It pains me to have to write this review anonymously because I stand by it 100%, but I do not necessarily want potential employers knowing I have utilized a professional resume writing service.
Having said that, I am an avid Yelp user, with 32 reviews written to date since I began using Yelp in May of 2015. It is through Yelp that I found Andrea and her company, Resume Scripter. Quite frankly, I am surprised at all of the mostly positive reviews.
After researching numerous resume writing services in the NYC area, I narrowed the choices down to two companies in Manhattan. Both Resume Scripter and the other company had high ratings, but Resume Scripter had a higher number of reviews in addition to the high rating, so I went with Resume Scripter.
I first contacted Andrea through her website on 07/16/15 and over the course of a week, Andrea and I e-mailed back and forth several times. I had a few common questions regarding the process (ie, length of time from start to finish, whether the price included a reformat of my resume or if she would just be assisting with word revisions, and if the resume may be tailored for two different types of jobs). Andrea was fairly quick to respond to my inquiries.
However, after asking one or two questions (listed above), I decided in the interest of saving time and ensuring nothing would be lost in "email translation," I asked if Andrea had "a moment" to speak over the phone. Please keep in mind, I was not asking for a 15-30 minute consultation for free; I simply thought it would be more time efficient for both of us to speak over the phone for no more than 5 minutes before I sent my deposit to Andrea. Two days later, she responded saying her week would be very hectic and she would only be able to respond via e-mail. She did mention I could call her 800 number and leave a message with one of her "associates" (more on that later) and they would be able to answer any questions I might have. She did offer a 30-45 minute phone conversation a week out.
I found it odd that a) she could not make time for 5 minutes for a new client in the next few business days and b) she had an 800 number. Although my gut told me to go with another company (I had a bad feeling about someone that could not speak over the phone), I was eager to begin the process, so I could start applying for new positions. So, two days later, on 07/22/15 I sent my deposit and Andrea confirmed receipt.
In Andrea's e-mails, she made it very clear that the first part of the process would involve her reviewing my resume and in 5-7 business days I would receive a list of questions. She said the entire process (from receipt of deposit to receiving the final resume) would be 10-15 business days.
On 07/22/15, Andrea confirmed receipt of my deposit and said she would be sending me a list of questions in 5-7 business days. On the 8th business day, I e-mailed her to confirm that she did not require any additional information, since I had already provided her with my resume. No response.
On 08/03/15 (the 9th business day), I left a message with one of her "associates." The following day, I left her another message and sent her a polite e-mail, in which I noted that I had left her two messages and would simply like an update on where she was in the process. Again, no response to my voice messages or my e-mails. At this time, I was growing frustrated. If she could not deliver in the promised timeframe, I had wasted that time and would need to start over with another company.
On 08/04/15, I left my final message with her 800 number. After speaking with one of the "associates" I confirmed what I already had gathered; that she was using a reception service. Unfortunately, the reception service had already relayed my two previous messages to her as "urgent" with no response back. I'd like to note that I was also on vacation the week of August 3rd and did not appreciate having to deal with this on my one vacation during the year. When I received no response to my third (voice) message left with the reception service Andrea hired, nor a response to several e-mails sent directly to Andrea, I sent Andrea an e-mail on the 12th business day, notifying her that I was disputing the deposit with PayPal and requesting a refund.
It both saddens and frustrates me that a business would operate in this manner, particularly with a time sensitive matter such as someone's job search. If she did not want or have time for my business, she should have let me know upfront. I have learned a very valuable lesson from this, which is to always trust my gut feeling. In this case, my gut told me to take my business elsewhere and I should have listened earlier. read more