Law users irked by lacklustre service.

law users irked by lacklustre service

In a sector dominated by Thomson (with its Westlaw and Sweet & Maxwell services) and LexisNexis (including the Butterworths and Tolley brands), users of legal, regulatory, tax and patent information have little option but to go to a handful of suppliers.

Given this dominance, user complaints about high costs and poor customer relations are frequent.

"Although the sector boasts a lot about listening to customers, this is largely not so," says one independent business information consultant. "Customer consultation is often just going through the motions because it's expected or it looks good."

"One key supplier introduced a new platform without adequately reflecting the needs of UK users and has been struggling ever since to change it to meet their requirements," says a tax information purchaser at a large accountancy firm.

"Even the shortfalls in the content would not be so unpalatable if we were informed about them in advance, understood the rationale or had clearer information on what the content includes," a librarian at a leading law firm adds.

"Downloads can be incredibly expensive. Mistakes can be even more costly," an independent marketing research project manager says. She goes on to accuse one supplier of being "complacent in the service and support provided".