My experience from 2020 - 2021: I litigated in person versus an Ombudsman and was successful. I have arrived at 0.95 stars despite the excellent judges. NB: (FREE LEGAL ADVICE RCJ advice for the LIP.) NB: (SUPPORT THROUGH COURT invaluable support for the LIP.) 5 stars: 1st EMAIL ENQUIRY. I received a prompt reply, which explained that my inability to do a telephone or Skype hearing would be taken into account by the judge. 0 stars: I made enquiries about procedure for disabled people, but was told it would be based on my claim and to provide details of it. However, I should have been pointed towards April 2021 updated PRACTICE DIRECTION 1A. 5 stars: SERVICE OF PROCEEDINGS of my claim. My small claim consisted of a 73-page bundle, sent by tracked delivery, 3 copies marked “Court copy”, “Defendant copy” and “Claimant copy”. Processed with great efficiency with court seal and receipt giving date of serving, both of which were crucial when Defendant denied receipt of service. -5 stars: for “UNCONSCIOUS BIAS” by court staff towards the Litigant in Person. As a consequence, I have published an essay on Amazon Kindle to help others. -5 stars: JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT. I had trouble getting the court to acknowledge request, resulting in a tiresome HMCTS complaint. Fortunately, I had a digital photo of my 1st hand-delivered request with date stamp. -5 stars: INCORRECT NAME OF DEFENDANT. I had trouble getting the court to acknowledge this, which could have resulted in the case as void. -5 stars: NOTIFICATION OF HEARINGS: I did not always receive notifications, which was injurious to my person. 1 star: “REASONABLE ADJUSTMENT” by the court for the disabled LIP was conducted in a tardy, incidental and erratic way. 2.5 stars: FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE with the county court, regarding emails, it is worth reading the CPR on emails etc. My filings were sent by Special Delivery as over the 50-page limit and I needed excellent colour print. Tracked delivery meant that my filings could not be denied. 15 stars: THE JUDGES were outstanding men of honour. 3 stars: THE COURT USHERS. The first one was very professional. The second one appears to have mis-conveyed a simple request, which I was able to correct before the judge. 0 stars: EQUAL ACCESS to the law between litigating parties when the opposing side is represented by an international law firm and barrister(s).

Kafkaesque! My experience with this court is one where I have felt that I am begging for any sense of justice. The telephone lines and receptionists are unresponsive and I often find myself on the phone for up to three hours only to be sometimes cut off at the last moment. As a civic institution that has to handle hundreds of court cases, the fact that they don't have more than one telephone line or receptionist is just shocking. Whats more is that several court papers that were meant to be sent were not sent out by post until I do manage to get through and in effect reminded the court that the paperwork needs to be sent. In one case paperwork was sent two weeks after it was supposed to due to my reminding the court that the paperwork needed to be sent. I filed a case earlier this year in which I have been trying to evict a violent tenant. It turns out that the case keeps getting pushed back to a further review and is currently in its third review stage.Thats it ! No further explanation as to why this is the case and no further response from the court when you email them or call. This is in spite of the fact that I had provided tonnes of evidence against the defendant and any ruling should have been given to the court and the judges on a plate. It seems the staff who preside in the court are not savvy enough to read simple emails or to even at times have a basic grasp of law judging by some of the responses I have been given over the phone. At this point , I expect a better sense of justice and a response from a law court in Timbuktu. If ever you wanted a prime example of increasing civic institutional failings within this country, this is the place to look !

