Is Debit Corporation of America a scam? To reamin fair and objective, I won't answer that question here, as I have not yet had the opportunity to confer with other distributors. I will, however, use this forum to talk about my experiences with DCOA and let readers draw their own conclusions.
In the early spring of I heard an add on the radio promoting Debit Corporation of America. I am a single father and, at the time, I was looking for a business opportunity to help supplement my income. I was not looking for a get rich quick scheme. I was just looking for a business opportunity that would give me a fair chance to make some additonal income. I know that there are no guarantees as far as any business is concerned.
I called the toll free number and had several conversations with the DCOA representitive. I was sent the promotional video and brochures. My dealings with the company and the material provided to me, made me believe that the company was legitimate. However, as someone that did not have a whole lot of money to gamble with, I still wanted to make sure that I was going to invest my money in a reputable and legitimate company. I called the BBB in Hollywood Fla, and was told that there were no negative reports on DCOA. I also made several calls to the references provided to me by DCOA that were currently selling the product. I got all positive reports on DCOA from these people. I did, and still do, believe that the concept being sold by DCOA is a good one.
After being assured by the representitive that I was in business for myself and not by myself (the company motto), and that the locator the company provides would be there to assist me every step of the way, I decided to send the company $4,800 to puchase one machine.
After sending my money, I was told by the DCOA representitive that I would be contacted at a specific time and date by the locator assigned to me by the company. The representative also told me that she would always be available if I needed to contact her for any reason.
The initial red flag for me was that I was not contacted by the locator on the date and time that I was supposed to be. After I recontacted the initial DCOA rep., I was contacted by my locator. The initial rep never again returned any of my calls as she had promised that she would.
The second red flag was that my equipment was not delivered when I was told that it would. This is minor, but when you look at the total circumstances it all adds up.
My locator apparently had a very difficult time in finding a location for me. Again, I am understanding of this, as I was told that he was very busy and he was having a more difficult time than expected in finding a location in my area that was willing to sell the DCOA product. The problem I had was that my locator was not there for me "every step of the way" as was promised by DCOA. My locator NEVER contacted me when he told me that he was going to. I always had to call him, even when he told me numerous times that he would check on something and get back to me at a specific time. When I was able to get in contact with my locator, he always rushed our conversations and, most times, forgot what it was that he was supposed to check on for me.
After about 2 or 3 months, my locator finally found a location for me. Again, the delay in finding a location is not my chief complaint here. The fact that my locator did not provide the service promised to me by DCOA is. My first location turned out to be a total failure. The machine was placed for a little over 30 days, and I sold exactly zero cards.
I decided to pull my machine from this location and asked the company to assist me in finding another location, as they initially promised they would. This time, I had the same problems as listed above with my locator, and then some. I was told, 3 times, by my locator that he had found locations that wanted to place the DCOA machine in their business. Each time I showed up at these businesses, I was told that they had been contacted by DCOA.
However, they told me that they were not interested in placing the DCOA machine in their business, nor had they relayed to DCOA that they were interested. With the language barrier that DCOA has to deal with at times, I can see this happening every once in awhile. But, 3 times to the same distributor...??
I guess my biggest problem that I have encountered with DCOA is with the cards themselves. I have serious doubts that DCOA even delivers the cards that they are allegedly selling. As a new distributor, I decided to order a card of my own to use and become familiar with. I thought this would be good in helping me gain the knowledge necessary to explain the card to potetnial customers.
I ordered the card on 3 separate occassions. The first time I ordered the card was in April. After not receiving the card, I tried again in June. Again, I did not receive the card. I was told by DCOA that there must be some mistake, as they have not encountered this problem with anyone else that has ordered the card. I decided to try again at the end of August. This time, I sent the enrollment form to DCOA by certified mail. It was received by the company on Sept 2nd of 2003. I still retain the signed return receipt, and have been told by DCOA that the signiature is that of a DCOA employee. Here it is December 6th, and I still have not received my card.
Even if I were to now find a location, I would not place my DCOA machine in a business. Like I have stated above, based on my experience, I have serios doubts that DCOA even delivers these pre paid cards. I couldn't in good conscience sell a product that, based on my experience, leads me to believe that there is no such thing as a pre paid Debit Mastercard.
Again, I really have only my experiences to base my evaluation of DCOA on. I honestly hope that I am wrong. They are alingned (or at least they say they are) with some pretty big companies, which lend credibility to DCOA. I would love to hear from people who have either had similar expriences with DCOA, or who have had success with DCOA. Who knows, maybe I am just in the minority here, and a lot of people have been happy with their relationship with DCOA. I actually hope that is the case. Because, so far, all I have to show for my commitment to DCOA is some pretty big debt and a small television/VCR that my daughter uses in her room.
I did list my phone number and email address. If I can be of help, please feel free to call or email me. Unfortunately, I will not be able to return long distace calls, unless you accept collect calls, as I just can't afford it right now.
If you are contemplating buying a distributorship from DCOA, please do your homework. If you decide to go ahead with it, I wish you the best of luck. I hope you don't encounter the problems that I did.
Serious doubts in Oregon.
Doubter
Medford, Oregon
U.S.A.
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