I want our money back... Immigration Consultant

[tsjunx]

Hi everyone,

We hired an immigration consultant to help with our application. Long story short, things didn't work out for the best and he doesn't want to refund our money, we worked for us exactly one week. Worked is putting it nicely, we had basically done the application ourselves we had the draft, and everything else.

He first over charged the tax with no credible explanation, well at least to me, I'm mad right now/emotional but I'll try to be objective and presenting how things happened and then you can tell me if I'm crazy and I should drop it.

Over charge in tax, asked him about it in an email, follow up email no response, my wife calls him and tells him we're concerned, that we understand he's busy but we'd like at least and acknowledgment email, responds to my emails after his call. Had to go back to manuals when I told him dependent sponsorships are 10 years, he was telling me it was 3, he edited our letters to include that the second reason we were legally married was so that my wife could obtain her permanent residence. At no time in no form, no way did I say something like that. I was polite in my emails to him and said that I didn't feel it was fair for him to keep the full deposit in light of these events, he says I'm misrepresenting myself and that no refund will be provided. It's almost $1,700 which hurts to lose... does anyone have experience in this sort of thing? Do you think I have any chance of ever seeing that money again? I'm kicking myself so hard right now... I can't believe it. I'm preparing my complaint to the council but I don't know if that will do any good... aaaaaah just wanna scream right now.

Thanks for reading

 

[CharlieD10]

What are the terms of the agreement you signed with this consultant? Deposits are usually non-refundable, regardless of what does/doesn't get done. That's why in the professional services industry such fees are referred to as "retainers". That fee "retains" them to act on your behalf, and also is "retained" by them even if the contract is terminated.

As for him "editing" your letters, I hope you have originals. Complain to whomever he is registered with and outline all you have said here. Other than that, there really isn't much you can do except complain and hope he is investigated or at the very least "out" him so people know not to use his services.

 

[rjessome]

Hi everyone,

We hired an immigration consultant to help with our application. Long story short, things didn't work out for the best and he doesn't want to refund our money, we worked for us exactly one week. Worked is putting it nicely, we had basically done the application ourselves we had the draft, and everything else.

He first over charged the tax with no credible explanation, well at least to me, I'm mad right now/emotional but I'll try to be objective and presenting how things happened and then you can tell me if I'm crazy and I should drop it.

Over charge in tax, asked him about it in an email, follow up email no response, my wife calls him and tells him we're concerned, that we understand he's busy but we'd like at least and acknowledgment email, responds to my emails after his call. Had to go back to manuals when I told him dependent sponsorships are 10 years, he was telling me it was 3, he edited our letters to include that the second reason we were legally married was so that my wife could obtain her permanent residence. At no time in no form, no way did I say something like that. I was polite in my emails to him and said that I didn't feel it was fair for him to keep the full deposit in light of these events, he says I'm misrepresenting myself and that no refund will be provided. It's almost $1,700 which hurts to lose... does anyone have experience in this sort of thing? Do you think I have any chance of ever seeing that money again? I'm kicking myself so hard right now... I can't believe it. I'm preparing my complaint to the council but I don't know if that will do any good... aaaaaah just wanna scream right now.

Thanks for reading

The complaint with the ICCRC will most likely get your money back for you. This is really shoddy work.

The agreement you signed should have been a retainer and money SHOULD be refunded to you, subtracting the billable time he actually put into your file. There is no "deposit" in these kinds of legal agreements. It is first portion of the retainer, etc.

Your plan of a complaint is a good one. Do it now. ICCRC takes these very seriously. And so do consultants so you might want to let him know that you are filing a complaint and he may give you your money back voluntarily. Believe me, he cannot do ANYTHING negative to your application. But I understand if you don't want to advise him that it's coming.

I'm with CharlieD. I'd like to know who this idiot is.

 

[canadianwoman]

... he edited our letters to include that the second reason we were legally married was so that my wife could obtain her permanent residence.

Definitely change this! No hint that you married so your wife can gain PR status should be included in the application.
Was this consultant in Canada? If so, definitely complain to their association.

 

[tsjunx]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies, I'm a bit more calm now and preparing the complaint I'm sending in to the council. I still can't get over it though, I read about it, the bad experiences with consultants I mean, I thought I was doing the right thing and wham! I feel horrible, it was my decision to use a consultant and it's just a horrible feeling to hire someone in good faith and have this happen.

