Complaint Review: CREDIT COLLECTIONS DEFENSE NETWORK

Let me preface this complaint by stating that I am, and have NEVER been, in any way involved with The Credit Card Solution, CCDN or any organization which claims to reduce or eliminate a consumer's debt. I am nothing other than a "customer"; more appropriately a victim of Credit Collections Defense Network (CCDN) and The Credit Card Solution. This is a recount of MY experience with CCDN and TCCS. I strongly urge you to do your own research regarding the companies and individuals involved.
To understand the whole picture and situation, below is the list of each of the organizations involved in this scam. I will reference these companies later in my complaint.
Credit Collections Defense Network (CCDN) 7144 North Harlem Ave, Suite 323 Chicago, IL 60631 This is the Corporate headquarters of CCDN and also the offices of Attorney, Robert K. Lock, Jr who is the one of the founders of CCDN.
CCDN Support Center 321 Mantoloking Road, Suite 2A Brick, NJ 08723 (This was their old address before they changed it to the one below) 22 S Franklin Street Cattaraugus, NY 14719 Once enrolled in the program, this is the address to which you will be sending all documents received from the third-party debt collectors and banks. A quick search of this address on Google Maps Streetview returns very interesting results. It seems to be a house. Public Property Tax records return an owner of Patricia A Webster. Ironically, a man named Tracy Webster works for CCDN.
The Credit Card Solution (TCCS) 333 North Sam Houston Parkway East # 1190 Houston, TX 77060 TCCS is based out of Houston, Texas. They are simply one of the many marketing companies of CCDN. In my situation, this is the company I went through to obtain the services of CCDN. This company is run by Robert M Lindsey, who is the man in the videos on YouTube sporting the gold crucifix around his neck whom I've spoken to a couple times now.
Okay, now that we've laid the address and companies involved, here's my story.
TCCS & Mr Lindsey I came to know TCCS in the summer of 2008. I had acquired a large amount of debt on about 3 different credit cards. Most of this debt was simply small charges from careless spending. I was able to pay the credit card bills with the job I had at the time. After losing that job, it became extremely difficult to pay the bills, and they fell behind. While searching the internet for solutions to my issue, I came across the website of The Credit Card Solution with Robert Lindsey out of Houston, Texas. At that time, the web address was www.thecreditcardsolution.com .
I was so excited to read their offerings and their claims. Many claims were made on their website, and the videos I had viewed which were created by Mr. Lindsey himself, were very calming and made me feel quite comfortable doing business with the company. Seriously, how could a scam artist make several YouTube videos of himself explaining the process of his company and post them across the entire internet? Mr Lindsey cam across as being very confident and sincere in his videos. I have always felt I had a good sense of character and Mr Lindsey definitely didn't give me any cause for concern. The claims which were made to me when I signed up for their service included many statements which sounded great! All this for a small fee of $4500.00! All sound great, right?!
Stop making payments!
Fix your credit score within 4-6 months!
Avoid bankruptcy!
Be debt free in 12-14 months!
After completing the sign up process, I then learned of CCDN. CCDN was the actual company who provided the services of the "debt invalidation" and also the company who would provide me legal assistance and an attorney who would file a Federal Complaint against the collection companies who were attempting to get the money from me. Once I had completed the lengthy sign up process with CCDN, I was no longer communicating with The Credit Card Solution. I was now dealing with CCDN.
CCDN & The Process Once signed up, I was told to stop making payments to the credit card companies and mail out letters to them demanding "validation" of the debts they claimed I owed. Soon, the accounts were turned over to collection agencies who I was instructed to mail more letters to, and I was told to keep track of the calls the collectors made to me detailing everything including time, date, what was said to me, what I said to them and how I felt during and after the call. I began this entire process in June of 2008 and did everything as instructed by CCDN's "Support Center", which is the house in South Western New York I mentioned above. After many months of sending letters and faxing requested documents to CCDN and documenting collector calls, I had seen no change in my situation and became slightly worried. I began sending emails to CCDN's support center and I'd either not get a reply, or I'd get an email weeks later basically stating that everything was going as planned and my 3 accounts looked great. I had been documenting calls from collectors and soon we'd file a Federal Complaint in Federal Court against the Collectors and they'd collapse and settle out of court.....Riiiiiight. I emailed Mr Lindsey in February of 2009 and expressed my concern. I received an email back from him in the same tone he had when I signed up. Very calm, comforting and he explained that everything was looking good; just as CCDN had told me a couple months before. I thanked him and I began to get back to sending CCDN all documents I would receive from the collectors. Not ONE positive thing had come from all this work. 15 months after I had signed up with TCCS & CCDN, I found the bad news. The Credit Card Solution & the Texas Attorney General September 2009 arrived and I was to the end of my rope. I began researching the internet for any article related to either company. I was able to find websites about CCDN, however I couldn't find The Credit Card Solution's website. What happened to their website and why couldn't I contact anyone from TCCS anymore? I looked a little further and came upon the Lawsuit Press Release; filed against Jubilee Financial Solutions LP, also known as The Credit Card Solution (TCCS) by the State of Texas and the Attorney General's Office.
End of the Rope After viewing the Lawsuit, the SEVERAL complaints online from multiple websites and also the lack of success and progress on my accounts, I felt it was time to request a refund of the money I had paid 15 months prior to The Credit Card Solution. I first requested my refund from TCCS, but that wasn't possible due to the freeze the State of Texas had placed on TCCS's bank accounts. I sent a letter to CCDN's Headquarters requesting a refund, as I had absolutely no success with their program. My letter was responded to a few days later by the Director of Sales, Mr. John Hagenstein. He basically stated that they had done everything correctly and it was MY fault the program didn't work. I then demanded a refund and included PROOF that I had done everything as instructed and on time, and I received no response to my demand. Obviously because you can't deny a refund when someone provides proof that it's the company that is in the wrong. I unfortunately learned about this crooked company the hard way. I will end this complaint by just stating that this is my encounter with CCDN & TCCS and I strongly urge anyone looking into this type of service to research the company. This isn't the only complaint against these two companies. There are plenty more, along with a very negative rating from the BBB. It's very funny how quickly a companies reputation can change. When I viewed these BBB profiles before I had signed up, they had perfect ratings. In fact, when I spoke with Mr. Lindsey, he urged me to check out his BBB rating. Good luck to anyone in my situation. Plain and simple, CCDN doesn't do what they say, and they are a very unethical and dishonest company. I have tried multiple times using different methods to get my $4500 back. The only way I can see this happening now is through the court system, which is what I'm currently in the process of doing. If anyone cares to talk about their experiences, I'd gladly respond via email.
I can be reached by emailing (((email redacted))). CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.