**********!! ************!!

Good Day

As I have queried before, there was no arbitration. The only payout was for the week that the employer still owed me. A Joe Nobody such as myself, who was unfairly dismissed and received a measly R6500 salary is charged with services amounting to R12750.00???? I am unemployed, I have never earned more than R14000 a month, and if your company stands by what was initially communicated to me, if I were to get a big settlement, which I did not, your company would benefit from a third of the payout. However, no one told me that the "NO WIN, NO FEE" statement is only applicable to people earning over and above R20k a month (THIS IS ONLY STATED ON YOUR WEBSITE IF YOU GO LOOKING).

I am aghast, shocked, not only do I have to deal with the fact that I have been unemployed and if it were not for help from my parents my children would not be fed or have a roof over our heads, I have to worry about an insane legal fee for a payout of less than a week's salary, R1700.00 is what I got from her.

The very first e-mail contact with Michael states: "We work on a no win no fee basis..." this is the e-mail that was sent to me by case management, the ONLY reason why I even looked at their offer to help, so kindly advise on this ridiculous bill. The devil's in the details, the fine print I was stupidly not aware of, I did not win in any way, shape or form. I was paid out less than what she owed me and I am still unemployed. So justify the loophole please. Is this how the majority of people get ******* into using your services? For me it was made clear that if there is no substantial payout for unfair dismissal, there would be no fee for your services. And yet, here I am.

According to the Contingency Fee Act of 1997 - The act states that firms who act on a "no-win, no-fee" basis can take 25% of the settlement or charge twice the normal attorney-client fee, whichever is the lesser amount. 25%, not a third of your payout, but a quarter.

If strict adherence to the act were upheld, which it should be, then 25% of my so-called settlement would be R425.00

A 'no win, no fee' agreement, also known as a conditional fee agreement, is an arrangement between you and your personal injury solicitor. It means that if your compensation claim is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay a contingency fee for your lawyer's services. And yet....

The attorney’s fee should be specified in the contingency agreement, i.e. a third of a successful payout. It may be either a fixed sum or a percentage of your settlement, subject to the limitations imposed by the Contingency Fees Act. The success fee cannot exceed 25 percent of the total capital sum awarded to you or double the attorney’s normal rate, whichever is the lesser of the two. - by this logic, I am being charged 30 times the allowed payout as per the conditions of the act. I would say the Contingency Act was not even considered - doesn't that amount to *****?

You take absolute advantage of people in dire straits, do you think that everyone you try and swindle is uneducated and completely obtuse? I quoted sections of Mercantile Law, it should give you an indication that I am NOT uneducated and will not stand to be de*****ed.