Complaint Review: Debticated Consumer Counseling

I worked for this company when it was first Ameridebt then changed over to Debticated. I was with them for over a year. I will never forgive myself for what I did there. All I can say for myself is that I was young and didn't know any better. I started having suspisions about their conduct throughout my employment there, but only fully realized the truth at the end...which is when I quit the company.

This is and always has been a company that completely lies and misleads their customers. Like I said, at first I really thought I was doing a good thing and helping these customers. I really thought we did have everything set up with the CC companies, and thought we were the way to get these people out of debt. s**t, I was proud of myself! My family was proud of what I was doing, such a wonderful responsible job at such a young age....

Anyway, one thing I did know is that we were misleading consumers about the 'voluntary' contribution-the first payment. If you wanted to hit bonus and make commission you didn't tell the client about it.

For those that did tell and wound up not getting alot of contributions, they left or were fired pretty quickly, or just didn't make any money. Most of us didn't tell clients, and we figured it wasn't really a big deal because we sent them a contract that went over the fact that this payment went to us.

The contract DID say that but no one really read it. At the time I figured well if they don't read it, that's not my problem. The truth of the matter is that it was our responsibility if we were to be a professional company, to make sure the customer was aware of this and we did not do that.

We hoped they wouldn't read that part of the contract so we could make our commission. But at the end of the day, I thought I was still helping people, so no big deal. Then started the complaints. I worked with my customers for months and really built relationships with these people. They sent me letters, christmas cards, etc.

Most of the sales people there probably knew what was up from the get go and didn't give a d**n about these people. But this was my first sales job and I didn't know better yet. I thought I was there to help them, and I cared about my customers. so when they started complaining that there were problems with their account, I started having conversations with my manager, Eriks Pukke (he went by Erik Parker). He would tell me that I had to refer them to customer service. I would do so, and they would call back telling me either that they were unable to reach anyone there, or the people there weren't able to help them.

I went back to Erik many times about this and was told that my job was done with these customers, they had to go through customer service. It got to the point where he actually screamed at me about it and FORBID me to talk to these customers anymore!

Eventually this is why I left the company. why was I there for over a year? It's sad to say, but I was young, and on my own, and was making really good money. I lived on my own, had rent, car payment, etc. all on a salary that no one my age would be able to make except there. So although I was getting extremely concerned about the company, I felt I had no choice.

I did however, stop being as agressive as I was supposed to be, and went from being one of the top producers, to just an average sales person. I could no longer in good concience do my job as they wanted me to. Finally I had enough, I couldn't live with myself while working there any longer. I quit. Moved back home with my parents, and went to work for a company making maybe 60% of what I was making there.

My family kept telling me I should go back'you were doing so well there, we were so proud of you'. I told them over and over. This company is ripping people off. they didn't care. I did what I knew was right in the end. I just wish I had done it sooner.

FYI-there was always talk about what the 'real deal' was there amongst the employees. We knew about Debtworks, and how they were getting around our so called non profit status by funneling money through debtworks.

We also knew about Infinity and that it was owned by the Pukke's. No one there had ever heard of someone actually getting this loan that was promised, but after the first month's payment we didn't deal with the client anymore, so we weren't in contact with them at the 6 month point when they were supposed to get their loan. So for Bryan to say that he knows nothing....bs. I don't believe it for a second. I don't know this Bryan I am assuming he worked after I left, when dan and Louis started running the place. But don't think for a second that because we were there at different times it means things changed or anything; if anything they got worse.

I still knew people who worked there and knew all about how Dan and Louis were running the place.

If you knew nothing Bryan, fine. but don't stand there and tout how wonderful the company was and how these people are lying. Have you read the lawsuits?? Andris Pukke has turned over ALL his assets. Did you read about the indictments against Dan, Louis and Brad? They're due to be sentenced next month for fraud. The fact that you are playing like you still believe they did nothing wrong makes it obvious youre lying, because if you knew nothing then, you would certainly know now since everything has come out.

I feel awful about all the people I hurt. I will always feel guilty for that. I was young and naive, but that's really no exscuse. I am so sorry that anyone of you got involved in this, Anytime this company is mentioned I speak the truth about it, letting everyone know what really happened, and warning everyone away from any of these companies. I only wish I kknew then what I know now.

