LegalZoom Professional LLC creation not in compliance with Colorado law Internet

I am a physician, and I used LegalZoom to try to set up a professional LLC.  Unfortunately, the "professional LLC (PLLC)" documents that LegalZoom filed were not in compliance with Colorado law for professional LLC's.  They only satisfied the requirements of a regular LLC.  Regular LLC's are regulated under Title 7; professional LLC's are under Title 12, a completely different section of the legal code.  In addition, no matter what the documents say, the name of the business has to have "PLLC" in it rather than just "LLC", which was also incorrectly prompted when I set up.

I really should have known better than to trust an internet company to set up my business PLLC filing.  However, I had several friends (including other physicians) recommend them, so I decided to cheap out.  My bad.

On hearing that I used LegalZoom, a lawyer friend of mine who specializes in business law asked to review the documents to make sure everything was ok.  He did so and advised me my operating agreement was incorrect and completely inadequate.  

So, I emailed LegalZoom and advised them that the filing was incorrectly done and that I wanted a refund.  The reply? "After reviewing your order the Operating agreement does indicate that you are a professional entity, please refer to the first page section (A). Also please see the attachment with your filed articles. "

Basically, "It's a professional LLC because the operating agreement says 'professsional LLC' at the top."  Well, I can put "MD" after my name, but if I don't have the diploma from medical school and a license from the state, I'm not legal to practice.  And a professional LLC that was essentially filed as a regular LLC is just inviting a prosecuting attorney to pierce the corporate veil.

I called them next and asked how much it would be to dissolve and refile everything correctly.  They wanted to charge me over $200 to do that, and that didn't seem right to me.

So then I hired my friend the lawyer and sat down with him to review the documents to see what could be done.  Not only did LegalZoom generate completely incorrect documentation, they also incorrectly prompted me to buy their registered agent service.  Their site says that "most states require a registered agent" - what they don't tell you is that YOU CAN BE YOUR OWN AGENT.   You don't need to pay anyone to do it for you.  All a registered agent is is someone who the Secretary of State can send notices to about things they need you to know.  He recommended I give them one more chance to make it right, but that I should report them to Colorado's Attorney Regulation Council if they don't.

Well, I wrote down the exact parts of the Colorado Statutes that my lawyer explained to me, wrote them an email informing them of the same, requested a full refund plus $25 to re-file and do it right this time (that's the cost for filing paperwork with the Secretary of State), and advised them if they did not respond appropriately, I would be reporting them to the Attorney Regulation Council.  Let me tell you, I had a full refund (without the extra $25, no biggie) email back in about 48 hours (despite the fact that their automated email said I'd have a reply by the next business day).  So at least there's that.

But beware - they do not file the correct documentation for a professional LLC in the State of Colorado.  They do not correctly inform you of your options regarding a registered agent, thereby bilking out out of a chunk of change.  And they won't back down until you quote the law and threaten to report them to someone who understands the law.  Unfortunately, you have to hire a lawyer in order to know that they're cheating you.  

The best part?  Hiring a lawyer was cheaper than hiring LegalZoom.  Even without the friend discount.