Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/16/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am a former student of USILACS, and I live in *****. I am contacting you because I need your help and it is very urgent! In May this year, I contacted USILACS for Apostille Legalization of my Degree and Transcript, a service that they offer, in order to apply for Declaration of Value of my degree at the Italian Consulate in *****, so as to qualify to enroll for a Master's degree course in ***** this academic year. Please see "State Apostille Package" and "Terms and Pricing" on this link *************************************************************************************************************** paid a total of $359 on May 28, and I was supposed to receive the documents within 4-6 weeks, but this is now the 7th week and I still haven't received them. On June 27, they contacted me that the documents were ready, and sent me a scanned copy and asked me to confirm my home address before shipping. I decided to double-check my transcript and compare it with the one I had before. To my surprise, my new transcript was full of errors, about half of the courses, 16 out of 40, were wrong: some I never took, some had wrong grades, some in the wrong semester, some were nowhere to be found! A different transcript entirely! I quickly contacted them about it but since then they all have failed to reply to my emails and keep ignoring them. I was lucky I found out the transcript was incorrect before sending it to the Italian Consulate because the new transcript and my old transcript translation don't match! I had even legalized that translation in court by swearing that it was accurate, and will face any penalty that comes with False Information, which would have put me and my translator in big trouble! Now I am unable to proceed with my Declaration of Value, and as a result of this, I cannot enroll for my Master's Degree course. They told me to stop contacting them and even asked me to send back my degree for it to be cancelled out by their school, as if I never got one, and get a full refund of my fee.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/16/2025

  Other than the apostille legalization of my Degree and Transcript, I also asked USILACS for a certified Course Syllabus for my degree, which the Italian Consulate and my future ****************** asked me to provide in order to proceed with Declaration of Value and Master's degree enrollment. Unfortunately, USILACS have firmly refused to provide this course syllabus, I have tried to explain to them that it is a key requirement for both my university and the Italian Consulate. After several attempts, they are unwilling to provide this document and have asked me not to contact them anymore. I have tried to contact the president, as he has a higher authority, but he too failed to reply to my emails regarding my transcript full of errors and the course syllabus.

  Since the enrollment deadline is near approaching, I contacted the ***************** and the university in ***** to explain the situation to them. The Italian Consulate said if USILACS is unwilling to provide this document I should not worry about it anymore, but it seems it will be difficult for the ****************** to grant my requests, without having examined USILACS course syllabus for my "Bachelor of Doctrines and Methodology of Education" degree.

  I visited their website weeks ago to search for the course syllabus myself, and I found 37 out of 40, which I downloaded and printed. Unfortunately, it is not considered valid without USILACS signature, stamp or seal, so I cannot use it. I even offered to mail the printed copies to them for authentication, if downloading and printing was the problem due to the size of the documents, but they kept telling me it's an UNUSUAL REQUEST and that they unwilling to do anything about it, that no one ever asks for a course syllabus. Now my focus is to get my apostilled degree and transcript that I have already paid for and is already due since last week, so I can finally begin the Declaration of Value process, and hope to still be able to enroll for my Master's degree within the deadline, which is August 29.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/19/2025

  We are truly sorry that Queen has had a difficult experience and that she felt the need to file this complaint. At USILACS, we take all student concerns seriously and aim to resolve them as efficiently and professionally as possible.
  Upon reviewing her case, we found that ***** requested several non-standard documents that fall outside of typical academic record requests (such as transcripts and diplomas). These custom document types are not industry standard and therefore require internal review and approval from school leadership. Unfortunately, this process can take additional time.
  While our team was working to fulfill her requests, Queen began threatening legal action. Due to the nature of those communications, her case was escalated to the Office of the President for further handling and review.
  We acknowledge that Queens situation is time-sensitive and deeply important to her. We are currently reviewing all aspects of her file to ensure accuracy and fairness. We remain committed to resolving this matter appropriately and will continue to communicate through the proper channels.
  We sincerely regret any stress or inconvenience this has caused and appreciate the opportunity to provide clarification.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/19/2025

   
  Complaint: 23606979
  
  I am rejecting this response because it is FALSE. What they wrote is not the truth, it's all LIES, and I can't stand lies! The email they sent to me yesterday clearly contradicts what is written here! Therefore, I will NOT resolve this complaint until I have received the documents I paid for. If I still have enough time to enroll for my Master's degree course before the enrollment deadline, due to the unnecessary delay on their part, then I will withdraw my complaint.