I have all the original drafts of my documents, I have the few emails we exchanged, even the one where I brought up why he had included that statement in our letters when we said nothing of the sort, it's a lie. I called the council on friday and the lady I spoke to said I should try and come to an agreement with the consultant first. I'm so glad we asked to see the changes to our letters otherwise our application would have been sent in with lies. He sent me an email saying that I was withholding a material fact that he advised me against it (what a joke) and that the application was finalized in his opinion so due to this no refund would be provided. I was livid, absolutely livid when I read this, but I waited until I was calm and replied that I was sorry to hear his position on the refund and that I wanted to see if we could come to an agreement before I filed a complaint and that I did not feel it was fair for him to keep $1,500 + for retyping our forms, long story short he replied that he was not going to let me bully or threaten him and was not going to communicate with me anymore. I went to pick up my documents from his office, it's a small office and I thought it was funny his door was closed, his secretary gave them to me, so unprofessional, geez goes to show his service quality. Any other professional honest person would've wanted to talk about it, offer some sort of resolution.

So I'm preparing my complaint form, I'm keeping it very professional and factual, I'm including all the email correspondence and a copy of my draft and a copy of his changes. I'm letting the council know I'm willing to share everything I gave him, I have nothing to hide and his accusations have no base. What a nightmare... we were so happy last week thinking our application would be sent in sometime next week... sigh.

 

[mehdiR]

I got issues with my representative as well,
They charged me $500 for the option C ( claiming it's needed for my wife who is the applicant!!!) , Mistreated me, hung up on me, delayed my application for 5 months( saying I have to have at least $15000 in my account)
I got all the emails from them as proof .

I 'm confused and real anxious too . I feel your anger

 

[Mrslwsn]

what??? y would they charge 500 for option c??? It;s free from rev can with one phone call i got mine myself. thats insane!!

 

[mehdiR]

what??? y would they charge 500 for option c??? It;s free from rev can with one phone call i got mine myself. thats insane!!

TELL ME ABOUT IT.

 

[torontonian999]

Yes, you call Canada Revenue Agency at 1-800-959-8281, and you ask for Option C printout. They will ask you for your DOB, SIN and some other security questions. And you will have your Option C printout in your mailbox within 10 days. And yes, free of charge! Your consultant has charged you $500 for a simple phone call he has made.

TELL ME ABOUT IT.

 

[imatra]

If you feel you a ligitimate complaint, whether they are paralegals or lawyers, tell them that you are going to complaint to the "Law Society of Upper Canada" Paralegals are licensed under LSUC as well). At this step (before filing any complaint) they usually try to make amends and work it out with you. (They are not looking for any headache). The LSUC complaints info is as follow:

Complaints
Toll-free: 1-800-268-7568
General line: 416-947-3310
TTY: 416-644-4886
Fax: 416-947-5263

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/contact/

Investigating a complaint is going to be a little bit lengthy. So don't expect a refund anytime soon. They might have a good case of their own.

Regarding "Retainer Agreement", it is NOT a DEPOSIT. They will calculate the time they worked on your file and deduct it from the retainer fee and refund the balance. But don't expect any refund that easily. If you read your "Retainer Agreement" you will see that the lawyers charge for EVERYTHING that they do on your file, i.e. reviewing, emailing, telephone calls, etc. So it can quickly add up to not only to your retainer fee, but also alot more.

Good luck to you and keep us posted in this regard.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the replies, I'm a bit more calm now and preparing the complaint I'm sending in to the council. I still can't get over it though, I read about it, the bad experiences with consultants I mean, I thought I was doing the right thing and wham! I feel horrible, it was my decision to use a consultant and it's just a horrible feeling to hire someone in good faith and have this happen.

I have all the original drafts of my documents, I have the few emails we exchanged, even the one where I brought up why he had included that statement in our letters when we said nothing of the sort, it's a lie. I called the council on friday and the lady I spoke to said I should try and come to an agreement with the consultant first. I'm so glad we asked to see the changes to our letters otherwise our application would have been sent in with lies. He sent me an email saying that I was withholding a material fact that he advised me against it (what a joke) and that the application was finalized in his opinion so due to this no refund would be provided. I was livid, absolutely livid when I read this, but I waited until I was calm and replied that I was sorry to hear his position on the refund and that I wanted to see if we could come to an agreement before I filed a complaint and that I did not feel it was fair for him to keep $1,500 + for retyping our forms, long story short he replied that he was not going to let me bully or threaten him and was not going to communicate with me anymore. I went to pick up my documents from his office, it's a small office and I thought it was funny his door was closed, his secretary gave them to me, so unprofessional, geez goes to show his service quality. Any other professional honest person would've wanted to talk about it, offer some sort of resolution.

