Consumer complaint received 2017-02-09
Product: Debt collection — Other (i.e. phone, health club, etc.)
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: Mages & Price LLC (IL)

Collection agency Mages & Price mailed a notice around XX/XX/XXXX that their client ( attorney XXXX of XXXX Law ) was requesting payment for legal services totaling {$680.00} or they would obtain a judgment against me. 

I found this a very strange & incorrect payment request since I had prepaid ( advance retainer ) over {$10000.00} for legal services. I notified XXXX and Mages & Price by voice, fax, & mail multiple times ( XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX & XX/XX/XXXX ) about the ongoing billing dispute and that : XXXX 's invoice balance was incorrect ; checks for {$3500.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and {$1300.00} ( XX/XX/XXXX ) were not accounted for in the billing ; plus I was due a refund from the remaining balance of the client funds. 
Furthermore, XXXX charged me ~ {$9000.00} for reading case material After the case was closed. 

XXXX and Mages & Price refused to reply to my communications ; failed to validate the debt, ignored my requests for detailed invoices & Client Funds Trust Account reconciliation to find a solution. 

Our business relationship had been over for almost a year & XXXX had failed to return my moneys. In addition XXXX kept secret ( hidden ) from me that she received a refund of {$3500.00} for services performed by 3rd party vendor XXXX XXXX. The {$3500.00} was supposed to be returned to me but XXXX decided to stop sending account statements once she received the funds in XX/XX/XXXX ; less than one month prior Mages & Price 's collection letter. 

Mages & Price and XXXX XXXX refused to reply to my written disputes & requests for a review of the client fund account balance ; for the disclosure of what happened to the checks of {$3500.00} and {$1300.00} & for restatement of XXXX XXXX 's billing invoice. 

As an accountant, I even identified to them the booking errors XXXX had performed. 

In XX/XX/XXXX, prior to collection agency Mages & Price contacting me, I notified the attorney XXXX of her billing errors and asked her to review the billing fees she had invoiced me. In addition, I asked XXXX to reconcile my client account with the client funds she had received from me or in my behalf against her chargeable billing fees. Despite my requests for an account reconciliation and itemized statements, XXXX refused to provide me with such. This was an intentional deviation from her fiduciary duties to her client, the professional code of conduct, and from the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission ( ARDC ) Client Trust Account Handbook. 

Even after receiving the {$3500.00} that was public knowledge since XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX refused to update or review her billings. XXXX refused to search her records for ( XXXX ) unreported checks of {$3500.00} and {$1300.00} totaling {$4800.00}. XXXX deducted her {$1.00} fees from my funds ; in addition she received the {$1300.00} also as a duplicate payment via check in XX/XX/XXXX, she refused to properly process or acknowledge my client funds. 

Instead of seeking conclusion of this matter through the XXXX arbitration committee, XXXX via her collection agency filed a small claims court complaint that I owed her {$680.00}. Upon the first day of trial, XXXX disclosed that she failed to report checks totaling {$3500.00} and {$1300.00}. 

Although, I filed a counter-claim against XXXX 's original fraudulent and false claim, the court ruled that XXXX should deduct her attorney fees from the client 's funds trust account and refund me the remaining balance. 

Mages & Price was properly informed of the issues ; they intentionally continued to proceed without doing their due diligence or complying with their code of conduct, deliberately destroying my livelihood as a finance professional. 

This is like thieves getting mad because they got caught & you as the victim getting penalized for speaking up against