Friday, June 18, 2004
End of Attorney Event
I had lunch with a friend in the Attorney General's office and we discussed the attorney giving us problems over the incorporation papers.
Manager asked if I'd call and see if they would speak to me.
So I did.
I was polite.
No, really, I was.
I simply told them that he'd cashed the check, and owed us for timely service. He was now a week and a half behind the date he'd promised completion. I strongly suggested that he complete the paperwork for Manager to pick up today. When he hemmed and hawed a bit, I then said I didn't appreciate that his secretaries felt comfortable hanging up on a client - a client who had paid for the service in full, and whose money he had probably already spent. This alone was sufficient grounds for a complaint to the Okalhoma Bar Association, and I was seriously considering it based on a recommendation by a friend in the Attorney General's office.
When he tried to tell me that we should be honored that he took our business, and we should wait patiently until he had time to spare to finish the work we over-paid him to do (he'd charged us for full incorporation, not a subchapter S - a substanital fee difference, and I let him know I was aware of it and expected him to refund the difference), I told him he had until 3:00 this afternoon to show good faith in finishing what we asked for, or I would take appropriate steps.
Apparently, right after I called him, my friend in the Attorney General's office called him and leaned a bit.
Upshot? He delivered the paperwork - late, but he delivered. And he refunded the amount he'd overcharged - grumblingly.
Because of his attitude, Manager has decided she will complete filing the complaint against him. Then change attorneys.
It's not like he's the only one in town.
Those of you following this blog for your own business advice - don't let people push you around. It's not just you being dismissed and treated poorly - it's your business, the people depending on that business, your money, and your dreams. Don't tolerate incompetence, and don't hesitate to report such incompetency and theft (the attorney had planned on keeping the money he'd overcharged, he wasn't going to tell us).
Don't be a sucker, like this attorney thought we were.
