Dan Smith and New Era Debt Solutions Pals (Photo from Hollywood Weekly)
UPDATE – 1/26/2011 – This article was written almost a year ago. Since that time New Era Debt Solutions, along with the entire Debt settlement industry has gone through many changes. Please read the update article to get the most current information on New Era Debt Solutions.
Also note that Dan Smith, Alex Viecco and myself have talked and discovered that we initially both made some incorrect assumptions about each other and how we assist consumers. I now feel that Dan and Alex are operating New Era Debt Solutions with noble intentions and do strive every day to assist consumers in a very tough industry. The Original Article is below.
I am now proud to announce that I have just seen the second official “we hate Damon Day review”. Ironically I believe the second review was also written by Dan Smith – President of New Era Debt Solutions. (pictured above on the left, in a photo spread for Hollywood Weekly) Mr. Smith also holds the dubious honor of writing the first review I believe. Of course I don’t know for sure because whoever is writing these reviews is afraid to stand up and claim ownership of them.
This Latest review claims to be a consumer warning and is supposedly issued by “Consumer advocates, business owners, TASC members and debt professionals.”
Wow, is this a group effort? It sounds like a whole bunch of people are really concerned about what I am sharing with consumers. I would love to know who all of these consumer advocates and debt professionals are. Maybe Dan Smith will enlighten me in the comments section below.
The reality is that this review was likely written by Dan Smith or someone else over at New Era Debt Solutions that is unhappy that I exposed them for deceiving consumers, at least in my humble opinion. I guess if we have learned anything from politicians, it would be that when you can’t articulate a coherent argument on the substance of an issue, you can only resort to personal attacks.
This website first appeared back in February. Ironically, the very same day that Dan Smith threatened to write a review about me if I didn’t “correct” the review I did about his company, New Era Debt Solutions. If you haven’t read it yet, it is a good read. If you have about an hour to kill, you should look at all of the comments from Dan Smith as well.
When I first saw this attack I wrote about it on my blog in an article titled Debt Settlement Company Attacks Me for Exposing Their Deception. I was pretty sure that Dan Smith was behind it, but of course he never admitted it. A few days after I wrote the article about the first attack, it mysteriously disappeared from the net. I assumed that Dan realized that by attacking me he was actually drawing more attention to my review of his company and decided it wasn’t a good move.
I figured that would be the end of it, but today I went back to his website and found the “we hate Damon Day review part 2.
This review site lists 12 FACTS about me as “they” see them. Who are “they”?
Supposed Fact 1. DD&A is a company run out of Damon Day’s home instead of a legitimate commercial location. Their web site gives the impression of a legitimate company. This company does not qualify for membership in TASC. As such DD&A goes to extraordinary efforts on their web site to slander the good name of TASC and TASC members.
My response: I am very open with my clients about the fact that I work from home, so there is no revelation there. “Legitimate commercial location?” What does that even mean? I am a consultant, is there something wrong with consulting with consumers from a home office?
TASC’s good name? Seriously? TASC is nothing but a trade organization that lobbies on behalf of debt settlement companies. TASC masquerades as a consumer protection organization which is laughable at best. As much as Dan Smith claims that I am, I am not a debt settlement company, therefore even if I thought TASC was actually a good thing for consumers, I certainly would not be a member, nor pay dues to an association who’s main function is to lobby for debt settlement companies. Please do a search for TASC on my website and you will get an idea of what TASC actually does. What I do is go to extraordinary efforts to inform consumers to not be lulled into thinking that TASC is an organization that is looking out for consumers. It is an association of Settlement Companies, looking out for the best interests of its own member companies. My question for Dan Smith is what does he actually get for the $10,000 dollars per month that he likely pays TASC in monthly dues? What do they do for you to justify that kind of expense?
TASC Update 4/15/10 – I was over at GetOutOfDebt.org today, where I often go for great information on what is going on in the “debt help” industry, and I came across a post by Steve Rhode that I found very enlightening for consumers. It appears that TASC is busy trying to figure out ways to get around the FTC’s proposed advance fee ban.
So let me ask you Dan, is this what you are supporting when you pay thousands of dollars a month to TASC? The presentation suggests that debt settlement companies should locate their operations offshore to avoid these laws and then they will be able to continue to charge huge upfront fees to consumers.
The presentation suggests that TASC member programs can set up their operations similarly to online gambling sites offshore. Wow, this just screams consumer protection to me. Don’t you agree Dan? Aren’t you proud to be a member?
Please read the post TASC explores option of members going offshore so they can avoid FTC regulation
Dan is this the organization that you are using to show that I must not be legitimate because I don’t belong to it? From my side of the fence, I would say you might want to rethink sending all that money every month over to TASC because this is the kind of stuff that you are funding. Is that what New Era Stands for? Do you support TASC’s suggestions of moving operations offshore and not using traditional phone lines so settlement companies can get around proposed FTC regulations to protect consumers? If you don’t support this, I assume you will be discontinuing your monthly dues payments to TASC shortly.
Supposed Fact 2. Knowing that the Better Business Bureau gives an F rating to all debt settlement companies, DD&A goes to great lengths to hide the fact that they are a debt settlement company. If DD&A can trick the BBB into believing they are a consulting firm and not a settlement company, then they hope to avoid an F rating. DD&A does not want an F rating because this would put them on a level playing field with the rest of the debt settlement industry. Damon Day states in his web site that he is not a debt settlement company and that he does not do debt settlement. He mistakenly contradicts himself in his Debt Settlement Video where he makes statements such as “OUR clients pay back 50%” and “OUR clients complete in 2 years or less”. Oops! You will also hear him say the words “MY clients” and other phrases that confirm the fact that DD&A is a debt settlement company and they do provide debt settlement services.
My Response: Dan, I am really at a loss here. I am not sure why you simply can’t grasp the concept that I am not a debt settlement company. I do have clients yes. I have clients with all different financial challenges. Some hire me to coach them on a monthly basis, some ask for referrals for Bankruptcy, or credit counseling or debt settlement. Once I help a client figure out the proper strategy, I can explain what they need to do to achieve success or I can refer my clients to organizations that offer what they need.
