Complaint Review: LegalZoom

LegalZoom will take money off your card without sending notifications.  The agents that can make changes are only available during PT working hours, so once the money is gone you are SOL until Monday monring.  So, if you are unable to call them during working hours too bad they don't care.  And even then they may not help you.  If you get one of their agents who is having a really bad day, or is easily offended by your stress (that they have caused) then forget getting any sympathy or support.

If the charge on your card is incorrect, unexpected, or for a trial that you don't want forget about it.  When you are working AND trying to start a business or two, it may seem like a company like LegalZoom will help you out.  They promise to be a liason, offer consultations, and will handle the tough admin part of incorporation for you.  There are better companies out there that will not play games to just keep charging you for invisible services.  There are companies that are available nights, weekends, and early mornings to answer your questions without an attitude.

Example: I woke up to an alert from my bank that I was overdrawn because of LegalZoom.  I checked my email, and no notices of an impending charge from them.  I logged in and see that they charged me a whole lump sum - on a Saturday morning.  Of course when I call the bank they say LegalZoom can just drop the authorization and it won't go through.  I wait for hours to talk to LegalZoom (handy PT time) and finally get a young man who seems very upset that I won't listen to him repeat over and over again my initial order details from last year.  I tell him that's not the issue, I can't have this come off my card.  He gets impatient with me that I won't let him repeat himself over and over.  He tells me the payment can be broken up and he would transfer me, but I agreed to a lump sum last year so he refuses to do the transfer.  I tell him I want to speak to the other person about the payment options and he flat out refuses.

Then he tells me the emails were sent so oh well.  I tell him I didn't get anything.  He says well we sent them (and raises his voice) so we can't help you!  I tell him again I want to speak to someone else, someone without an attitude, and he tells me everyone is going to tell me nothing can be done.  I tell him but you just said I could talk to someone about breaking up the payment.  He says I never said that you have to wait until Monday.

Wow.  I remind him the calls are recorded and he did just say I could speak to someone today.  After more back and forth he finally sent me back into the general queue with a sarcastic and snarly "you have a nice day" like the recording won't pick up on his attitude as long as he says the words?

The next person I speak to listens to the whole tale, puts me on hold to see what he can do, and comes back and tells me that they do indeed have payment options and he believes they can break it up, but anyone who can make account modifications only works M-F.  I ask then why charge me on a Saturday?  He didn't know.  And if there are payment options why wasn't I allowed to choose one for renewal before I was charged?  He didn't know.

I found other companies with longer support hours, lower rates, and they call and discuss decisions before charging.  I found these online while I was waiting on hold and I thought "wow I went with the name LegalZoom and I really should've taken the time to research other places first!".  Admittedly, when I incorporated I did it in a hurry to satisfy pressure from investors.  I went with a name that was familiar and I figured they were legit, and then I read all their promises on the site.  I was wary when it wouldn't let me use the name I wanted (the name was already on my website and biz cards) but I still went ahead with it.

I told him I was very concerned if they are supposed to be my liason and the people there are so unprofessional.  If the last person talked to me that way, is that how he is representing my business to others?  Why did this one request turn into such drama?  What if I had other issues and needed to speak to someone mature outside of business hours?

The whole interchange makes me feel like this is just a profit mill.  They sell services and once the order goes through that's all they care about.  And beware...you may be under stress now while you are building a business from scratch, but getting the wrong kind of help makes it that much worse.  It's like having a rogue accountant who uses your card and yells at you later that you gave him authority to "take care" of you.  Ummm...ok I still need a heads up if you're gonna charge me for a whole year.  And if you are so big that you can't tell when your customer service is slipping, or your automated debits are causing problems, then maybe your business model isn't really about helping people?

I honestly have seen no benefit from using them in the past year.  All I see are debits on my card.  I haven't received a single phone call from anyone asking how they're doing, or if I have any needs, or advising me on my account or company...nothing!

I am actively switching to another company and I seriously think anyone looking at LegalZoom needs to consider just spending the time to learn stuff on your own. Also use a local company that you can reach when you need them.  It's so much better having human contact that cares about you, your business, and your company.  Live and learn huh?

If you have already wasted money with them, you can do what I'm doing - cut your losses and chalk it up to a first year entrepreneurship lesson.  Oprah said it best - always write your own checks!