Ducks In A Row
About us
With all the demands on our time it's not surprising we are overwhelmed and not working as efficiently as we could. Not in our homes, not in our offices. Tasks we dislike the most get shuffled to the bottom of the pile or to do list (if we have one). Even that blessing, the computer, turns on us allowing us to do the work of three, while adding the disorder and clutter of five. With decades pf experience in home and business organizing, accounting, scheduling and meeting/event planning we will restore order and set up systems that will work for you, increase your efficiency while saving you both time and money. PROBLEMS SOLVED!
Business highlights
Services we offer
Clutter elimination. Organize closets, Quicken, move ins and downsizing. Supervise, organize and coordinate move outs, other computer programs as well as paper filing systems. Plan, plan and coordinate all details of meetings and events., storage areas & entire rooms. Pay bills. Prepare insurance claims. Expense reimbursements. Set up and reorganize QuickBooks
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
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The Session when great! Judith is a professional with many years of experience in this area. She gave some wonderful recommendations on services I could use to cart away-unwanted items. We set goals and a schedule to help me meet them. I was very satisfied with "tailored" the information I received.
Regarding initial responsiveness, I had to email and call several times before I heard back from her.
Regarding being unprofessional, she was too chatty for me. She went on tangents too often. I felt like she overshared too much about herself rather than focusing on the job at hand. This is not something you want when you are getting billed by the hour.
Also, she was not as organized or careful as I would have liked. Generally speaking, conversations and emails with her felt chaotic. Here are some examples of what I experienced. First, she lined up two appointments with the same moving company (United Van Lines). (It is not beneficial to speak to two representative from the same company.) Second, she got one of our appointment days mixed up despite emails clarifying it. Third, she often did not separate emails out by subject, so we often ended up with one email thread discussing very different things. In summary, I had to work extra hard to organize my work with Judi. That is not a good sign.
When I realized she wasn't working out, I cancelled our last meeting with over 48 hours of notice (enough time per our agreement). She called me back and left a voicemail, saying something along the lines that I hurt her feelings. I didn't want to hurt her feelings; however, working with her was *adding* stress to my move, not helping.
On March 16, Judi emailed me a Word document for a bill. (I can't really call it a proper invoice, because it lacked key information such as payment address and payment terms). In it, Judi charged me $110 extra for a cancelled meeting. I replied and quoted the various email exchanges we had to prove that I was correct, and she agreed it was her mistake.
Then things got ugly. On March 31, Judi emailed me and said "If I do not receive payment by Friday, April 3, I will force to file a claim with Small Claims court." That was 11 days after I corrected her invoice, and only 15 days after the original (incorrect) invoice. I wrote her back and said that "it does not serve you to threaten me with litigation. There is no basis for doing so. Thirty days is a standard length of time to pay an invoice. If you expected payment more quickly, you could have indicated it on the invoice."
Still, I paid her via my bank's bill-pay the same day. The check went out via standard mail. I also told her "I'm not going to overnight you a check simply because you arbitrarily impose a deadline with 4 days notice." I was glad to be done with it.
Note that Judi only accepted checks for payment, which I think is inconvenient given modern alternatives such as credit cards, PayPal, Square, and many other modern services.
In summary, I would not recommend Ducks in a Row. Let's hope my experience was an exception. I know people make mistakes. I don't fault that Judi had a different style than me. But I do fault her professionalism and litigious attitude.
"[member name removed]: Thank you so much for taking the time to submit a review and such a wonderful one at that. I hope you'll call the Elderly and Disability Law Center and/or Rick Halberstein. I think if you got those things off your mind (and back) you'll find it much easier to deal with other things you'd like to do. If you would like any further assistance, don't hesitate to call. And, of course, I would appreciate any referrals. Good luck! Judi"
"Dr. [removed member name]: Thanks so much for taking the time to post a review on Angie's List. I look forward to seeing you at 10am tomorrow morning. Judi Epstein Ducks in a Row"
Licensing
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