Payment Disputes and Chargebacks Policy

Purpose

This policy explains what to do if you think a charge from NEO is wrong, and what happens if a card or pay-over-time payment to us is disputed with a bank, card issuer or lender such as Affirm.

Talk to us first

Most billing problems can be fixed quickly, without a dispute.

• Question an invoice in writing (email is fine), saying what you disagree with and why. Under our standard retainer terms, please do so within 10 business days, and we reply within 5 business days. See our Fees, Retainers and Billing Policy and Overdue Accounts and Collections Policy.
• A disputed part of an account that is to be paid from money we hold in trust for you stays in trust until the dispute is resolved, as your retainer sets out, if you dispute it in writing. The undisputed part is paid when due.
• If you are still not satisfied, use our Client Complaints Policy. Your retainer also keeps any right you have to ask a court to review (assess) our account, as the law allows.

Once a payment is disputed with a bank, card issuer or lender, any refund usually has to go through that process instead, which we don't control and which can take longer.

Mistakes and overpayments

If we charge you twice or the wrong amount, or you pay more than you owe or pay a cancelled invoice, we refund the extra promptly once the payment has fully cleared, to the person who paid, by the same method where possible, unless agreed otherwise in writing, under our Payments and Refunds Policy. A payment made through Affirm is refunded through Affirm. In line with our Fraud Prevention Policy, we never send an "overpayment" to a different card, account or person.

A charge you don't recognize

Our charges usually show our name on your statement, often shortened, and membership payments usually show as "NEO LEGAL MEMBERSHIP". If you paid through Affirm, your statement may show Affirm instead. Please check with us before disputing a charge. We can confirm the details of a payment to the person who made it, but we can't share a client's confidential information, including in most cases whether someone is our client, with anyone else. If you think your card was used without your permission, tell your card issuer at once, and let us know.

If a payment is disputed

Our payment processor usually holds the disputed amount right away while the card issuer or lender decides, under its own rules and timelines, which we don't control. We decide whether to contest a dispute. If we do, we may respond with evidence that the charge was proper, such as:

• the invoice and the signed retainer agreement;
• proof of payment, and records showing the work was done or delivered;
• our messages with the payer about the account.

Because this goes to third parties, we send only what is needed to show the charge was proper, as our Confidentiality Policy allows, and never the substance of our legal advice or other privileged communications. We never threaten criminal, quasi-criminal or regulatory proceedings to get paid.

A reversed payment

A payment dispute doesn't, by itself, cancel what is owed under your retainer for work already done. If a payment for work we did is reversed and the amount is still owed, it is unpaid again and our Overdue Accounts and Collections Policy applies. If we agree a charge was wrong, we correct the account and don't pursue it. The same goes for a cheque or e-Transfer that is returned or recalled. After a reversal, we may ask that future payments be made another way.

Work and money in trust

• A payment that is reversed, or held during a dispute, isn't treated as money held for you in trust, and we pay nothing out of trust against it, under our Trust Accounting and Client Money Policy. We correct any records it affects, as By-Law 9 requires.
• If work depends on a reversed payment, we may pause it or withdraw after written notice, but only as the rules and our Withdrawal of Services Policy allow, and not in a way that would harm your matter, such as on the eve of a hearing.

A card that isn't yours

If a payment was made without the account holder's permission, we return the money only to where it came from (by a refund to the original card or account, or by not contesting the dispute), never to anyone else, report as the law and the Law Society's rules require, and may stop acting, under our Fraud Prevention Policy and Withdrawal of Services Policy.

Your rights

Nothing here stops you from disputing a charge, or limits your rights under Ontario's Consumer Protection Act, 2002, your card agreement or a lender's agreement. Questions about an Affirm loan go to Affirm; see Paying Over Time with Affirm. To the extent permitted by law, NEO is not responsible for fees or interest a bank, card issuer or lender charges you, unless caused by our own mistake. We reserve our rights to recover any amount still owed, by the steps our Overdue Accounts and Collections Policy describes.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year, and whenever the Law Society's By-Laws or rules change. The principal approves every change.

Questions

Email info@neolegalservices.com, call 647-200-3526 or toll-free 888-519-2435, or write to us at Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 1B5.