Macey & Aleman Failure to comply with their contracted refund procedures (within 30 days) Aurora Illinois

I entered into a contract to file bankruptcy in March 2007, paying my fee, including the "credit counseling fee" of $1724. I had received my petition without problem, except for having to make a few changes in it in late 2007/early 2008. In April 2008 I decided to not pursue filing for bankruptcy and tried to fax a written request to the home office on Apr 30, 2008. The fax number was apparently not a working number or it was always busy. I finally ended up faxing the request to the Phoenix office on May 2, 2008. A few days later I received a phone call from the Phoenix office requesting me to call them, and upon speaking with the individual at the office, she informed me I had to return the petition to the office. This was sometime around the middle of May 2008. When I took the petition to the office, I discovered that they had moved to another office. This information was given to me by another bankruptcy attorney's office next to Macey & Aleman's old office. They never bothered to send out any information that they had moved. That attorney's office wondered why I had to return the petition in the first place.

When I took my petition into the new office in the third week of May 2008 and gave it to the "receptionist" or legal clerk, she told me it would be about 3 weeks before I would receive a refund. She put the petition in a room with a lot of other "paperwork" that seemed stacked on the floor.

I waited until about the middle of June to call the home office to find out the status of my refund and was given the "answer" that it was "in for review" and should be a few days. I waited about another week and called again to find out the status. l got the same old answer. I was told they had to call the office when it opened (apparently Phoenix AZ) and check on it. I asked for them to call me and was told he would...I never heard a word. I called again less than a week later, got the same answer, and then starting to get frustrated or angry, I called the next day. I finally got someone to tell me that they had NOT yet received the petition from the Phoenix office. This was on Monday June 23. They were going to email the Phoenix office and get it sent. I also faxed the Phoenix office with a handwritten note and told them they had not received the "accounting" from their office. The home office finally received the petition, and as of to date (July 9, 2008) nothing has been done.

I called the home office on July 3, 2008 and spoke to a lady who said that nothing had been done on it as of yet and she was going to contact the attorney or person in charge to check on it. On Monday, July 7, 2008 I called and spoke to some lady named Mic and she told me nothing had been done, and that after I mentioned all the follow-ups I made that it was costing me $50 everytime I called and that I might be lucky to get $100 refunded.

Macey & Aleman's refund policy in the contract, states the "refund will be issued in a reasonable period of time (usually 30 days)." The petition was never filed, as I had not signed the petition. In my "accounting" by time I had given written notice to terminate and dropped off the petition personally at the local Phoenix AZ office, more than 30 days has elapsed, and is approaching 45 days with neither a refund or satisfactory explanation of the delay. It seems that the local office sat on my written request for refund for at least 30 days before even submitting it to the home office for "review" and refund. This is of course at a "minimun rate of $50 per hour for the purpose of determining the amount of refund due".

My experience with Macey & Aleman has been one of frustration, poor or non-existent communication, surprise in monetary deductions (I hope I get the $274 for the credit course since I never took the course at all). It seems that since no one knows who they are talking to (is it an attorney or clerk?)
or the actual amount of conversant time involved, it seems that the client has a liability that cannot be anticipated.

I as a client was willing and timely in paying the required fee for services. I believed in good faith that I would be effectively represented. When I exercised my right to withdraw my petition before filing, however, I discovered all of my fees dissolved in a black hole of attorney reviews and delays with no results for me.

Michael
Phoenix, Arizona
U.S.A.