Solicitor Mislead Me On A Quotation So Do I Have To Pay The Consultation Fee?

[mathremuk1]

I contacted a solicitor by phone for a quote on some work. They gave me a free phone call with a bit of advice and a quote of £1380 saying it would be around 4 hours work. So I said I wanted to proceed but would want to use a more junior member of the firm to save money. I was given a junior members email but she was busy so I was passed to another person. I was sure I wanted to proceed so she told me her fee is 220 per hour and she would give me a consultation and the final fee then. So at the end of the telephone consultation she told me her fee would be between £2500 - £5000 for the work.

I told her that this was a huge jump from the original quote and later decided not to go ahead. I got the 220 consultation fee in the post last week but I feel I was mislead into something entirely by this firm and feel it is unfair I have to pay anything. I had to go elsewhere and got the work done for just shy of £1000.

Do I have any rights or should I just suck it up and pay it?

Thanks

[joko]

i would write a stern letter saying you agreed to pay a consultation fee with a more junior member with a view to receiving a lower quote that first offered.
you made this wish clear

but this was not what you received, not only was the consultation not with a junior member the resulting quote was 3 times the size of the original!
so therefore you will not pay, as your wishes were clearly not adhered to and the consultation, through no fault of your own, was a waste of time.

it is worth a try. of course they know the law and they may just try to force you, but then they may realise there was an error and accept it

[boxtops]

It may be late to say this, but this underlines the importance of always getting quotations in writing.... You need to write to the senior partner explaining what has happening, and asking for an explanation. Was everything done verbally? I wonder if they record their telephone calls.

[Eve]

How long was the consultation and how did it differ from the original phonecall (free phonecall with a bit of advice)?

[factor-fiction]

> so she told me her fee is 220 per hour and she would give me a consultation and the final fee then.

She kept her word then by charging you £220 and then giving you a consultation plus details of the final fee.

I think if you try taking on lawyers you may find there is likely to be one winner, but I don't see any harm in sending in a complaint, saying you feel you were misled by a deliberately low initial 'quote'

[dzug2]

..and later decided not to go ahead..

That 'later' bothers me - it could be that there was an implied acceptance on your part as you didn't say no straightaway