I have what you need. Trust me!
It has now become almost a daily occurrence for me to help a consumer fix the mess that a debt settlement company has dropped them into. The universal reaction from my clients after I explain how debt settlement really works and why the program they have been sold never even had a shot at working, is “How could I have possibly signed up into such a horrible deal?”
If you are a victim of a debt settlement program gone bad, you are not alone. In fact you are in the super majority. Most debt settlement programs do not work simply because many of them are designed to best profit the company and not actually help the client.
The bottom line is that most consumers who are struggling financially are easy to scam, lie to, take advantage of, manipulate, and sell horrible financial solutions to.
Why? Because consumers in debt are often:
1. Ashamed
2. Scared
3. Desperate
4. Depressed
5. Feeling alone
6. Looking for a miracle solution
I understand that consumers in financial trouble are afraid to turn to their normal sphere of influence because they don’t want their friends or family to know about their current struggles. However, when making important financial decisions, consumers need to have someone who is not emotionally involved in the process to look out for them. In the moment, it is easy to fall victim to something that in hindsight and removed from the situation they would clearly see made absolutely no financial sense.
If you are currently having financial challenges, speaking with me will give you the unbiased and straight forward information you need to make the right decision, without the worry that your personal business will get passed around your office water cooler or your next family gathering.
The consumers in this video did not have the proper guidance when trying to make an educated financial decision. Instead they listened to the promises of a debt relief sales person and their unfortunate result is certainly the norm, not the exception.
Why would you purposely quit paying all of your bills! It is also crazy that someone would sign up with a company to settle 15K in debt and then immediately hand them $1,800.00.
What aabout that sounds promising?
These companies are definitely sharks, but people also need to quit making these people that owe thousands in past due debt out to be victims. They are adults and should be responsable for what they spend and have enough financial knowledge to get themselves out of trouble.
Hello Adam,
You have to understand that hindsight is 20/20 and people can get overwhelmed and they are just looking for someone to fix the problem. There are a lot of other things at play, but good (or I should say bad) debt relief sales people, really play on the fear of the unknown and the stress that consumers are going through.
None of them ever present their program as upfront fees. In fact they say things like we don’t charge fees upfront but we spread them out in the monthly payment. However if you looked at the fee schedule you might see that they collect 100% of the fees around 18 months into a 48 month program.
The bottom line is sales people are paid to sign up consumers, not help them figure out how to resolve their problem. Until consumers stop getting financial advice from free consultations, they are going to continue to act on information that is bias at best. In the end, the free consultation will always cost more than paying for the right advice.
P.S. That last part is clearly biased advice on my part because it is what I do. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
I have worked with adults for the past 8 years in both workshop and coaching capacities and I am always astounded at the emotion issues adults have with money.
You are so right that adults feel ashamed about the debt situation they find themselves in. When I work with women especially, the first thing I have to do is to get them to take control of their emotions around the debt.
Once they see that the situation is just a situation looking for a solution and they aren’t a ‘bad person’ just because they’re in debt, then we can start making plans to get them out of debt the best way possible.
It’s amazing how much money causes humanity emotional problems in general. Money is simply a tool to reach your dreams and help others reach theirs. Nothing more and nothing less. Until we learn not to make it anything else, we’ll continue having financial emotions that get in the way of adults creating prosperity for themselves.
Hello Elisabeth,
I completely agree. Looks like a pretty cool little game you have there to educate kids and even adults about money and the difference between passive income and wages.
That is so true! Desperate and depressed people are so easy to scam. It’s easy to push those emotional buttons, trigger them.
I’m so glad that there are people who are truly willing to help without any benefits for themselves.
Hello Jane,
Yes, that is what the debt relief scammers count on. That and the fact that most people are unwilling to talk to friends and family about money issues.
It is a shame, but true. People are so desperate to get out of debt they are willing to take risks that normally they wouldn’t need to. My school loans are in default, and I know how tempting it is to reach out to some of these “companies”.
Most programs are unable to help with student loans. Student loans are one of the worst debts to have. You typically cannot even get rid of them in bankruptcy.
This is so true. I’m an affiliate marketer and a lot of offers are targeted at desperate people. I.e. “credit repair offers”. What a scam…
Unfortunately it is all about the money for most marketers. They will sell whatever pays the most money regardless of the consequences to the consumer. It is rare to find an affiliate marketer who is willing to accept less money in order to refer consumers to a better solution.
I got scamed by a debt consolidation company a couple of years ago. They are scam. Stay away.
Many of them are scams, but some are certainly legitimate. You just have to take your time, do your research, understand your situation and make sure the person or company you are hiring can do what they are promising to be able to do.
It is certainly hard for consumers to know who to trust though, it is all about making the sale and not about helping the consumer.
If you are emotional, you are definitely likely to make bad decisions. People in debt are emotionally unstable and tend to fall into get rich schemes rather easily.
Hey Troy,
You hit it on the head and the scammers exploit this to the fullest.
I laughed out loud when I saw the photo at the top of the page. (Well, actually, I laughed and then I took a closer look to be sure it wasn’t the blogger here. If it had been, I would have been outta here fast!
My husband and I were really lucky, selling our home at the top of the market in 2005 and thus being able to pay off the large pile of consumer debt we had accumulated. That was such a relief that we have really worked to stay debt-free entirely ever since. If more people knew what a delicious way that is to live, I think they would be motivated.
Or maybe not. So many of my friends and relatives are up to their eyeballs in debt. Found your site while looking around for advice to give my cousin.
I’ve always been a bit skeptical of those companies, it just seemed too easy. I’m still not sure whether they are better or worse than bankruptcy though; I really got screwed when I went bankrupt. 9 1/2 years later and I’m still pulling myself up the credit ladder—can’t wait until it comes off. 🙂
The emotional turmoil of being in debt is great. You listed desperation as one of the reasons consumers are easy to scam. I would say this is probably the biggest reason payday loans are such a big business. Most people know it’s a bad deal, but they need the money now and don’t know what else to do.
There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed about if you’re in debt. It is a natural phenomenon and the only thing you can really blame it on is the consumer culture we have fallen into these days.
I got student loans out of the wazooo!! And sometimes it requires taking chances. Hopefully I don’t run across any scamers taking these chances to pay of the loan.
I agree you have to be very careful and if you pay for a service be sure it’s legit. I’ve heard stories both good and bad. So, just do your research and be sure of who you are using.
There is a lot of scams out there but there are also a lot of legitimate companies that can help you. Just ask around for people who have used these business to find the right ones.
Definitely…They are easily more to attract and to attack than to those people who doesn’t have debt to settle or think about…
Absolutely right, these people are vulnerable and because they truly want to get out of debt, they are forced or attracted to the promises that these scammers tells them. Just need to be careful if they don’t want to be fooled by these people.