Complaint Review: Direct Business Lending

 I went online on December 26, 2013 to apply for a start-up loan of $10,000 for a business I'm in the process of opening. A representative from Direct Business Lending regarding our loan application contacted me. I explained to him that I do not have a good credit and as a result, I have been turned down by different banks. He assured me that this company would be able to get me a start up loan regardless of my credit.  

He scheduled an appointment for me to speak with my account manager the next day (12/27/13) and another one for the following Monday (12/30/13) with an underwriter named James.  On the 27th, about 30 minutes before my appointment, I received a call from a representative that the account manager had an ear infection and did not make it to work. The rep then rescheduled the appointment for Monday December 30th with the same account manager. The appointment with the underwriter was scheduled for the earlier part of the day and the one with the account manager was scheduled for later part of the day (5:00P.M) I believe.  

The underwriter James called me during the day on 12/30/13 for the scheduled appointment. He pulled my credit report and told me that my score was 640. However, the credit report needs to be cleaned up. They also need to build my business credit and give me a business email address although I already had one. They will also write a business plan for me. There were other services included in the package that were not necessary to me because I already have them all. I was told that the services would cost $3000.00. I needed to make a down payment of $152.00 and $148.00 per month. He suggested that we ask for $40,000 instead of $10,000 and that will make it easier for me to get the loan.  

I asked how long it would take for me to get the loan because I need it right away. He told me approximately five weeks because of my credit score being 640. I went ahead and made the first payment and signed the agreement.  I waited for the account manager to call me for my scheduled appointment, but I never heard from her.  I called back to find out what was going on and I was given all kinds of stories.  Now that they got my money, they do not care. James had no problem calling me to get money from me, but they cannot get an account manager to call me to start the process. 

I was very upset and I asked to speak with a manager. Jantzen came on the line and tried to help me. He had no idea of what was going on in my case.  He asked me all kinds of questions including my credit report that was just pulled by James.  It appears none of them are on the same page. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.  He told me he was going to serve as my account manager until they assign me another one.

I told him to ask James for a copy of my credit report since they all work for the same company, but conveniently, James was gone for the day and nobody could locate my credit report.  That in itself was very upsetting.  I asked him about the duration of the process and he confirmed that it would take approximately five weeks.  Now, there was nowhere in that conversation did he mention he is the owner of the company, so I thought he was just a supervisor.  When I asked him how they are going to build my business credit, I was told that the monthly payments I am making to them would build it.   

He scheduled an appointment for January 3, 2014 with a credit manager named Stormy.  The appointment was scheduled for 6:30 P.M. Stormy is assigned to work on my personal credit report.  Stormy called me at 6:15 P.M. on 1/3/14 to ask for my credit reports or she would not be able to proceed with the appointment. I asked why she did not gather all her facts before calling me. She had 4 days to prepare for this appointment.  I explained to her as I did to Jantzen that James has it. Between December 30th when I spoke with Jantzen and Jan 3rd, somebody should have obtained a copy of my credit reports from James by then.  

So it was ridiculous for her to call me 15 minutes prior to our scheduled appointment and asked for the reports as if I was told to provide it and failed to do so.  I made it clear to her that I did not pay them money for them to play stupid games with me. She put her supervisor (this woman) on the phone, who was extremely rude. I gave her a piece of my mind and I ended up pulling copies of all three-credit reports with her specific instructions. Somehow, she was able to access one, but not the other two (all part of the games they play).

Stormy went ahead with the appointment and asked me to email the rest to her. During the appointment, I was told that I would need to provide a copy of my credit reports every 30 days. They were going to be writing letters to the credit bureaus and email me the letters, so I can send them out. Apparently, the $3000.00 I am paying to them is not enough for them to pay for my credit reports every 30 days and stamps to mail the letters. Here I am in a cash-strapped and they keep taking the little bit I have left. They prey on the weak, which is extremely sickening.

I told both of the ladies that I was informed that I will get a loan within 5 weeks, which means they should be able to clean up my credit report and build my business credit within 5 weeks. The other lady said, "I am sorry if that is what they told you, but that is not how it works."  How is it that everybody has a different story and they all work for one company? Although every conversation is recorded, nobody seems to know what the other person said.  I cannot wait till a court subpoenas every conversation they have recorded and sees the discrepancies among them.  

James or Jantzen never told me that I would have to send in credit reports every 30 days until my credit is cleaned before I can receive a loan.  That would contradict with the promise that I will get a loan within 5 weeks. If I were told that at the initial stages prior to making the payment and signing the agreement, I would not have done it. I know I need a loan right away and I do not need to pay somebody money for several months to clean my credit before getting a loan.  This whole thing was misleading.

They never tell you the actual process until you enter into an agreement with them, as they know telling you the truth will turn you away.  As a matter of fact, there was nowhere in our conversation that James or Jantzen informed me that I am not guaranteed a loan. They both assured me that I would get a loan through them.  Trust me, I don't have the money to waist, so there was no way I would have sign on with these scammers if they had not guarantee me a loan.  I am so mad at myself for not reading the reviews on them before signing up with them.  But let me tell you, they are good at scamming. They know what to say to get you.

I sent all three reports again via email to Stormy the next day. I had to continue to leave her messages plus email before she finally responded that she was able to view two of them, but not the 3rd one. Go Figure! They had set me up for this thing called credit repair portal with user name and password. In the portal, there is a spot to upload files to the company so they can access them. I uploaded all three reports and notified Stormy, but she claimed she had no access to the portal. Only I have access to it. How Interesting!  

What is the point of me uploading files into the system if nobody, but I can access it?  I left a message for Jantzen to call me, but I did not hear from him until 1/11/14. When he called, he asked if I was aware that he is the owner of the company and I said "no".  Apparently he is very busy and that was why it took a while to get back to me. I made it clear to him about how unhappy I am with their customer service and the way they run business. He informed me that he was aware of it and that he is in the process of making changes.

It's been 4 weeks since I signed up with them so I called to find out when I will start receiving loans and I was told my credit score is not good enough. It is less than 640, which is different from what James saw. I have not done anything to it since then. I got angry and asked to speak with Jantzen, but he is always in an executive meeting, so he is not able to talk. On 1/24/14, he told a rep to tell me he will call me back, but I still have not heard from him. I have left several messages.  When they needed my money, everybody was there ton talk to me. Once they got it, it did not matter any more.  The reps are very rude and unprofessional. I sent them an email to close my account today and I will follow up until it is done. 

Every time I call, a new person answers the phone and asks me the same stupid questions I have been asked before. The ones who are assigned to my case never returns phone calls.  In a nutshell, these people are major scammers and everybody needs to stay far away from them.