Mediators of America Reviews (8)
Mediators of America Rating
Address: 3322 Memorial Pkwy SW STE 639D, Huntsville, Alabama, United States, 35801-6907
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Ongoing request for refund continues to be ignored after being promised. Same excuse every time --out of town -- holiday --- busy at a conference.
I received a solicitation letter in the mail after being contacted for collection from a debt. I chose this business over all others. I agreed to $400 payment for services agreed upon - to communicate with and negotiate with other business in order to stop harassment of debt or to handle negotiation to reduce debt or eliminate debt due to my low income. NO COMMUNICATION WHATSOEVER FOR ONE ENTIRE YEAR...... I thought that meant it was being worked on. Out of the blue I am served with garnishment of my wages.....WHAT ???
Because (obviously-!!) no communication was ever made by the so-called "mediator".
If the business had done any actual work, I Should have received a phone call to explain what they are doing, what they are saying, what they are asking for, what they are offering, what kind of deal they are dealing,
Yet I received NOTHING -- not one stinky dime or phone call, -- not even a piece of mail, to explain any progress (prior to the notice of garnishment)...
It is apparent that No communication was ever made, because I would have been on the receiving end of the communication !! I would have been told something, anything, "hi we've tried to get this handled for you... etc etc ... but it's not quite done yet." or whatever.
If he had done the job that I paid him for, he would have been communicating with the credit company. Out of the blue, I am having garnished wages-!! Obviously, the business has never heard from the "hired mediator" at a-!!!!! For TEN MONTHS, I have been sending him a text message every week. Reminding him. To send me a refund.
I have been communicating with him since December 2017. NINE MONTHS of dead promises. I'll call you. I'll mail you. I'll talk to you. I'll do it tomorrow. All lies.
This business is a scam.
A sorry excuse for being a business.
This business is a scam and does not care to do any work whatsoever.
I seek the PROMISED refund of $400 dollars.
Sorry I could not respond earlier. We are working with *** towards a refund. We are reviewing the file and will take the proper action.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this reply. I have been hearing the same excuse for nearly a year. I also have nearly 12months of Evidence, in the form of text messages, VOWING and PROMISING to reply, to resolve, to send a check, to "do what's right" to "keep my word".... but that they are "so busy", that they are "caught up", that they are "behind", that they are "reviewing" and "responding".... All this is is another attempt at brushing me off, hoping that I'll give up, that I'll stop reminding them, hoping that I'll forget about it and they'll get away with yet ANOTHER "case" without having done any work for me whatsoever. Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies Lies This is a sham business that does not do ANYTHING they say they are going to do. They did not do what I paid them to do, and now they are STILL not doing what they promised - - a FULL REFUND - - that I have been waiting for since January 2018. EIGHT MONTHS AGO !!!!! Week after week after week I check my mail for this promised refund - and week after week after week - my mailbox is empty. SHAM SCAM THIEVES should not be allowed to do business anywhere in the USA.
Services were marketed to me and based upon promises, I retained this company. Services were not actually rendered and worst case scenario occurred.
Mediation Institutes marketed themselves to be based on public records of upcoming litigation in civil court. On 12/28/17, I agreed to retain their services and by 1/11/18 had paid the full retainer. A 1/12/18 court date was continued due to inclement weather. Mediation Institutes did NOT, as promised, appear on behalf on 1/30/18 court date nor did they contact the Plaintiff in advance to negotiate a settlement (which is what they claim to do). Instead, a default judgment was entered against me. Since February, Mediation Institutes has NOT returned phone calls from Plaintiff and only offers me, the client, an update when I call for one. Emails and text messages requesting status and updates go unanswered. I finally contacted Plaintiff directly and learned Mediation Institutes have no returned any of their phone calls. The Davidson County Court (Nashville, TN) verified the default judgment (meaning no one showed up on my behalf). If there is a space or way for me to share my 5 months of documentation, I will provide phone records (which include text messages) and emails as well as agreement. I did sent notice of severing relationship w/ Mediation Institutes in writing (email and postal mail.) Postal mail was returned as undeliverable AND unable to be forwarded. The email yielded a reply that there was no good reason to end the relationship. There has been no progress. That is a good reason, to me, to end the relationship.
