So a friend of mine needed me to post bail for him and it was a Friday. He had been told as long as bail was posted by 2 PM he would be able to be released that day. So I went to Aladdin as they assured me they had an office in Seattle and one in Tacoma so I could fill out my paperwork in Seattle and they would get someone in Tacoma to take care of everything right away. I filled out the paperwork and gave them my card and they charged it. I figured at that point that all was said and done. I even was told because I was part of a union and had brought a current paystub showing the union dues being taken I would get a $50 rebate. So that sounded GREAT! The man who helped me was congenial and everything seemed to go through just fine. I sent a text and left a voicemail for my friend asking him to get ahold of me when he was out since he had said he had the money to pay me back in his jeans.
So I don't hear back from my friend and on Tuesday I hear from Aladdin because he hasn't been into their Tacoma office to sign the paperwork that they need signed and they are saying he was released that day according to the website. Now remember this is Tuesday and I was told that someone at the Tacoma office would bail him out on FRIDAY so 5 days have passed where my friend was in jail that he should not have been because someone failed to contact the Tacoma bondsman to have him released. I look at the website and see that ACTUALLY it says he is scheduled for release on WEDNESDAY so a full 6 days after i paid and Aladdin is trying to track him down when he hasn't even been released by calling me and telling me that he hasn't come through on his end of the bargain. So he is finally released on Wednesday and goes directly into the Tacoma office and signs their forms.
Now the $50 rebate for being a Union member, I was told could take a little time, as we all know money is taken fast and returned slow so I gave them some time. But on 12-29-2016 I still hadn't received it and I am looking at the end of the year thinking that if we cross to 2017 it is going to become an accounting nightmare because they are dealing with two different years. So I call and find out that the person who helped me, in spite of making a copy of my pay stub, failed to put it with the bond paperwork, AND he neglected to have me fill out 2 lines on the paperwork that would allow me to have my rebate. So I have to fax over a new paystub, because the email keeps bouncing, then the fax is never received at the number they gave, then the email finally works, and they have to email me the form, that I need to print, sign, scan, and send back to them, for a refund I am due that is a month late after being 6 days late releasing my friend.
************************ Update 1-5-2017 *********************************
The day after I initially wrote this review, which was 12-29-2016, I was contacted by the manager who had assisted me originally. He apologized and explained all the things that led to the epic breakdown. He did push for the rebate to be sent as soon as possible, but the new year banking holidays delayed that until this morning, so approximately 1 week from when I contacted them. I hope that I never need to bail a friend out of jail again though given the fact that EVERYTHING that could go wrong, literally everything that my friend or myself had no control over went wrong in this instance. I did appreciate that they reached out and did apologize for all the confusion and problems that resulted. read more