Dan, let me explain it to you like this. Think of me as a quarterback of a two man team. My team consists of my client and myself. My job is to read the defense and call the right plays to get my client into the end zone. Sometimes we need a running play, sometimes we need a quick pass, sometimes we need a Hail Mary and sometimes we are even forced to punt.
For instance, when debt settlement sales people tell a consumer that they should sign up into a debt settlement program. It is my job to look at the consumers financial circumstances and let them know if that is the right play. Let me give you a good example that happened today as a matter of fact. I was on a consultation with a client that ironically spoke to one of your sales people among others a few days before. Wouldn’t you know it, every single debt settlement sales person suggested that their debt settlement program was the best way to go. (funny how that always seems to be the case) However, with just a few simple questions I was able to determine that they currently didn’t have the proper cash flow to likely be successful in a debt settlement program.
The debt settlement sales people, yours included, called for a run up the middle while we were facing a blitz. Bad move. I called for an option play and suggested that we wait and see if the income improves for a few months before making any decisions. If not, then Bankruptcy would likely be the best option. Funny, I don’t often hear about debt settlement sales people telling consumers that they should wait a bit before making any decisions. Why is that I wonder?
Supposed Fact 3. Damon Day refers to himself as a financial analyst and a financial consultant yet he has not been licensed by either the Securities Exchange Commission, the Department of Insurance, the Department of Corporations, or the Department of Real Estate. Damon Day says he is qualified because he survived his own personal financial troubles and went to the school of hard knocks.We are pleased that Damon Day has survived his financial troubles, but that surely does not qualify him to be a financial consultant. A lot of additional training and testing would be required for Damon Day to become an officially licensed and qualified financial consultant.
My Response: I don’t claim to hold any state license. I have a degree in business/finance and a heck of a lot of experience helping people resolve debt issues. Is there something wrong with providing advice about a subject that I have a large amount of education and experience in? I have consulted with numerous CFP’s, Attorney’s, CPA’s and other professionals about their own personal financial situations. The most common feedback I get from them, is that they didn’t learn what I shared with them in school or on the state exams.
In fact, Dan, weren’t you the one that made a comment when you were attacking me last month saying that experience and book smarts are two different things? Why yes you did, when you made a comment on my blog pretending to be someone else and claimed that I didn’t know anything about business and until I had the experience I didn’t know what I was talking about. Now you claim that regardless of my experience, if I didn’t take a test then I can’t know what I am talking about. It seems your opinion conveniently changes in order to fit your arguments.
What I would like to know is what financial education or licenses the telemarketing sales people have that are giving out financial advice every day over at New Era Debt Solutions? Am I to assume that all of your debt settlement sales people have finance degrees and have taken the CFP exams? I certainly expect that to be the case since your sales reps are out there operating as financial consultants and telling people that your debt settlement program is the solution to their debt troubles.
Supposed Fact 4. Throughout the DD&A web site there is an onslaught of words such as honest, ethical, straightforward, knowledgeable, unbiased, integrity, advocate, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We have learned from our experience that companies that feel they need to make numerous claims like these should probably be avoided. In most instances these companies are the exact opposite of what they claim and you will usually find a lot of smoke and mirrors.
My Response: I thought these were supposed to be Facts? I am not sure how to respond to this other than I will let consumers decide whether or not these things are true after speaking with me.
Supposed Fact 5. Damon Day’s methods of making money and getting new business are very sly and cunning, yet rate a zero when it comes to integrity. One method he uses is to offer a free contract review. He urges people that are contemplating debt settlement to send in their contracts of the company they are considering. He says he will review the contract and give his honest assessment. Do you think he will ever give two thumbs up to that company? Not going to happen. What he will do is tell you that this company is a bad choice, but lucky for you, he has a recommendation for you. Of course Damon Day’s recommendation means money for DD&A. Since their method of making money is by taking a client of one company and pointing them in the direction of DD&A, the chances of getting a true “unbiased” opinion are pretty slim.
My Response: Dan, why are you so afraid I will show consumers options other than your program? I thought your program was the best? Do you think a consumer is not smart enough to realize that having options is better than no options. You are right, if a consumer shows me a contract that I think is not a good deal for a consumer, I will suggest they research some other programs that they might not know about and compare all of the options. Why do you think this is such a bad thing? Unless of course you realize that your program will not likely be the preferred choice for consumers since you charge a very high fee. If you don’t like it, then perhaps you should change your program so that consumers will select New Era in a side by side comparison with other programs out there. I simply show consumers all of their options.
Supposed Fact 6. Another method Damon Days uses to build his business is to berate and ridicule all of his competitors. We think that whenever anybody has to resort to making them selves look good by trying to make everybody else look bad, they are using bad judgment and bad business practices.
For example Damon Day has written a review on one of the best debt settlement companies he co
uld find, New Era Debt Solutions. New Era is a leader in the debt settlement industry with a great reputation for doing things right. But to DD&A they are considered competition and a prime target to try to steal customers from. You will notice that reputable and legitimate companies like New Era Debt Solutions don’t resort to slandering the competition to build credibility, but instead stand on their own laurels.
My Response: Dan, perhaps you don’t understand the concept of a consumer advocate and what they do. My job is to identify things that are harmful to consumers in my opinion and share that information. I am not a debt settlement company and you are not my competition. Please show me one instance where I berate and ridicule you? All I did was call attention to the fact that in my opinion, it appeared you were deceiving consumers and you attacked me for it.
You claim that New Era was one of the best debt settlement companies I could find. What makes you think that? I guess you will have to ask my clients whether they felt that I am stealing them or rescuing them. I will “notice that reputable and legitimate companies like New Era Debt Solutions don’t resort to slandering the competition to build credibility, but instead stand on their own laurels?” Dan, have you read your comments to me in my review on your company and what exactly do you call this attack against me personally? Is that what you consider standing on your own laurels? Oh wait, this is an anonymous website that is attacking me. It isn’t anyone at New Era, right Dan?
Supposed Fact 7. Damon Day’s reviews are written with one goal in mind and that is to steal clients so DD&A can make money. Damon Day has written reviews on companies that have great reputations and are leaders in the debt settlement industry with the sole intent of stealing their clients. His reviews are full of untruths and bad assumptions with the intent to mislead people.