  Please find below the email they sent to me yesterday (by the way, all the emails I have sent and received from them are still intact):

  ________________________________

  Good afternoon, Queen

  Thank you for reaching out to our department. We have been made aware of your situation by the departments that you have corresponded with and are very sorry that things have transpired the way that they have. We realize that you have a lot of time and money invested on your end and are working within very tight timelines which has no doubt added to the stress of the situation. 

  Our goal at USILACS is to supply our students with the best service possible both while they're enrolled and after. While we fall short of this at times, it is always our driving force. That being said, we are determined now to do everything we can to supply you with the legalized documents you paid for on May 28th. So if we may, let's move forward together with a clean slate, not allowing too much of the past problems to cloud the present. We are not taking away from the negative experience that you have had or invalidating your feelings, bur rather seeking to work together with mutual respect for one another and no ill feelings moving forward, with the goal of having constructive conversations.

  Upon comparison of your recently apostilled transcript and your original transcript, we agree that they are discrepancies. We consulted with the IT department, and they were able to explain the situation. Please allow us to explain:

  When our office was preparing your documents to be apostilled, we realized that we did not have a copy of your education documents on file. This was likely due to the server failure we experienced in 2021, which resulted in a significant number of original documents being lost. Consequently, our office had to reproduce your documents with a backup of our server from 2021. However, we know now that the version we used to restore your documents did not reflect the courses contained in your transcript at the time you enrolled.

  Our department takes full responsibility for this error. We knew that we did not have the original copy of your transcript. But seeing that you were in urgent need of your documents, we made the decision to have the IT team reproduce your transcript rather than reach out to you directly and ask for you to supply us with a scanned copy; we assumed it would be faster and more efficient for us to just reproduce it. And since we did not have the original to compare it with, we did not know how many errors the copy we reproduced had. Our department did not knowingly supply you with an incorrect copy, please be assured of this. It was an honest mistake made with the best intentions in mind.

  That said, however, we are eager to rectify this matter and make things right. If you would allow us, we would like to have the correct version of your transcript re-apostilled. To ensure you receive it in a timely manner, a member of our team will travel to the ************ and submit your document in person, which will allow us to receive it the same day; we typically don't do this as it is a 6 hour round trip journey, however, we have made an exception in your case. In order to accomplish this, we will need a high-quality scan of your original transcript. If you would like to have the transcript guide on the back of your transcript apostilled, we will need a scanned copy of that as well. 

  Ms. ********, we commend you for your aspirations in *****. What you are seeking to do does not appear easy, but where we can, we would like to assist you as it will allow us to help future students should they seek to follow a similar path.

  To reduce confusion, please contact our office moving forward. It is easier to keep tabs on a matter if it is directed to one department rather than having to search through email chains from multiple departments. We look forward to hearing from you soon, and hopefully receiving the scanned copies of your transcript so we can make that right for you and cross it off the list.

  Warm regards,

  Legalization Department

  USILACS

  ****************************
  ________________________________
  

  As you can see, the email they sent to me and what they sent to you are not the same. I understand they are trying to be defensive, as many try to do when they realise they cannot get away with injustice. They clearly thought there was nothing I could do about it, but unfortunately for them, I am not the stupid, helpless, and clueless person they perceived me to be. However, I really hope to receive my documents and still be able to enroll for my course, because I am a very peaceful person and would always pursue mercy, as far as it is possible to do so. Thank you very much for your help!

  Sincerely,
  
  Queen Omorogbe.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/31/2025

  Good morning,

  This is Queen again. I am writing to inform you that it is now two weeks since I received a formal reply from USILACS promising to resolve this issue promptly and complete the job, but they have not kept that promise and they do not reply to my emails anymore, just like before. This is the email the ********************* who is in charge of the apostille legalization of my degree and transcript sent to me, copying in the ******************* the ***************** and the ************* on 18 July at ***** (CET):

  _______________________________________________________

  " Good afternoon, Queen
  
  Thank you for reaching out to our department. We have been made aware of your situation by the departments that you have corresponded with and are very sorry that things have transpired the way that they have. We realize that you have a lot of time and money invested on your end and are working within very tight timelines which has no doubt added to the stress of the situation. 
  
  Our goal at USILACS is to supply our students with the best service possible both while they're enrolled and after. While we fall short of this at times, it is always our driving force. That being said, we are determined now to do everything we can to supply you with the legalized documents you paid for on May 28th. So if we may, let's move forward together with a clean slate, not allowing too much of the past problems to cloud the present. We are not taking away from the negative experience that you have had or invalidating your feelings, bur rather seeking to work together with mutual respect for one another and no ill feelings moving forward, with the goal of having constructive conversations.
  
