Need to recommend a different solicitor

Jackmcquade's Response to N4H1's Review

Written on: 22/12/2014

Firstly, thank you for the kind words regarding the service that you received from me, and by extension, the Powerline Advisory Group as a company. I will always try and deliver the absolute best for my clients.

With regards to the solicitor; the process is a 2-stage process and so does require an independent solicitor for the 'second' stage. The solicitor that we recommend for the second stage has previously always delivered to high standards and the reason that I recommend this firm over any other is that through my experience with numerous other firms, they have been the only firm to show the same level of commitment to my clients' cases as I do.

As you know, I was in contact with the solicitors whilst you were experiencing the problems that you have stated, and would like to offer some clarity.

Firstly, although I will not make excuses for the disorganisation that you witnessed such as calls not being returned to you when promised and items being sent to you by standard and not recorded post, this was the result of the principal partner that handles these cases being on holiday and is not how they usually operate. This issue has been clearly fed back to them and they have acknowledged that it is not good enough, and will not be repeated. A second partner will now always be on hand in the event of the first not being available.

With regards to your marriage certificate, I think it is only fair to clarify that it was held up by the security team that manages the building's post who were unable to trace it for a number of days. It was eventually located, and delivered to the solicitors who then returned it to you once copied.

With regards to the the paperwork taking longer than expected, this is unfortunately an aspect of these transactions which is not actually in the solicitors' hands. All legal paperwork is drafted by the electricity company solicitors and is sent to your solicitor for approval/comment. When there are delays, we (both myself and the solicitor) will chase the other side, but the solicitor cannot send anything to you until they have themselves received it. In your case, we had a difficult time getting things moving as you will recall from the email exchanges that you and I had. I can assure you that without the efforts of the solicitor chasing as much as I did, the paperwork would have taken longer. Sadly (and this is another aspect that I have made clear they need to improve on), the solicitors were not as good at keeping you informed of what they were doing as I was. This leads to the assumption that they are not doing anything.

Having said all that, I would like to apologise for the dissatisfaction that you felt, and the inconvenience caused - your case did not go as smoothly as it should and there were some definite 'dropped ball' moments during the legal stage that just shouldn't have happened. I have spoken to the solicitors and I have made it clear that they can only remain our recommended solicitor if these sorts of issues do not reoccur.

I continue to monitor the situation and thankfully their performance is back to where it should be. Your comments have not been ignored and I do thank you for bringing these issues to my attention.