While I used Debticated, having to do something after loosing my job, during 2001 they lost two of my payments inside their offices causing late payments to my accounts. I finally resorted to making different payment arrangements, but one of the payments that was lost was not located for many many months.

It was apparently found on some managers desk unopened seven or eight months down the road. Then they went and sent it to the creditors anyway even though I am no longer a client of Debticated.

Also, the main reason I picked Debticated was because the highly promoted this loan program which I was extremely interested, but it was not forthcoming. Personally basised upon my experience they had a long list of problems. Lying, unorganized, and not following procedures.

You had such a high limit that you contacted a agency that helps people get out of debt? That makes absolutely no since. Of course they are going to up your limit if you carry a balance. They name of the game is Finance Charges. You would not contact an agency to lower your credit limit. You would contact your credit card company and request they decrease your limit. Secondly, I have never nor would I ever need to use an agency like the one stated above and as I stated in my first response, I know people who have and I know that they have received a tremendous amount of help. Secondly, I will not have a pissing contest with you. I will just tell you that by the time I turned 19 I had established enough good credit to buy my first home(110,000.00 loan). I have never defaulted on this loan and am now in the process at 24 of buying my second home. I never wanted to insult anyone I just wanted to point out the fact that the only people who would contact these types of agencies are those who are in debt-something the agency never made them do. To the man that stated he just wanted to have help lowering his limits-CONTACT YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY- they are the only ones who can lower your limit. No matter what agency you contact, they would contact your credit card company on your behalf to lower your interest rate-in doing so it will lower your credit score. Good luck to everyone who is truly trying to get out of debt. Like I stated, contact your credit card company directly, they may be willing to work with you to come up with a solution. Secondly, if you own any type of equity I would suggest going to your bank and applying for a loan to pay off your high interest credit cards. If you own a house, look into getting a home equity line of credit, they usually have a percentage rate of less then 10%. It may also help to cut up any department store credit cards as most have an interest rate of over 20%. Lastly, if you are now out of debt but do not know how to begin building your credit back up, go to your local Target/other department store and apply for a card. You will probably have an extremely high interest rate but if you purchase $20 per month on it and pay it off in full every month, you will be well on your way to restoring your credit.

This comment is for Andrea from Palm Springs. I've worked in the credit industry all my life and have NEVER seen a credit score of 889.

Secondly, the credit scoring system would DECREASE your score for a greater credit line NOT increase it. The more debt you can obtain, the higher risk you represent to a lender.

And what sense does it make that you contacted a debt service company because your credit line continued to increase?

My sympathies to the original poster as I think 99% debt relief companies are a big scam to begin with. Hope it all works out and you get your money back!

How much glue have you been sniffing? What kind of a dream world do you live in? Ask them for a refund and we will probably get it? Would you like to see the huge folder I have of correspondence to Debticated? First of all, I was given the names of 2 different people that were supposedly the CEO's. Then I was told that those people did not work there. Then I had some witch named Kristen call me and tell me so sad, too bad. Now I have a nice settlement from the postal inspector to look forward to because the company that you represented screwed me and a bunch of other people over. I hope that you can sleep well at night knowing that you worked for a company that lied, cheated and stole. Non profit my butt. You didn't get anywhere until you sent in money. If I was you, I would not list Debticated on your resume.

Mr. X,

I had worked for Debticated Consumer Counseling for quite some time and it saddens me to hear such bashing of a company that DOES look out for the best of their clients interests. We were not told to misrepresent the benefits associated with credit counseling IE. lower APR's or waiving of fees if the consumers creditors did not offer them.

We were responsible to make sure that any contributions asked for were disclosed over the phone and they were also in writing.

As for management they were always willing to go the extra yard and assist with any dilemma that a counselor could not handle on their own. As for any consumer that feels that they were misrepresented I strongly urge you to look deeper into what you are getting yourself into in the future, understand that it does cost a tremendous amount of money to administer an account and those contributions do help to offset costs.

DONOT be afraid of credit counseling it DOES help but you have to make sure you fit the criteria's, for many people it can be a true life saver and it does help to pay it off faster this may sound cheesy but I'm not only an ex employee but I'm also a consumer on the other end of the phone and I do have a heart. If you feel you were mislead simply contact them and ask for a refund I'm sure you get it.