Absolutely appalling service provided by Wandsworth County Court. This Court has neither any level of etiquette, nor does it appear to practice any level of County Court Procedural rules. I issued a claim in small claims court, on line, in October 2021, heard absolutely NOTHING from Wandsworth County Court where my hearing was referred to, only on the instigation of my local MP David Rutley (March 2023) did I get a hearing date for May 2023. Great, I thought,! Wrong, when I attended the hearing I was advised by Judge Davis that the defendant had actually responded to my aim in NOVEMBER 2021,but I never received a copy of this response. Am I expecting too much for my £455 costs to issue, is Wandsworth County Court not answerable for their actions or indeed their INACTIONS? Seems appalling that any County Court can behave in such a manner and not be held account table. I have emailed AND sent a letter by recorded delivery, but alas, it would appear that we have lost our basic manners and etiquette, and don't blame Covid. Why is nobody taking any notice of this Courts practice,? the reviews speak for themselves. Can somebody in the Judiciary take some notice and apply some attention, to a severely lacking legal office.

Atrocious customer service, sullen, joyless, receptionist who refuses to help even knowing the court took £355 of my court fees a month ago and still no sign of the Court Order that was requested - over two months ago. Their "enquiries" email address has an automated reply: "IF YOU ARE WAITING FOR A COURT ORDER/APPLICATION/ MY CASE TO BE LISTED: We are unable to respond to any emails regarding this. We are working hard in the court office to deal with relisting hearings and urgent matters. We ask for your patience at this time. Unless your matter is considered urgent, there may be a delay in dealing with it." In other words, we've got your money, and whether or not you get any service from us is a matter of whether we can be bothered to DO OUR JOBS. We can't be bothered to email you, and we won't take your phone calls. and our receptionist won't let you have the name of any of our officers to whom you may wish to complain. This organisation is a shameful stain on our justice department. If I could give it zero stars, I would.

Negligence and Dereliction of Duty in Lease Extension Case. The people in charge of this court should be punished for not doing their job properly! This place is supposed to help people get justice, but it's failing miserably. I filed a case to extend my lease, which usually takes about 6 months in extreme situations. It has been 3 years since I filed my case here, and my flat lease still hasn't been extended. The lease has been approved in my favor, but they haven't taken action on it yet. It has been 7 months since the lease was extended, and despite following up 6-8 times, I haven't received a single reply. They keep saying they have too much work and are overwhelmed. I've been hearing this excuse for the past 3 years! If there was a competent person in charge, this issue would have been resolved at least to some extent. Waiting for 3 years (and still counting) for something that should ideally take 3-6 months is absolutely shocking. Is there any way to file a complaint against this court?

This is a small local county court and a someone who has regular contact with courts I must say this one is not so bad. Having contacted this court several times over the past several weeks my primary complaint is the often very long waiting times when calling. With regard to the other comments on here about the obnoxious, abrupt and unprofessional nature of the call handlers I cannot agree. The call handlers have conducted themselves in a polite and respectful manner at all times. Unfortunately, in court there is often a misunderstanding of what call handlers do. This leads to hostility on the side of those commenting. A call handler cannot answer your legal questions or comment on your case. For this you must call a solicitor\barrister. Overall not a bad court could do with modernisation. I would usually only leave 4 stars but feel 5 should be awarded to balance the foolish and harsh ratings provided by disgruntled individuals about the call handling staff.

I submitted a property claim in 2020. Received a reply ONE YEAR later and I am still waiting for the hearing date and there is no way to get an update after emails. UPDATE: I notify them of my change of address in January 2021 and they acknowledge it after few hours. Now I discover that they have not update my address and sent the letter with the hearing date to my old address on October 2021 which of course I've never received and therefore missed the hearing. Asked them to rearrange another date due to their lack of updating my address and the only answer I received was "You need to seek legal advice". Is now two years and I am still waiting, paying lawyers to fix other people mistake and to try to obtain justice. This is not how it should be.

No facility to pop in and pick up forms unless you make an appointment. Often kept 40 plus minutes on the phone only to be told the forms are on the website and we can’t tell you which form you need and go take legal advise to find out. Submitted 3 x response bundles in the drop box important to the case to find all of them posted back to me a few days later with no explanation. N244 application to defer was also returned not being heard by a judge but tfe EX160 Fee Remission form had been removed before being sent back. Are they claiming this fee from another department without doing the work? If so it’s fraudulent. Justice is NOT EQUAL in the UK and petty barriers placed in the way if you are not au fait with all their quirks and nonsense.

