This is Big Money Sucka!!!
When you call most 800 numbers looking for help with your debt, you will usually be talking to someone like Dave. Here is a guy that laughs all the way to the bank for pocketing $7680 for throwing some unlucky consumer into a B.S. Front loaded fee debt settlement program that is a horrible financial solution under any circumstances.
Keep in mind, that was just his commission for screwing this unlucky consumer. This video was posted 11 months ago. The website of this company is not even online anymore. Good thing they charged all their fees upfront before they went out of business.
My guess is their doors closed the same day the FTC put their foot down and made what these jokers were doing illegal. These guys are likely still out there under a different name now and using a slightly different pitch. Unfortunately there are thousands of “Daves” out there and they won’t let little things like laws keep them from selling you a load of crap just to get your money upfront and laugh all the way to the bank with it.
I don’t know what background or financial education Dave has, but do you think he provides his marks (consumers) with unbiased information about the best strategy for a client with a specific set of circumstances to get out of debt? What are the odds that Dave pushes debt settlement to every consumer he talks to? Maybe just a few huh?
Maybe Dave is a really nice guy and just maybe Dave doesn’t know what a bad thing he is doing. Well Dave, when you read this article then you will know that what you did was not good. If you want to know why, leave a comment and I will tell you. If you want to make it right, you can start by calling all of those people that you put into the program, offer as much of their money back as you can and then point them in the direction of something that will actually help them with their problem.
The sad thing is that these are real lives and families that are getting destroyed by these guys and thousands of others out there just like them. Some ignorant to the carnage they cause, some not, but all equally responsible for their actions.
Please share my article by liking it on facebook and retweeting it. The next person I save from becoming a victim could be a friend of yours.
“Laughing all the way to the bank.” [insert sound of hand slapping forehead.]
Ya, these guys actually put this video out as a recruiting tool for other affiliates to show how much money can be made. Did they not think about the other side of that coin and how this would make their clients feel?
Things that make you go doh!!!!!
I have never been in debt on unsecured credit, so this may be a dumb question, but how in the world can someone that has debt problems afford to pay those guys that kind of money?
Also, are there degress or certifications that these guys have to have or can anyone start taking fees to settle people’s debt?
My first post..very nice blog. Hopefully I can learn a lot.
Hello Adam,
No it actually is a very valid question. Here is how it is done. Lets say a consumer is currently paying 1500 a month on their credit cards but can no longer afford it. Well then someone like Dave will come along and say how about if I cut your payment to 700, would that help you out?
Then what almost all of them used to do before the FTC stepped in last year (many still do it and break the law) is take most of that 700 dollars a month in fees until all of their fees are paid. If you owed 50K in debt a typical fee was 7500 to 10000 dollars. So basically, what they didn’t make very clear is that they were just making up the payment number. The creditors don’t agree to it and basically all that is happening is the client is taking the money they used to give to their creditors and giving it to the debt settlement company.
The debt settlement company would then give guys like Dave a cut of what they were collecting every month. Of course when the creditor gets to the point of writing off the bad debt, there is no money to settle the account because all or most of that 700 a month went to fees. At this point the client will quite often get sued by one or more creditors. The client will panic and ask for a refund because nothing was settled. Then that is when the debt settlement company would say, well if you look at the document you signed last year it says we are going to collect all of our fees first. So sorry, if you want to quit you can, but we keep the money.
Of course the sales person never actually explains the reality of this transaction, they just tell people what they want to hear. So Dave whether knowingly or not pocketed thousands of dollars by screwing families.
To answer your other question, NO. There are no degrees or certifications required. Anybody can say they are a debt settlement company. In fact that is why there are so many of them out there. In fact, there are CD courses people peddle for a few hundred bucks claiming to teach anyone how to open a debt settlement company and make big money with no education or experience required. It is a real disgrace. The so called certifications and trade organizations in the industry are a joke for the most part. They are money making schemes in their own right. They make money by selling their badges to debt settlement companies to put on their website to trick the consumer into thinking they actually have been approved by something and are qualified to do what they say they can do.
