Lucy A. Snyder

I needed a relatively simple legal document to deal with my father's estate, and a couple of people recommended John Hay. When he met with me, he told me I'd need a second document to cover my mother's death. OK fine; his logic seemed sound. He said the two documents together would be "no more than $450." He agreed to have the two docs prepared by the following Tuesday, which was a time-critical deadline for me (I needed them to handle issues at a local bank). I met with his assistant over the following days to deal with details. She was pleasant, but her mask was halfway down her face the whole time we were talking. I called the following Tuesday morning to make sure the docs were ready, as promised ... and they were not. Mr. Hay was telling me he should do paperwork for a full probate — which I knew I didn't need, at least not right then. So I pressed them to to deliver the docs I needed that day, as promised. And they did get them to me that afternoon, so I was able to meet my deadline. A few weeks later, I got a bill for $525 ... not the $450 Mr. Hay had verbally promised. Between the overcharging and the foot-dragging and Mr. Hay trying to sell me on services I didn't need, if I had to do this over again, I'd choose a different law firm.