Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/22/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  My Italian Family is now Easy ********************** DBA My Italian Family. ****** ****** is no longer with them. I cannot find any information of ***************************I am left with portfolios of documentation that may not be complete and accurate for the purposes of applying for dual citizenship to the Italian consulate. Without the ability to proceed with the application process, there is no way for me to know. I was ill advised by My Italian Family on multiple critical instances throughout my engagement with them:1. At no time during the process of obtaining the documentation was I advised of the pendency of an Italian Supreme court ruling that would make my children and me ineligible for dual citizenship. Yet My Italian Family continued to accept payment.2. I was initially told by My Italian Family that they would arrange the interview appointments with the Italian consulate to begin the application process for dual citizenship. At some point that responsibility was relegated to me.3. I was originally advised that it would take 2 3 months to obtain appointments with the Italian consulate. 4. I continued to attempt appointment scheduling for 21 months. MY Italian Family informed me 18 months after the Italian supreme court ruling rendering my application for Italian dual citizenship ineligible.5.I was not advised upon retaining My Italian Family that there were potentially substantial additional costs associated with completing the application.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/04/2025

  We have proudly served our clients for 24 years. Our ownership has changed, and our commitment to quality service remains unchanged. 

  We understand that the journey to obtain Italian citizenship can be both complex and demanding, and we genuinely empathize with the difficulties ******************* has experienced during this process.

  ******************* signed a contract with My Italian Family on 16 Sept 2021 to have our company procure all the necessary documentation for ******************* to be able to apply for Italian Citizenship.  The contract, which includes a list of required documentation for purchase, is accurate as of the day of the signing of the contract.  It reflects what the Italian Consulate required for a person to present with their application.  It was clear in phone conversations, and in the contract itself, what we were obligated to gather, and the client was obligated to pay for the required documents, Apostilles, and Translations, of this original list of documents.  Our contract clearly states that if the Italian ****************** or the Italian Consulate changes their requirements during the project timeframe, that the client would need to agree to add or subtract the new document requirements to be successfully accepted by the Consulate for Citizenship.  Here is a short excerpt from the contract that he signed: 
  

  Important Notes: 
  

  Our effort is to secure the documents required of the Consulate where you are applying, or the town of your choice if you are applying in *****, have them Apostilled and then translated to Italian, if required. 
  

  In the event we are unable to secure one or more vital records because of inaccurate information you provided, you will be responsible for any additional charge, i.e., research fees, administrative fees, etc. to secure these records. 
  

  Our proposal is to get the agreed upon family vital records associated with the attached spreadsheet/application, but we are not responsible for additional or changed criteria that your Consulate may introduce after todays date and requested of you at your Consulate Appointment (or town hall official in *****).? We will promptly propose solutions after your appointment if the Consulate requests corrections to your documents or new/extra documentation. 
  

  Any required amendment or correction of a US Vital Record is not included in this proposal.? We will suggest solutions and costs involved, if we determine with you, that there is a need for an amendment or correction.? In some States, court orders are required, but in most States petitioning for amendments or corrections are done through the Office of Vital Records or similar department of the State. 
  
  We have no control over the changes in requirements, whether it is an increase in documentation or a decrease.  Included in these potential changes would be any changes in the laws or requirements by the central government (************************) that are then dictated to the Consulates.  This is, in fact, what happened in *******************s situation. 
  

  Please note that the Italian Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over the requirements for Citizenship when a person is applying at the Italian Consulate or at a town-hall in ******  Thus, there was and is no pendency of an Italian Supreme court ruling. Between the start of the relationship between ******************* and My Italian Family on 22 February 2020 and 3 October 2024, the Italian Governments ************************ did not in-fact change the qualifying requirements.  This only changed on 3 October 2024 (well after his project with MIF was completed.  Both portfolios were shipped to ******************* on May 1, 2023), which rendered ****************** and his family unable to apply at any of the Consulates worldwide.   
  

  Although blocked from applying at the Consulate offices since October 2024, there is always potential the Italian central government could change the requirements again in *******************s favor.    
  