Of course the debt settlement company just passes on those fees to the consumer. Bottom line is more often than not, everyone makes money and the bank and the consumer end up getting screwed.
Not all debt settlement companies operate like this, but a super majority of them do. Typically the ones that you see advertised out there.
The first line of defenses is to make sure you never let a company front load the fees on you and charge thousands of dollars before any service is performed.
My “Dave” was Daniel Gordon of Freedom Debt Relief (so I thought) but turned out he signed me up to Express Debt Settlement because FDR had a “money back guarrantee” on its web site and EDS has a non-refundable fee. I was desperate and believed on the “money back guarrantee” as a seal of authenticity so I did not pay attention to the non-refundable fee. That was suicide!
I believe these “Daves” have no souls. They should be stoned to death! Worse than Bernie who misled the rich. These monsters are sucking out the last breath of air from people who were gasping to live.
Damon, this make me want to puke. This is so typical of the loan industry that has infiltrated the Debt Settlement Arena.
These guys are very happy to believe they are helping people and laughing all the way to the bank. Listen to the talk of points on the deal?
While many people are working hard to DELIVER results, people like this take hard earned funds and go blow it only to leave the consumers in a worse position and making all of us legitimate people look like crap.
Thais is SOOOOOOO Freaking frustrating. When will consumers learn?
Alex V
Alex, I feel your pain. These rotten produce who displayed themselves on the top made the whole crop look garbage. We, the consumers will never know unless these rotten ones are eliminated before they turn everyone else rotten.
Hey Alex,
I agree with you 100%. The only thing I can do about it, is expose it and hope that consumers come across my articles before falling for the sale pitches that these guys throw at them.
Every industry has bad apples, but unfortunately for the debt settlement industry, at this point in time it seems like all of the bad apples from other industries have set up shop looking for easy money.
He looks really uncomfortable sitting there in front of a camera. Maybe he’s feeling guilty…?
Hey Sonny,
I agree he looks a little uncomfortable doing the interview and perhaps you are right. It has been my experience though, that the vast majority of people selling these front loaded debt settlement programs actually believe the hype that the owners and managers are feeding to them.
They think that they really are doing a good thing for people. It is very sad, but in most of these outfits the owners and managers are collecting a bulk load of the money and then they kick some back to the sales people to keep them happy enough and not have them asking many questions.
Steve and Damon
You do all this wonderful trash talking for free!!
Hey Guy,
If you are wondering if someone pays me to expose these debt relief rip offs and scams, the answer is no.
Who pays your bills?? More debt reduction company’s ! your no different then this guy .. trying to make a buck..
Actually, if you spend a little time on my site, you will find that I am quite different. I don’t accept any referral fees from debt relief programs and instead, if I was to make a recommendation to my client, ask whatever company that was, to give whatever they would pay me back to my client as a discount off their fees.
So before you start flinging allegations at me, you might want to learn a little more about my service.
I get paid directly by my clients. They pay me for an honest and unbiased consultation, so they don’t end up taking financial advice from a guy like Dave, who clearly is more interested in padding his bank account than helping consumers.
Can you give me any example to back up your allegation?
Lay off Guy. How would we, the consumers know about “Dave” if there are no people like Damon? Too bad for me, Dave already got me before Damon could come to the rescue. We need more people like Damon to warn us about the “Daves” out there.
Hello Divina,
Thank you for the kind words. By the way, I did receive your email and will be responding this evening when I get a chance.
Hey Damon,
Why did you consider exposing the debt relief scams of some people? Did you had a bad experience about it?I’m just curious..
Hey Nikki,
Well it just sort of developed because I kept doing consultations for people who had been ripped off and part of helping them figure out a proper solution involved me helping them to try and get their money back.
It just made more sense to me that I could help more people if I was able to warn them before they lost their money.
The more you learn about the debt relief industry, the more disgusted you become.