While I would like to thank you for your input, I really can't. First of all, the reason that I contacted a service was because my credit was so good that my credit line kept getting increased. Bet that doesn't happen to you very often does it. I could care less if Brian has the courage to speak up about this company or not. The fact remains that Debticated put the screws to many people and there are over 3 dozen of us involved in a class action lawsuit. I wonder if you don't work for them since you happened to find them on this type of a report. Maybe you are one of their corporate bull dogs. Maybe you are one who helped to screw the rest of us. So no, I won't be pointing my finger at myself as I was misled and deceived. I can't wait to get my large settlement check from Debticated. Bet I will be going on a nice vacation. And I have worked for my company for 5 years as well and I find that there are not too many policies I don't agree with. Get a life and your own opinion. Maybe you need to stop being a b****.

Jennifer to let you know the reason why this company and many others are going under is because of there misrepesentation to the public. They tell people flat out lies so they can get there business Debticated gets a quick back from all of the credit companys that particpate so of course they take anyone who has a large amount of debt. I point out told these people my credit is fine and that I have never been late and that I would like some help in paying these off as soon as possible. They are Fnnn liars all of them and as fast as these companys come up the faster they will fall it is only a matter of time and I leading the way for this company Debticated I am going to make them pay for there unethical business paractices.

As someone who neither worked at this company or requested them to help me I have a question for you Andrea.........if you had such good credit then why did you need a credit service? OH, because you charged to much and knew that you would be up sh** creek without a paddle if you didn't get some help.....first of all, in order to lower your interest rates they contact credit card companies and work with them. They cannot guarantee that every credit card company will work with them. However, if the bank agrees it does have a negative effect on your credit, not as bad as if you file bankruptcy or if you have credit cards that have been charged off-but it does show up on your credit report. Secondly, what kind of job do you have that you get to change corporate policies if you don't agree with how things are done? I have worked for a corporation for 5 years and while I don't agree with the policies and the way some customers are treated, I cannot change policy. I can only assist my customers to the best of my ability. This can also be said about Bryan. He unfortunately worked for a bad company but at least he has the courage to speak up about what happened. so quit being a b**** and why don't you point your finger at yourself for having a bad credit rating. No matter how far you pursue this one thing remains the same. YOU ALREADY SCREWED UP YOUR CREDIT IF YOU CONTACTED THEM FOR HELP. And lastly, I know alot of people who had received this companies help and they appreciated it. They understood everything and asked questions and are now debt free.

Well Brian, let me see if I can muster up enough tears to cry for your situation. Wait...nope, can't do it. I trusted this company to do what they promised. They did nothing but steal from me and ruin my credit. That's right Brian, ruin. My credit score before signing up with them was 889. It is now 429. Why? Dedicated and all of it's representatives lied, cheated and stole from myself as well as others. Now you are paying the price. Sorry your child has no health insurance. My child could have lost his home and everything else that we had because of the misrepresentation of your company. I am sure that Stephen Beck was not the only one on drugs. Maybe part of your commission was with the local dealer. I don't know. But here is a tip for the future...1)don't work commission jobs, 2) research these so called non profit organziations and 3) if you start hearing rumors about wrong doing, get out while you still can. The one piece of mind that I have is that I am part of the class action lawsuit and I cannot wait until the day I can collect all the money that you stole from me. Yes, I said you stole. You might as well have been the one who did it for the way that you are sticking up for this company. Spend more time with your child and less time defending this crappy company. Maybe then you will sleep better at night.

Many of Us employed at Debticated were completely honest and did exactly what we were told! Steven beck is not a good example!! After a few months at debticated steven had to take a leave of absence to attend a 28 Day Drug rehab because of a DWI conviction! Please don't judge the whole Co. on the actions of a Lying drug-addict/alcoholic! The rest of us were thrown in the street because of whiners like yourselves! If you were disappointed in the service you received, just leave the program and write your first payment off as a charitable contribution on your taxes! When people give to United Way the get nothing in return! At least you got lower interst rates! All we got was between 20 and 30% commission of your first payments. No salary and maybe a $1000 bonus if we busted our butts and did 50 accounts in one month. Now...because of the news story, class action suit, complaints and the NYS banking Dept,I am now out of work and my daughter has no health Ins. THANKS ALOT!!!!!!

