed to be quite a good deal.

On receipt of the first draft, I was informed that the cost would be over £100, so when I returned the draft for amendment, I asked for a breakdown. This bill duly announced that the cost was £85.50 including the 10% discount, plus VAT (Value Added Tax) at 20%. Mmmm.

Included in the pack there was also a document from somenone else's file, complete with her name and phone number.

Today I phoned her and told her how I came by her number. She was not pleased. What's more, she is being charged the "standard fee of £85" (no mention of discount). So apparently this company is dishonest, incompetent AND breaks confidentiality.

Think I'll go elsewhere. But hey, thanks guys for the draft, so I can present the completed article to the new firm.