Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They have repeatedly contacted me about payment, when I was told that I do not owe anything and it was confirmed by the attorney I had filed with himself. They have harassed me during work hours at my place of work, and even 4 years later still contact me threatening collection.

  Business response

  10/07/2024

  Thank you for notifying us about this complaint. We take customer concerns seriously and appreciate the opportunity to address this issue promptly.
  
  Upon reviewing Mr. Brandon Bardo's case, we confirm that there was indeed a misunderstanding related to the collection of the $473.40 invoice. As stated in prior communications, our records show that on April 22, 2021, our team verified that no services were rendered, and Mr. Bardo does not owe any balance on this invoice.
  
  Unfortunately, due to a system glitch, a collection email was mistakenly sent out recently regarding this cleared invoice. We sincerely apologize for this error and for any inconvenience or stress it may have caused Mr. Bardo.
  
  To clarify:
  
  No Balance Owed: As confirmed in April 2021, Mr. Bardo does not owe any amount for invoice #00700. The system glitch that triggered the recent collection email has been identified and rectified. We will ensure no further communications regarding this matter occur.
  
  Harassment Concerns: We deeply regret if our communications were perceived as harassment. We are reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again, and we will cease all further contact with Mr. Bardo regarding this matter.
  
  Desired Resolution: We will take all necessary steps to ensure that Mr. Bardo's credit report remains unaffected and that he receives no further communication from our team concerning this issue.
  
  Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please rest assured that we are taking appropriate steps to prevent such issues from happening in the future. We are committed to resolving this matter fully and remain available for any further clarification or documentation needed.
  
  Thank you for your understanding, and we appreciate your help in facilitating this resolution.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Allan Amt
  UpCounsel
  Operations Manager

• Initial Complaint

  07/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  posted job to hire attorney. hired one. ****************************. paid him $3250.04. he strung me along for 7 months. did not help me any. then he calls from ************* up and said he quits. he has a better opportunity to follow.his phone numbers when searched did not come up ****************************. HAVE EMAILED upcounsel many times. have phoned them. no response. now the upcounsel websites phone number has been disconnected. **************************************************************************************** ************** has caused me 8 months not filing a response on my court case. could cause me to lose my active case.

• Initial Complaint

  07/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  ATTORNEYS STAY AWAY. I was heavily approached over the course of several months to pay for UpCounsel. I am a non-profit attorney. I did an tutorial with the sales person, and on the tutorial, I noticed there were very few non-profit opportunities. She said not to worry it's just a "slow week." At the time, I couldn't sign on because my client load was too heavy, but she continued to send me discounted offers to join. When I slowed down, I paid them $1,100 for "access" to the site for 30 days. It's now halfway over I have spent over 10 hours trying to dig for jobs that fit me, no such luck. Additionally, all the clients on this site expect free legal advice out of the gate. VERY FEW were able to actually pay. I completely wasted my time. I have asked for a refund several times to stop the bleeding and they have refused, despite no language about no refunds for dissatisfaction in the little document I signed. It only says no refund if I violate their rules (which I have not). This is probably the worst scam I have ever come across in legal. DO NOT sign up for this horrific organization. The "attorney success" manager, instead suggest I apply for jobs I have no business doing to try and stop the bleeding. It's completely unethical. There also must be a boatload of UPL on this platform because it's very easy to accidentally apply for jobs not in your jurisdiction. As I continue to fight for a refund, they tell me "just pay for two extra months and it will work out." It hasn't. When I signed up the sales person and the "Attorney Success" lady said I can make X$ amount back on my investment if I submit 3 proposals a day. I submitted 15 in my first week and got absolutely nothing. At this point, I feel as though I was defrauded. The sales person assured me my niche would be covered and it hasn't been. Additionally, the ONLY phone call I even received by a "paying client" was anything but. She asked 10 pointed IRC questions and refused to pay for my time after.

• Initial Complaint

  04/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I used UpCounsel to seek an attorney for legal help. I found someone with good feedback/reviews. I asked them questions and felt they were qualified. Hired them via the platform. I paid an upfront fee for the consult; I had a contract with an attorney outlining fees, etc.-The issue I have with UpCounsel as a client I am unable to daily see how much time an attorney is spending on my project and only get notified once the attorney processes hours and I immediately then get hit with an invoice -I reached out to support at the end of the project asked to close it "2" times via email. I got no reply. I wanted to leave accurate feedback as I had a bad experience with the attorney I hired, I so far am unable to provide accurate feedback and feel like feedback posted for the attorney profile is either "fake" or misleading as I felt my experience was way opposite of what the people experienced.Feel like there needs to be better vetting, spent over $1,900 with an attorney who delivered minimal work and a lot of BS emails back and forth that accumulate to majority of the cost.Overall feel like I got ripped off by an attorney on the platform for low quality work and the reviews do not reflect the attorney as proven by my inability to leave "feedback" as a Paid previous customer.I feel like a partial refund is due for me wasting my time, I got a poor end result and no assistance from support.

