I met with a gentleman last week who was referred to another Trustee. He called their office and booked an appointment to meet with the Trustee, but when he arrived he was told the Trustee was too busy to meet with him, so instead he met with an administrator. He told me that when he left the meeting, he was more confused than when he arrived. He then contacted our office for a meeting. He also said that he felt that they were trying to push him in to bankruptcy.

I met with him and he advised me that he was interested in filing a consumer proposal. Upon reviewing his situation, I agreed that was best option for him. I told him that even though the other firm would have told him all about the voting process in a consumer proposal, as the Trustee, I needed to review that with him. He advised me that the other firm didn’t tell him anything about the mechanics of a consumer proposal. After he meet with them and learned nothing, he researched his options on our website at hoyes.com.

A few things should have happened when he called the other firm to book the appointment. Someone should have entered the appointment into a calendar so the Trustee knew her schedule. If she was called away, then they should have given the client the courtesy of a telephone call to reschedule. When meeting with a client, we have the responsibility to go over all of the options with them. None of that happened in this case.

Here is what happened when he met with me. I first reviewed his assets, debts, and budget in detail. We discussed other resources such a credit counseling and debt consolidation. We then reviewed bankruptcy and consumer proposals and the pros and cons of each. He had read most of this information on our very informative website, but I am still required to review the processes with him. He left the office with a clear understanding of his options. Although he already knew that he wanted to file a consumer proposal, he left feeling better about his decision.

Getting a referral to someone is great, but if the Trustee won’t take the time to meet with you, or you didn’t like the service, you have the choice to meet with someone else. You can call our office at 310-PLAN or 519-250-8060 and speak with either me; Catherine or Tina and it would be our pleasure to help you. Or, if you prefer, you can email me your question.