  Upon comparison of your recently apostilled transcript and your original transcript, we agree that they are discrepancies. We consulted with the IT department, and they were able to explain the situation. Please allow us to explain:
  
  When our office was preparing your documents to be apostilled, we realized that we did not have a copy of your education documents on file. This was likely due to the server failure we experienced in 2021, which resulted in a significant number of original documents being lost. Consequently, our office had to reproduce your documents with a backup of our server from 2021. However, we know now that the version we used to restore your documents did not reflect the courses contained in your transcript at the time you enrolled.
  
  Our department takes full responsibility for this error. We knew that we did not have the original copy of your transcript. But seeing that you were in urgent need of your documents, we made the decision to have the IT team reproduce your transcript rather than reach out to you directly and ask for you to supply us with a scanned copy; we assumed it would be faster and more efficient for us to just reproduce it. And since we did not have the original to compare it with, we did not know how many errors the copy we reproduced had. Our department did not knowingly supply you with an incorrect copy, please be assured of this. It was an honest mistake made with the best intentions in mind.
  
  That said, however, we are eager to rectify this matter and make things right. If you would allow us, we would like to have the correct version of your transcript re-apostilled. To ensure you receive it in a timely manner, a member of our team will travel to the ************ and submit your document in person, which will allow us to receive it the same day; we typically don't do this as it is a 6 hour round trip journey, however, we have made an exception in your case. In order to accomplish this, we will need a high-quality scan of your original transcript. If you would like to have the transcript guide on the back of your transcript apostilled, we will need a scanned copy of that as well. 
  
  Ms. ********, we commend you for your aspirations in *****. What you are seeking to do does not appear easy, but where we can, we would like to assist you as it will allow us to help future students should they seek to follow a similar path.
  
  To reduce confusion, please contact our office moving forward. It is easier to keep tabs on a matter if it is directed to one department rather than having to search through email chains from multiple departments. We look forward to hearing from you soon, and hopefully receiving the scanned copies of your transcript so we can make that right for you and cross it off the list.
  
  Warm regards,
  
  Legalization Department
  USILACS
  
  **************************** ".

  ___________________________________________________________

  Since then I have not heard back from them. I have sent several emails to the various departments/offices but no answer. Initially, when they started treating me badly, I simply thought it had to do with my nationality, ethnicity, race and skin colour. I thought they were deliberately trying to delay the process, knowing that the Italian Consulate in ***** will need a month to examine the documents after submission before granting me or not the Declaration of Value that I need to enroll for my Master's degree course in ***** within August 29, but right now I am beginning to think it is deeper than that, i.e. the issue at hand could be deeper than racism, discrimination, and oppression. I see no reason a school will withhold documents that their own very student has paid for over two months ago, just to cause her to miss an opportunity for career growth! At this point I am beginning to think there is something ILLEGAL about my bachelor's degree in Education. The fact that their school doesn't offer the specific course I did anymore and they were unwilling to provide the course syllabus when I requested for it, and even got very angry with me for making that request, make me think there must be something wrong about my course. Perhaps they were not authorized to offer that course (Bachelor of Doctrines and Methodology of Education), or they did not respect all the rules and regulations regarding that course that has been set by the Educational System in the country. Hence, they are unwilling to provide my legalized degree and transcript to take to the Italian consulate for examination. They gave me a different transcript for another course, similar with the one I took, which is a serious mistake and also illegal. I guess they wanted me to ignore the mistakes, act like I did not notice them, and just take it. I am a very honest person and will never do such a thing! Also, the fact that they are unwilling to correct these mistakes despite all my efforts, makes me think there is a problem somewhere. They asked me to resend a scanned copy of my transcript so they can remake it, which I did immediately, but they still haven't done the job. They wrote in their email that the reason for the errors on my transcript is because in 2021, the year I got my degree, they had technical issues and as a result my file disappeared from their system, so they could not reprint the correct transcript. Please, I would like you to contact them again to know if there is really a problem, something that has to do with the law, or if they are just trying to oppress me, due to the fact that I live far away and they think I cannot do anything about this injustice, or perhaps because of matters concerning my ethnicity. Unfortunately, I don't think I can still apply for my Master's anymore because time is not by my side, because of this unnecessary delay on their end, which I will definitely not overlook.