I would like a refund of the $300.00 I paid. No services have been rendered. Damage has been done. I must use the refund to retain a service or an attorney who will undo the damage done by Mediation Institutes.
I don't understand what damages? *** is aware of the judgement. We have been working on her case. There is nothing to undo. We have been responding to her consistently. We can still resolve this matter, but she took us off the case prematurely. They have not taken further action. It seems like there is some miscommunication. If there was a Garnishment in place, then I would understand. If there is someone claiming there was no work done we can address and I can get the paperwork to them. WE have never claim to go to court for anyone. Our letter and website state we try to handle everything outside of the court process. We are not attorneys nor do we claim as such. If *** will call us we will rectify this situation asap.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Here is my point by point response:
I don't understand what damages? *** is aware of the judgement.
The damages arise from a DEFAULT JUDGMENT. The real, tangible damages are a negative mark on a credit report. A DEFAULT judgment means no one showed up on the debtor's behalf. I was advised by *** to wait to be served and that he would show up in court. While he responds that "WE have never claim sic to go to court for anyone," he did, in fact tell me that he would personally appear. I am attaching a screen shot of text messages between *** (gray bubbles) and *** (green bubbles) that indicate *** tacit acknowledgment of going to court when he was thanked in advance for doing so. (Text messages from Jan 12, 2018, the original court date.)
I have since learned that to handle such matters outside the court process, the debtor (or someone negotiating on the debtor's behalf such as Mediation Institutes advertises) can obtain a RELEASE OF SERVICE and completely avoid the court appearance/process entirely by beginning the actual settlement process by agreeing on an amount and making a payment agreement. Without knowing the name of the process, it is what I expected and was lead to believe would happen, both from the marketing letter I received from Mediation Institute that advertised "avoid court, avoid judgments and negative marks on your credit report" and the like. Since both a judgment and a negative mark have appeared on my credit report, that is the first item on my list of complaints of service not rendered.
A second set of text message communications between *** and *** dated January 29, 2018, the day prior to the continued court date (Jan 12 was continued to Jan 30, I am presuming because of the severe winter weather that shut many businesses early due to ice on the roads, and road closures) reflect another tacit acknowledgment that *** would be represented in court. (Screen shots of these text messages are attached)
We have been working on her case.
I have not received pro-active updates. Every update I have received came as a result of my calling for it. The responses are usually, "I was just going to call you." In the earliest part of the process, this comment is believable. However, as time proceeds, when there are lengthy gaps in communication, as a customer, I have doubts. These claims of "I was just going to call you," or "I have a phone call scheduled with them" after you have been waiting for several days or weeks no longer seem credible.
There is nothing to undo. We have been responding to her consistently.
On the contrary, response has not been consistent. It has been diminishing. I have a spread sheet of phone calls that is also attached. I asked for updates on April 9, 11 and May 10 by both text message and email, and all of those texts and emails were unanswered. Furthermore, when I contacted *** Law Group, the firm collecting against me, I was advised by *** that they have not had a single call returned since February 13, 2018. I contacted *** Law Group on May 11, 2018, so it had been two days shy of two months that my so-called representative had returned a phone call. This is not the definition of "consistent" or of "service."
The only substantive information I have is that on Feb. 15, 2018, I inquired if there was a settlement offer and *** replied there was one, and it was considerably higher than he said he could negotiate for. Considering the response I received from Ms *** at *** Law Group, that they had not had a call returned since Feb 13, I have gleaned that that was the last communication between those parties.
We can still resolve this matter, but she took us off the case prematurely.
NO. I did not take them off the case prematurely. The agreement between us indicates that either party may end the relationship by doing so in writing. If two months goes by with no pro-active communication between the mediator working on my behalf and the debt collector, how can there be any progress? It has been exactly four months since the judgment.
They have not taken further action. It seems like there is some miscommunication.
It is true, *** Law Group haven't taken further action - they don't have to because they have a default judgment AND I have stepped in to deal with them directly. The only miscommunication there has been is the misrepresentation of his own abilities by ***
If there was a Garnishment in place, then I would understand.
This statement is ridiculous on its face. If there was a garnishment in place, it would be entirely because of the lack of servicing by *** and there is no garnishment in place because I had to step in to handle this myself when I expressly retained someone else to do this for me.
