Forgive me for returning to this subject, but as we move into an era of providing services in new ways there are plenty of examples of how not to do it, from those who have had years of experience and who really ought to know better.I firmly believe that web services will become the default method of delivery of legal services, and that clients will pay for a more traditional method of service only where it cannot be automated. There will doubtless be exceptions, but I refer here to general trends.

So far so good (or not, depending on your perspective). But there is a grave danger of destroying goodwill rather than enhancing it if you do not look after the client experience. Here is a little tale from my own recent experience, so recent in fact that I’m still peeling myself off the ceiling.

My anti-virus software is provided by a very well-known company. It has worked perfectly well for years and I have been very pleased with it. I renew each year automatically, although I can opt out of the automated renewal process. Updates are, as you would expect, online and automated and I don’t have to phone or write to anyone about the service; it is just there. I like it that way.

Last week, an automatic update caused a problem. A restart of my computer was required and this I duly did. Unfortunately, as soon as the computer started up again Windows informed me that I no longer had any anti-virus protection. I got straight onto the anti-virus company and, as my PC was exposed to online threats, I used the premium phone line rather than attempting email or chat.

My call was answered by someone who invited me to share my screen view and give him control of the computer so that he could explore the issue and fix it. I had the distinct impression that he was attending to several such jobs at the same time because he kept wandering away from the phone without telling me. To my increasing irritation he also avoided repeatedly answering my questions about his findings. After some five hours (thankfully not continuously but following a call back) he assured me that the problem was fixed.

The next day I found that in fact the problem was not fixed. My computer would restart without warning in the midst of my work with multiple files open. I am now on my fifth consecutive day of a cyclical process that is so routine that I know the script. It runs something like this:1. I try to access customer service by email so that I can attach copies of chat logs etc, but the support by email button is inactive.2. I select the chat option and I detail all that has already happened and quote all the previous support call references and ask the technician to read today’s story and the previous ones before doing anything.3. The technician asks me lots of questions I have already answered and resolutely refuses to depart from this process. Irony in my responses is either ignored or simply lost on him.4. I see on screen the technician bumbling around and covering the same ground that previous colleagues covered. My messages indicating that these steps have already been tried without success are ignored.5. The technician assures me that the problem is fixed and the call is closed.

Today, I have had enough. I fight with the technician who is controlling the mouse and wrest back control of my computer. I ask that the matter be escalated to a higher authority and after resisting this at least half a dozen times I am told that someone will contact me after five hours. I ask for an email address to register a complaint. This is ignored. I keep on asking until I am eventually given a hyperlink and a phone number.

The hyperlink leads to the same site I started the process with. There is therefore no email support. I phone the number and am told that I can fax the company. I explain that I haven’t had a fax machine for years and I would like to email customer service. I am told to my astonishment that they do not have an email address so I will have to write a letter and post it. This is about the point at which I hit the ceiling.

I calm down a little and search the website for the word ‘complaint’ – it does not exist.

The moral in the tale is obvious and, no, sorry, it isn’t that one should not provide web services, it is that you can delight your clients by providing web services, but then lose all the goodwill that not only these services produced but any goodwill that your client previously had for you. And they will tell everyone they meet what a shower your firm is.

So do it, but do it right.

Martin Langan is a solicitor and founder of Legal Workflow Limited