So I'm preparing my complaint form, I'm keeping it very professional and factual, I'm including all the email correspondence and a copy of my draft and a copy of his changes. I'm letting the council know I'm willing to share everything I gave him, I have nothing to hide and his accusations have no base. What a nightmare... we were so happy last week thinking our application would be sent in sometime next week... sigh.

 

[tsjunx]

hi mehdiR, I'm so sorry to hear about your problems too, that's just insane I don't understand how these so called professionals justify charging $500 for a free document!! Please file a complaint, I was reading a public inquest CIC did about immigration consultants and they found that a large % of people that have problems with one never report it, we gotta change that, the reason it's been happening for so long and continues to happen is because of this, and it just ain't fair.

As per the retainer agreement I will send a copy to the council as well. In my email requesting a refund I pointed out his clause about withdrawing from using his services, it states that he will only charge up to the time he represented us, he didn't provide me with a statement of account to see how exactly he had earned the $1,500 +. I'll send my complaint in tomorrow, I'm making a point to the council that because of his actions we're left without money to hire anyone else and see each other (we decided to sacrifice seeing each other more this year and use that money to hire the consultant). I read their professional conduct page and according to that he did not act in our best interest.

 

[rjessome]

If you feel you a ligitimate complaint, whether they are paralegals or lawyers, tell them that you are going to complaint to the "Law Society of Upper Canada" Paralegals are licensed under LSUC as well). At this step (before filing any complaint) they usually try to make amends and work it out with you. (They are not looking for any headache). The LSUC complaints info is as follow:

Complaints
Toll-free: 1-800-268-7568
General line: 416-947-3310
TTY: 416-644-4886
Fax: 416-947-5263

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/contact/

Investigating a complaint is going to be a little bit lengthy. So don't expect a refund anytime soon. They might have a good case of their own.

LSUC doesn't regulate immigration consultants. ICCRC does. He is going about it the right way.

 

[imatra]

Yes you are right. I didn't realize that ICCRC became the regulatory body for immigration consultants ... I think it is even better than LSUC, since it is specifically focused on immigration matters.

tsjunx, good luck and please keep us posted on the progress of your complaint.

LSUC doesn't regulate immigration consultants. ICCRC does. He is going about it the right way.

 

[itscoezy]

hi mehdiR, I'm so sorry to hear about your problems too, that's just insane I don't understand how these so called professionals justify charging $500 for a free document!! Please file a complaint, I was reading a public inquest CIC did about immigration consultants and they found that a large % of people that have problems with one never report it, we gotta change that, the reason it's been happening for so long and continues to happen is because of this, and it just ain't fair.

As per the retainer agreement I will send a copy to the council as well. In my email requesting a refund I pointed out his clause about withdrawing from using his services, it states that he will only charge up to the time he represented us, he didn't provide me with a statement of account to see how exactly he had earned the $1,500 +. I'll send my complaint in tomorrow, I'm making a point to the council that because of his actions we're left without money to hire anyone else and see each other (we decided to sacrifice seeing each other more this year and use that money to hire the consultant). I read their professional conduct page and according to that he did not act in our best interest.

Wishing you the very best trying to get the refund back That must feel terrible especially since immigration is already expensive in and of itself. Hoping this gets you somewhere!
Is there a reason that you are hiring a consultant? Is your case really complicated? Most people on the boards successfully do everything required for the immigration app by themselves but of course if something is not straight forward seeking help might be necessary. Just a thought

 

[imatra]

I agree with you. I never felt the need to hire an immigration consultant. All the forms and instructions are online and except in a couple of places, I didn't have trouble with filling in the forms. At the beginning I was a bit overwhelmed. But when I went through the forms, I realized that the forms were not that bad. And plus, who knows more about my relationship with my husband than ourselves??!

@tsjunx ... getting the money back, won't be that easy. But regardless, take action and make a complaint.

Wishing you the very best trying to get the refund back That must feel terrible especially since immigration is already expensive in and of itself. Hoping this gets you somewhere!
Is there a reason that you are hiring a consultant? Is your case really complicated? Most people on the boards successfully do everything required for the immigration app by themselves but of course if something is not straight forward seeking help might be necessary. Just a thought