I am sorry if David Moore felt he had been given the 'brush-off' by a member of my staff (see [2003] Gazette, 16 October, 18).

I believe he wrote to my office earlier this year, express-ing dissatisfaction regarding the case about which he writes.

Without commenting on a specific case, I would reassure Mr Moore that I set high standards for customer service.

Should we fail on a particular occasion to meet those high standards, we do indeed have a complaints procedure, details of which are contained in our literature - freely available on request and via the Internet.

This procedure does not deal with dissatisfaction about my decisions but any complaint about my staff is investigated promptly and thoroughly.

If we receive a request to address correspondence to a third party, we make arrangements to do just that.

Clearly without such a request, to address correspondence to anyone other than the parties concerned would be quite inappropriate, no matter what involvement was apparent from the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors' file.

It appears that Mr Moore's letter to my office was replied to the day it was received and his points addressed.

I can reassure him that my office always strives to meet the highest possible standards of fairness, transparency and customer satisfaction, both for consumers and the legal profession.

Zahida Manzoor, Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales