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Concerning professional conduct at Which? Legal…
Which? Legal not only let me down by providing a highly unprofessional service but behaved even more unprofessionally when I brought this to their attention. The solicitors were clearly out of their depth with the most basic legal knowledge, and, as a result, provided me with incorrect and conflicting advice. On one particular call, the solicitor changed his advice three times regarding the track my case would be allocated to in the County Court. He also informed me that I could only use the small claims track if a case was valued below £1,000, while the correct amount was £10,000. As my experience of their legal service had been so poor, I brought it to the attention of Which? – via their complaints process. Feeling sure this would be handled in a professional manner, I was amazed when they advised me, they wouldn’t be upholding my complaint and simply stated that they ‘could have been clearer’. Certain that this avoidance of accountability wouldn’t be tolerated by Which? senior management, I wrote to their CEO, Anabel Hoult. She didn’t reply to me but I was then contacted by Neil Roberts – Which? Legal’s head of legal operations. Rather than showing concern for the issues I’d encountered with his legal service, Neil continually gaslighted me – downplaying the unprofessional service I’d received. Using this sort of undermining strategy is a form of bullying and it’s certainly not behaviour I’d expect from a high-ranking member of the Which? organisation. I’m guessing he thought I’d just get fed up and go away but I didn’t, and after pursuing him for some time, he eventually offered to uphold part of my complaint and apologised for several errors they’d made. The fact I had to drag these admissions out of him, rather than them being offered freely, speaks volumes. And in spite of him conceding to several errors Which? Legal had made, they were still claiming the advice I was given by their legal team was appropriate. After this horrible experience with Which? Legal, I turned to the charity Shelter to try and make sense of the County Court process. Incredibly, Shelter clarified in three succinct sentences the information I'd been trying to glean from Which? Legal for months. Bear in mind that Which? Legal requires a paid subscription and Shelter is a free service. I decided to write to Neil Roberts at Which? Legal asking why his solicitor hadn’t provided me with the correct advice (that I'd received from Shelter) and he replied stating that his solicitor’s advice had been correct and not at odds with the advice I'd received from Shelter. This wasn't true and I was shocked that he would go so far as to fabricate a story to avoid accountability. We live in a time where presidents and prime ministers think nothing of making up their own reality, but shouldn’t we expect better from an organisation that promote ethics and integrity in business practice? Which? claim on their website: ‘We’ll always be on your side, fighting your corner and working to make you more powerful.’ The reality of who they are tells a very different story.