ComplaintsforLaw Offices of Jayson A. Soobitsky, P.A.

• Initial Complaint

  08/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I retained attorney Jayson S******** 08-01-2022 for two hundred dollars concerning a matter regarding **********************************************, Maryland 21158 asking for the letter to be sent certified with tracking number only being provided ******************** paying an additional 7.80 to additional S******** for him to do so, 08-04-2022. When tracking the letter attorney S******** stated was sent 08-15-2022, it showed no letter was ever provided to the postal service which Jenny L**** and attorney S******** confirmed was never sent when speaking to them, please. I was given no explanation why other than a new tracking number ******************* which has also not been delivered as it was sent to be signed for when contacting attorney S********'s office two weeks after the letter was mailed as stated to me by attorney S******** after tracking the letter showing it was never sent on 08-15-2022 and was told he was out of town making the individual aware of my concern(s) and was told Ms. L**** would contact me when she returns which she did providing me with a second tracking number neither of which has been delivered. I hoped attorney S******** would have addressed the matter in an email while he was on vacation which he did not contacting him by email on 08-22-2022 asking him a second time which I had asked of both he and the office manager Jenny L**** to do the previous week which was to again send the letter with a tracking number only as was my previous request which I stated I would be more than happy to for never hearing back from either attorney S******** or Ms. L**** either by phone or email. I did receive an email from attorney S******** who still has not responded to me in any way whatsoever as to the first letter asking me for another seventy five dollars to send a 'second letter' in addition to postage fee's and to 'set up a zoom conference' to pay him more money when his first letter hasn't even been delivered. I have disputed these transactions.

