Complaint Review: First Cash Advance Chicago Illinois

On July 30^th, I received a phone call from First Cash Advance about being pre-approved for a loan. I didn’t think anything of it being as I get offers like that through the mail all the time. The person gave me his name as John Smith, which it changed later to Jordan Smith and repeated that I was preapproved for a loan. He spoke in an Indian accent. He asked me what amount I wanted. I asked him to tell me about his company. He stated that his company First Cash Advanced based in Chicago Illinois was a subsidiary of Bank of America. Being naïve, it sounded factual. He again asked me the loan amount. I told him $5000. He asked what is was for and I told him debt consolidation. He then asked for my bank routing and checking accounting number, which I gave and said he would call me back in fifteen minutes. He called back forty-five minutes later and congratulated me on getting the loan. Dumb me had not given him work information or any of that needed formalities to qualify for a loan and didn’t think until it was too late. Mr. Smith stated that to process the loan, it was $30.00 and another $30.00 for handling fees, totaling $60.00. He went on to say that his company cannot take a dime from its customers and all monies/fees collected will be refunded to you with the loan. So I was told to go to a Walgreens or a CVS and purchase a money green dot card totaling $60.00 and to call him with the numbers off the back of the card. Once I give those numbers, no more than 10 minutes will the money/loan be deposited into my account.  I did what I was instructed to do. After telling him the numbers, he stated he would call me back in fifteen minutes. Mind you, the money was never deposited.  Fifteen minutes turned into forty when he did call and he stated there was a problem with transferring the money. He went on to say that his senior person was in banking and that I needed to go get another $135.00, a fee to transfer the money and then the money would be in my account. I did, and to no avail, no money in my account. This time around it was the taxes. At this go around, I was beginning to question, why was I having to pay all these fees which were not explained when discussing the loan. He went on to say it was of company policy and that he would not ask me for any more money to put on a green card, or he will decline my loan and issue me a refund. So I went and I got another $60. Card. And no money was placed in my account. After this he tells me about my credit score and it’s just average and banks want to work with people that have more than average score and to raise my score, all I would need was an additional $200. Which would be refunded back to me with the loan. At this time, I started to feel scammed. It’s now, July 31^st.  I asked to speak with his manager, Richard Dixon. I explained my concerned and he explained their policies and how he could repair/raise my credit core so that in the future, I would not be worried with being average, instead, it would be good credit score. He also guaranteed me my money within ten to fifteen minutes of me giving him the numbers on the back of the card and that if anyone asked me for any more money, he would decline my loan and reimburse me all money expended thus far. So dumb, dumb me, went and got another card for $200. And again, no money was deposited into my account. Here again some problem. Now I want a refund. I told them to forget the loan and give me my money back. At first they kept insisting that everything was ready (paperwork) and don’t do that. I gave them what they told me. “If I was asked any more money, a refund would be given to me; no questions!” So now that I didn’t want the loan, it’s a fee to cancel it, a fee to transfer the money into my account. Now I was livid! The light bulb finally went off in my head. I cursed them out, called them all kinds of frauds, scam artist, etc. But I also told them that I take ownership for my part in this charade! And that I was not giving them one cent more. And of course they continued pitching the repeated lines about it would be the last time they promised. I hung up, after them calling me back repeatedly without me picking up, I finally blocked there number. If anyone sees a number 312-450-7313, or receive a call from First Cash Advance from Indian descendants, don’t fall for it, they will take your money.