How can I recover monies paid to a private investigator?

Question

I put monies as deposit with a private investigator in Washington DC for a simple 4 day job but after 6 months, no work was done. Which authorities can I approach to complain about this PI?

Answer 1

Do you have any receipts from that transaction? Did your investigator give you a receipt that shows you gave him the money in question? If not, you are up a creek without a paddle. You can report him/her to the BBB but if he/she is a rogue and not listed in the yellow pages or something, you may be out of the money. You could also take him/her to small claims court if you have any receipts.

Answer 2

First check your agreement and the local laws regarding deposits.....if you merely made a deposit in order to retain the services of the PI then you didn't, necessarily, enter into an agreement for any work to actually be done. It is as if you were looking around for a new place to live, then found one you like, intend to move in, but still have some places to look at......the landlord says they have more people coming to check it out, and so in order to resereve the place for you, you put down a portion of the security deposit....this is called earnest money.......then you decide you are not going to move into that place as you found a better one that suits your needs.....you can only recover the earnest money if it within a reasonable time frame, in this example usually 7 days......which would allow for the landlord to re-open the place for a potential owner/renter. Same basics apply here, you retained the services of the private investigator by giving them a deposit, but then they did nothing.....now its 6 months later.....you probably cannot get the deposit back, or even if you can, it will not be the full amount. Most of the time a deposit can only be refunded if either party backs out of the agreement, within a reasonable amount of time. Depending on the contract, this is usually a period of no more than 60 days, and possibly subject to a partial refund rather than full, depending on time. I am involved with an entertainment company which deals primarily with weddings (dj's, caterers, etc.) We require a deposit which is usually 10 percent of the final contract amount.....the person hiring us has 30 days from that contract signing to cancel without losing any of the deposit, however, the closer to the actual event date we get the less of the deposit you get back, and if for some reason, the cancellation is less than 48 hours from the event date, you have to pay the full balance.

Answer 3

First, do you have a receipt of payment? Second, do you have a contract or agreement for services which specifies a beginning and completion date for the services? Thirdly, Private Investigators generally need to be licensed. Check with your local licensing authority to see what you need to do to file a complaint. I don't believe going to the BBB as others have suggested is going to do much any good for you. It may help others, but not you. Your best bet is to go to your local licensing authority, and then if necessary,depending on the amount you paid, file a small claims action against him. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Well I am not a law enforcement officer or attorney and do not know for sure what the laws are in the state you are in. However I can tell you how I might go about it. I would start by communicating to the PI your dis-satisfaction verbally and in writing,(keeping copies of all communications you send to him), if unsatisfied still then I might go about checking out what it takes to become a PI in your state then if you know who they have to get licensed through you know where to look concerning laws governing their responsibilities to their clients and any regulations concerning dispute resolution etc that may already be in affect. If that fails to lead you towards resolving the conflict, I would then look towards filing a claim against him in small claims or civil court, which ever would be appropriate for the amount of money involved.

Answer 5

Every licensed PI has a 'regulatory agency' that oversee the operations and licensing of the profession.

I would first suggest that you send a registered letter to the PI and/or company demanding a refund and give them 30 or 45 days to respond.

If they don't resolve the issue, I would suggest you contact the licensing board for that jurisdiction and file a complaint.

Answer 6

The Better Business Bureau

Answer 7

P.I.'s in most states are Governed by the state. Go online, search your state and search for "PI Lincensing"; that will show the agency who grants them authority to work; then look for "filing complaint" anf go at it.

Consider sending the P.I. a letter, Registered (gives them a heads up) that you want you $ now or you file a complaint.

Answer 8

You may be out of luck.

Many professions require some down payment, or deposit before they do anything for you.

The contract probably says nothing about a refund if you are not satisfied with the results.

Answer 9

If you hired a licensed investigator, report him/her to the licensing agency.

If you hired an unlicensed investigator, I hope you learned something. Report them to the licensing agency, which usually has authority to prosecute unlicensed persons.
Report him/her to the Better Business Bureau.

Sue for return of your money.

Answer 10

You could try your local better business bureau or consumer relations type office. You could also take this person to small claims court for the deposit.