Complaints Procedure

Merchant Advice Service – complaints handling policy

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients, this includes the service provided by us and our partnering companies.  When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it.  This will help us to improve our standards.

If you’re unhappy with the service and want to make an official complaint, please give us a chance to rectify the issue ourselves first by contacting Libby James on libby @ merchantadviceservice.co.uk and letting her know what the issue is.

If you’re still not happy and want to make an official complaint, please contact us with the details at clientrelations @ merchantadviceservice.co.uk. We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.

What will happen next?

  1. We will send you an email to acknowledging receipt of your complaint within five working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to a partner or director in the firm, who will review your complaint and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
  3. A Director will then invite you to discuss, by phone, and hopefully resolve your complaint. S/he will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement email.
  4. Within three days of the meeting, the acting Director will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions s/he has agreed with you.
  5. If you do not want a phone call or it is not possible, the acting Director will send you a detailed written reply to your complaint, including his/her suggestions for resolving the matter, within 21 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  6. Failing that, we will arrange a review by a local solicitor or mediation to review the decision
  7. We will write to you within 14 days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final position on your complaint and explaining our reasons.
  8.  If you are still not satisfied, you can then contact the

Legal Ombudsman,

PO Box 6806,

Wolverhampton

WV1 9WJ

about your complaint. Normally, you will need to bring a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman within six months of receiving a final written response from us about your complaint or within six years of the act or omission about which you are complaining occurring (or if outside of this period, within three years of when you should reasonably have been aware of it). For further information, you should contact the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 or at [email protected].