• Initial Complaint

  03/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  March 7th: I had hired ***************************** from Voltage Law for reviewing my 1 page Consulting agreement. ****** had estimated on our initial free call that it would take less than an hour for her (hourly rate$459) Post hiring, the attorneys expertise in this domain suddenly vanishes. She said it would take her about 30 min, *** an hour but took 3 instead - and we are not talking about a complex multi layered, multi page contract. It was 1 page had to be read and one paragraph added.amended. ONE. Oaverall we had 1 free intro call + 20 min initial call + 3 emails in total start to finish. On email she ignored my questions so to avoid back and forth and racking up a bill, I asked for a call that actually lasted 7 min (shes billing it for 30). She typed the corrections as we spoke and changed font on that call. All in 7 minutes. Take it altogether and add some extra min - it adss up to 1 hour of work. Maybe another 15 min to fund your coffee break. BUT I am being billed for 3 hours of work - $1200!!!I filed a complaint with attorney who said she would give me a discount of "$250" which is insulting and cheating basically being called "discount"- that discount also never happened. Then UpCounsel took my complaint and marked it as "resolved" within 15 min and never communicated with me about a refund/ correction or a single word. Their website does not let you review your attorney's work but they have it setup so that your invoices are quickly and automatically paid. So basically, to take your money and to aid attorneys who want to fleece you, they have the website fully functional but to listen to customer complaints or give actual reviews.. they have no such space on their website or even a no to call. FRAUDSTERS. UpCounsel should be renamed DOWNCOUNSEL. Their counsel will take you DOWN and also your Wallet.Shame on you guys overall. Unhinged, Unprofessional and Shady. STAY AWAY

  Business response

  04/02/2024

  Hi *****, 
  

  We appreciate the opportunity to address the concerns presented in this complaint. 
  We will do our best to reiterate what has already been addressed through the dispute process. 
  

  You stated that the attorney estimated that the work would be less than an hour at $459; however, the attorney has confirmed that the initial hour you are referring to was an example of her hourly rate, which was discussed with you during your initial call. 
  

  Again, as the attorney discussed with you previously, while the contract was only 1 page in length, the matter involved the consideration of multiple facets of the law, which required time beyond your direct communication with the attorney. 
  

  Additionally, your refund was not yet processed as the dispute process had yet to be completed on our end. You reached out to UpCounsel on March 20, and our team responded, stating that only one of the previous emails was marked as resolved. The others were marked as pending, "as we still work on getting a resolution to the concern that you have raised (screenshot attached). 
  

  We would also like to clarify that UpCounsel does provide the opportunity to review an attorney after a job has been completed. You are in fact aware of this as you have previously left an attorney review. 
  

  While I am sure that this is not the resolution or response that you were hoping for, we appreciate the opportunity to address the comments/concerns from your complaint.
  

  
  

  Customer response

  04/04/2024

   
  Complaint: 21457506
  
  I am rejecting this response because: First of all, the attorney spoke with me on the phone on discovery call and said "these things are my domain and your contract seems to be really short and simple so it should not take more than a 30min, maybe an hour". Then that simple contract took them 3.5 hours to finish even after my re-instating again and again to her that i don't want to do anything that's time consuming! I could understand being billed for 1 hour, 1.5--- 3.5!!!! there were no other developments that complicated the issue. On top of that the phone call was 7 minutes and has been billed for 30minutes??? She changed font on the contract on that 7 min phone call and then sent it to me right the next minute. So WHAT are the 30 minutes being billed for- for sitting and thinking how great a job was done!!!!
  

  Secondly, I never received the screenshot you are talking about of being informed about the pending resolution. Instead i got your email that was meant for the attorney and i wrote back to you guys and again didn't receive a response.Attached is the email screenshot.
  

  Also, please suggest WHERE to review this transaction on your website. Because to my best ability, I have not only not found a place to leave a review, I have also found NO other negative reviews posted. You guys are famous on the internet for  curating your reviews. Please ****** your company.

  And send me that refund, if you have the least bit of honor left.

