Stephanie
Richmond,#2Consumer Comment
Sun, November 23, 2003
I believe I have also encountered this same company (although the company name they have given me is "Credit Restoration Center"). I had a company call me similar to theirs, offering a very similar promotion ("pay 299.00 and we will guarantee that you receive a credit card with at least a $2500 limit"). I signed up with the previous company (even though I later cancelled it). "CRC" called me within a few days offering their promotion (which I thought was the same company--so naturally I asked if they were). The employee with "CRC" stated, "Oh yeah, we're the same company that called you, we just need your banking information again because our computer systems have been acting up over the course of the week." LIke the somewhat-cautious person that I am, I asked to speak with the original representative to ensure that this was the case. Here's the reply that I got: "Oh, he's not in right now, he's gone for the day." When I asked to speak with the supervisor I had spoken with prior, I got the same response. Wouldn't that make you think it's the same company? So I gave my banking information again... Later I called the company I THOUGHT I was dealing with to cancel the draft--done! About a week later I see the charge come through on my checking account. I call the original company back--they've never drafted me! So I had to go through the process of a fraud investigation with my bank to find out WHO charged me, only to discover that "CRC" a company who had never identified themselves to me until that point, had charged my checking account 299.00. I called them to attempt to straighten the matter out in a polite and professional way, to which I was told "Once you sign up with us, you are not entitled to a refund unless you are denied credit with the banks we use to get your credit cards set up." Needless to say, it took about 2 months to finally get everything taken care of with my bank to get the charge eradicated from my account--not to mention the fact that I had to open a brand new checking account, call companies that I had auto drafts with to change info, report it to the credit bureaus, etc. My advice----NEVER sign up with a company offering to repair your credit for a fee like that. The only thing they give you for your 300.00 is a 20-pg booklet on "ways to repair your credit" and options of debt consolidation. That's it! Nothing more--they can't even guarantee you will qualify for a credit card account or what type of account you will be eligible for. For instance, you might be eligible for a credit card account, but the issuing bank might require a security deposit of 200.00 to issue the card---and that's in addition to what you've paid to these companies! To rebuild credit, I would suggest going through First Premier Bank--they have many offers for people with bad credit to help restore credit (they have a setup fee, but they don't charge your checking account for it--it's billed to your credit card account). For debt consolidation, I would suggest your local Consumer Credit Counseling Service--they're a non-profit organization that can help you reduce your debt in as little as 12 months depending on what you owe.