Complaint Review: Padspin - New York New York

Padspin told me they weren't a broker, but they are. Dealing with them is a really confusing experience - not to mention getting verbally abused (yelled at, talked over, gaslighted) by Jeff Segal for asking basic questions.   I saw an apartment listing on the site nakedapartments.com. The listing clearly states no-fee. I contacted the number and arranged for a viewing. The listing was represented by a third party company called Padspin (not the landlord or the tenant like most of my experiences on this site). They told me that they were not a broker and that they were 'disrupting the real estate space' and helping New Yorkers save thousands of dollars on broker fees. I was confused by their intentions but wanted to see the apartment, so I quickly agreed to their process, which was signing up on their site.  

After I saw it, I wanted to apply, so I called them back and the person (I think it was Jeff Segal the CEO) on the phone informed me that if I wanted to apply, I would need to send him $850 immediately and half would be refunded upon signing the lease. I asked him where the $850 was going and he dodged that questions amongst others (are you guys a broker, why is there a fee, why did you list on a no-fee listing...) and began pushing me to pay over the phone: "There are 20 people waiting to see this apartment so if you don't pay, we'll just move on." I asked him to send me a formal document outlining the terms of the payment, but I never received anything official, instead, I got in my inbox a Paypal invoice for $850.  

I felt pressured by Jeff to pay him this money, which he did not disclose upfront, either on the advertisement or on the initial phone call. When I looked up his site, I was further confused by the marketing language - "No brokers or crazy fees" and "Transparency" is not what I was experiencing. I was in a desperate and timely bind to find a new apartment, so I felt like I had no choice, but send Jeff the $850. Despite numerous attempts to understand the nature of their business process and where the $850 breakdown would be going, I got no further information from Jeff.   Due to Padspin's misleading marketing, I was led to believe they were not a broker and that they have no fees. They listed their apartment as 'no fee' which was a lie.

They didn't tell me about the fees upfront and only disclosed it at the point when I wanted to apply, which was a desperate and stressful time. Jeff then pushed me to pay as soon as possible, saying that there were many people waiting and that they could easily move on. This put me under duress, as I was desperate to find a home quickly. With Padspin, nothing is upfront or clear. I think what Jeff does is awful - preying on people in a vulnerable situation. I was and still am confused by what he does and why he markets himself this way, when he could just be upfront that he is a broker with lower fees.   By the looks of all the BBB complaints and yelp reviews, his company's business tactics have really hurt people. In my case, I got the apartment, but upon signing, they didn't immediately refund me the $425 like they said they would. They pushed it off a week and after reading all these terrible reviews about getting scammed, I just filed a fraud charge with my credit card company to recover the $425.

Funny enough, in the beginning when I was expressing doubts, Jeff actually said that I could easily file a claim with my credit card company if anything went wrong. So putting the onus on recovering the money by the tenant seems like a tactic they use. Also, after I posted a review to BBB, they threatened to sue me if I didn't take it down. Padspin, shame on you.   https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/real-estate-consultant/padspin-inc-0121-161990/customer-reviews   https://www.yelp.com/biz/padspin-new-york-2?hrid=IOhHJTjZc2LvFrSKjYED2w   There are sooooo many reviews of people getting really scammed by these guys. Please beware!

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At the time, Padspin told me they weren't a broker, but they are. Dealing with them is a really confusing experience - not to mention getting verbally abused (yelled at, talked over, gaslighted) by Jeff Segal for asking basic questions.

I saw an apartment listing on the site nakedapartments.com. The listing clearly states no-fee. I contacted the number and arranged for a viewing. After I viewed the apartment at 10:30am that morning, I wanted to apply, so I called the number back and discovered that the listing was represented by a third party company called Padspin (not the landlord or the tenant) and the person on the phone, Jeff Segal, informed me that if I wanted to apply, I would need to send him $850 immediately and half would be refunded upon signing the lease. He told me that they were not a broker and that they were 'disrupting the real estate space' and helping New Yorkers save thousands of dollars on brokers. I asked him where the $850 was going and he dodged that questions amongst others (are you guys a broker, why is there a fee, why did you list on a no-fee site...) and began pushing me to pay: "There are 20 people waiting to see this apartment, so if you don't pay, we'll just move on."

I asked him to send me a formal document outlining the terms of the payment, but I never received anything official, instead, I got in my inbox a Paypal invoice for $850. I felt pushed by Jeff to pay him this money, which he did not disclose upfront, either on the advertisement or on the initial phone call. When I looked up his site, I was further confused by the marketing language - "No brokers or crazy fees" and "Transparency". This is not what I was experiencing. I was in a desperate and timely bind to find a new apartment, so I felt like I had no choice, but send Jeff the $850. Despite numerous attempts to understand the nature of their business process and where the $850 breakdown would be going, I got no further information from Jeff.

Due to Padspin's misleading marketing, I was led to believe they were not a broker and that they have no fees. They listed their apartment as 'no fee' which was a lie. They didn't tell me about the fees upfront and only disclosed it at the point when I wanted to apply, which was a desperate and stressful time. Jeff then pushed me to pay as soon as possible, saying that there were many people waiting and that they could easily move on. This put me under duress, as I was desperate to find a home quickly. With Padspin, nothing is upfront or clear. I think what Jeff does is awful - preying on people in a vulnerable situation. I was and still am confused by what he does and why he markets himself this way, when he could just be upfront that he is a broker with lower fees. By the looks of all the BBB complaints and yelp reviews, his company's business tactics have really hurt people.

In my case, I got the apartment, but upon signing, they didn't immediately refund me the $425 like they said they would. They pushed it off a week and after reading all these terrible reviews about getting scammed, I just filed a fraud charge with my credit card company to recover the $425. Funny enough, in the beginning when I was expressing doubts, Jeff actually said that I could easily file a claim with my credit card company if anything went wrong. So putting the onus on recovering the money by the tenant seems like a tactic they use.

When I was going through the apartment application process and I had questions about the refund or issues with the process, someone with [email protected] would respond, presumably to intimidate me. Also, after I posted a review to BBB, they threatened to sue me if I didn't take it down. 

Padspin, shame on you.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/real-estate-consultant/padspin-inc-0121-161990/customer-reviews

https://www.yelp.com/biz/padspin-new-york-2

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