  At the start of his project in 2021, we included the service to book his appointment for applying at the Consulate.  This was a complicated process that we outsourced to a third party.  We provided this service as part of the overall project and technically free of charge.  Then in ****** after the start of his project, the Italian central government revised their appointment booking system with modern internet security measures (such as one-time passcodes emailed to the clients cell phone) that rendered all service providers like us, unable to book appointments.  We notified all of our clients at the time, stating that we no longer could provide the free booking service, and ****************** directly contacted the third-party provider that we were using, and they explained to him that they went out of business due to the change in the Italian government process.  We continued to advise ******************* on how to book the appointments himself.   
  

  In June 2023 and later in January 2024, a subset of the highest court in ***** ruled in two separate cases (Cass. ***. Sez. I, ord. No. 454/2024 and No. 17161/2023) that they would support lower court rulings that revised the requirements for citizenship (if applying via the courts). This is 100% independent of the ************************ who dictates the citizenship rules to the Consulates (not the courts).  This had no impact on *******************s project and application. 
  

  On 3 October 2024, the ************************ directed all Italian Consulates worldwide to follow the new interpretative guidelines.  In *******************s situation he now does not qualify for citizenship via the Consulate but things could change in the future. Please note that during the time period of his project we were never notified by the Italian Consulates, ******************, or Legislature that the ************************ would make the change that renders ******************* unable to apply at the Consulate level.  In fact, we were not notified until 17 October, 2024 of the change that went into effect on October 3, 2024.  We communicated this news to all clients via our website, but also a special email sent to ******************* on 17 Dec 2024. 
  

  It is inaccurate to suggest that we were aware of any rule changes that would have affected *******************s qualification.  He was qualified right up to 3 October 2024.  
  

  MIF provided ******************* with two complete document portfolios while the original proposal only included one portfolio which explains why the cost went up. A second portfolio was added upon *******************s request to add his daughter who resided under a different Consular jurisdiction (i.e. ***********). In addition, ******************* did not disclose at the beginning of the project multiple additional family vital events that needed to be part of his document portfolio which also made his project more expensive. Furthermore, the estimation that we provide at the beginning of each project does not include potential corrections of discrepancies in vital records, which is also described in the agreement ******************* received in the original proposal.    
  

  Finally, if the applicant is applying through the Consulates or Town Halls in ***** only the Italian government can grant Italian citizenship by descent. Nobody else can, so claiming that *** could have granted or guaranteed ******************* citizenship is false. ******************* only contracted with *** to build the documentation that would have allowed him and his daughter to apply at the relevant Italian Consulates.   
  

  It is our opinion that *******************s qualifications for citizenship may still be viable in the future, as we wait to hear of any changes the government in ***** may impose during the next several years.  
  

  We extended an invitation to ******************* for a live Zoom meeting to discuss his concerns; however, we were unable to schedule a session.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/05/2025

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: 22976525
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  
  In the proposal of 9/16/21 from My Italian Family, there was no mention or disclaimer regarding changes in Italian law that my affect my eligibility for Italian citizenship.  It dealt strictly with vital records necessary for application to the consulate and also explicitly stated my children and I were eligible for Italian citizenship. The Italian supreme court ruling No. ***** of June ******* nullified my eligibility for Italian citizenship. This was reinforced the ******************** Circolare issued on October 3, 2024. Any supreme court ruling is the ultimate outcome of a litigation process that takes time, usually months to years.  My Italian Family was either unaware of or they purposefully omitted advising me of the litigation ultimately leading to the supreme court ruling No. *****. Given their claimed expertise, they should have advised me of litigation that would nullify my eligibility for citizenship but they continued to collect exorbitant fees, for a sum total of $22,225. I would add that on 2/6/25 I emailed ******* ********** inquiring about any update to No. ***** but never received a response.
  
  Regards,
  
  ****** *******
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/20/2025

  Hi, we are actively working a response to this, but need more time.  Please allow another 2 weeks for a response.
  
  Thanks!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/28/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore 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.

