I signed on with DDS to help me to pay off my credit card. This was in April. I signed a contract with them and they were to get a contract with my credit card. The payments were automatically withdrawn from my checking acct. So they would NOT be late. Everything seemed to be going fine all this time.
Recently, my husband and I decided we should get the the card paid off and cancel the DDS. I hadn't really taken notice of my statements from the credit card, I "ASSUMED" since I had a contract with DDS, I really shouldn't have to worry. Boy was I wrong, I noticed since last October, I was receiving past due fees. The date due on the credit card was always at the end of the month, DDS would withdrawal on the 20th of every month, if the 20th did not fall on a weekend they would take it the next business day, but they weren't making the payment till after the due date, approx 10 days after they withdrew my money.
According to their website, payment should be made 3-5 business days after they get their money. It was an electronic transfer so they had the money as soon as it came out of my account. I contacted the credit card company and they stated they no longer had a contract with DDS as it was dropped due to a late payment. So the late fee is not the credit card company's fault but DDS. I called DDS again to try to set things straight. The CSR "Stacey Smith" I spoke with states I should have contacted them when I got the first late fee, and that they don't receive statements or know the due dates. I reminded her if DDS has a contract they should know everything about the contract and if there is a contract there should be no late fees. She continued to tell me I should never assume and it is not DDS fault for the late fees even though they withdrew the money from my account 10 days before the due date. I tried to tell her that the Oct payment was due on the 30 and DDS paid it on the 31, but they took my money on 10/22 so 3-5 business days would be the 25-27. If paid as per their own web site it shouldn't have been late whether they knew the due date or not.
According to the credit card company once a debt counseling co. Is late they are then "kicked off the contract". The DDS CSR states they are not informed of this so even though DDS was making a monthly payment to my credit card it was late for the past 5 months totally $195. DDS did get a new contract with the credit card company and they would only waive the last late fee which would have been added to the $195. If they would have paid on time I would have this credit card paid off by now, yes it will be paid off in the next month, but I could have saved my self some money, one less payment. I will be closing my account with DDS they e-mailed me a termination agreement. The CSR stated since I will be terminating my agreement the the credit card company can change my interest rate.
I will be contacting the credit card company again and advising them of DDS's poor customer service and failure to provide the service that was agreed upon. I hope that the credit card company takes this seriously and does not do business with DDS in the future. There are many people in the country who are in financial distress, and with the economy as it is today, I fear that this number will only increase and more people will need true help, not DDS help. When I received the termination agreement, I found it amusing that several clauses where in the termination agreement. The first of which is "RELEASE.
Each party one to the other promises and releases the other party from any and all legal claims which may exist between the parties as a result of occurrences or transactions occurring from the beginning of time until the time that this release becomes effective." To me this seems to say, even if we screw up, you have to sign this to stop us from taking your money and then you can't do anything about us screwing up.
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