My Response: I will let my reviews speak for themselves. Please visit my New Era Review so you can see all of the supposed untruths and bad assumptions I made to mislead people. Even though Dan Smith had an open forum and made about 12 to 15 comments he was never able to actually point to one inaccurate fact in the review.
Supposed fact 8. Imagine a guy who wrote a scathing review about the Ford Mustang in Car & Driver magazine. Then imagine that you discovered that not only had this critic never even taken the time to actually drive a Ford Mustang, but that he also worked for Chevrolet, a major competitor. This is Damon Day. Damon Day’s reviews are not honest and they lack credibility because he is writing about his own competition, and he wants their customers. Damon Day has been invited to visit the competition, and to drive the car so to speak, and to no surprise Damon Day has declined the offers. He couldn’t possibly write an honest review about his competition.
My Response: I am not sure what to make of this supposed fact. Scathing review? Perhaps Dan didn’t actually read my review. I said his fees where too high, which they are, and I was disturbed to see evidence of potential deception, but if they would fix those two things, they would be a company worth consideration. I invite anyone to read the comments Dan left on my review of New Era and come to their own conclusion about why I didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling when he invited me to come visit their offices. He basically threatened to sue me, had his attorney call me twice, told me that not taking the review down was the worst decision I could make, and created a bogus review about me out of spite. Then when that didn’t work, he turns around and invites me to come to his office so I can see what a nice guy he is. Huh? The final words of Julius Caesar were echoing in the back hollows of my mind.
Supposed Fact 9. Damon Day says he can provide his debt settlement services for lower fees than others because he doesn’t carry the expenses of legitimate companies, expenses like advertising and promotion. We don’t know where he received his business education, but everybody knows that advertising and promotion are critical components of a business plan and are necessary for the success of any business. That is of course unless your business plan is to steal clients from reputable companies that have already paid for advertising and promotion.
My Response: Am I really spending my time responding to this? I don’t provide debt settlement services. Please show me where I said I provide them for lower fees? Dan do you ever read my answers to your questions? What you are referring to is my discussion on revenue allocation. Are you taking my words out of context on purpose? Or did you not understand what I was explaining to you? I am sure any consumer that reads our back and forth in the comments under my review of New Era will have no trouble understanding the fact that some companies spend a lot of money advertising and not very much on servicing their clients, and other companies spend less on advertising and more on servicing clients.
Supposed Fact 10. A simple search of public records will show that Damon Day is in trouble with the IRS, has tax liens against him, and has a history of law suits against him. We have absolutely no issues with the fact that Damon Day has had money problems. Many people do and times are tough. We do take issue with the fact the Damon Day throws stones at other people and writes negative and untrue reviews to make him and his company look good in an attempt to steal their customers. On top of that it doesn’t make a lot of sense for most people to take financial advice from someone who can’t seem to get their own financial house in order.
My Response: Ah the old attack the messenger when you can’t attack the message. I already responded to Dan’s ground breaking discovery about my history with lawsuits and the IRS when he attacked me the first time. You can read about it here. Notice Dan doesn’t tell you that the very same public records search also shows that I successfully defended myself against the lawsuits including a 20,000 dollar suit that I took to the appellate court and won when I was in my mid twenties. I guess that doesn’t fit Dan’s narrative that I don’t have the experience or the education to help consumers. Is it me or do all of these facts essentially say the same thing? Throwing stones, negative and untrue reviews, stealing customers etc.
Supposed Fact 11. We’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Damon Day can create an impressive web site. The little Wii Mii character is very cool. Perhaps he should drop the ideas of doing financial consulting and debt settlement, and pursue an honest career in building web sites. In today’s internet world consumers need to be very aware of the fact that a company can look very impressive based on the look of their web site, but what is hiding behind that web site is what really counts.
My Response: Dan as much as you would like me to stop educating consumers about the realities of your industry, I think all of my clients would agree that I provide a very valuable and needed service. Hiding behind a website? Dan my ugly mug and name is all over my website. My website is straightforward and tells consumers exactly what I do and what they will learn on a consultation with me. You are the one creating this supposedly anonymous website to attack me. Is that Irony really lost on you? I am simply baffled by how you can look at my website and claim I am hiding behind it, when you don’t even have the Chutzpah to admit that you or someone in your organization is responsible for these attacks on me. Dan you should give consumers a little more credit to know BS when they see it.
Supposed Fact 12. There is a huge divide between debt settlement companies. There are those that charge their fees up front before any settlements are made, and there are those that have a performance based fee structure where the bulk of fees aren’t charged until the settlements are done. There are only a handful of companies with a performance based fee structure with New Era Debt Solutions being one of them. Both Damon Day and New Era believe that it is wrong to charge most of the fees up front before the work is done. Here again we are giving credit where credit is due.
My Response: Huh? You bash me with the first 11 supposed facts and then use the 12th one to plug your program? Are you kidding me? You just spent 5 pages trying to convince people that I don’t know what I am talking about and then you use me as a source to endorse how great your fee structure supposedly is? According to you, I am not qualified to even know what I am talking about. Is anyone else reading this and trying to figure out what the heck is going on, or is it just me? I thought this was a consumer warning that was issued by consumer advocates, business owners, tasc members, and debt professionals? I thought what I was doing was causing serious damage to consumers, according to Mr. Smith? So if I am to understand this, if I agree with Dan Smith, I get credit, if I don’t, then I am an uneducated, unqualified menace to consumers and I don’t know anything other than how to make a website. Is that about right Dan?
Now that the supposed facts are out of the way. My favorite part of Dan’s review is his summary. Dan actually compares me to an illegal construction worker with a rented truck and stolen tools, that is just there to undercut the legitimate contractor. Dan, I realize you don’t understand my business and therefore are struggling to figure out how to try and attack me. I don’t even understand your comparison to a rented truck and stolen tools. Perhaps you can explain it in the comments.
What I do is very simple. If a consumer is in financial trouble they can call me. I will analyze their situation and make recommendations based on my education and my experience. The consumer is perfectly free to take my recommendations or not. I simply offer options and provide consumers with important insights to an industry that is fraught with frauds, rip offs and con men. I understand why you feel threatened and have this need to try and discredit me.
