Can we talk about adoption agencies for a moment?

I was really pleased with the agency we used for Scarlett. The inability to enter "2" on our homestudy/I800A form really stuck in my craw, but besides that they were always available by phone and saved us oodles of money. I was so thankful to have found them after our initial issues with Dillion.

Enter this other agency. I've heard nightmare stories about them, but then I've heard "cult" stories about them too. And the cult followers are a scary bunch. Apparently this agency can do no wrong in their eyes and they will bite your head off if you dare to insult their beloved agency in any way. Which makes me wonder if theses are the employees and friends of employees. Anyway, I digress. I had a friend who was with them for months, without a referral. Every child she threw their way, they would tell her that the child was unavailable, even though the child would just sit there on the shared list for weeks after, if not months. This agency would try and place her with the children they had on their individual list, which I can understand, but she wasn't interested in the children on their list. And so they made her pay by NOT getting her a referral. It was only after she realized that she could leave them and go with another agency (and made it known to them this little fact) that they got their act together and found her a child.

So imagine my lack of surprise when I am now on day three, waiting for a call back on one of their children. Luckily I am not interested in pursuing the child, because I would never in a MILLION YEARS go with this agency, but I'm curious to see why the child is still on their list when I had been told by a reliable source that she has been sent back to the CCAA. Are they that behind on taking the children down off of their individual list? And why, when I call, am I told that the lady is there and on the phone? Is she really so busy that she can't give me a call back? After all, I've left it that I'm a potential client. Are they really so busy as to not even have to get back to potential clients. I had the same issue with a well known travel agency when we were booking for China. If I had ended up going with them, we would still be waiting to fly to China. Btw, I love Todd! He is a God as far as booking and re-booking is concerned.

Back to the whole agency issue, Xiaochang, from BAAS, would call you back in less than an hour, and she spent a good hour on the phone with me when I called to ask about their policies. I always knew she was just a phone call away or an email, and she answered emails all night long as well.

These agencies need to start showing better customer service and we, as potential clients, need to let them know that there are other agencies out there. 100's of them.