Many of Us employed at Debticated were completely honest and did exactly what we were told! Steven beck is not a good example!! After a few months at debticated steven had to take a leave of absence to attend a 28 Day Drug rehab because of a DWI conviction! Please don't judge the whole Co. on the actions of a Lying drug-addict/alcoholic! The rest of us were thrown in the street because of whiners like yourselves! If you were disappointed in the service you received, just leave the program and write your first payment off as a charitable contribution on your taxes! When people give to United Way the get nothing in return! At least you got lower interst rates! All we got was between 20 and 30% commission of your first payments. No salary and maybe a $1000 bonus if we busted our butts and did 50 accounts in one month. Now...because of the news story, class action suit, complaints and the NYS banking Dept,I am now out of work and my daughter has no health Ins. THANKS ALOT!!!!!!

Many of Us employed at Debticated were completely honest and did exactly what we were told! Steven beck is not a good example!! After a few months at debticated steven had to take a leave of absence to attend a 28 Day Drug rehab because of a DWI conviction! Please don't judge the whole Co. on the actions of a Lying drug-addict/alcoholic! The rest of us were thrown in the street because of whiners like yourselves! If you were disappointed in the service you received, just leave the program and write your first payment off as a charitable contribution on your taxes! When people give to United Way the get nothing in return! At least you got lower interst rates! All we got was between 20 and 30% commission of your first payments. No salary and maybe a $1000 bonus if we busted our butts and did 50 accounts in one month. Now...because of the news story, class action suit, complaints and the NYS banking Dept,I am now out of work and my daughter has no health Ins. THANKS ALOT!!!!!!

Many of Us employed at Debticated were completely honest and did exactly what we were told! Steven beck is not a good example!! After a few months at debticated steven had to take a leave of absence to attend a 28 Day Drug rehab because of a DWI conviction! Please don't judge the whole Co. on the actions of a Lying drug-addict/alcoholic! The rest of us were thrown in the street because of whiners like yourselves! If you were disappointed in the service you received, just leave the program and write your first payment off as a charitable contribution on your taxes! When people give to United Way the get nothing in return! At least you got lower interst rates! All we got was between 20 and 30% commission of your first payments. No salary and maybe a $1000 bonus if we busted our butts and did 50 accounts in one month. Now...because of the news story, class action suit, complaints and the NYS banking Dept,I am now out of work and my daughter has no health Ins. THANKS ALOT!!!!!!

I just saw a news report on Debticated last night. Some poor woman is now more financially in the whole than she was to begin with. First of all, Debticated completely abused it's "non-profit" status, as what many so called debt consolidators are doing.

Also, one of her charge cards that had the most $$ on it, the financial institution did not even have an agreement with Debticated, yet Debticated still took her money and claimed they were dispursing funds when they were not.

You guys suck. You deserved to crash and burn. People need to stick with only a handful of reputable Debt consolidators. You guys are now a dime a dozen. Why are there so many when you supposedly aren't making any profits?

Gee Brian, how sheltered were you in your job? It was not just a few dissatisfied customers. I was in your program, and your program destroyed my credit forcing me to file for bankruptcy. I made a complaint to the BBB, FTC and was contacted by the United States Postal Inspector because Debticated was being investigated for fraud, interstate wire theft and using the mail as a means of ripping off consumers. I am not done with this company by a long shot and intend to participate in the class action lawsuit that is being filed against your company by others such as myself. Maybe if you and the other counselors had not been used as pawns, you would still be employed. I know that Stephen Beck is probably the biggest p***k that I have had the misfortune of dealing with and as soon as I found the inconsistancies in your program, he stopped receiving and returning my calls. Debticated currently owes me $3000.00 for their fraudulent program. I hope that you can sleep at night knowing that you helped to destroy the lives of many people. I would not put them on my resume if I was you!!

I assume the company is now out of business, despite any offical statement by Erik Pukke or anyone else! NYS Banking Dept officials performed an Audit of Debticated's financial records recently. IT TOOK THEN THREE MONTHS TO FIND SOMETHING!!!! Eventually they found something to hold against the company. There were alot of rumors and eventually we were told that may would be the last month to set up any payments. I would just like to say that this company is no different than any other debt consolidation co. in the rest of the country! The only reason we were singled out is because of the few unsatisfied customers who complained as opposed to the thousands of satisfied customers who were silent during all of this. Now none of us "lying counselors" have jobs!