I signed up with Corporate Turnaround, February 2009, to help me with my creditors and collections. I researched as much as I could find, but when they showed up on the SBA/SCORE website as a Partner, I figured they were probably a good company.
At that time, I submitted 11 creditors, some were credit cards, and some were subcontractors we owed money to from work. Of the 11 submitted, only two wanted to deal with their program. The others without my choosing, decided to explore other ways to collect their funds--all through attorneys.
I told Corporate Turnaround representatives that these 9 creditors did not want to have anything to do with their debt resolution program. I found out later the reason was because they were being pressured into settling for a much lesser amount than what was owed. This was happening with all creditors I submitted to them.
When I became aware of this typical negotiating with all the creditors a few weeks ago, I pulled our account, and told them to stop contacting creditors. Apparently up until I pulled the account they were still trying to get the 9 who did not want to participate, to work with their program. Even after I told the representative these were not viable creditors back in March and April. One of the creditors wrote Corporate Turnaround and stated they would not participate.
So when I closed the account, I sent a statement to the representative and told him I wanted a complete accounting. His response was that they had been sent monthly. I only received one monthly statement, even though I had repeatedly asked. It even took multiple requests to get the close out statement.
I finally received a complete accounting on August 18, 2009. I was surprised to find that I had sent them a little over $47,000 to pay my creditors, and only a little more than $12,000 had actually been paid. The remainder of the money was pocketed by Corporate Turnaround in the form of "fees", most of which was based on the time those 9 creditors, who did not want to participate in their program, were listed--start date to account closing.
It stated in my contract with Corporate Turnaround that if I was the one to pull the creditors, Corporate Turnaround would take the fee. I was not the one to pull those 9 creditors. They just simply did not want to settle for less than what was owed.
It is my belief that they owe me most of the money they kept for themselves, and I want it back. I was overcharged, then they tried to get me to sign a release absolving them of all liability and responsibiltiy. I refused.