  Business response

  09/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/08/31) */ I was retained by this client to write a letter to his alleged child's mother on 8/1/22. On 8/3 I drafted a letter to the child's mother and emailed it to the client for approval. The client approved the letter and requested that it be sent by certified mail. At the request of the client the letter was sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, and regular mail with a tracking sticker on 8/3. The client contacted the office and requested the tracking number for the letter. The tracking number provided to him was for the letter that was sent by regular mail. The post office does not always scan that label when processing the mail. The client contacted the office 4 times within a 1 hour period inquiring about why the letter showed that a label had been created but the mail was not in the system. Both Mr. S******** and Ms. L**** were not in the office that day. The person answering the phone advised Mr. ********* that he was not familiar with the case, did not have the information that he was requesting, and that he would give Ms. L**** a message when she returned to the office the following day. The client was advised that Mr. S******** would be away during this time. The following day Ms. L**** provided the actual certified mail tracking number to the client by email, along with a copy of the tracking results from USPS, which indicated that the letter had not been claimed, a notice had been left and that the recipient needed to schedule redelivery by a certain date. The client then called the office and spoke with Ms. L****, requesting that we schedule the redelivery immediately. The client was advised that we, as the sender, could not schedule that and that it was something that the recipient needed to do. The client then said that he never intended for her to have to sign for the mail as she had at one time been in a wheel chair and he did not know if she could even answer the door. He also advised Ms. L**** that the other party may have moved. He had not previously advised our office of these facts. Ms. L**** advised him that it was standard practice of the office that when something was sent certified mail it was sent return receipt requested and that she would discuss with Mr. S******** upon his return from vacation sending the letter again without the return receipt. Upon Mr. S********'s return, he drafted a second letter to the other party to send out along with another copy of the original letter as requested by the client. Prior to sending the letter Mr. S******** sent an email to the client advising that he had drafted a second letter to the other party and that there was an additional fee of $75 plus postage required to send it. He also advised the client that he did not believe this to be the best course of action and that he felt that the client should file a paternity and custody case and asked the client to schedule a Zoom meeting with him to discuss. Mr. S******** received an email from the client requesting that the letter be sent. A few hours later before the second letter was sent Mr. S******** received an email from the client terminating Mr. S********'s services and complaining about about how he was treated by the office staff and threatened to file an attorney complaint against Mr. S******** if he did not receive a refund of the $200 that he had paid. Mr. S******** did not send out the second letter and immediately responded to the client's complaint with an apology and requested more specifics from the client so that his issues may be addressed. The client did not respond to Mr. S********'s request and filed this complaint with BBB. From the time of retaining until 8/25/22 there were numerous emails and phone calls from the client. The client signed an hourly retainer at Mr. S********'s regular hourly rate of $400 per hour. Approximately 3.3 hours of time has actually been expended on this matter, well over the $200 which the client actually paid. Additionally, since the client retained he has sent two postcards to Mr. S********, by USPS including one the day AFTER he filed this complaint, thanking Mr. S******** and wishing him a happy holiday. Mr. S******** has performed the services that he was retained to complete and has earned well more than the fee paid. It is interesting to note that Mr. S******** is the second lawyer retained by the client to send a letter to this individual and that neither letter sent by Mr. S******** have been returned by the USPS as of the date of this response. I have a signed retainer agreement, copies of letters, Certified Mail receipts, emails and postcards that I would like to submit to support this response. Please advise when the appropriate time would be to submit this information. I would like to clear this matter up as soon as possible. Thank you. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/09/01) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I would like to first thank the office of the Better Business Bureau for all of their help in this matter as attorney S******** as usual has failed to address and wrongly stated several matters of concern, please. I retained attorney S******** 08-01-2022, for a letter to be sent with a tracking number only NOT a signature required or with a return receipt as it was my request to do so and not attorney S********'s having stated to me on more than once occasion he does not send his letter's with a tracking number which he fought me on to do so for whatever reason(s) I am unaware until stating to him in emails I and not his office will pay for the postage which in fact after a thorough investigation by my credit card company I was recently provided with a refund for the tracking numbers attorney S******** gave me as none of them are even valid, ************************ and *******************. I would like to address the 'two to three hours' attorney S******** has stated in his reply as I spoke with him all of five minutes at most when retaining him and never once talked to him, again. I paid him to send the letter which he sent me an email asking me one question if I had Ms. H*****' email which I responded I did not and never talked to attorney S******** again for two weeks either contacting his office or him in any way and was not until the fifteenth of August I decided to track the package and showed the letter had never been given to the post office even speaking with the Columbia, Maryland local post office to confirm. I then contacted attorney S******** never receiving a response and decided to call his office speaking with a gentleman who seemed both disinterested from the beginning in my call and not providing me with any information as to when attorney S******** would be returning that day. I called his office later that day around lunch time speaking to the same person who seemed very bothered by my call as to this point I had only called attorney S********'s office a total of three times in over two weeks where again the person did not provide me with any further information other than to say 'Jenny' who I did not know or had ever heard of before would be returning the following day as which I addressed with attorney S******** when firing him more than a week ago making him aware how rude his office staff was including the the following day never hearing from 'Jenny' as promised having to call their office the following day who when speaking with her too was aggravated I was calling saying 'she doesn't know what happened with the first tracking number attorney S******** gave me but here is the real one'. Well, the real one shows exactly the same thing with no record of any letter either being given to the post office or being returned as this matter is like it never happened. I will continue to dispute this transaction and if need be will file a complaint with the State's Attorney General's Office Consumer Fraud Department in addition to the Office Of Lawyer Regulation as there was no letter sent or received by, Ms. H*****. In addition I will also be addressing my repeated emails sent to attorney S******** along with A Jenny L**** asking for the same letter be again sent to Ms. H***** which I would be more than happy to pay postage for a second time which were all ignored by Jenny L**** and attorney S******** never providing a response only after almost two weeks when hearing from attorney S******** while never addressing my concern about his failed letter wither being sent or received asking me to pay him another seventy five dollars to send a second letter AND to schedule a 'zoom conference' to pay him more money to address the matter, further. This is when I fired attorney S******** immediately stating to him in an email not only my concerns about what he just requested of me but about his staff and that if I am not refunded for this matter will be addressing it, further. I'm going to continue retaining attorney S******** when he and his staff can't even send a letter which to this day has not been received by Ms. H***** or sent by attorney S********. I think it's nonsensical for anyone to believe as respondent states 'the post office does not always scan the mail'. I'm not sure what if any relevance the postcards have to this matter having been sent previously before this became an issue as the first one was sent immediately after retaining attorney S******** literally the following day the first week of August with the second sent just days before this became an issue as much of what attorney S******** states in his reply is fraudulent in nature or untrue. I would ask attorney S******** to provide the Better Business Bureau in a follow up response to their office with what is relevant to address and not postcards which are all of the emails both he and Jenny L**** received by me along with the one's sent to myself to be able to show to the Better Business Bureau attorney S********'s failure to respond repeatedly asking him to send the letter again on more than one occasion and to again pay for it where all were ignored only hearing from attorney S******** to ask for more money to send a 'second letter' and schedule a 'zoom conference', and for what reason as Ms. H***** would have responded had she received his letter as there wouldn't have had to be a second letter sent by, attorney S********. I would also like to address the respondent's fraudulent statement to the Better Business Bureau as it is Jenny L**** when speaking with her the only time stated to me their letter cannot be returned to their office as neither tracking number she provided shows a letter even being sent as they meaning Jenny L**** and attorney S******** can request it themselves be returned and provide me with a refund which is the least this office could do after never completing the job I retained attorney S******** for in the first place and see why he was so adamant about not sending his letters with a tracking number. This office is going to be spending a lot of time responding to complaints over two hundred dollars. Attorney S******** and his staff handled this matter inappropriately and continue to do so. Please, conduct yourselves appropriately. Thank you. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/09/02) */ I have reviewed the customers lengthy response and I have nothing to add to my initial response. I was retained to draft and send a letter (See signed Retainer Agreement attached). After being retained the customer asked for the letter to be sent certified. The letter was drafted, approved by the customer, and sent certified as specifically requested by the customer (see email dated August 3, 2022 from customer approving the letter and a copy of the letter that was sent). The services that we were hired to perform have been completed. I have attached a copy of the USPS tracking receipt to verify that the letter was sent certified as well as a copy of the actual envelope that we have now received back from the post office. As a reminder the letter was also sent by regular USPS first class mail. This letter has not been returned. I have attached copies of all emails between the customer and my office. I send mail hundreds of letters each year and I have never had a situation like this. My office has been an A+ accredited member of the BBB for almost 11 years, and we have had only one complaint filed against our office back in 2012 that we resolved to the satisfaction of the customer. If you have any further questions, or need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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