In March of I received an email advertising debt counseling, non-profit organization, reduce your interest rates... Reduce monthly payments... Become debt-free!" So, I called the number and spoke with a representative of Credit Counseling Express and the rep confirmed everything from the email and admonished me to check them out, "we're a member of the Better Business Bureau". Well, I checked them out and they were a member (in good standing) of the BBB.
At the time, I wasn't behind on any bills nor struggling to keep the payments timely. I simply thought, "hmm, I could elimate these credit card bills and revolving accounts a lot faster through this program. The BBB says their okay and they are a non-profit organization so they are not in it for the money".
I gave the rep a call back and schedule the initial draft of $489 to began in May. This initial payment would go towards the last disbursement to my creditors upon completed the program. The monthly $19 fee was totally tax deductable because Credit Counseling Express is non-profit. Did I mention they were non-profit?
So, the money was drafted as agreed upon in May.By June, the normal monthly statements from my creditors reflected late charges for missed payments. I made several attempts to contact my rep at CCE to no avail.
Finally, I found another number for CCE on the internet and spoke with a rep that informed me that my rep was no longer employed by CCE. I explained the situation and ultimately spoke with a "manager". They had no idea what happened with my account, the scape goat being, of course, the rep that no longer worked for them.
At this point, I was behind and owed lump sum to each creditor I'd listed with CCE. Plus, CCE was still drafting my funds monthly so I could not afford to "double-pay" my creditors. Some creditors even stated that they had never been contacted by CCE. The situation was grim, especially since I was planning to upgrade my vehicle to my dream SUV.
The "manager" claimed all the damage done would be repaired if I stayed in the program. Or I could walk away and live with it. "Walk away, run away!" I opted to continue in the program and basically, some creditors got paid but the interest was not lowered. Others agreed to proposals by CCE, but never received any payments. And still others never heard from CCE.
I sent an email and a written request to be terminated from the program (those *@#%^ wouldn't answer the phone). I reported CCE to the BBB (yeah, that was a big help) and began to negotiate with my creditors myself in an attempt to clean up this mess. Some actually had their own programs with lower percentages than the CCE proposals. Others wopuldn't even deal because my accounts were closed in accordance to the proposal from CCE. What!!! No one said anything about closing accounts.
Okay, let me close this thing. I could write a book. I am currently still scratching and clawing to get out the hole CCE cast me in, almost a year later. The debts not reducing because the percentages are higher and I can only make the minimum payments. And that's just in regards to the accounts I could manage. Some creditors wanted lump sums that I couldn't pay, so... Legal issues. Anyway, I hope this at least keeps someone else from falling into the same trap.
Robert
Birmingham, Alabama
U.S.A.
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