However, in the ultimate irony, perhaps you don’t realize this, but the more money you spend trying to tell people what a bad and evil person you think I am, the more curious they will become as to what it is that I do. I am sure people will be very interested to find out what I could possibly have to say from my little home office that has the President and CEO of a Multi Million Dollar corporation like New Era Debt Solutions, so spooked that you would actually take a large amount of time and money to try and discredit me and “warn” consumers to stay away from me.
So let me thank you for your efforts to help me spread the word to consumers that debt settlement companies for the most part are in the business of selling debt settlement to consumers. Just because you can make a monthly payment does not mean you should be in a debt settlement program. Unlike you Dan, I give consumers a lot of credit. Consumers know when they are being sold a line of BS and when someone is telling them the truth.
In all of your bloviating here, you didn’t manage to provide one fact that showed how I was supposedly hurting consumers? Anyone reading this, clearly understands that you don’t want people to learn what I will teach them, but please explain how I am harming consumers by providing options? I will await your response with bated breath.
Next you try to accurately predict my response to your “Consumer Warning”. Consumer Warning? Really, are we still going to call it that? I think by now everyone reading this pretty much knows it is just Dan Smith upset at Damon Day for exposing potential deception and trying to figure out how to get back at him. Of course you know how I am going to respond because you learned how I would respond the first time you attacked me. I thought you realized that attacking me personally to cover up the fact that you could not debate me on the substance of your issues with me, was not a good move. Now that you have written this second review I see that I must have given you too much credit.
Since you are the only one who has asked me to meet you in person, I would say the cat is now out of the bag so to speak and we can all stop pretending that you didn’t write this review about me. I just have one question for you. Why are you so afraid to put your name on this review and let everyone know you are the one writing it?
You can Read Dan Smith’s personal attack on me in its entirety here
As a Reader what do you think of Dan Smith’s Tactics? Do you feel they are helping or hurting him in the eyes of consumers? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Be sure not to miss out on any of my future articles, where I frequently expose rip off programs and provide insightful financial tips to consumers. You can get them delivered directly to your inbox the moment I publish them.
Please help other consumers and share my article via Twitter, Facebook, or your Favorite social network by clicking one of the icons below.
Related posts:
- Debt Settlement Company Attacks Me for Exposing Their Deception
- New Era Debt Solutions Review
- New Era Debt Solutions – A second look in this new era of debt settlement
- Credit Solutions of America sends me a Cease and Desist Letter
- Legacy Debt Solutions vs Credit Solutions – Who Can Bankrupt a Client Faster?
19 Responses to “President of New Era Debt Solutions Attacks Me, It’s Just Par for the Course”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- New Era Debt Solutions Review | Damon Day & Associates - [...] New Era Debt Solutions [...]
- If someone doesn’t want you to get a 2nd opinion, You Better Get One | Damon Day & Associates - [...] webpage for myself or any of my actual clients to leave a comment, so you can read my response ...
Leave a Reply
Save Money on Settlement
Honest Programs I Trust
Debt Settlement
Credit Counseling
Bankruptcy
Share my page with friends
Debt Settlement Video
Protect Fellow Consumers
WOW Damon,
Thanks for posting a picture of my ugly mug.
It also reminds me I need to get back to the gym and loose a few pounds.
Speaking of going to the gym, I see you are continuing to use me as your punching bag.
You seem to send a lot of blame and accusations my direction when it appears to me that you are simply getting a taste of your own medicine.
Damon, you are an excellent writer but please take a little bit of advice from an old ugly dog that’s been around a while. If you are going to write reviews, you really should get to know your subject first. I don’t mean the stuff you find on the internet. Everybody knows there is a bunch of crap on the internet. I mean really get to know your subject.
As far as I know you and I have never met and we have never even spoken to each other.
As far as I know you have never been to our offices and checked out our company in person and met with any of our people. The point is, you may know a little about us, but you do not know us to the degree you should. You are writing reviews about a subject you simply do not know. If you don’t know your subject then you are forced into making assumptions, speculating, and jumping to conclusions that may or may not be true. Not good!
Damon, I am an open book and have nothing to hide from you or anyone else.
If you are willing to quit hiding behind your web site, then I am willing to meet with you in person, man to man, face to face. I do not want to be your friend. I just want to right the wrongs. I will be happy to address any concerns you have and answer any questions you have. You don’t need to be afraid. I may have an ugly mug but this dog don’t bite.
I have no intention of having any further exchange with you on your web site. You seem to misinterpret or add your own twist to everything I write, so I think it’s probably wise for me to try to avoid writing. Writing is your expertise, not mine. I would rather communicate verbally.
I have no issues with people writing about us. In fact it is an honor and a compliment.
I will gladly invite you or anybody else to write about us. My only request is that they get to know us first. Again, we are an open book and have nothing to hide.
In my opinion we should put the crap behind us and start again with a clean slate.
We can start fresh and make all of this bullshit go away. It’s your call.
I can go to you. You are welcome to come here. We can meet half way or we can meet on the golf course. It doesn’t matter to me.
I’m making an effort to make things right. I hope you will too.
Dan
Hey Dan,
So let me see if I am following this correctly. You write an “anonymous” personal attack against me, I respond to it, and now you turn around to play the victim and claim I am using you as a punching bag?
Are you aware that with the exception of my initial contract review, everything I have said or done has simply been in response to what you have written? Please explain how I am using you as my punching bag?
Now I certainly find it interesting that you still won’t admit to writing that personal attack, or as you call it a “consumer warning.” However you didn’t deny it either.
You claim I am throwing a lot of accusations your way. Well, Dan, accusations coupled with evidence is how a jury determines facts. As if all of the circumstantial evidence wasn’t enough, you might want to tell your IT guys, that next time you want to slam someone anonymously you shouldn’t host the slam website on your own shared server.
Some of the other domains that are hosted with this website designed simply to attack me personally are dtscorp.com, dtsfinancialgroup.com, dtsfinancial.com, neweradebt.com, neweradebtrelief.com, neweradebtsolutions.com, newerasettlement.com and about 20 others that lead back to you in one way or another. Oh Alex’s Debt free hour is also hosted on that server.
