First National Capital cold called me for quite some time. The sales reps/cold callers/telemarketers/openers varied in the course of twelve months, which leads me to believe they may have a high turn over ratio.
After various attempts I decided to give them a shot a presenting a "term sheet" most commonly known as a price quote or a letter of intent as their cover reads. They claim they are owned by a private equity firm named Exigent out of Houston and they have internal capacity to fund deals in the upwards of $30 million dollars. For deals bigger that $30M they seek partnerships with established credit sources like Wells Fargo, Peoples Bank, GE Capital to name a few. They also claim they are the fourth largest independent leasing company in North America. This includes, Mexico, USA & Canada.
Monitor magazine prints the largest lessors in ranked by revenue funded dollars. The figures are questionable because - if GE Capital funded a deal for First National they both would book the funded revenue when it should only be booked once as the other party's involvement in the transaction is of a "broker".
My capital expenditure for equipment leasing was under $5 million. First National Capital presented their proposal both as a capital and operation lease. We negotiated the lease factor rate and terms. I ordered my equipment from my vendors and suppliers with the commitment of having the necessary funds to close my purchase. After various weeks of frustration, First National Capital left me hanging with unpaid equipment with pissed-off vendors and no funding. After further investigation it became apparent they were brokering the deal and could have their debt sources buy-off our paper/contract; while our company was highly pressed for equipment needs to meet critical deadlines. Meanwhile First National Capital was renegotiating the terms with us, trying to jack-up the rates enough to create a worthwhile spread for themselves.
At last, we lost our deposit and did not get the required funding. It was a bad experience dealing with a broker. We ended up going to our local bank and getting the necessary financing instead of dealing with some sweet talkers over the phone. Buyers beware this company is a broker and not a direct lender.
Management handled the issue poorly. Keith Duggan is a pitbull with no customer service skills so as his management team lead by Eric Freeman who takes after his boss.in the financial services arena it pays to deal face to face with a reliable financing source. If you can't put a name to a face then think twice about the liability outcome dealing with a company like First National can cost you!
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