bIrqul
Hmm, how to post this without violating the "Don't name companies rule"... I can't think of a way to do so without lessening the effect of the consumer warning, but I shall give it my best shot. (I'm putting it down here in the "moron" department because I can't think where else to put it, but it really is important information.
My mother is a semi-invalid, and her medical needs are becoming a bit more expensive. So, in the name of a "pre-emptive strike", my roommate and I got in touch with (name withheld to conform with posting regulations) so we could free up a few more dollars a month in case she had another serious health crisis.
Our Counselor, "Laura", took our information, swore up and down our payments would be a total of $275 per month, and said she'd mail us an information packet.
That was in June. By July, when we still hadn't heard a squeek from these folks, my roommate called them back. "Oh, we'll re-mail the packet, we've contacted all your creditors, and your total comes to $480 dollars a month. You can use your social security number as an account number."
Being dumber than a bag of hammers, we sent them $480 dollars. Still no packet, and now, when we called, we were getting, "Now, who are you people again?" Not to mention Citibank informing me that (Name withheld to conform with posting regulations) had never said a word to them.
So now, here's this company who has all our credit card numbers, our social security numbers, and our addresses. They got $480 dollars from us to start the ball rolling. Last week, my roommate called them again. They gave us the same old song and dance about how they didn't know our account number, what was the SSN, oh, yeah, you guys. We'll contact your creditors..."
We fired them. We requested our money back.
We were told, "The first payment is a charitiable donation because we're a non-profit organization."
Yes, we were ripped off. So, being rather spiteful about things like that, I thought I'd warn other consumers to be very careful about credit counseling services, especially if they're in a real jam and not just watching the money situation get a bit tight because of someone's unexpected medical expenses.
Moral of the story: Just because a company advertises on the television that they are a legitimate, non-profit credit counseling service doesn't mean that they are.
My mother is a semi-invalid, and her medical needs are becoming a bit more expensive. So, in the name of a "pre-emptive strike", my roommate and I got in touch with (name withheld to conform with posting regulations) so we could free up a few more dollars a month in case she had another serious health crisis.
Our Counselor, "Laura", took our information, swore up and down our payments would be a total of $275 per month, and said she'd mail us an information packet.
That was in June. By July, when we still hadn't heard a squeek from these folks, my roommate called them back. "Oh, we'll re-mail the packet, we've contacted all your creditors, and your total comes to $480 dollars a month. You can use your social security number as an account number."
Being dumber than a bag of hammers, we sent them $480 dollars. Still no packet, and now, when we called, we were getting, "Now, who are you people again?" Not to mention Citibank informing me that (Name withheld to conform with posting regulations) had never said a word to them.
So now, here's this company who has all our credit card numbers, our social security numbers, and our addresses. They got $480 dollars from us to start the ball rolling. Last week, my roommate called them again. They gave us the same old song and dance about how they didn't know our account number, what was the SSN, oh, yeah, you guys. We'll contact your creditors..."
We fired them. We requested our money back.
We were told, "The first payment is a charitiable donation because we're a non-profit organization."
Yes, we were ripped off. So, being rather spiteful about things like that, I thought I'd warn other consumers to be very careful about credit counseling services, especially if they're in a real jam and not just watching the money situation get a bit tight because of someone's unexpected medical expenses.
Moral of the story: Just because a company advertises on the television that they are a legitimate, non-profit credit counseling service doesn't mean that they are.