Any of those sites sound familiar Dan? So my question to you is, why are you so afraid to tell people that you wrote this stuff? Could it be because your site was not written by consumer advocates, business owners, debt professionals and TASC members as the site claims? Could it be that if consumers knew that this was just a pissed off rant from Dan Smith, it would severely damage your reputation and that of your company?
You claim I am getting a taste of my own medicine. Well, I am not aware of an instance where I hid behind an anonymous website and made false accusations such as you are doing. Are you aware of an instance where I did that? It is no matter though, feel free to continue writing whatever you would like. Just don’t feign shock and play the innocent victim when I respond to it.
Now Dan, please explain this fascination with meeting me in person as you say “man to man, face to face.” Should we do it at high noon out behind the OK Corral?
I mean your response to everything is to come meet you in person. Your advice to me is that I should get to know you. However, I never wrote a review about you. I wrote a review of your contract and I made an observation about something you had written. Knowing you or not does not change your contract, or what you wrote.
You really don’t have any issues with people writing about New Era? Um, do you remember what you did last month when I wrote that I thought your fees were too high and I felt you were misleading consumers? As I remember it you attacked me on my blog, and then created a website, supposedly all about me and how terrible I was. Is that what you do when you feel honored and complimented? Or is this just your new policy moving forward?
Oh, one last thing, my favorite part of your comment. “I am an open book and have nothing to hide from you or anyone else.”
Uhh, You are trying to hide the fact that you are the author of the website!
Damon,
If you are willing to quit hiding behind your web site, then I am willing to meet with you in person, man to man, face to face. I do not want to be your friend. I just want to right the wrongs. I will be happy to address any concerns you have and answer any questions you have. You don’t need to be afraid. I may have an ugly mug but this dog don’t bite.
I have no intention of having any further exchange with you on your web site. You seem to misinterpret or add your own twist to everything I write, so I think it’s probably wise for me to try to avoid writing. Writing is your expertise, not mine. I would rather communicate verbally.
In my opinion we should put the crap behind us and start again with a clean slate.
I can go to you. You are welcome to come here. We can meet half way or we can meet on the golf course. It doesn’t matter to me.
I’m making an effort to make things right. I hope you will too.
Dan
Hey Dan,
My laptop has a copy and paste function also. Any specific reason you are just re posting a portion of your same comment when I have already answered it?
You claim meeting me in person would make things right. I am not aware that things were wrong. I wrote a factually accurate review of your contract. You didn’t like it, and then tried to smear me. I responded and you are not happy with the results of your actions.
At this point, what specifically do you expect to gain by meeting me in person? And curiously, why do you expect that I would meet with you after your recent actions toward me?
.-= Damon Day´s last blog ..Legacy Debt Solutions vs Credit Solutions – Who Can Bankrupt a Client Faster? =-.
Damon,
Please allow me to make something perfectly clear. I don’t like you. I do not want to be your friend. I do not like the way you do business. I do not like the way you conduct yourself. You portray yourself as a professional and an expert and a consultant. Based on what I’ve seen, in my opinion you are nothing but a phony, a fake, a fraud, and a coward.
You write crap about me and my company. Numerous times I try to be nice and invite you to get together and talk about it, and you don’t even have enough courtesy to reply. You throw sucker punches at me, and then run and hide. Who is this Damon Day guy who sucker punched me? Why did he do it? Do I know this guy? Have I ever met him before? Did I piss him off? Why did he pick us? There are hundreds of bad companies out there and he decided to pick on us? Why? Damon, if somebody came out of nowhere and sucker punched you, wouldn’t you want to know who did it and why?
You seem to think I am mad at you because you did a so called “Factually accurate review of your contract” and in your opinion you thought it was confusing to clients. Sorry Damon. That’s not the reason. It was obvious that your “Factually accurate review” was neither factual nor accurate when you mistakenly contradicted yourself. When you found this debt settlement review site on the internet, you wrote this to the owner “I am reading their contract and this is the line that states clearly their fee is 15% of the total debt.” These are your words. You tell him the contract is clear. You wrote this before you wrote your review. Then when you write your review you say this “However, when I read a copy of the contract that New Era sends out, I could see how a client might easily assume the 15% settlement fee is based on the savings.” You say it was clear. Then you say it was not clear. It’s clear. It’s not clear. Clear. Not clear. This is confusing.
For the record, we do client surveys and a tremendous amount of customer service. We are in constant communication with our clients and we repeatedly verify the points in our contract. I have never heard that our clients were under the impression that our fees were half of what they are. Never!!
Also for the record, we record sales calls between our salespeople and our clients. I have never heard where any of our salespeople have misled any of our clients into thinking fees would be half of what they are. Never! If I did they would be corrected and possibly terminated. So based on the contradiction that you wrote, and based on the facts that I know, I must come to the conclusion that the only one confused – is you.
You also seem to think that I am upset at you because you think our fees are too high. Sorry Damon. That’s not the reason either. This statement doesn’t bother me because your opinion is really a display of your ignorance. You tell people our fees are too high, and yet you have never been to our offices to see the services we perform. Can you recommend one car wash over another because one charges $10 and one charges $20 and you’ve never been to either? Damon Day would say “Go to the $10 car wash. It’s cheaper. They both do the same thing- wash cars.” Unless you’ve been to both of them you can’t make a good recommendation of one over the other. One may be a simple drive through where the other is hand polished, windows cleaned inside and out, vacuumed, etc. If you don’t know and you haven’t taken the time to find out, then your recommendations have no merit. If you don’t know for sure then you are left with only pure speculation, guessing, assumptions, and jumping to conclusions. In reading your reviews and your other postings, these are four areas that I would say you excel at -speculation, guessing, assuming, and jumping to conclusions. None of these traits would be professional and none of these traits would you expect from an expert.
When you make comments that other companies provide the same level of service that New Era does but for less money, and you have never seen the level of service that we provide, it is only proving your ignorance. We may fly our clients to Los Angeles, pick them up in a limo, and drive them to our offices for some wining and dining. Now obviously we don’t do that, but you get the point. You have no idea what we do. That is the point. You do not know because you have not invested the time you should to get to know your subject. Your comments about our fees don’t bother me. They are ignorant.