Located in a building that appears to have been transported, without repair, from 1986 Chernobyl, the court administration is equally shambolic. (1) As with all London county courts: a phone line which one has to ring a minimum of 20 - 25 before it is picked up – only then for the receiver to hang up else pretend not to hear you. (2) An email address with an average response time of 2 - 3 weeks – even for mail marked Urgent. (3) No information office or desk within the court and no guidance staff except for deluged ushers. (4) Undependable mail service which fails to deliver important court papers. HOWEVER: (5) The court staff, whilst inundated, were unflappably kind and helpful so far as they has time to be so.

P.S.U PERSONAL SUPPORT UNIT had actually provided my partner and I with the incorrect form which caused us to take even longer to get into court, in order to have the amount of arrears reduced. Three times, 1st time was wrong form, 2nd time they filled out the National Insurance number incorrect, 3rd time...forms lost in the post box. The last P.S.U person was very supportive but the 2nd man and woman, made you feel funny for asking for the staple gun! The court is old but functions well enough. Security are o.k, depending on who's on the receptionist desk. I've not been in the courts to rate them so

The lady I spoke to today on the phone was rude, impatient, did not want to listen and abrupt. The staff there need telephone skills. Don't take your frustration out on us it's not our fault you're having a bad morning/day. Secondly you should have been trained to look after irate people. Not that I was, but in general I'm sure they've come across annoyed people who constantly get different responses to the same question. I'm just saying. Update They have improved. I guess the lady is gone. I haven’t spoken to her in quite some time.

I needed a copy of a certificate. They told me I would be called for the payment and I was, but it was difficult to ascertain if it really was the Court - he couldn't give me any details of the certificate but he gave me a telephone number to check but said he wouldn't call again, so if I wanted to check, I would have to call him. I went ahead with the payment, but afterwards called the number, and it was him who answered the phone - not a check after all. If my bank account empties .......

SO UNBELIEVABLY RUDE !!! the first time I called they had me on hold for 30+ mins before answering the call then hanging up. I had to call back again and wait another 45 minutes just to be put through to the call, the lady asked for my claim number I said hold on one second, she barely gave me 3 secs and said “sorry can you call back later when you hate your claim number” in such a disgustingly rude tone then abruptly hung up the phone on me. This cannot be a court. Bunch of nasty people

I agree with other negative comments. There is no reciprocal communication by email, they have been very difficult to contact by phone and when you do get through, staff are not knowledgeable enough to answer questions. I applied for a paper hearing and heard nothing back. Turns out the defendant had their own audience with the judge and my case was ruled against me without any reference to the paperwork I so studiously provided. Its a complete waste of time and effort.

I want to commend the guys on the Security Team at Wandsworth County Court for doing such a fantastic job at the door. All three of these gentlemen were extremely friendly, professional and courteous when I visited on Friday with an enquiry about a case. They helped me call the right number and also helped me speak to the usher who was also extremely generous in assisting me. You’re all doing a fine job, thank you so much for going out of your way to help!

Horrible customer services. This court sent me a letter and didn’t put a postage stamp on it so I had to go to the post office and pay £3 to retrieve it. I then called them to let them know and it took me nearly 90 mins to get through. It’s only when I got my bill I realised that their number is a premium rate number 0.40p a minute. Cost me £36! When I got through they basically told me to get lost. Money sucking service on top of having to pay court fees.

I had to wait a year for the telephone hearing. On the day, they did not call me. Absolutely disgusting. I tried to call them twice prior to the hearing to ensure all was going ahead however after 50 mins waiting for the call to be answered I gave up. On the day of hearing as no call received from the court, I called them, again no answer therefore after 47 mins wait, I hanged up. I will be reporting this further. Totally unacceptable.