If there is someone claiming there was no work done we can address and I can get the paperwork to them.
Again - *** Law Group advised me they haven't had a return call in two months. There is no paperwork to get to them. I DID submit a living expenses spreadsheet to *** so that he could negotiate for a lower settlement due to financial hardship. I provided that document on or about March 8. On April 9, I communicated to *** asking if there had been a response from *** Law Group. *** did not reply to my inquiry. (screen shot of text communication attached) of the 9th, nor to my email of April 11 asking the same question.
WE have never claim to go to court for anyone
Perhaps this is true, however *** promised me that he would do so. Are we at a "he said/ she said" impasse? Why the tacit acknowledgment of going to court when I thanked him in advance for doing so?
Our letter and website state we try to handle everything outside of the court process.
Yes. I understand. AND the most fundamental part of being outside the court process was not done. Court HAPPENED.
We are not attorneys nor do we claim as such. If *** will call us we will rectify this situation asap.
I know. I acknowledged this numerous times. I also advised *** that I have worked in law firms.
I will not call to rectify this, as I have had to rectify the situation myself.
(There are 4 documents attached: screen shots of text message exchanges and a spreadsheet of our phone calls.)
Default judgement does not stop us from working on the case. We have worked on many cascades with a judgement. We will look for a reduction opportunity. We have kept communication via phone calls.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
While the company and I disagree on the details, I will accept the offer of a refund of half the fee paid.
I would appreciate a notification of the method of refund (ie: a check/money order mailed to me OR a reversal of the card charge).
Thank you.
took my money and did not do any of the work. Now the issue is in collection and ruining my credit. I have over a year of emails with him
He kept promising to give me my money back but all I have received is excuses. He is a liar and a terrible person.
I want my money back. Possibly with interest because he used that money to run his business without doing the job he promised.
Ok, the only reason I stopped working on the case is because I was under the impression this case was in Garnishment according, which it appears it is not. I will complete what was promised by our company by the end of June. If it is not completed according to our agreement, then there will be a refund only if *** complies with the process. This process cannot be completed without ***'s cooperation. Give me a chance to prove I'm not a terrible person. I will help him get this out of collections.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Although the judgement was delayed, the case is not settled. [redacted] continuously attempts to push an agreement on me that I did not agree to in the first place. The delays are not because the issue takes time, it's because he completely forgets about my case until I call him. I know this is the case because I have to remind him continuously of where we left off. The only thing [redacted] needed to do was approach the debt collector with the monthly payment I asked for. Only after harassing him does he tell me to be on "stand by", calls me back next day, says he is trying to email the agreement, but keeps sending it to some error email that I have already corrected him on 5 different occasions on, and when I finally do get it, it is for the same lump sum agreement, that I have told him I cannot do on 5 separate occasions. At this point, I just want my money back so that I can approach a responsible mediator. I am afraid I am going to get my wages garnished if this continues...
Regards,
[redacted]
[redacted] was a defendant in a small claims civil law suit and engaged our assistance to mediate and resolve the case out of court based on terms were acceptable to him. As often happens - the case dragged on for some time before being ...
resolved and thus achieving a dismissal of the the court case from going forward in the court. I do understand and respect the fact that some defendants will often become a bit concerned or impatient with the timing during the process - however, the case was ultimately resolve and settled based on the terms acceptable to the defendant. Should there be any need for further attention to this matter, please advise.[redacted]Senior Mediation DirectorMediators of AmericaMediation Institute of AmericaPH: ###-###-####FX: ###-###-####
Dear Revdex.com, Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this claim. We do apologize for the delay, however this company was closed in April of 2016. The individual/defendant in this matter did in fact receive a letter from us in the later weeks of March 2015. When a court case...