In one of our exchanges you made a point to impress everybody with your knowledge of The Theory of Occam’s Razor. Well I don’t know if everybody else was impressed but I sure was. And you also told me how my revenue should be allocated. This would be insulting if it wasn’t so laughable. There is another theory out there and I don’t know the name of it but it seems to be the one you live by. It says “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.”
So if I’m not upset at your Unfactually Inaccurate Review of our contract or the ignorant remarks you make about our fees, then what in the world could I possibly be upset about???? Well my anger has nothing to do with these things, but it has everything to do with your personal attack on my character.
You recently wrote this “Your advice to me is that I should get to know you. However, I never wrote a review about you. I wrote a review of your contract and I made an observation about something you had written.” You never wrote a review about me??? Really Damon??? You never wrote a review about me???
Please allow me to cut copy and paste your own words that you never wrote about me.
“As a final note about the confusion, I was very disturbed to come across a debt settlement review site that was praising New Era Debt Solutions for only charging a fee of 15% of what they saved a client. The entire review was based on the false assumption that New Era charged half of what the average settlement company charges, even though in reality they charge much more than most programs.
Now, these review sites are a dime a dozen and I normally would not have paid attention, however, the very first comment of the review was someone claiming to be Dan Smith – the president of New Era Debt Solutions. He came on praising the reviewer for such a great and ACCURATE review, even though the review was clearly a misrepresentation. Here is a copy of the actual review, the comment supposedly left by Dan Smith, and a reply comment from me.”
Notice how you made Dan Smith – the president of New Era Debt Solutions big and bold. By the way this Dan Smith is me, the guy you never wrote a review about. You use the word “disturbed”. This tremendous deception you found, this incredibly disturbing deception you uncovered by the one and only Dan Smith – the president of New Era Debt Solutions. Dan Smith has got you terribly disturbed.
Then you go on to say this “However, what I am the most perplexed by is that Dan Smith would come on and praise the review with such a clear and significant error. (I didn’t because that clear and significant error wasn’t even there at the time.)
Clearly the president of New Era Debt Solutions must have noticed that this review mistakenly misrepresented the fees and claimed that their fees were half of what most companies charge. Not only does he not correct the error but he claims the review is accurate. (I didn’t because that clear and significant error wasn’t even there at the time.) I find that to be the most telling part of the review as it pertains to New Era.”
WOW!!! What is the implication of this comment???
First you were disturbed by Dan Smith, and in this paragraph you are perplexed by Dan Smith. Again, this is the same Dan Smith you never wrote about. Your claims of being disturbed and perplexed by Dan Smith are not painting a pretty picture of this Dan Smith – the president of New Era Debt Solutions.
Damon, what impression do you think people get of Dan Smith when they read this crap? If Damon Day thinks Dan Smith’s actions are disturbing and perplexing, shouldn’t everybody that reads this think the same thing?
Damon, what is wrong with you? How can you come up with all of these assumptions and conclusions based on some obscure web site you found on the internet? Maybe I did piss you off at some point and I’m just not aware of it.
I have been around for a long time and I’ve been in the debt settlement business for over 10 years. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in those 10 years and I am far from perfect. When you ventured off into your witch hunt and character assassination on me, this obscure review web site is what you used to base your case? And you attack me because I make a comment that I like the idea of a review web site that is accurate? And you say I’m deceptive because the author of the review site made a mistake, and I should have caught it and corrected it, but because I didn’t I am guilty of deception? Are you frikkin kidding me Damon??? What planet did you come from? I’ll guarantee you that I’ve made much bigger mistakes than not catching somebody else’s mistake on the internet. I’m sure if you look a little harder and dig a little deeper you’ll probably find some other mistakes I’ve made in the last decade and some much bigger mistakes too.
Anyway, for the record I consider this character assassination of me a personal attack. Damon, as far as I know I have never met you, and yet you attacked me with this sucker punch. What does a person do after they get blind-sided? They pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and look for the SOB that hit him. Anything I do after this point is not an attack, it is a counter-attack. It is a returned punch. It is an eye for an eye. You keep saying that I attacked you after your review. Wrong. It is a counter-attack. You threw the first punch. You hit me. I hit you back. You hit me again harder. I hit you again harder and so on.
Damon, you portray yourself as a professional and an expert. I have been in the debt and credit business for many years, probably since you were a little kid. I have a lot of friends that are professionals and experts in the debt and credit arena. Your actions against me were neither professional nor were they actions one would expect from an expert.
Do you want to know how a true professional would have handled this situation? They would have picked up the phone and said “Hey Dan, this is Steve Rhode. How are you? Hey Dan I found this debt review web site and it says you are charging only half of what you used to charge. Did you lower your fees? No? It must be a mistake. Just FYI. This is the web site.” And Dan would say “Thanks for letting me know Steve. I’ll do my best to get if corrected.” That is all there is to it. All it takes is a simple phone call.
I mention Steve Rhode because I know he recommends you. I have utmost respect for Steve and he would definitely be considered a true professional and an expert in debt and credit. Steve and I even considered the possibility of working together in a business partnership in the UK a while back. Steve is pushing hard for transparency in all types of debt relief companies whether they are CCC, debt settlement, or bankruptcy. I couldn’t agree more and we will be working with Steve again in this regard. Steve helped us write a press release because New Era was pushing for regulation in the debt settlement industry. Steve even invited us recently to a BBQ to discuss things together. This is how true professionals act. They talk, they discuss, they interact and communicate. You have ignored every attempt to talk about things. Why Steve is recommending you I do not know. He must see a side of you that I haven’t seen yet.
My good friend Gerri, another true professional and expert would handle things the same way. She would send an email or give us a call like she has done before and ask about it. She knows us well enough to know that we want things done right. She knows us well enough because she has actually invested her own personal time to get to know us. She spent a tremendous amount of time getting to know us before we became the only debt settlement company she would recommend. This is what professionals and experts do. They wouldn’t write a review or make a recommendation unless they knew the subject first hand. This is what you need to do Damon if you truly want to be professional and be an expert in your field.
