Internal Firm Feedback
Why am I being charged for all these draftings? I'm not the one who made the mistakes.
Note: Voices were altered to protect client privacy.
Interviewer: How would you rate them for their retainer agreement process?
Client: I would say eight or nine, only because closer to when our process was closing, Kaila had initially told me that I wouldn't have to worry about topping up my retainer again because things were done. We were just basically waiting on the judge to sign off, everything was good to go. And she knew I was on maternity leave, so she knew money was tight. I had spent a significant amount of money that year fighting for my daughter. Then, I ended up getting a bill for the retainer. When I called, she said that I actually had to pay half of the retainer and it was non-negotiable. I was not planning to come up with another $1,500. I know that's probably partially my fault, too. But when I was told, "Don't worry about the retainer," and then I was hit with another bill, that was hard, especially around Christmas time. I do feel like something needs to be a little bit different when your case is at a close— if they could come up with something different, like, if there's a remaining balance and you pay the remaining balance after everything's settled and your case is closed, I think that would be more helpful than being slammed with another $1,500 or $3,000. I understand you get that back when everything's closed, but it's just hard to keep coming up with that money.
Client: The only thing that honestly bothered me throughout the entire process was that anytime I got a bill, there were a lot of case organization charges. At one point, I was like, how many more times am I going to be charged for case organization? Why is my case being organized again? And it's not cheap, some of them were like $400 charges. They decided that they had to go through and reorganize my file, which I didn't understand.
Client: My only complaint is that I felt like there were sometimes some very unnecessary charges that I was like, wait a minute, why am I being charged for this? Sometimes, they put in the wrong birth date, and I would be like, "No, that's my birthday," or "That's his birthday," or whatever. They would go back and forth, and then I'd get a bill in, and it would be all these charges for the drafting of the settlements, drafting of the settlements, drafting of the settlements. And I'm like, okay, but wait, why am I being charged for all these draftings? I'm not the one who made the mistakes. It was frustrating because my case wasn't cheap by any means; I am close to the $30,000 mark in just a year.
Client: She does need to hear it, and Brenda needs to hear it, too, because she needs to understand that she's hired a really good one.
Client: I would say eight or nine, only because closer to when our process was closing, Kaila had initially told me that I wouldn't have to worry about topping up my retainer again because things were done. We were just basically waiting on the judge to sign off, everything was good to go. And she knew I was on maternity leave, so she knew money was tight. I had spent a significant amount of money that year fighting for my daughter. Then, I ended up getting a bill for the retainer. When I called, she said that I actually had to pay half of the retainer and it was non-negotiable. I was not planning to come up with another $1,500. I know that's probably partially my fault, too. But when I was told, "Don't worry about the retainer," and then I was hit with another bill, that was hard, especially around Christmas time. I do feel like something needs to be a little bit different when your case is at a close— if they could come up with something different, like, if there's a remaining balance and you pay the remaining balance after everything's settled and your case is closed, I think that would be more helpful than being slammed with another $1,500 or $3,000. I understand you get that back when everything's closed, but it's just hard to keep coming up with that money.
Client: The only thing that honestly bothered me throughout the entire process was that anytime I got a bill, there were a lot of case organization charges. At one point, I was like, how many more times am I going to be charged for case organization? Why is my case being organized again? And it's not cheap, some of them were like $400 charges. They decided that they had to go through and reorganize my file, which I didn't understand.
Client: My only complaint is that I felt like there were sometimes some very unnecessary charges that I was like, wait a minute, why am I being charged for this? Sometimes, they put in the wrong birth date, and I would be like, "No, that's my birthday," or "That's his birthday," or whatever. They would go back and forth, and then I'd get a bill in, and it would be all these charges for the drafting of the settlements, drafting of the settlements, drafting of the settlements. And I'm like, okay, but wait, why am I being charged for all these draftings? I'm not the one who made the mistakes. It was frustrating because my case wasn't cheap by any means; I am close to the $30,000 mark in just a year.
Client: She does need to hear it, and Brenda needs to hear it, too, because she needs to understand that she's hired a really good one.
Contact Details
Family Law Group
1579, Hyde Park Road
London, ON, N6H 5L4
Phone: (519) 672-5953