PRIMERICA Bulldozer Company --> Sign now ask questions later could be a rip off Fallon Missouri
Recently our bestfriend joined in Primerica. She truly believes in the company and the services they offer. She phoned me to request a "few moments of my time" to practice on. No problem. She, along with her "upline" came to our home with a promise of a 45 minute interview ... which actually ended up being 2 1/2 hours long. We completed a Financial Needs Analysis with the promise that it would help us to see where we are at financially (which we already know thanks to Crown Financials free financial services)and what we needed to do to get out of debt.
The second meeting was last night and has left a sour taste in my mouth. The meeting started up just fine but ended up being nothing more than a harrassment to purchase life insurance and refinance our home that night. Nevermind that they wanted over $8,000 in closing costs (this includes the 3% loan discount fee of $5667.77) and were offering a 7.69% interest rate despite our current rate being at 6.25%.
They also put my husband's car into the loan (what kind of idiot is going to pay 30 years for a car that will be dead in 10 years tops) and insisted this was the wisest decision to make. They tried to show us that we'd be saving a ton by raising the interest rate on all our loans. They put our credit cards with low FIXED interests of 5% & 7.9% to 19% and 22% respectively.
Further their $1419.23 a month payment for our home (6.25%), equity line(5%) and car(6.23%) did not include our taxes of $1700 a year and insurance of $500 that is currently part of our loan. They said we'd save $400 a month after combining our payments ... but as we'd be paying $8,000 in closing costs and paying 1.9% more in interest per month ... having to pay our insurance and taxes on our own ...we'd actually be in the hole even more. Once we said no for the 10th time, we moved on to life insurance.
By this time, I was feeling irritated and annoyed that our "nos" meant absolutely nothing. My husband asked what they could offer us, he told them he'd like to comparison shop before making any rash decisions ...and unbelieveably the guy kept droning on and on. He kept saying, "God forbid that you die tonight without insurance" and "I just want what's best for you."
Interesting that a complete stranger would know what's best for our family. Our bestfriend interjected and tried to coax us into signing as well. We couldn't understand what the big deal was about thinking through their offer. I finally got up and left the room. It was rude and shameful on my part, but the only way I could think of to end the now 3 hour tirade. My husband escorted them to the door and thanked them for their time. Thus ended our horrible experience.
What did we think of their insurance? We thought it was low, but we knew we could go lower with other companies. They wanted $85 a month for a $500,000 20 year term policy on each of us and $10,000 each on our two children. Not bad, right? Well, I knew I wouldn't be preferred because of my health yet he refused to disclose what the extra cost would be. Instead he waved his hand as if to brush my question away with the dust and said it couldn't be more than $4 more a month. $4 more a month is $48 more a year ... not that bad, but I wanted a guarantee it wouldn't be higher.
He said to just sign now and when the paperwork came in we could decide if we wanted to keep it. Been down that road before with other companies .... don't want to go through the hassle of cancelling again. Always want you to send a written notice within 14 days or you're up a creek without a paddle. They aren't responsible for lost or stolen items in the mail .. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. NO THANKS!
SO to all who are thinking about Primerica ... I have nothing bad to say against the company but I will say READ THE FINE PRINT and CAREFULLY go over all the paperwork they send you for refinancing. Check out at least three other banks and insurance companies before you buy. AND DON'T BE PUSHED INTO DOING SOMETHING YOU MIGHT LATER REGRET.
It's not rude to ask someone to leave your home ... especially if they persist to irritate you after you already said NO!
Angela
Saint Louis, Missouri
U.S.A.
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