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Review 5/12/2010
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First, I admit to my own poor choice in choosing debt settlement through a debt settlement company. I should have known it was "too good to be true". Unfortunately, at the time I signed up for a settlement contract there was a lot less information available on the internet on the whole debt settlement process than there is now. That being said, here is my experience with Financial 180 Group from February 2010.
- I was told to ignore all communications from debt collectors. When I emailed or phoned to discuss concerns about various communications from debt collectors, I was treated like I was bothering the staff with my petty questions and again reassured not to worry about it, they would handle all settlement negotiations and I didn't need to do anything.
- About 7 months after signing up with Financial 180 Group in July 2009, I was served with a lawsuit from one of the creditors. What I learned is that creditors simply do not wait very long before taking legal action to settle. Meanwhile, Financial 180 Group does not contact the creditors until they have money built up in the settlement account to negotiate a settlement. Money does not build up much in the settlement account for the first year because of the large up-front monthly fees that come out of the monthly payment to Financial 180 Group. Unfortunately by the time you figure this out and get your lawsuit, you've made 6 or 7 hefty fee payments to them while they do basically nothing.
- Once the lawsuit was pending, I had the hardest time contacting and working through the issue with Financial 180 Group. Phone calls were not returned for days. In fact one of my main contacts there quit, and an email that I sent her was never returned and I was never notified that she left. I waited needlessly for a response that would never have come. My new contact alternated between seeming helpful and sympathetic then curt and condescending. After weeks of trying to make heads or tails of what Financial 180 could do for me with the pending lawsuit, I finally figured out that there was basically nothing they could do that I could not do myself, except keep milking me for fees they did not deserve. So, I ended the contract with them early to prevent any more fee payments.
- The one debt they did settle for me, they did get a good settlement. Unfortunately it was on my lowest balance card, and they broke their contract agreement and never notified me or got my approval to make the settlement. The only way I found out about their actions was by receiving a statement from the settlement account where I saw money withdrawn. I had to call and talk to Financial 180 Group to find out what happened after the fact. Since there was a favorable result, I did not complain too much, but technically, they were contractually obligated to get my approval on the deal before making it - and they did not even attempt to contact me about it.
My overall opinion of this company is that they're little more than an overly expensive go-between agents between you and your creditors on settlements that can be effectively handled on your own. I wasted almost $5000 on their services and only one settlement was made that saved me about $2000. Basically, I wasted $3000 before stopping the madness. I was able to go on and settle the rest of my debt myself without paying more fees to Financial 180 Group. I was able to save myself $26,000 on my own by talking directly to the creditors and their attorneys. If I had known this, I would have never paid a nickle to a debt settlement company - especially one that doesn't even provide good communication or service, breaks contractual agreements with their clients when they settle, and sells their services as being much better than they actually are. I was fortunate to have some money in reserves to be able to finish settling myself. I feel bad for anyone who this might happen to who would end up getting wages garnished because they have no money reserves and have paid Financial 180 Group all of the money they could have been saving to settle debt.
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