3499 dollar messenger Dave McMillan Scam artist. Has you pay up front and doesnt do the job. Los Angeles, California
this guy is lowest of lows. I called 34.99 dollar messenger to serve papers that need to be done in 6 days. He told me he would do it that day. He charged me 99.99 to serve the papers. He sat on them and called me on the last possible day giving himself 8 hours to complete what he had 6 days to do. He knew there were issues with this person and took the job anyway. His website by the way say that he does "same day service". He assured me that he would get it done that day.
On Nov. I called him and he put me on hold and told me he would call me back in 20 -30 minutes. I had to call him back 2 hours later. He told me he tried to serve papers but the apartment number wasn't on there so he couldn't deliver the papers. I included all the details, photos of the person the apartment number, the persons car etc., he told me it didn't matter and that because he at least went once he had the right to charge me.
I explained to him that a process server doesn't just try once and give up. I informed him that his service was 3 times as much than the sheriff's department and he did a lesser job. One cannot claim to be a process server and not be aware of all the job entails. I told him he shouldn't have take the job if he already knew that the apartment number was wrong. He told me he had to cut the conversation short and then hung up the phone. I called back asking to speak with the owner. And he told me it was him and that I was being recorded. He then gave me my options, we will send proof of a deliver attempt to court and that I could refile and he would attempt to deliver again. Already seeing that his lazy approach to the process serving profession I opted no to use his service. He then told me that they don't serve papers until they have to. I'm sorry, but this guy is nothing more than a pizza delivery man. The 2 reviews within a span of a week on citysearch were most likely written by him.
If you would like to hire a courier/messenger/process service, please email me. I have a list of PROFESSIONAL businesses in the greater Los Angeles area that would love to work with you.
I lost 99.99 but I guess it was enough to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. David McMillan is a scammer that runs several messenger services in he Los Angeles area. I would recommend that any party ripped of by this service file a complaint with the BBB and take him to court. I will be filing my small claims against him within the week and using valid Process server.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
shadytree
Santa Monica,California,
United States of America
And this Company just gets worse.
#4Author of original report
Thu, April 21, 2011
So, after this gentleman called me several times promising me a refund, he never sent a refund. Not only that, but I called him 3 months later to remind him and was promised that I would be refunded within 24 hours. That as well did not happen. The basis for this refund was if I removed this report as well as my yelp review (http://www.yelp.com/biz/process-server-service-los-angeles-2#hrid:tUSwh0cMdGROTULmfbHNeQ/src:self).
I changed my review on yelp.com to a more courteous one offering up understanding for a newcomer to business and after he had told me he was in total error, I felt somewhat empathetic to his cause. However, this was not the case. Four months had gone by and this man had not honored anything he had said to me. After I updated my review I received a call from this company at 5:45AM the next morning telling me that I was in violation of their new Terms of Service. Apparently this gentleman believes you can violate freedom of speech by changing your TOS's. I never saw, accepted or signed any term that would violate my rights with this company. I was then called at 6:25AM by the same man as was given a "DIRECT ORDER" to remove all reviews of his companies service.later that day I was contacted by several other people that had been threatened by this same man in the almost exact same manner. So that is that as of now.
The owner had filed a rebuttal to my original claim and here is where we disagree to some extent.
1. The Sheriff's do ask for payment upfront but it is $40.00. All process servers do not charge money up front. I know this from using other process servers. This company charges $99.99 and higher for what is equivalent to the sheriff's but the sheriff's have badges and guns. Way more effective for the same service.
2. If an apartment number is missing on the court document it doesn't void the document. This company was aware of this prior to taking the job. I even included the apartment number in the email along with detailed information about the person. People move and dont leave a new address. This can be done based on last know address. A process server doesnt knock once and call it a day. I know this as well from dealing with comparably priced process servers. If you call a process server and say this needs to be delivered that day they do it or they refuse the job if they cant. this company was asked to deliver that day and then sat on it for a week and gave themselves a few hours to get it done after assuring me "same day service".
3. Mailboxes. They should have read the email instead of siting on it for a week. I never received photos to prove that they were there, nor did the court receive a proof of service that they attempted to go until over a month after the case. I received proof their proof of service almost 2 months later.
4. You are not expected to read minds, but you are expected to read emails. Had the email been read this gentleman would have had all the information he needed. Not only that but the conversation we had a few hours prior to this indicated the same information.
5. I find this company's level of total professionalism shocking. In their rebuttal, they saw fit to post an image of the documents they were supposed to deliver. On their own website, they promise confidentiality. So this is their idea of protecting my privacy. They didn't even have the common knowledge that they needed to black out names and personal information before violating this site as well as their own. Shame on you.
You cannot do a bad job and then reneg your agreements with customers. You cannot threaten customers with harassing phone calls, texts, threats of lawsuits, and expect to get a good review. And you most certainly cannot attempt to violate the 1st Amendment with your term of service. Congress cannot even do that. If this company ran an honest business then perhaps they would be rewarded with repeat customers who valued their work. This is the cornerstone for runnnig a fair and decent business. Instead this company has to resort to making fake reviews about themselves that are removed by yelp and other sites and not honoring their word to the customers Does this honestly work?
In my opinion, this company even needs a bad review to suggest their abilities to perform a simple task.
Their responses to myself and other clients show exactly how they choose operate their business. They have changed names to Process Server Service of Los Angeles County and will undoubtedly change it again. they continue to use the 3499dollarmessenger.com web address.
If anyone else has been affected by this business, please feel free to contact me with regards to this.
shadytree
Santa Monica,California,
United States of America
Situation may have been resolved
#4Author of original report
Fri, March 25, 2011
So I have received a call from this company crediting me the full amount of the cost to serve plus any additional costs I may have occurred due to their service. I think this is a fair deal as of now. This was promised to me over a month ago and today i was assured the charges would be reversed in 24 hours. It does seem that this company is trying to resolve issues, but that is left to be seen.
dinksees
Los Angeles, CA,California,
United States of America
Accuracy when filing a court document.
#4REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, November 26, 2010
First, all process server companies including the Sheriffs require ALL FEES UP FRONT for any process service. Nothing out of the ordinary. Second, the document that was submitted by the plaintiff who wrote this report, DID NOT HAVE AN APARTMENT NUMBER LISTED ON THE DOCUMENT. We cannot serve anyone residing in a building or an apartment where there is no apartment number listed and with only an address. Third, all the mail boxes at that location were without any names or numbers and photos were taken of these mail boxes. Now you tell me what the hell were we supposed to do when idiots like this dont recognize the importance of accuracy in submitting a court document (Like apartment numbers and suite numbers. Duh?! We do not read minds and we do not disturb other tenants of a building by knocking on doors inquiring about a persons location. So before you go acting like this, make sure you get your s**t right before submitting a document for service. ALL ADDRESSES MUST MATCH THE ADDRESS ON THE COURT FILED DOCUMENT FILED AT THE COURTHOUSE AND ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE ACCURATE INCLUDING ALL APARTMENT NUMBERS AND SUITE NUMBERS OF ANY BUILDING WHERE THERE EXIST MULTIPLE UNITS IN THIS SAID BUILDING. It is not our responsibility to find the location of individuals in a building or apartment. That is all. And if you file a small claims the only thing the judge will hear from our company is, "There was no apartment number listed on the document". And we do have a copy of the document submitted by the plaintiff. We wish to say thank you for using our services. You may contact our office by calling (213) 259-6399.