  In December 2022, I signed an agreement with My Italian Family, LLC, ********, ** to have papers, proving my Italian lineage, prepared for an Italian dual citizenship application. The original agreement, Nov 25, 2022 (attached) was for 16 documents to be prepared for a total of $6300. Legal fees (Review/Audit Docs for Amendments) were included at no charge. The clearly stated potential additional costs were for translation fees, amendments/corrections to documents and additional vital records. I paid a $3500 deposit. A vital record was added at my request, a cost I was willing to pay. They revised the final invoice Mar 13, 2024 (attached). Fees were added that were not originally included. Legal fees were added as a separate line item for $1000. Shipping/Handling was added for $250. Additional documents not originally included were added for $2500. The one I added, I expected. However, 4 NY Authentications and 3 Apostilles not in the original agreement were added. The total came to $10,050.I changed the venue for applying from the Miami Consulate to a town hall in *****. I wanted to take the 10 preliminary qualifying documents, which were already procured, with me to Italy to determine the exact requirements before finalizing the documents. I believed my deposit had paid for 9 of these and had included the legal fees. The 2nd revised final invoice May 14, 2024 (attached) stated that 10 documents (9 original + 1 vital record) would cost $6100. A $1000 legal and a $250 postage fee was added for a total of $7350. The price for half the work is higher than originally agreed to. I responded May 20, 2024 (attached). The company replied May 24, 2024 (attached) reiterating their price, claiming I owe $3850 to receive the ********************************************************************************* cost per document from $394 (16 documents for $6300) in the original agreement to $735 (10 documents for $7350) in the final invoice. Thanks.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/20/2024

  Hello: 

  We are trying to resolve this Complaint directly with the Client. 

  I have attached to this message the various emails that we have exchanged with ******************************* ***** since this Complaint. We are currently waiting for the Client to decide how to proceed based on the information that we had already provided prior to her filing this Complaint. 

  Best regards, 

  *************************

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/19/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  On 3/20/21 I signed up with my Italian family to have them become agents to acquire Italian citizenship. I gave them $5,030 (order number *****) and subsequently another $100 dollars for birth certificate documents. They have been unable to complete my application mainly because they could not get my grandfathers birth certificate from Italy. They now want another $800 dollars to hire a lawyer in Italy to help procure. My issues are that I have asked for a line item cost of how much they have spent procuring the documents they hold. It is my take that if they have not spent the 5k I have already paid them the 800 dollars should come from this. I also want hard copies of the documents they have procured. Finally there was nothing in my contract about other costs and just as importantly they could not say if I paid them more money they could get the birth certificate. At this point I have asked for a refund and I would like to be able to provide a review of my experience on their website which only provides glowing testimonials.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/01/2023

  ****************** is not correct in the way he has described his ongoing project.
  First: We did indeed find the Italian Vital Record of his Italian ancestor (please refer to Attachment No. 1) which was issued by the Italian Town Hall of Reggio Calabria back in May 2021. The issue is that the Town Hall of Reggio Calabria failed to successfully mail us the “hard copy” document; what we received was an attachment sent by PEC (which is a legal email system Italian government offices use). Since that time, our Italian researcher sent multiple legal emails, mailings, and had numerous calls with the town hall officials trying to procure the hardcopies, an effort that is still ongoing, by the way. Since the Town Hall has failed to comply, the next viable step was to involve an attorney (not an uncommon practice), hence the additional $800 fee to which *** ******* said “no”, and thus we have not charged him for this.
  NOTE:  With the Proof that the Italian qualifying document existed, this allowed us to continue his project and acquire all the additional documents that are required for him and his son to apply at the Italian Consulates (Houston AND New York) that have jurisdiction over the States where they reside (please refer to attachment No. 2 outlining all the work we have done up to now).
  Second: *** *******’s request to receive the entire document portfolio for just the down payment amount is unrealistic and patently wrong. The original proposal/contract we sent him on February 16, 2021, which he accepted on March 19, 2021, clearly stated that an initial down payment of $5,030 ONLY covered 50% of the estimated fees for us to begin the purchased of the identified required documents. Additional documents if determined later are required, including additional reorders and amendments were EXTRA. The down payment is a portion of the total costs that we required to get started with his project. At no point were all hardcopy certified documents promised in exchange for this down payment alone.
  Now, *** ******* has chosen to end the project prematurely and has asked that we send him all the documents we acquired for him; this requires an additional payment due now to cover our efforts, to date.  Normally, this additional payment is due at the completion of the full project. So, on December 21, 2022, we emailed him an update and a final invoice. The documentation we will be sending him, upon receipt of the final payment, can be used to apply for Italian Citizenship should he decide to hire somebody else to finish his portfolio or complete it himself.
  This is an overview of the documentation listed in the original contract, that he was to receive:
  First Document Portfolio - Houston Applicant
  Here is the number of documents that we estimated when we originally proposed to the client:
  Two (2) Italian Vital Records
  One (1) Set of Certified Naturalization Records
  Eight (8) US Vital Records
  Seven (7) Apostilles
  To this total we added the following:
  
