Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went with them to help me out with my 2022 **** F-150. Purchased new from sunrise **** ******** Practically day one from purchase truck had so many issues . Decided to get the help of the The Barry law firm(Lemon Law)to be able to return the truck back to **** . They had been helping me and I did all on my part to obtain record , bank history of payments etc. . They worked on that and an offer was given to us. **** would buy the truck back. , and the Barry Law firm is getting $49,000.00 from ****. I re-submitted documents requested by the firm on aug 9th. Aug 14 I received an email saying they had been received and would be submitted . Oct 4th I emailed asking for any updates because I hadnt heard anything back. I was replied with I went ahead and sent another follow- up email just now since the 60 day deadline is this coming Monday. So a follow up email was sent from the Barry law firm to **** just because I emailed the firm asking for updates . , what this told me was that if I hadnt asked for any update they wouldnt be following up ? I was told I would be informed when a check would be ready . It is Oct 25th and no call no email from them. At this point Im not sure who to blame for all this The Barry Law Firm or **** !!Please help!

  Business response

  11/08/2024

  Firstly, our mission is to provide the best advocacy and experience to each and every one of our clients possible.  We take complaints extremely seriously and aim to use them to improve our processes if possible.  In this instance, though, we are confident we provided our client with excellent legal services and kept him and his wife informed every step of the way. 

  
  The Barry Law Firm exclusively represents California car consumers against car manufacturers unable or unwilling to honor a vehicles warranty.  California law provides that a manufacturer must refund a consumer if it is proven that it was unable to conform the vehicle to its warrantied standard.  Separate and apart from a clients refund, California law also states that the manufacturer must pay for all reasonable costs and fees for hiring an attorney.  Said another way, we do not take any percentage of a clients actual damages because the car manufacturer is required to pay our fees.

  
  Once a case is settled, it can take up to ***** days to process the paper work and receive a settlement check from defense.  (It is important to note that this ***** days begins once all of the necessary paperwork is assembled, signed and sent to defense counsel.)  We have every incentive to move this process along as expeditiously as possible (indeed, we generally do not receive fees until our clients get their settlement checks).  That said, it is nearly impossible to predict the exact date when everything will be completed and we receive our clients settlement funds.  This is not due to any lack of effort or transparency on our side, but its an inherent and unavoidable aspect of working with defense counsel, a car manufacturer and a clients financial institution (which provides the required financial history of the vehicles loan).  Additionally, most times part of the settlement includes surrendering the defective vehicle to a third party dealership.  Scheduling a third party dealership to host the surrender depends on factors entirely out of the control of our law firm as it depends on availability and other surrenders already scheduled.

  
  While we are sensitive to our clients frustration of the timing of the settlement, we also kept him and his wife apprised of developments and timing every step of the way.
  Here is a timeline of the communications with our client:
  On July 31, 2024 we sent our client the documents necessary for settlement for his review and signature.
  Between August 2, 2024 and August 14, 2024 we followed up with our client to obtain all of the necessary signatures as well as the required financial statements he needed to obtain from his lender.
  On August 14, 2024 we informed our client that the all of the documents were received and submitted to defense counsel.  We received an email back thanking us for keeping him updated.  (Note: the ***** days processing window began on this date.)
  On October 4, 2024 we reached out to the client to let him know we were still waiting for a response but had been diligently following up on the process with defense counsel.  We received an email back thanking us for getting back.
  On October 28, 2024 the client reached out for an update.
  On October 29, 2024 we reached out to the client to let them know we had given them a call and had an update from defense counsel on the settlement completion

  .
  We informed our client that the surrender of the vehicle was scheduled for Friday, November 1, 2024.  We received the settlement funds from defense counsel on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 and said funds were disbursed to our client on Thursday, November 7, 2024.

  
  Again, while we understand a certain amount of general frustration with the process of litigation and the settlement process, we did everything in our power to complete the process as expeditiously as possible.  We also made every effort to keep our client informed with all pertinent information every step of the way.  We were happy to provide the services to our client and the client seemed pleased with the services, raising no significant concerns to us before we received the message from the BBB.    
  
  

  
  

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