CARE ONE CREDIT COUNSELING - CESI - CONSUMER EDUCATION SERVICES CREDIT COUNSELING RIP-OFF COLUMBIA Maryland
This company has commercials regularly on television. I thought they sounded legit. They advertise how they are "willing to help you get out of debt", blah blah blah. It says to call the 800 number with all your credit card statements, and they will take all of the information right over the phone.
First off, they take your payment directly out of your bank acct. Then, they are a PROFIT company. Every month they tack on like $50 and up to cover THEIR fees. I was told my payments would only be $300 a month. I thought thay was a little high, yet feasible. So I signed up.
They said not to take calls from the credit card companies, and ignore their harrassment. I was told to also disregard my credit card statements, that they would not be accurate. Well, I did this in good faith, I expected them to pay my creditors.
For 4 months they debited my bank account. And every month the amount increased. I never knew how much would be automatically withdrawn. That was scary in itself. Then the credit card companies started calling. They claim they have not gotten paid. I call CESI about this, and I was given a run-around that it supposidly takes a couple of months for the payments to be acknowledged by the credit card companies. Well, lets put it this way, after 4 months CESI took $1500 out of my bank account. NO CREDIT CARDS were paid all this time.
Now my credit is much worse off than it was before. I was NEVER late on payments prior to signing up with CESI. I was doing this to simply consolidate all of my bills into ONE monthly payment. Look what happened. Now its totally out of control. I couldnt pay both CESI AND the credit card companies at the same time. It was one or the other.
Since CESI thought they had a right to my bank account, and take out however much they wanted, I couldnt afford to still make payments to the credit cards too. I finally had to do a Stop Payment on my bank account so CESI couldnt access my money anymore. I called them several times to get this straightened out. They just kept bulls**tting me.
So now I have a lot of derogitory information on my credit report, and I am $1500 poorer. I do not recommend this company to ANYONE. They DONT help you out of debt, they CAUSE MORE DEBT!! My statements are out of control now. These credit card companies have charged me late payment fees, overlimit fees, and raised my APR to an average of 30% because of this. The minimum payments are several hundred dollars EACH CARD. I have about 15 cards I signed up on this program. My debt has just about DOUBLED since I signed up with Care One Credit/CESI. They are a horrible, horrible company. DO NOT LET THEM "HELP" YOU!
T
NORTHWEST, Arizona
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Whatsupmrcheezle
New York,New York,
U.S.A.
Have their methods changed?
#5Consumer Comment
Mon, September 29, 2008
I've been with COC for almost two years now after getting in financial trouble after a job layoff. I only have a few months left before everything is paid off in full.
When I signed up, their fee was optional. Since they were a non-profit agency, I zeroed out the fee, only sending money to my creditors. Maybe they've changed that since then - I don't know.
As long as you keep the same date for your payments and stay current, there should be no issues. There could be some hassle at first if the creditors feel you aren't paying them enough, but everything can be negotiated. If you switch around the payment date and/or skip payments, you're technically reneging on your agreement.
Whatsupmrcheezle
New York,New York,
U.S.A.
Have their methods changed?
#5Consumer Comment
Mon, September 29, 2008
I've been with COC for almost two years now after getting in financial trouble after a job layoff. I only have a few months left before everything is paid off in full.
When I signed up, their fee was optional. Since they were a non-profit agency, I zeroed out the fee, only sending money to my creditors. Maybe they've changed that since then - I don't know.
As long as you keep the same date for your payments and stay current, there should be no issues. There could be some hassle at first if the creditors feel you aren't paying them enough, but everything can be negotiated. If you switch around the payment date and/or skip payments, you're technically reneging on your agreement.
Mike Lawler
Columbia,Maryland,
U.S.A.
Corrections from CareOne
#5UPDATE Employee
Thu, August 23, 2007
CareOne Credit Counseling is the largest brand of credit counseling services in the nation, having helped over 4 million people to date. The Credit Counseling Agencies (CCAs) offering the CareOne service adhere to strict quality standards designed to ensure that customers can get out of debt and stay out of debt. Nearly all of what has been written here about CareOne Credit Counseling is inaccurate and we appreciate the opportunity to provide corrected information:
The key to success on any debt management plan is consistency. Making payments on time, especially in the first 3-4 months is critical. This is why CCAs offer the EasyPay system to allow customers to have the option of using their own checking accounts to make their creditor payments electronically to ensure they are made in accordance with the plan. There is no fee for this optional program and the majority of those who enroll choose to use it. Payments are debited monthly only for the agreed to amounts. These amounts can go up in the first 1-2 months, however, by small amounts (
Regarding creditor statements, customers are advised to read their creditor statements every month, not ignore them. This is the only way to verify that creditor benefits have been enabled on their accounts. It would be counter-productive to ignore them, as this is the benchmark for their success.
CCAs (across the industry) charge a monthly fee to cover the costs of payment and proposal processing, call center support staffing, online access, etc. Many other agencies charge exorbitant fees, sometimes more than amounts being paid to creditors. CareOne Agencies, on the other hand, are required to keep fees reasonable so that payments remain affordable. All fees are always disclosed up front, before enrollment in the program.
There is not enough information provided in this complaint for a follow up on this specific incident, but any time there are issues or concerns about performance, we are eager to address them. A Customer Care representative is available M-F at 1-888-888-CARE to discuss concerns at any time, and further information is available about CareOne Credit Counseling at http://www.careonecredit.com.
Mike Lawler
Director of Product Management
CareOne Credit Counseling
Gerald
Mattydale,New York,
U.S.A.
15 Credit Cards? Are you insane?
#5Consumer Suggestion
Mon, April 23, 2007
There are some holes in your story that lead me to believe that you actually screwed up and are putting the company as the scape goat.
Let me get this straight, you have at least 15 credit cards that you activley used?
The company told you to ignore your credit card statements? That is a load of bull stuff. Even if they did tell you to ignore the statment balances, a SANE person would look at them anyway.
They told you to ignore any telephone calls from the creditors? And you didnt even try telling the creditors that you were using this company to consolidate your debt when they had you on the phone??? Again, a SANE person would tell them this information as it would benefit them, not harm them.
This is what you did, you opened an account with the credit counseling company, started to make payments to them, then stopped paying them when you found your self deeper in debt because you didnt do the math of what it would cost to have their help.
No one, and I mean no one has 15 credit cards, without some form of disease of the brain.
Oh, and you know enouph to come here and complain, but not smart enough to look here too see if there were any bad reports on them PRIOR to signing up with them??
Your stuck buddy... your fault to begin with any any bankruptsy judge will see it the same way.