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

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired a lawyer (**************************) from UOCOUNSEL web site. The attorney told me that he uses UPCOUNSEL portal to send his invoices. The invoices from UPCOUNSEL showed that they were adding another 7 % before forwarding the invoice to the customers. This is called fee splitting by the ********** **************** The attorneys were warned on September 16,2016 by the ********** BAR association that it was illegal to split fees with UPCOUNSEL. When I disputed these charges with UPCOUNSEL first they denied that they were adding any charges on the invoices from the attorneys, then they said they will not add charges any more, but in stead they increased the charge to 8%.I had to cancel my credit card as stolen before I could stop these illegal additions by UPCOUNSEL. After I cancelled my credit card the attorney told me that he will now accept the payments directly from me. PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FIND THEIR CORRECT HEADOFFICE ADDRESS. EVEN THE REGISTERED LETTERS COME BACK FROM EVERY ADDRESS with empty building? No forwarding address. THE ADDRESS ON BBB Website is also a fraudulent address. The people living at that address say that the address is a empty place. I WANT THEM TO REIMBURSE THE ILLEGAL CHARGE OF $1158.

  Business response

  12/17/2023

  We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your message. We would like to clarify a few details. You have been working with the same UpCounsel attorney for over 18 months, and they have completed over a half dozen different jobs for you. During this time period, you were welcome to end your engagement with your attorney and did not need to re-hire them. UpCounsel also actively engages with clients who have issues/disputes about the services provided by any attorney on the platform. Our support team works with the client and attorney to help come to an amicable resolution. While you have contacted the UpCounsel support team multiple times over the last 18 months, none of your correspondence expressed any issues or displeasure in working with the attorney you hired. Additionally, you stated that "it is difficult to send any written complaint;" however, the multiple written correspondence you sent to our support team were replied to within 24 hours. Furthermore, our physical address is prominently displayed on our website's Contact Us page (**********************************************), Lastly, regarding your question about the fees, as our customer service team has relayed numerous times, a Credit Card processing fee and platform fee are applied to invoices. We include a notification of our fee in the "Fee Details" dropdown adjacent to each attorney proposal you receive, as well as each invoice you receive. This is also prominently addressed in our website terms of service, which all site users agree to be bound by, just like the terms of service on most websites. While it is unlikely that this will change your mind or opinion about UpCounsel and our platform, we wanted to provide clarification and context around your claims.

  Customer response

  12/20/2023

   
  Complaint: 20967807
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  UpCounsel is a business where attorneys advertise their businesses. Up Counsel is no different than any other site like ****** or AVVO where a person can search for an attorney. I have no written contract with them that if I hire any attorney who have advertised their services on Up Cousel, then I will have to pay Up Counsel any fee to hire that attorney.

  Up counsel forces any attorney who is hired through their business to bill the client through their portal, so they can add another 7 % in the invoice sent by the attorney as if the whole invoice is from the law firm. the attorney told me that he uses upcounsel portal to bill , but never told me that upcounsel will add another 7 % on the invoice before up counsel forwards that invoice to me.

  State bar of ********** sent a warning letter to all attorneys that what they are doing by using up cousel portal to bill where upcounsel embeds their charges in the invoice is illegal . but upcounsel still insists and made attorney use

  up counsel portal for billing. this is a fraud.. upcousel must sign a contract with any client who hires an attorney through them that they will be adding another 7 % charges before forwarding the invoice to me.

  i am also going to complain to the state bar of ********** about this illegal arrangement between attorney and up counsel  about 7 % charges on the attorny's invoice. up counsel stating that it is all written in small print on their website is not legal they must make the client read and initial it as read before making these fraudulent excuses. I have tried to take up counsel to small claims court , but u pcousel keeps on changing their address in San ******** and ********* and refuses to accept the subpoena.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  10/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I engaged the services of attorney K**** through UpCounsel.com for approximately $5k+ to handle two cases, one involving trademark matters and the other related to patent analysis. After our initial telephone consultation, I promptly made the agreed-upon payment through the platform.During the first month, our communication was seamless, and everything appeared to be progressing smoothly. However, as the 2nd and 3rd months passed without any updates, I urged him to prioritize completing the patent analysis. The attorney assured me that he would deliver the patent analysis the following day. (Evidence of our correspondence can be found in the UpCounsel backend.) Patiently, I waited for that extra day and sought an update on the progress. To my dismay, he suddenly vanished and remained unresponsive to my phone calls, SMS messages, and emails for several months.Frustrated by this situation, I made numerous attempts to contact UpCounsel's client service via email regarding my cases, but regrettably, received no response. My sole objective is to secure a refund from K****, as his fraudulent conduct and inability to deliver results have left me profoundly dissatisfied.