Damon, anybody can sit at home and throw sucker punches at people they don’t even know. Anybody can speculate, guess, assume things, and jump to conclusions. That’s not very impressive. And it makes you look cowardly when the person you punched calls you out and you duck and hide. It makes it look like you are afraid.
So was my counter-attack to your attack handled in a professional manner? Absolutely not! I quickly discovered that professionalism doesn’t work with you. We sent you nice emails that you totally ignored. We tried talking with you on the phone and you kept putting us off. Numerous times I’ve left messages and Alex left messages as well. All messages are totally ignored by you. It became very evident that you didn’t want to handle this in a professional manner. It became evident that there was a self-serving agenda behind your review. Since I couldn’t communicate with you on a professional level, I made the decision to lower myself to your level and write a review about you, just like you did to me. This was probably another mistake on my part. I don’t enjoy lowering my standards for anybody. As I said earlier, I am far from perfect and have made more than my fair share of mistakes.
Dan Smith – the president of New Era Debt Solutions is not one of those sub-prime mortgage brokers that jumped into debt settlement to make a quick buck or two. These are the guys that will disappear when a ban on the practice of front loading fees is imposed. These are the guys that will leave their clients (victims) holding the bag. We have been in the debt settlement business for over ten years when there were only a handful of companies in the entire country. We have been fighting the good fight by trying to do things right, and honest, from the very beginning. We have always believed that fees must be earned based on performance and results. It hurts me to see the crap going on in the debt settlement industry today. It also hurts me when you work so hard to earn a great reputation, and then somebody you don’t even know comes along and tries to damage it.
I have always been on the team that says the debt settlement industry needs to be regulated and that there needs to be licensing requirements in place. There needs to transparency. Fees shouldn’t be paid until they are earned and fees should be based on performance and results. I am 100% for a ban on the practice of front loading most of the fees. Too many people are being screwed and there are too many bad players out there. I know Steve and Gerri are on this team as well. When I first saw your web site my impression was that you were on this team too. Now I’m wondering what team you are playing for, if any. It seems like you have a self serving agenda.
For over 10 years we have been here for our clients. If there is a ban on the practice of front loading fees – great!! We will still be here for our clients. I am a strong believer that debt settlement, when done correctly, is an option that people need today. Emphasis on “when done correctly”. Too many companies are doing it far from correctly.
So where does Damon Day and Dan Smith go from here?
At this time I can think of four options of which three of them are smart and one of them is stupid.
1. We can continue down this same road and we both lose. You can reply to this email and try to prove to your readers that you are always right and you can twist and turn everything I say. This would be stupid but it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the option you choose.
2. With the click of a button we can each delete our reviews of each other and the blogs as well. We can then both move forward and put all of this crap behind us as if it never happened.
3. We can clean the slate, delete everything, get together, and work on a new review of New Era if you still want to. We would be happy to give you a tour of our facilities and you can meet our people. We will be happy to share with you the things that differentiate us from the others. This would be the professional approach.
4. We can get together and fight this out.
We can fight man-to-man, face-to-face, toe-to-toe.
Let’s not call it a fight because that sounds too harsh.
Let’s call it a Debt Debate or a Throw-Down.
You can bring all of your bullets and we can discuss them.
You can throw your very best shots at me and I will be happy to fire back.
We can talk about fees, contracts, advertising, TASC, running a company, licenses, qualifications, transparency, other web site reviews, or anything else you want to discuss.
I must insist on one thing – The fight must be fair and it must be in person.
Up to this point I’ve allowed you an advantage over me.
It really wasn’t fair for me but I was willing to be the underdog.
We’ve been having our exchange on your turf, on your web site, and on your blog.
For our debate in the future we need a change of venue to neutral ground.
There are numerous advantages you get by having an exchange on your web site.
You get to modify the contents of pretty much anything you want the public to see.
You get to use fancy colors and bold print for emphasis that isn’t available to me.
You get to decide what posts remain and what posts get deleted.
You get to answer the emails you want and ignore the emails you want to ignore.
And you always get the final word.
You continually tell me you are being fair by providing an open forum I can use to defend myself. You are one awesome guy!!
You call me a dirt-bag on the internet and then give me a forum to defend myself.
I am a bit overwhelmed by your fairness and unlimited generosity!!
To make this a fair fight, this is what I propose.
We have this debate video taped. We can do it here in my studio. We can also use the audio of this debate and use it on our radio station – The Debt Free Hour. You can listen to some of our prior recordings on DebtFreeHour.com. We can also show the video on our internet television web site. We can each get a copy of the video and audio for each of our web sites.
I will even offer to cover all of the production costs. I’ll provide the cameras, equipment, lighting, and crew. You won’t need to spend a dime.
There is my offer Damon. I can’t be more fair than that. This can be your open forum to really make your case against me.
I would prefer option 2 or 3. I’m man enough to forgive and forget and move on. Are you?
This is our Vision Statement: Based on sound principals, high standards, integrity, and customer satisfaction, New Era Debt Solutions will be the best debt settlement company in America, and a model for what other debt settlement companies should be.
I’m going to stand by our vision. I’m willing to fight for our vision. Please let me know what you want to do.
Ok Dan, Thanks for Sharing. I feel that anyone that reads my review at http://damonday.com/312/new-era-debt-solutions-review/ and our previous back and forth will understand why I feel no need to respond to this comment.
.-= Damon Day´s last blog ..Credit Solutions of America sends me a Cease and Desist Letter =-.
I love the idea of a live debate. I think you both have very good points, but to me, this seems all like a big misunderstanding. I know for a fact that New Era is a reputable company. Any debt settlement company that will release their debt settlement statistics without fluff and stand up for truth and transparency on behalf of the consumer should be praised, not belittled. We need more companies like new era out there.
Hello Katie,
I appreciate you coming on to share your thoughts.
Speaking of Truth and Transparency, I think it would be prudent to disclose that you work for a PR firm that New Era Debt Solutions is a client of.
I just think it is important for readers to know the source that the information is coming from.
I am curious, from a PR point of view, what do you think about Dan Smith’s tactic of creating this fraud website to attack me?
