Well I was beginning to think that the negative experience we had with the agency was behind us when I received a surprise in the mail from them. In an plain, white, legal sized, envelope, addressed to just me on one of those pre-printed address labels, with NO return address was a bill from the agency! Let me first note that the post mark date on the envelope is Dec. 29, 2011 however both the invoice date and the due date on the bill are Dec. 20, 2011. Let me also not that it was sent from the same zip code that I live in. Hmmmm...to my surprise we were being billed separately for talking on the phone to the social worker @ a rate of $100.00 hr, $50.00 hr for travel time, $100.00 per hr for "Racy" to be at court (TPR hearing), and .555 cents per mile travel time. First of all, the way the adoption fees were VERBALLY explained to us we would pay a $3000.00 deposit, and then $14,900.00 (which was to be returned to us if the TPR does not happen) due five days before the TPR hearing. So as you can imagine I was caught off guard by this bill especially considering the issues we had already had with the agency. Of course I called the agency office immediately, I was told that these are considered "special services" charges and are additional to the other adoption fees. What, Really, you have got to be kidding me, was my response. I said that any reasonable person looking at your explanation of fees would think phone calls between an adoptive family and the social worker to facilitate the adoption would be part of the package. No I was told, those charges are separate and I was expected to pay the bill promptly.
Upon getting off the phone with "Stacy", I investigated the contract further to find a better explanation of these charges. As I read through the contract I found the sentence that pertained to the charges and come to find out that according to the language of the contract we should NOT be responsible for the charges. The sentence in the contract reads "Travel time, mileage, hospital visits, and court time are additional and will be billed after the termination of parental has been completed." I thought to myself since the termination of parental rights were never completed I shouldn't be responsible for the bill. So, I called the agency back, to discuss with them why I did not feel I was responsible for the bill. They of course disagreed with me. I was told that 99.9% of the time the tpr goes through and that I was interpreting the contract wrong. My response to their "billing person" was, well that is not what the contract says. Might I add that I think the agency's "billing person" might be mistaken in their percentage of their agency's failed adoption rate. as I know that they were dealing with an unrelated failed adoption (per "Stacy") during our adoption, and this wasn't our first failed adoption with the agency. I was not getting anywhere with the agency staff on this matter.
After realizing that my relationship with this agency had deteriorated to the point that I knew I would never work with them in the future I decided that I needed to obtain several receipts from them for services that I had paid for and never received proof of payment for. Such as our home study $2,200.00, profile fee $300.00 and, birth parent counseling deposit $3000.00. Keep in mind that I was not requesting copies since we never received a receipt from them to begin with. I sent an email to "Stacy" requesting these receipts. I received a reply from her stating that she had forwarded my request to the agency's "billing person" and if I don't receive my receipts in a week to let her know. I did not receive them in two weeks so I sent an email telling her I hadn't received those receipts yet, and I expected the a.s.a.p. I never heard back from her after that. I did however receive an email from the "billing person" stating that she had been given directive to not provide any services to party's with an outstanding balance with the agency. So as soon as I paid them their approx. $600 she would immediately send me my receipts! Ummm, I guess I was not aware a business could with hold receipts...especially for service that I had already paid for..many months prior (like 7).
A couple weeks went by and I received another plain, white, envelope with no return address on it. Please keep in mind that EVERY piece of mail we had received from the agency in the previously had a stamp on it with their name and return address. It was another bill from the agency, with interest and the invoice date on this one wasn't even 30 days from the date on the last bill. As you can imagine I phoned the agency's "billing person" immediately. After arguing my case again with this person and realizing I was getting know where I decided to just pay the bill as I did not want this small amount (aprox. $600.00) affecting my credit and did not want to have to deal with in the future. However I told the "billing Person" I would not pay the 6 dollars in interest, she said she could take that charge off...wow! I told her I would send the check immediately and she said as soon as she received it she would forward me my receipts. I sent the check for the full amount on 1.26.12. I do have the email from the billing person that I am considering posting if I can post it without any body's personal information on it. Let me add that I did file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and will post those complaints and subsequent responses in the near future.
As the days, and weeks past I had still not received the receipts! The agency claimed that they sent them out on 2.8.12. Well that sure isn't immediate like I was told but at least I was getting them. The February 9th, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15th came still no receipts! I added that information on one of my responses through the BBB, and in their response they claim that they sent it out however they would send it again priority mail that day (Feb 16th 2012) that means I should have received it on Feb 17th, well Feb. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, came and went still no receipts! I finally received them on the 21st of Feb. and it was not sent priority mail. Just doesn't seem like their clients are very important considering the agency's continued dishonesty. The receipts came in the same white, legal sized envelope as before however, magically it had their return address stamp on it and my address was hand written this time. I have added some of these seemingly meaningless details because they just seem a little suspicious.
Now that I feel that I have covered the most important issues we had with this agency, I think you will understand better the agency's response to my BBB complaint, which I feel really shows some of their true colors and sheds light of their lack of compassion. Also, now you will know where I am coming from when you look at the contact. Thank you again for reading and sharing with anyone that you think this information might help. You never know who might be considering adoption so please share this blog with everyone, facebook, twitter, email, smoke signals, word of mouth, etc. If I could give a little piece of advise it would be if you or someone you know is considering adoption don't be afraid to ask an agency lots of questions, even if they are uncomfortable, ask to see the agency's contract and have YOUR lawyer look over it before you sign it...it is worth the $100.00 or so. Ask about All fees that you will be charged ask for a detailed explanation of the charges,what can they guarantee and what can they not. I wish everyone nothing but wonderful adoption experiences! Please continue to check back as I have lots of information yet to post that is sure to get your heart rate up!
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