My husband and I went to see a few BK attys for the free consults. When it came time to retain I got the names wrong and accidentally paid $300 toward the wrong atty (over the phone, using my bank visa check card). We did not sign any agreement with the atty or anything, and the atty has done nothing for us at this point. Do I have any recourse to getting the money back? Can I legally dispute the charge if the lawyer refuses to refund me? The office manager seems to be avoiding my calls.
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You should put it into dispute immediately. Unfortunately, if you didn't use the 'credit' side of your debit card, that money will be very difficult to recover if the attorney doesn't want to return it. However, putting it into dispute, will notify his office that they are on notice and you will have a trail. Make sure you make copies of all of these transactions, even if you have to do a 'print screen'.
Most likely the attorney will be honorable, and do the right thing. I am sure others have had similar things happen.
"To go bravely forward is to invite a miracle."
"Worry is the darkroom where negatives are formed." -
It is very unlikely the lawyer will dispute. Just call first and see if you can sort it out and get a refund.
Keep in mind, YOU DID AUTHORIZE charge. So, the transaction in question is not, strictly speaking, an unauthorized charge. As such, most banks will not charge back the money. So, you will need to contact the attorney and request a refund (unlikely at this point that the attorney could simply charge back the account, they can usually only do that within 24 hours of the charge. After that, they must wait for the funds to "technically" clear and issue you a check). So this process will take some time.Comment
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Just wanted to give an update that the office manager finally refunded my money (after I called several times). I'm really thankful and have already paid the money to the correct attorney. Thanks for your help!Comment
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Cool, sounds like it all worked out and you didn't need to incur any unnecessary bank fees.Comment
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This adds support to my way of paying bills. I always write checks for medical bills, or any other bills that I want a receipt of. I do use my checking account bill pay for the regular bills. If you've ever had a person screw up by over debiting and trying to refund your debit card, this will make you think this way. I have no problems using my debit cards at stores, gas station, etc.Comment
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Sounds kind of fishy to me. Every attorney I saw said they would only accept cash as payment. No debit and obviously no credit cards. I hated walking around with that much cash.Comment
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Policies certainly differ from atty to atty - since we were some 6-7 months from filing when we retained ours, he accepted a check.Originally posted by ksgirl38 View Post
I think the one universal truth is that an atty will not accept a credit card payment for their BK services. Debit - maybe. Credit - no.Comment
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Nothing really fishy, it sounds odd to me that an attorney would only take cash.
Debit cards are okay, no problem there. But correct, attorneys cannot and should not accept a credit card for BK services (unless it is from a non-filing 3rd party, e.g. father paying for son's BK).Comment
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