Bergen & Parkinson, LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a medical traveler.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bergen & Parkinson, LLC?

I hired Bergen & Parkinson, LLC to write a letter to a landlord because I was in the middle of a dispute with an extended hotel I had been staying at. The extended hotel refused to refund a damage deposit and claimed I hadn’t given enough notice when I was on a week-to-week contract.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were responsible for writing and sending a letter to the extended hotel. 

What is the team dynamic?

I primarily worked with a lawyer at Bergen & Parkinson, LLC, but there was an assistant that was involved in the process as well. 

How did you come to work with Bergen & Parkinson, LLC?

I found them through a Google search. 

How much have you invested with them?

I spent a little less than $400. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between December 2022–February 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

The estimation for the letter to be written was $200, but I was required to put down a $500 retainer. I was fairly confident it would be a little more because Bergen & Parkinson, LLC was overnighting the letter, but when I received the email confirmation from the shipping company, I realized the address the letter had been sent to was incorrect. 

Bergen & Parkinson, LLC was unwilling to tell the shipping company that the address was incorrect, and I was charged the fee even though the letter was delivered to the wrong address. After that, I went back to Bergen & Parkinson, LLC to get another letter so I could deliver it personally to the address. I did not want the extended hotel to know where I was staying, so I used the law firm's address as the place to send the check that I was owed. 

I waited the required 30-day period for the refund from the extended hotel, and an additional ten days after that, but nothing came, so I contacted Bergen & Parkinson, LLC. I was told that the check had arrived at the law firm, and they had sent me an email about it, but when I looked in my emails, there was nothing there. 

Bergen & Parkinson, LLC charged me $20 for a response at this point, so the overall bill they charged me was $360, even though the initial estimate was $200. All the issues that had occurred were on Bergen & Parkinson, LLC’s end, but I was still required to pay for their mistakes. I gave them the new address I was staying at, but they again sent that check to the wrong place, and it took more than two weeks for me to receive anything. 

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

Overall, they got the job done, but they didn’t do it very well. 

In what specific areas can they improve?
They could work on their communication skills. Multiple breakdowns in communication complicated the process.  

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

I don’t think they are the right firm to use for large issues. They had breakdowns in communication on a small project, so I don’t know how that would work on a larger issue.