These are the British Courts they have the worst Administration System i have ever come accross. What is going on and why is nothing changing? Sack the staff and get people who can deal with Admin. What a complete let down they are. An absolutely disgusting service and need to urgently be investigated. Are you sure these are Courts that operate a very low level administration how is this possible? URGENT!!!

The phone staff have no knowledge of how the court works, appear to have no info (and less interest) in helping or finding out anything. Merely a token service to appear to fulfil the need for a phone contact number. In actuality just a stonewall. You will not be able to get your questions answered and they will also be extremely rude. I would have given zeros stars if that was a thing. Shockingly bad.

I filed several claims here in 1998, but I didn't receive any notifications or communications from the court thereafter. I believe that one case file had been responded too by a cheque payment settlement but I never received the cheque, or could they tell me the outcomes of the claims following being posted out. I was extremely disappointed with County Court and feel let down by law

Was caling for an update on my case and hat to wait over 10 min in a queue got till the point whe automated line was saying your first in the queue and then i got disconected, called second time and waited over 20 min and got disconected again and when i try to call after the line was closed at all !!!!!!!!!! Is that the customer service that we deserve by paing so much to you

Very poor service, staff not able to access all information, giving contradictory replies to questions about cases, very slow in responding to correspondence (by post or email), and ultimately have suffered an hearing with Judge really dismissive, with intimidating and discriminating attitude! Hopefully that Court will close otherwise worth to ask to be moved to Central London CC.

Kept us waiting for an hour before finally admitting that did not have a copy of a legal bundle. Also lost our original paperwork, even though it was signed for. Unacceptable, they've had months to prepare but are so quick to threaten default judgments if we don't submit in time. Have an electronic copy of all the bundles with you so you don't have your time wasted.

This court needs to be closed down. Don’t bother calling the enquiry line about missing court documents because you get an automated recording about faxing the court - who has a fax machine - it’s 2021! After that they hang up. This is the most shambolic county court that ever existed. The whole system is not fit for purpose!

This court should not exist. Word useless and incompetent was design to describe these crooks. Our prearranged court date that we waited for over a year never materialised and nobody showed up for prearranged court date. Have escalated his and hopefully they will get fined. Reviews tell you everything.. Useless

5th in the queue, 4th in the queue, 3rd in the queue, 2nd in the queue, 1st in the queue and they hand up! Just spend over 2 hours calling several times only for the call to drop when I reach 1st in the queue. I was only calling because it's been several weeks since I emailed and they are yet to respond!

SHUT THIS COURT DOWN These crooks do nothing but waste time I have had a claim which has been payed out after years of reaching out to these people and having a valid claim reference they have still not paid me out I don’t understand what to do law has let me down for the damages caused and no payment

This has to be the worst run court in the whole of the UK, if not the whole of Europe, run by the rudest and most hopeless people in the planet, staff are rude and inefficient, when they are not too busy rapping over their mobile phones, ( yes, I am not joking, I did actually witness this happen)

Phoned the court today and had the displeasure of speaking to a rude, abrupt, obnoxious, unhelpful, semi-literate woman who clearly had no idea how to talk to people and how to conduct herself professionally. The people managing this court need to take a good hard look at the people they employ.

This council is absolute joke!! i have been ringing for weeks and keep being placed on hold.. apparently first in the queue can go on for days. Have also sent off 5 email/application forms to get a copy of a decree nisi. Not one response! Absolutely disgraceful customer service.

Totally agree with all negative reviews posted. In my case vital evidence was not provided to judges to determine a fair and just hearing on a case. Despite speaking with a clerk. They enabled case to be unfair.They also do not listen and can be quite rude

Please do not use this court . They lose documents the ladies are extremely rude on the phone. It will take over a year just to get a CCJ. Also there is no number to get through to them. They will send the wrong CCJ to high courts so basically just avoid.

