Recruitment agency liability

[Emenius_Sleepus]

Hi all,

I expect that there is no legal foundation for this but in case there is, some advice would be very much appreciated - I was recently contacted by a recruitment agency who told me that a client of theirs was interested in meeting me about an upcoming position. I was interested in the role and agreed to meet with the prospective employer. This involved travelling to London and back which cost me £75 for a train ticket and took an entire day of my time. The recruitment agency were not forthcoming with a great deal of information about the role as it had not been made public at that point (and still hasn't as far as I'm aware) but did state that it was a formal interview. I attended the interview and spent a couple of hours with the interviewer but from the outset something did not feel right; the majority of the questions he asked me were about the processes and techniques that my previous employer (a direct competitor of theirs) used to operate their business. Not a great deal of the questioning referred to my abilities/experience. I asked the interviewer directly for more information about the role but was given vague and non-committal answers. Since the interview took place I have had no contact from either the recruitment agency or the prospective employer and I have called the recruitment agency 3/4 times - they will not field or return my calls. Almost two weeks have passed since the interview and I am feeling very aggrieved about the situation. I now believe that this job opportunity was nothing more than a ruse, devised to mine my brain for information about one of their closest competitors. I am unemployed and spending this money and time for the 'privilege' of being used is very frustrating.

What I'd like to know is if there are any grounds for enforcing, at the least, the return of my travel expenses and possibly some compensation for my time which would have been better served exploring genuine employment opportunities? Whilst I understand that commencing legal action for such a modest amount of money is probably a false economy it would be nice to have some information which may give me the legal leverage to have my grievance taken seriously.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[leclerc]

Re: Recruitment agency liability

I think that the answer is no since you did not ask about travel expenses PRIOR to the interview and therefore you cannot ask for it after the fact. If you are unemployed or have no savings to back you up then I would not have bothered going to the interview whatsoever.

Sorry but chalk it up to experience and hopefully next time you will be lucky.

[Kati]

Re: Recruitment agency liability

Hi Emenius Sleepus

You got an answer on your previous thread too

I don't think you'll get much joy but don't see any harm in asking (for your expenses). Perhaps you could simply invoice the agency. :tinysmile_twink_t2:

I wonder if there's any change in telling your previous employer what they've been up to?

Have you thought about informing your previous employer of this??

K x