Pennell and Associates Inc

[redacted]'s response is inaccurate. We agreed to a $1500 retainer to get started and we were supposed to start with a deep background check on one specific individual. When I received the background check, we were going to decide based on the information provided in the background check, what more information we would want, steps we would need to take from there, and how much more to put down to cover the next steps. There was third party that was on this call that I can have them account for the discussion.
I NEVER received a report of what was found in the background check and I never received an itemized bill for the time spent to find the information. He did refund $1000 of my $1500, but he arbitrarily decided to keep $500 without giving me a report of any of the information he found. He spent time on things that I did not agree to. He got my legal documents from my lawyer regarding my case instead of spending time on the background check. He said he was going to investigate my lawyer, my partner, and the judge. This is not what I had agreed to pay him to do. I never got my background check that I paid for. If he wants to keep part of the money I sent him, then I should receive a report of what specific information was found with my money and an actual bill.
[redacted] is very unprofessional. He badgered my lawyer and made her uncomfortable calling her multiple times in a day. He had very inappropriate phone calls with me. In one of the calls he was pushing me to get an order of protection against the person I am wanting a background check on. I tried to explain to him that was not the best thing to do and I needed to start with a background check. He asked very personal questions about why I dated this person in the first place years ago and asked me why I hate myself so much to have dated someone like him. I don't see where any of that was relevant in getting a background check. It felt very inappropriate. In the last phone call he told me to borrow a friends' car and personally follow the person I wanted a background check on - which is stalking and is illegal, he told me he did some checking into him and that he has a third child, but he wouldn't give me any specific information, he told me to go and get a psychiatric evaluation because the judge would order one anyway and it would look better on me to do it in advance, he told me he was going to investigate everyone attached to the case including my lawyer and the judge, and he told me that he knows I hate men, but I should listen to him anyway. He was very scattered in the way he was talking and had me very upset.
I was so upset that I called the gentleman that referred me to him and asked if any of this was normal when you hire a private investigator. He told me that it is not, and that [redacted] was way out of line. He told me to fire him right away and cancel my check I had sent him if I could and if it was already cashed to request a refund. He said he had used him several times before and didn't expect this kind of behavior from him.
It simply boils down to that fact that [redacted] tried to control my situation and never did what I paid him to do. I paid him for a background check on a specific person. He should either refund the rest of the $500 or give me a report of his findings on the background check. I should not be charged for time he spent gathering information on people I did not ask him to look into and time he spent researching my court case. He was paid for a background check that I never received.