• Initial Complaint

  07/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I used upcounsel for a membership transfer agreement and new operating agreement and membership correction for the Secretary of State. I hired on of their providers and she stated she knew how to do this, but did not state she could not practice law in ***** and also unfamiliar with the laws here. She produced an incorrect document and left out the corrections to the operating agreement, and also the transfer agreement did not reflect the needs of the ***** law to successfully transfer the shares of the company. I reached out to Upcounsel over 72 hours after the incorrect work was issued and I had a problem with the incorrect work. Their customer service is only available by email and they did not respond for ***** hours after, and they still have yet to answer my complaints with providing non-legal binding documents. I then reviewed the companies terms of service ************************************************* and their guarantee ****************************************************, and it states they intervene and provide another legal representative or this is stated on their website "Upcounsel will connect you with an alternative lawyer. Our guarantee provides that you will not have to end up with sub-par legal work (see full details in our Terms of Use). " After stating the work did not meet my legal needs in emails, and also on their website to try to utilize their terms of service and the issue has not been resolved and they are not willing to uphold their terms of service. I have emails and proof of all communication and also their legal terms of service proving my case. Please do what you can so others are not affected by this poor company.

  Business response

  07/25/2023

  Thank you for providing the information here as well as to the UpCounsel support team.

  As you are aware, the UpCounsel support team has continued to work with yourself and the attorney to come to a resolution on this issue. As per the attorneys instructions a refund of the majority of your invoice amounts has been processed. 

   

   

  Customer response

  07/26/2023

   
  Complaint: 20324385
  
  I am rejecting this response because: They did not formally state the job was done in error and also refund the full purchase price. You can see in their terms they are to rectify the error and they have not. I expect a full refund of $999 and $135 which I was charged in full and only refunded a partial amount. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received very subpar legal advice. Advice that, if followed, would lead me to being in pretty blatant breach of contract. When I pointed this out to my attorney, she did not respond to me at all, and instead billed me for the full amount.Since UpCounsel claims to have a guarantee, I reached out for them to honor their guarantee and reverse this charge. I had to reach out 3 times over the course of 2 months before they would even respond. Their response was a terse statement that they are siding with their attorney.I expect them to honor their guarantee.

  Business response

  01/09/2023

  My name is *****************************, and I am the Director of Operations at UpCounsel.
  
  I realize I missed the date to respond to the recent BBB complaint, but I wanted to follow up with an email anyway.
  
  I can confirm that ********************* used the UpCounsel services and contacted our team with a complaint. In his complaint to the BBB, ***** referenced a "Money Back Guarantee," something UpCounsel does not have or promote.
  
  When ***** first lodged his complaint with UpCounsel, our **************** team initiated our dispute resolution protocol as outlined in our Terms of Service. During the dispute resolution process, our team speaks with the attorney and client and makes a ruling based on the information provided. In the case of *****, after gathering information from both parties, we ultimately sided with the attorney. The entire process was followed as per our terms of service, which ***** accepted as part of using UpCounsel.
  
  I apologize that I missed the window of time to submit this response properly. I still wanted to follow up as we strive to be a company that takes BBB complaints seriously.
  
  Regards, 

   

  *****************************

  Director of Operations

  UpCounsel

  ************

  Customer response

  01/10/2023

   
  Complaint: 18376422
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  I notice that you have changed the guarantee posted on your website.  However, at the time that I paid for these services, you very much did have a money back guarantee.  The Internet Archive has the proof:

   

  ***********************************************************************************************

   

  Quoting from your website at the time I paid for this service: "If there is an issue with your lawyers work, however, our team will help connect you with a different lawyer at no additional cost or refund your payment altogether. Our guarantee provides that you will not have to pay for sub-par legal work."

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

  Business response

  01/12/2023

  When the complainant first lodged their complaint with UpCounsel, our **************** team initiated our dispute resolution protocol as outlined in our Terms of Service.
  During the dispute resolution process, our team speaks with the attorney and client and makes a ruling based on the information provided.
  In this case, after gathering information from both parties, UpCounsel ultimately sided with the attorney.
  The entire process was followed as per our terms of service, which the complainant accepted as part of using UpCounsel.

  Customer response

  01/15/2023

   
  Complaint: 18376422
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  You say that your company strives to take BBB complaints seriously.  You apologized about responding late.  Yet, it is more important to have an accurate response than a timely response.  You previously stated that your company does not have a "money back guarantee".  I showed that until recently, your company had exactly that.  Don't you feel that it's important to correct the record and verify to the BBB that your company did have such a guarantee?

  
  
  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. ↩