Do you find this to be a good PR move on his part? I am curious to get your feedback.
Also, do you think his website would have more credibility with consumers if he actually put his name on it and stood behind the accusations that he was making?
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
.-= Damon Day´s last blog ..Excuse Me – I’m Calling Bullshit =-.
Mr. Day may not have a state license, but as a holder of the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) designation in two countries, I have leant on him for advice on debt settlement. This is a topic that is not covered in the CFP® coursework and it has been a pleasure to learn about this subject from an independent and objective professional consultant like Damon.
Like Dinah, I appreciate Damon Day’s effort of warning us (consumers) from these deceitful companies.
I just feel bad about these whole word bashing
Hey Karen,
I agree. Sometimes I can get a little passionate about what I do. It is hard to see good families getting financially devastated and hearing the stories day in and day out.
Eventually you just want to start shouting to everyone and telling them to stay away from everything until they take the time to fully research it.
It is so easy to fall for the sales promises of many horrible programs, and some simply designed to take your money.
In regards to Dan Smith and New Era, I have actually changed my opinion of how they operate and how they assist consumers. The industry has gone through many changes. Some of them good for consumers, some of them not, but I can now say that I believe that New Era is one of only a handful of companies that I know will put their clients bests interests above their own.
Here is a new article I recently wrote after getting to know Dan and Alex a little more and having all three of us come to a better understanding of our respective points of view.
http://damonday.com/3169/new-era-debt-solutions-a-second-look-in-this-new-era-of-debt-settlement/
Damon Day recently posted..Legal Helpers Debt Resolution Sued in 30 Page Complaint Filed by Illinois AG
I tried looking you up to verify your record with the BBB. Do you have a bbb report. do you know anything regarding financial solutions consumer center and whether or not they are a good company?
Thanks
Hello Tony,
No, I have never had a need to pay the fees to be a member of the BBB. I am not familiar with financial solutions consumer center either. What are you hiring them to do? Do you have specific reservations about their program?
Dan Smith doesn’t sound like that bad of a guy. Is there a reason you are so combative with him. Just curious. Not saying you should go meet him…just show some respect and temperance in your conversations. Just my opinion.
Hello Tony,
I appreciate your opinion. I am a little at a loss to respond though. I never said Dan Smith was a bad guy. Perhaps you missed the entire exchange at http://damonday.com/312/new-era-debt-solutions-review/
I feel I was actually very subdued considering how he wrote this BS personal attack website and is so ashamed of it, he is afraid to put his name on it. If I came off as combative, perhaps it was simply in an effort to get him to admit that this website is just a pissed off rant by Dan Smith and a total fraud . Of course even when I conclusively prove that he did write it, he still won’t put his name on the website. I think that is all readers really need to know about it.
Screw New ERA Debt Solutions. I have a friend who had been working their a month. He was already doing better than most of their staff and had never been late, never left early and had not missed one day, he is just a stand up guy who believes in working hard and doing the best he can. His teenage son has a rare liver disease that makes monitoring his blood sugar closely very critical, well his son’s levels shot up to life threatening levels instantly and he had to be rushed to the hospital. Obviously like any parent he left work a few hours early because any hospital visit means his son is on death’s door, he stayed at the hospital with his son the next day as well, so we are talking about one day missed. What did this heartless company do? They fired him and told him he could come back when he got all this straightened out. STRAIGHTENED OUT?! What do you expect?! The kid to have a miraculous healing?! WHAT IF THIS HAD BEEN YOUR KID?!?! You wouldn’t fire one of your family members for this. You can’t treat people like this and to think I almost used this company upon recommendation of my friend but screw them!
Way to be supportive of your fellow man, kick em and kick em good when they are down. I am not the person who was fired just an outraged human being and I will do what I can to make sure people know. Because if you treat your own employees like this, then how little you must feel towards your customers.
And if you want to attack me, BRING IT!!!
I’ve been a customer of New Era for about two years and will be making the final payments on my program next month. I’ve been reading this back-and-forth between Dan and Damon…truly entertaining!
Knowing I’m only one customer, and thus not claiming to be representative of all New Era clients, I have to say in Dan’s defense that New Era has ALWAYS been clear and up front with me regarding fees, and I’ve never been confused or felt misled about their fee structure. I was given accurate information regarding their fees versus other company’s fees, pros/cons, effects, etc. I’ve been happy with their service and I’ve always found them to be honest, helpful, and candid with any question I’ve presented them with. They’ve very quickly helped me accomplish my goals and have always held up their their end with honesty and integrity. Damon, I don’t know you or what you’re selling, but from my perspective as a satisfied client of New Era, this whole thing strikes me as a huge ego trip on your part. I can’t help but think that there’s a whole lot more behind your little pissing contest with Dan then just a passing note he left on some obscure web site, and your offense over him not anticipating that you’d be hiding in the bushes waiting to pounce because he neglected to offer up sufficient “mea culpas” that you seem to feel the rest of the world deserves for some reason. (And please, spare me the “go-compare-this-email-to-that-email” bullshit! Who has the energy?) As I stated, I am a lone voice, but I feel that your criticism of New Era’s fee structure, and the accusation that the company confuses its clients (along with the inherent implications of dishonesty) is unfair.
Hey Frank,
I am glad I was able to provide you with some entertainment.
This article is simply to call attention to the fact that Dan created a fraud site, simply to attack me. For obvious reasons, Dan is unwilling to stand behind what he has written. Do you blame me for letting consumers know who is actually behind the creation of the site and why? I find it interesting that you feel that I am the one coming off as having the ego trip.
I also find it interesting that you find my implications of dishonesty as being unfair. Isn’t it just a little dishonest to create an anonymous attack website and then claim it was written by consumer advocates warning people of the dangers that they will face if they speak to me?
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts though, and congratulations on getting your debt settled.
.-= Damon Day´s last blog ..Mass Exodus in Debt Settlement Industry, Take Heed or BE TRAMPLED =-.
All I can say is, consumers should be thankful there are people like Damon Day who write articles to warn them of deceitful companies. I may not have a degree in business and finance, but if my story has a venue for consumers to read, hopefully possible preys out there could be saved.