  Florida Birth Record for ******** ****** b. ****
  New York State Death Record for ******** ******* d. **** (PLUS 1 additional attempt)
  Florida Marriage record for **** ******* & **** ****** m. 1985
  Three Orders for the Death of ****** ******* (required for requesting her birth record in NYC)
  
  Since he asked for the project to end prematurely, we removed:
  Two (2) Italian Vital Records
  Seven (7) Apostilles
  SCANNED COPIES OF ALL THE DOCUMENTS ACQUIRED ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE ON OUR WEBSITE FOR THE CLIENT TO VIEW
  Second Document Portfolio - New York Applicant
  Here is the number of documents that we estimated when we originally proposed to the client:
  Two (2) Italian Vital Records
  One (1) Set of Certified Naturalization Records
  Nine (9) US Vital Records
  Eight (8) Apostilles
  To this total we added the following:
  
  Florida Birth Record for ******** ****** b. ****
  Florida Marriage record for **** ******* & **** ****** m. 1985
  
  We removed:
  Two (2) Italian Vital Records
  Eight (8) Apostilles
  SCANNED COPIES OF ALL THE DOCUMENTS ACQUIRED ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE ON OUR WEBSITE FOR THE CLIENT TO VIEW
  *** ******* responded that he was “legally” entitled to receive EVERYTHING even though he only paid 50% of the project’s estimated fees.  So, on the same day, we provided him with an alternative; if he doesn’t want to pay the final payment, since the value of his down payment ($5,030) is worth approximately only one set of documents (and we acquired two), we offered to ship him only one set of the documents that either he or his son can use. He can always purchase the second set from us later. *** ******* has yet to respond.
  PLEASE NOTE: *** *******’s ******* Email folder in our system has a total of approximately 200 emails of correspondence between this client and us proving that he was very much involved in the project and received constant updates from us. We had answered all of his questions, and kept him abreast of all problems and solutions we enacted.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/03/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  My Italian family sent me this statement on 9/5/22:
  The issue here is not just with the Italian birth record where the town hall is failing to respond, but also with your mother and grandmothers vital records that cannot be found; we have already processed multiple orders in an effort to locate them. ******* has been very much on top of this to resolve these issues, but we realize we cannot continue to place orders throughout Long Island. The alternative is to place them with New York State which will take over 8 months to receive a response from them.

  With that response from them it was my understanding that my application for Italian citizenship was not going forward for multiple reasons.  Not only could they not obtain the appropriate Italian documents but those needed from New York were not obtained as well. It was and is my opinion that after a year of trying they could not complete what they were tasked.  They now wanted more funds and could not tell me that giving them more money would lead me any closer to completion.  In addition they have now asking for funds to complete my sons application.  In my view I would plan on using duplicate copies of the documents so what is the need for extra payments?  
  it was my fault for not asking exactly how much the entire project would cost as well as not requiring a timeline for completion.  These alone are reasons that a better business bureau should comment on the best practices of a company.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/12/2023

  As we discussed on complaint ******** against MY Italian Family I would like to close the dispute at present and keep it private at this time.  Thanks for all you have done.
  ***************************