Simpson Solicitors

Used Right legal to try to obtain probate for the estate of my parents who sadly both passed away in 2022. Chose Right Legal as my parents had used them (as Simpson Solicitors) for wills and they seemed a very customer focused organisation based on their website.
Experience with them has really been unbelievably bad and as of April this matter has now been passed to the Legal Ombudsman.
I have had the worst customer experience with any company I have ever dealt with. This includes:
Documents sent by them to the wrong address.
Wrong/out of date terms of business sent out.
Impossible to get hold of - 15+ emails/calls ignored. Many promises to pass message on/call back never done.
Meeting to discuss issues missed by rights legal staff with no call/explanation as to why.
When trying to complaints internally none of the staff seemed to know the complaints procedure I should use.
Eventually, having spoken to member of staff dealing with my probate (and foolishly given them a second chance) agreed deadlines were again missed (and lots more calls ignored).
When finally getting the documents to sign found errors - incorrect spelling of surnames - This alone took almost a month to get the corrected form sent out!
Managed, eventually, to raise an official complaint (again after multiple phone calls and being told different things). Initial response was simply to ignore some of the points and generally brush off this criticism with a rather generic corporate email.
Finally got to speak to Head of Customer service who - to be fair - was very honest in admitting that the company had some severe issues with customer service and seemed very genuine and embarrassed and apologised for the service. She offered £150 compensation which I agreed to accept at the end of the process on the condition that there were no more issues and that they kept me proactively informed of progress (Money was going to be donated to Cancer research).
Sadly - no proactivity in keeping me informed - wasn't until I chased, I found out they had received my Fathers probate a month earlier (but hadn't informed me), they also said they would chase my Mothers probate case that day but making a simple phone call to the courts ended up taking 2 weeks.

Based on these last frustrations I've now sent the complaint to the legal ombudsman; I can’t believe the delay Rights Legal has caused, the only area of the business that seemed in anyway proactive was the accounts department chasing payment (which they got at the start of the process last year) . Probates never going to be a nice process given its nature , but a half decent professional service would have made this situation significantly easier.

Incompetent does not even come close. 7 years after my dads death and Simpsons Solicitors have still not completed the work they were assigned to do.

Dad made them executors so we couldn’t even get rid of them.

Im now Pursuing a claim for negligence and have made a complaint to the legal ombudsman.

Please do not make the same mistake my dad did, avoid these solicitors it’s not worth the stress, anxiety and frustration involved with dealing with them.

This review is for a different branch.

Came over from Australia to assist my mother when her partner passed. Simpson Solicitors held all the documentation and required us to complete a form to get certified copies and said they would 'get back to us' in 14 days. Despite several emails (I got two bouncebacks to the emails send to the original advisor who had sent me my supposed Power of Attorney), I got no response from the last person in the chain. Phone calls proved fruitless (except for one assistant, Anna who was actually helpful and understand our urgency needing documentation to care for my mother) and I just got the same email from the same department saying '14 days'. Have had to request a solicitors meeting and contact the Law Society to get any information or traction. I do not recommend this company at all and suggest you only get assistance from a small law firm or be bogged down in more paperwork when timing is critical. The assistant that originally visited my mother at the time of probate also, did not follow through with changing the property title deeds and just said 'we'll do that later' meaning, we will do that for another fee.

This review is for a different branch.

Richard - Customer Experience Executive was very helpful and informative. Giving clear and correct information needed before the appointment . He kindly and promptly booked me and my family an appointment with the Legal Advisor .
Very clear at communication.

Ashleigh - Legal Advisor
She clearly defined the process in a detailed , easy to understand manner.
She was very patient in answering all our queries and any misunderstandings we had regarding wills. She is very kind and accomodating.

This review is for a different branch.

This firm do not even deserve one star. The service has been absolutely appalling and prospective clients should go elsewhere. Right Legal were instructed in June 2022 to process my mother's straightforward probate application. We have speedily provided all information requested to keep things moving. For no good reason, the development of the probate application has proceeded at slower than snail's pace. We have politely waited weeks sometimes months for updates and these have only been provided after several emails from us. The firm has upheld two formal complaints from me about slow service and poor communication. Finally the papers came through to sign in November 2023 and the firm verified that they had been received back by them and would be sent on. Unbelievably my sister found out yesterday (April 2024) that the application has still not been submitted!!!