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7 March 2011 Accessible or Not Accessible...How hard is that question?

I had an appointment at Christine Sharp and Co's Solicitors office in Heywood today. As usual I called ahead of time to ask if the building was wheelchair accessible. I was told by a very nice lady over the phone that usually Christine sees her clients upstairs but there was an office downstairs that she was going to book the appointment in to accommidate me. Sounds fair enough right?

So I went there and as soon as we got onto the road it was on we hit trouble. There was noway for the LocalLink Bus to park to safely drop the lift to let me off. The road was incredibly busy. My driver went on about the health and safety regulations and told me there was no way he could let me off the bus on this street. We circled the area to see if there was another drop off point but after 15 minutes the only other point he could see was across the road. He made a HUGE issue about not letting me cross the road as I did not have a carer accompanying me and he could get in trouble for letting me and he was not allowed to do it himself. This road had no traffic lights might I add. He then told me he could drop me off a few streets away at the local shops and I could just make my way there but before he did that he went inside the solicitors office to check I wouldn't have any further accessibility issues. Very nice of him.

When he returned he told me there was a step at the front door! What happened to the office being wheelchair accessible?! There's no way my electric wheelchair can get up a step. Unfortunitely because I got this wheelchair in the States it doesn't have curb climbers...but I am awaiting a new British one.

So in the end he ended up dropping me off at the shops and I hung out there until my scheduled pick-up time.

Whilst I waited I rang the office and expressed how angry I was that I was misinformed about the access. The person who answered the phone this time admitted right away there was a step at the front door but she said I quote "We've had people in wheelchairs come here before their carers just tip their chairs up the steps...." I made it plain to her just because it is accessible for someone in a manual wheelchair who has a carer to help them up the step doesn't mean it's *wheelchair accessible* to everybody. That is extremely misleading!

I then asked her for a home visit from Christine and asked her to give me a quote of the cost. She said "175 an hour." I was flabbagasted. There's no way I can afford that in my position! This appointment I had today was for a FREE consultation and because they're not wheelchair friendly I had to ask for a home visit and they want £175 for it. That's bonkers! So I told her to forget it I'll find somewhere else.

Any advise/comments are welcome :)

Posted by: Fiona Anderson
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Tags: North West

5 Comments

  • Tanvi Vyas replied on 8 Mar 2011 at 12:06
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    Surely, as solicitors they know that they must provide a reasonable adjustment.. Under the Equality Act there should be no additional cost to access a service due to disability. If you explain why you cannot get in, they should provide an alternative meeting place at no additional cost to you.

    Also, you may want to mention that you had to pay for your journey there, when you were misled into thinking this was accessible.

    It is of serious concern if solicitors aren't aware of differing wheelchairs and access requirements!!

  • Fiona Anderson replied on 8 Mar 2011 at 13:35
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    Thanks for your input Tanvi. I really want to kick up a fuss about this as this isn't *right.* Is there anyone you can recommend I write a strongly worded letter to, someone above the actual company itself? I'm not sure how to do these things you see and so far the actual company just seems to fog me off and acts like I was the one in the wrong not them....

  • Jennifer Gallacher replied on 8 Mar 2011 at 15:57
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    thats terrible that they made no attempt to get u in the building or offer an alternative meeting point. A step is clearly not accessible for wheelchair users.
    They should no better than that and Its really worrying that they obviously have no clue about disability!

  • Tanvi Vyas replied on 8 Mar 2011 at 17:45
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    You could write to the Law Society, but then I think you may need to find another solicitor!

    What communication have you had so far? Have you asked them to make a suitable suggestion that could be deemed an alternative?

    You could mention that you are considering making a formal complain to the Law Society which may get them to listen......

  • Tmara Senior replied on 9 Mar 2011 at 00:19
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    The driver should have used his comoen sense, parked his car across the road and helped you in to the building in my opinion, not left you at some shops on your own, if my taxi company did that to me I wouldn't be very happy. I hope your formal complaint goes well and that you get a good result.

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