Moved my case to a remote hearing but didnt call me at the time of the date. when I called to find out why this happened they said I didnt state my preferred phone number (which I did email). However, the Court have my telephone number on file. Crazy!

I had an excellent experience using this court - the judge was efficient and helpful, as were the court staff. Within 20 minutes of my 1000h hearing, I was in possession of a court order and a sealed certificate. Overall, a delightful experience.

The staff have a lot to do, apparently on a shoestring budget. The guys at the door, who aren't responsible for court delays, etc. take a lot of bother from people. The usher helped me to get a case listed when it wasn't on the listings.

Worst court ever!!! Ridiculously slow waiting times, they forget about your case, they constantly make mistakes, they say you haven’t paid when you have, it’s impossible to get through to anyone and their staff are unbelievably rude!!!!

trying to get statuatory declaration witnessed for tfl and wandworth county court say they are not doing it due to corona. Sorry but a virus with 0.007% death rate (ie smaller than seasonal flu) is NO EXCUSE FOR BAD SERVICE! PATHETIC!

I need help! They filed a CCJ against me in error. I am being advised to get in touch with them to resolve it but after 2 years I can’t get trough. I tried to visit in person and they didn’t allow me. What can I do next?

Trying to contact the court by phone all morning and part of the afternoon due to an urgent matter,nobody answers the phone that rings endlessly when someone finally answers they just put off the phone without replying.

My first experience with "small case court" and so far it has been awful! I filed the claim online to start with which was speedy a but since it got transferred to WCC the situation is looking more and more hopeless!

What a joke. staff think they can do what ever they want. rude, unhelpful just put phone down on people. promise to call back with nothing done. they need to be looked in to by who ever is the governing body.

Inadequate service. Waited close to 2 hours to speak to someone only to be told the court system was down and they had no idea what is happening to the case. No paper files but no computer system either.

I had a remote hearing listed for today, however have received no link. forget trying to get through via telephone. very unprofessional, disgusting de facto court. If i could give zero stars i would

Unbelievably bad communication. Customer service is not a priority. This institution seriously needs investigating. Some customer advice, they will respond if you threaten to take them to court.

The appointment line is manned by one of the most rude, obnoxious and downright awful men I have ever had the displeasure of a fleeting conversation with. Customer service at its absolute worst.

Expect them to put the phone down on you even if your own manner is polite and courteous. One of the rudest people I've ever spoken to on the phone. They need to learn phone manners.

Extremely poor. Telephone hearings are very un-humane. Basic law should be compulsory in every school. So places like this can’t be used take advantage of everyday people.

You can see a GP face to face now, but the court security will refuse you entrance quoting COVID rules. Awful that it is still being used an excuse to do no work!

Absolutely disgraceful customer service and a severe lack of telephone skills. Richard is a rude, impatient man that did not listen and did not want to advise.

Advise lawyer to arrange court hearing for you. We went through a lawyer and touch wood everything worked ok for us today. All the best to all of you …

Staff don't respond to emails or answer calls. Long delays in correspondence from this court and no one responds to requests. Avoid this court if possible.

Despite the answerphone, work does not get done quickly. It's England 2017, but fear not, it sure will all get better with Brexit we have been told.

Just impossible to make contact. If anything goes wrong then we will get blames and never the court. Civil SERVANTS think they are above the law.

Basically, "I am unable to assist you with your enquiry today, goodbye". Zero customer service and overall, as depressing as the building itself.

No Answer first call then hung up on me the second call.. now no answer. Absolute shambles all designed so you fail to make your paydate.

Can I choose no stars? Absolutely the most useless court ever! No one answers the phone or emails. What a waste of tax payers money!

Brilliant service especially from the gentleman by the name of Tom went out of his way to help complete a form

I waited for over an hour each day on Two different days and they never bothered to answer their telephone .

I had to make a complaint about the level of service offered. It is truly shocking.

The number is no longer in use. Maybe update the site so we can easily access it.