ComplaintsforBay Area Immigration Services

• Initial Complaint

  11/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dear BBB ********************* Thank you for handling our complaints. Your service is much appreciated!I consulted ******************* from Bay Area Immigration Services for immigration services. She suggested several kinds of immigration options but never followed up with clear suggestions. She kept sending me links so that I had to do the work myself and read and figure out filing options instead of giving clear-cut advice as to what worked best for me. ******************* then demanded an initial deposit and said they could only file if this deposit was paid which is fine. The original date for filing my case was early February 2023. After I paid the deposit, NO file was created, nor was anything sent to USCIS. Since no work was delivered, I requested a refund, to which she agreed. After agreeing, she kept saying my bank details were incorrect. Now she has stopped responding to my messages and emails. When I called the office, she changed her voice and said she was not Alka but ******. Her voice has a particularly husky tone and is easily recognizable. After several attempts to reach her that day, I was transferred to **** who promptly said that she had stopped coming to the office. Funny because, in the first attempt, the phone call was directly transferred to her. Then, instead of taking ownership of the problem, **** said I had to keep trying to reach her. I am requesting a FULL REFUND and that you revoke their BBB membership. This is fraudulent behavior and must be stopped. I had to take time of my heavy schedule and keep sending her reminders and now make this complaint. ****************************************, ****** she, her, hers ***************************************************************************** Center for ****** Studies, ** Postdoctoral Fellow, ********************************************************, ** (2021, 2022)Assistant *************** of ****** Studies Email: ******************* Website: www.pravinarodrigues.com

  Business response

  12/18/2023

  Dear *************************,
  Please see below our agreement once our service fee is paid. This will be sent with all the invoices to our clients.
   
  Your invoice or receipt is attached.
   
  By making the full or a partial payment you agree to the following:
  Bay Area Immigration Services (hereinafter BAIS) shall render services for submissions relevant to Immigration as per documents and information submitted to BAIS by you. You hereby designate BAIS to represent you for the purposes of documentation related to Immigration petition. You shall review the application/petition prior to sending to Immigration and take full responsibility for the truthfulness and correctness of its contents and any other representations made by BAIS. BAIS takes full responsibility that the information provided by you will be put in the paperwork AS-IS and no changes or additions will be made to the information without the written confirmation by you. Once work on the application/petition is started BAIS service fee will not be refunded. Any U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (*****) or ********** of ******** Security (DOHS) fee received by BAIS will be refunded if the application/petition has not been sent to the relevant U.S. Immigration **********. Either party may terminate this Agreement by giving a thirty (30) days written notice to the other party. In the event of such termination, any cases pending with ***** through BAIS on behalf of you shall be taken care of by BAIS as long as payment has been received for such services and all relevant information and documents have been provided in a timely fashion to BAIS. This Agreement is the entire Agreement between you and BAIS (the parties). No modifications of this Agreement are valid without the prior written consent of the parties. A Court of competent jurisdiction of Alameda County, ** shall resolve all disputes arising under this Agreement. If any action at law or an entity is brought to enforce or interpret the provisions of this Agreement, the prevailing part shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys fees in addition to any other relief to which it may be entitled. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration administered by the ******************************** in accordance with its Commercial [or other] Arbitration Rules, and judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator(s) may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
   
  Please open the attached invoice.
  If you see "Amount Due: $0.00" or an amount less than the initial invoice - this is a receipt. If not this is an invoice.
   
  Thank you for your business - we appreciate it very much.
   
  NOTE: If the payment link (Click "View Invoice" in the blue box and then click "Pay now" in the blue box on the top-right of the invoice) is not working or a message is seen regarding a "limit" being reached please use the following bank information to deposit your payment via ACH Transfer or Bank Wire: US Bank Checking Account #: ************, US Bank Checking Routing #: *********, SWIFT CODE: USBK ** 44 IMT. In this case do send an email after payment via ACH Transfer or Bank Wire to ******************************* referencing the payment amount, date made and invoice number.
   
  Sincerely,
  Bay Area Immigration Services, Inc.
   
   
  For Pravinas case, we have started working on her documents and sent checklists. Also, we had some meetings to discuss her case and situation. In the end, she decided not to proceed. The screenshots email conversation are attached. That is her decision. But at the same time, we have this agreement, and also we spent time on her case. So our service fee is not refundable and we can refund only the ***** fees.
  
  
  Thanks & Regards,
  Usha
  Managing Director
  Bay Area Immigration Services, Inc.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/19/2023

   
  Complaint: 20867302
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1) No official files were created. I had to create a Word document myself and upload documents to ****** Drive for myself. I had to do the work myself. Neither Usha nor **** responded to emails.

  2) There was just one meeting that was held on WhatsApp. I have a huge trail of emails which I can forward for you to verify. 

  3) I have sent more than 16 email reminders from February 10 to July 6 regarding my refund. This is consumer harassment.

  4) No one from ******** Immigration has bothered to respond to the BBB complaint or tried to get in touch with me. Last week, I had a friend call **** and speak to her. She spoke rudely and said that he was not authorized to speak on my behalf. My friend replied, saying, "In that case, you should speak to her but you are not responding to her emails or messages and hang up when she calls."

  4) I don't trust this company and will consider this case closed only when I see my full refund deposited in my bank account. 

  5) I strongly recommend revoking their BBB membership, which is misleading to consumers. 

  Sincerely,
  
  *************************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