12/18/02 Received a call asking if I would like to consolidate my high-interest credit cards into a "9% fixed rate guaranteed for life" card. After a long conversation (a very professional sales pitch, I might add), Teresa Perez convinced me that they had special deals with an exclusive set of very aggressive banks who would be happy to transfer my high-interest balances over to their cards.
They wanted $397 for their "services" and their "program." I "charged" that amount to a credit card I knew was maxed out because that card will hold "pending" charges. I was also told the program was "guaranteed" (as long as I had no bankrupcy or late payments) and that's why there was no refunds. A supervisor taped the conversation where I had to agree there was no refunds, but on tape I said that I agreed to the no refund policy as long as their deal was exactly as described, guaranteed, etc.
The miserable scam artists sent a measly booklet that talked about credit and credit reports (I could have written it better myself) and then provided a list of bank credit cards to apply for. The list contained 41 entries, but 10 were duplicates, another 8 I was not eligible for (wrong state), 7 did not have a fixed interest rate, and 9 I already have cards for. Of the few that were left, I applied online, and as usual, were rejected because of the debt-to-income ratio.
I immediately called my credit card to dispute the charge (that was still pending anyway). Then I called the company on 12/23 (and had to leave a message because of course nobody answers the phone). On my message I acted like I just had a few more questions. Terry Place returned my call and when I told her that the program would not work for me, I got an extremely heavy sales pitch. I finally got tired of her pushiness and said I wanted my money back. She said there were no refunds. I told her that the FTC required a "cooling off period" for any telephone transaction and she snapped that the period was 72 hours and there was no way I could return their materials in that time. I told her I would be glad to use my Federal Express account and mail their crap right back to them overnight and she hung up on me.
I FedExed their materials back along with a letter threatening Federal Trade Commission compliance and demanded that the pending charge be removed and that I would be removed from their calling list. They did comply.
Since then I have learned that it is AGAINST THE LAW to ask for money up front for any type of loan or credit. It is also against the law to guarantee credit up front. This company committed a federal offense and it is clearly a ripoff. I'm lucky I knew about the FTC cooling off rule, even though it cost me $15 to overnight their junk back.
BEWARE of this firm!
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