Trafton E.

I hired Recourse because I felt that I was too busy to educate myself on the ins and outs of small claims, and I thought that Recourse would be a good alternative to retaining a lawyer. Huge mistake. Recourse can and should be sued for false advertising, as they don't really provide many of the services they claim. Additionally, canceling is a *nightmare.* As soon as you tell them you want to cancel, they drop off the face of the planet (just see all the other reviews!). I wrote countless emails and made countless phonecalls trying to get them to stop charging me, and none were returned. We wound up filing claims with the bank, and eventually just canceled our card and got a new number.

Here are some of Recourse's claims, and what I actually experienced:

+ A Dedicated Advisor

Gustavo couldn't answer most of my questions, and now on the site you'll note this caveat at the bottom of their page "*The dedicated advisor cannot provide any legal advice. They will be able to answer basic questions on topics such as claim limits and statute of limitations."

+ Paperwork Handling "We process your paperwork and file it with the court"

Gustavo asked for addresses for me and the defendant, the description of my claim, and the amount of the claim. He then filled out these basic fields on SC-100, which I could have done in 2 minutes, and then instructed me to file with the court. They didn't do anything.

+ Summons Service

You'd think that your $99/month would cover serving the defendant, since the website says "Recourse guarantees timely delivery of the summons through certified mail or special delivery by a local sheriff." However, Gustavo simply googled for a process server and provided me with their phone number and instructed me to pay an additional $75 for their services. The Recourse "Summons Service" is basically 411 for finding a process server, which you can do with Google. They don't actually provide a process service.

+ Evidence Log

Gustavo looked at the evidence I put together, and simply told me to print it off and bring it to court. They did nothing to collate and make things look professional. Again, no services were actually provided.

+ Settlement Negotiation

Gustavo or Recourse did not work on a settlement ahead of the court case. They don't actually provide this service, the court does with FREE arbitration before your court hearing. Recourse doesn't provide this service, it's free when you go to court.

+ Collections

Recourse doesn't make collections calls and they don't provide a collections service. At best, they'll google for a collections service which again -- you have to pay for separately from Recourse.

The small claims process is VERY easy, and every single document you have to file comes with perfect instructions, every court offers small claims advice both in a self-help center, at the clerk's office, and often a small claims advisor that is free to the public.

Don't waste your money on Recourse, as the service they provide is so terrible that you'll wind up doing all the work yourself.