is filed as the defendant you have a very short window to respond to the claim. If you do nothing a default judgement is entered against you. This defendant did nothing within that window, she contacted us after she had received the default judgement from the court, which then the filing attorneys office started sending collection notices with interest. The defendant was aware that she was facing a garnishment, that is when she actually called to inquire what services we provided. The defendant was made aware at the time she contracted with us that our fee would be $130.00 and due to the time alapsed from the original filing date and the fact that the plaintiff was sending her letters of a garnishment. We could work a resolution out to help her stop the order. We did in fact reach a resolution on the matter, however, the defendant was not able to make the 3 part payment arrangement that the plaintiff and our office reached, nor where they willing to reduce the payments to less then what they could garnish for as the defendant had made arrangements directly in the past a failed to keep them. We did provide the defendant with a service, we did not charge her the remaining balance as she contractually agreed to and the case was closed in our office. As a company we feel we did provide an ethical and honest service and because she was not satisfied with the resolution the remaining balance was waived. Thank you,Mediatirs if America, WIBrent [redacted]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. While I do appreciate that Mediators of America - WI (MOAW) responded, we have a very different recollection (and records) of what actually occurred. I was not aware that the company closed in April - despite Mr. [redacted]'s assertion that I received a letter from them in the latter weeks of March 2015 (Did he mean '2016'? 2015 was an entire year prior to our interaction). I did not initiate contact with MOAW as indicated in their response. I sought their assistance only AFTER I received a letter from them dated March 24, 2016 offering mediation services. On March 31, 2016, I spoke to Misty [redacted] about their services, provided personal information to her and completed paperwork to secure their services. The documents required by MOAW were faxed to their office that same day. Additionally, neither MOAW nor the plaintiff ever talked to me about making a 3-part payment arrangement. In fact, when I spoke to Misty by phone on April 4th, she stated that "Brent" was in the process of mediation with the plaintiff and they were discussing the possibility of me making a payment of $700 to settle the dispute to which I responded I was open to. She further communicated during that conversation he would either be calling or emailing me by the close of business. Needless to say, I did not get an email or a phone call that day. Because I had not received a response from MOAW, I emailed their office on April 11th detailing everything Misty and I had spoken about. I finally received an email back from Misty on April 13th, specifying that they had been remiss about connecting with me because they were dealing with the passing of two different individuals. She again stated that "Brent" would be contacting me with the specifics of my case upon arriving in the office that day. Once again, crickets. As a last ditch effort, I sent an email to MOAW on May 26, 2016 reaching out to them AGAIN for information and still NOTHING. I had $65 deducted from my account by MOAW and agree that that is the only amount they took. However, based on their negligence to follow up on what was going on with my case -- I would like my $65 back. Since Mr. [redacted] claims their office is no longer open, no further investigation is needed into their practices other than to confirm that it is indeed closed (as it should be).Regards,
Shawn [redacted]
False advertising. The refundable retainer fee of $300.00 has taken almost 2 months and counting to be refunded. Promises but no tracking number...
On July 19, 2017 I entered into an agreement with *** C. *** of Mediators of America/Mediation Institute in Huntsville. I chose them because of a refundable retainer fee which was $300.00 plainly stated on their website. He was going to help with a creditor of mine to reduce or prevent judgment against me. Apparently that didn't work because my wages were garnished. So, after the judgment was made I started asking for the refund, he said he was still trying to work with them. Finally, the last payment come out of my wages and again I asked for a refund of the fee and was told refunds were made on the 15th. Okay, Oct 15th still no refund on my card. After many calls, he says the refund was sent to the wrong card number. November goes by, still no refund. I ask for a check or money order, he agrees to send that, still no refund. December 8, 2017 he promises the refund would be to me by Dec. 13, still no refund and no tracking number as promised.
My refund that I was promised over 2 months ago.
This allegation of false advertising is a extreme. I have explained to *** the issue. We have remained in contact with him and still are in contact with him. We have refunded in the past and will refund ***. This is very unusual and we are very sorry this situation has occurred. In our last conversation, we let *** know we will resolve this through the Revdex.com
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I don't accept this response because it says on their website that the retainer fee will be refunded. It's Jan 2, 2018 and I haven't received my refund or tracking number of a refund yet. I will not accept a response until my $300 is in my hand or account. Last contact with Mediators of America was 12-16-18. Thanks, ***.
We can meet *** half way and refund $150, since there was work that was put into his file. We can submit proof of time put into this file if needed.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was promised my $300.00 back multiple times. I was last told the first of February now it's almost March and mediators of America can't afford my full refund as promised on the website, in the contract, and verbally through calls and text. My money is my money and I would like ll $300.00 back and I will not be satisfied until that happens. 2 payments of $150.00 would be great I'll work with them.