Complaint Review: LenCred TRUSTED BUSINESS | Ripoff Report Verified Safe™ …businesses you can trust. LenCred experts at connecting small business owners with working capital needed to start and grow business. LenCred utilizes library of premium content experienced team of business funding specialists focused on connecting customers with best funding options available. - Bentonville Arizona

REVIEW UPDATE: May 22, 2018: LenCred remains committed to increased customer satisfaction and has improved their business practices over the years to better serve their customers. LenCred is truly dedicated to making sure their customers are satisfied and that any complaints which do arise are addressed promptly and fairly.

To date, LenCred has made good faith efforts to resolve all complaints reported on Ripoff Report. Based on our experience, the member business has proven to be among the top members of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program as a Verified Safe Business™.

Over time and since becoming a member, LenCred has remained actively engaged and improving the way they address customer service complaints. As an active and current member of the Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program we are happy to report that now more than ever LenCred remains committed to improving customer satisfaction.

Remember, no company or individual can ever satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time. There are no products or services that will always be perfect for everyone and even the best companies will receive complaints from time to time. However, by participating in the Corporate Advocacy Program, the member business has made a commitment to working with its customers to resolve complaints quickly and fairly whenever possible.

Please keep in mind that as a consumer you have some responsibilities as well. Success has many definitions that based on your past experiences, current situation and your perceived expectations. Success with any product or service is always based on the proper application and understanding. The fastest car will not run if you never turn the engine on. Look at how you used the product or service that was provided in relation with the instructions that you received. The Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program will help you get your voice heard but please be prepared with documentation and fair representation of your concern, also have an idea of how the company can fix your concern. Can they offer additional services, extend warranties, offer a fair refund or just get you talking with someone that can help. ..let them know and let us know!

*Any consumer not receiving satisfaction from a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program should email us at [email protected].

Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW

EDitor's UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to LenCred for its full commitment to quality customer service.

Ripoff Report's discussions with LenCred have uncovered an ongoing dedication by the company to total client satisfaction. This means that clients can expect that the company will work towards finding a mutually satisfactory resolution to any concerns. LenCred listens carefully to client concerns and sees them as an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and become more efficient as a company in the services offered and the support for those services.

LenCred founder, Mr. Tom Gazaway, has informed us that his clients success are the heart of the business. As a successful businessman, Mr. Gazaway feels it is critical to listen to his clients and respond properly. By always putting their clients first, LenCred hopes to maintain their track record of success for many years to come. Another top executive at LenCred told us that Mr. Gazaway's personal business philosophy is based on the premise that you should always strive to be an expert at your craft while caring about those who you work with and for. One top advisor at LenCred says it like this, "it's hard for our clients to know what their funding options are so they come to us to help them navigate that daunting terrain. At the end of the day, even though technology is changing our world, our business still comes down to relationships and trust. We want to share our knowledge with business owners to help them grow their operation and we want them to trust us as the experts and professionals that we strive to be every day." One of the things Ripoff Report learned in the course of its review is that typical customer feedback reads, "LenCred truly cares about us, their clients. If it weren't for LenCred I wouldn't have known how to obtain the funding I needed and I would have probably damaged my credit if I had tried to get my funding on my own or hired someone else in their space." They respond in a timely manner and my husband and I are pleased with their responsiveness.”


Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..



LenCred is a company dedicated to providing small businesses and start up companies with freely spendable business credit lines or small business loans. President, Thomas Gazaway, explained that their vision is to be able to provide products that allow companies to acquire the funds they need to build and grow their business in order to achieve their business goals and dreams. Mr. Gazaway went on to state, "we can help any small business owner get debt financing. We do have a specialty or a niche with helping early stage entrepreneurs who are looking for smaller amounts of funding and who are either pre-revenue or in the first year of operation.”

Leads for LenCred are acquire from a variety of sources, "we have about 13,000 referral partners around the country." These referral partners contribute to roughly 20-30% of LenCred's overall revenue. A majority of their leads are also generated through both their website and call center, "we have a website where we share lots of content with prospective clients about how to finance their businesses...we give them free content." This free content includes a large library of ebooks on how to effectively obtain funding. After the initial interest is made by the potential client they enter the pre-qualification process which is followed by a lender consultation.



CUSTOMER CARE & COMPLAINT RESOLUTION FROM LENCRED

During the onsite interview Mr. Gazaway was asked to describe a situation where a client was not satisfied with the level of service they received. Mr. Gazaway explained that some people are not comfortable with using credit cards to expand their buisness. LenCred goes through several different forms of communication in order to inform future clients that they are a nationally recognized credit car program, "we do get complaints from people who even after multiple communication points where we give them full disclosure, and tell them exactly what type of funding their getting, we do have people that complain that they didn't want credit cards." If a complaint arises of this nature LenCred will deal with them directly, "we are more than willing to break our contract if there is a reason to based on trying to satisfy a client, or in some cases based on a mistake that's made on our end...and even when we're not in error...we still want the chance to say 'hey tell us what we could have done differently, and how we can make this right for you’.”

When asked to comment on complaints posted on Ripoff Report's website Mr. Gazaway explained that LenCred believes the comments were posted by an individual who inquired about becoming a referral partner with LedCred. The company in question did not adhere to the high standards that LenCred has set, "we do have core values that we believe in and we want to live those out, and we care about the kind of people that we partner with." After this professional interaction the company in question placed a complaint on Ripoff Report's website. The further assure future clients, it should be noted that LedCred has received an A+ rating with the BBB, and been featured in several professional publications. They also have several systems in place in order to provide excellent customer service, "we purchased a phone system specifically that would record every single call in and out of the building so that everything is archived. We also take those wav files and drop then into the client portal so that the client can have access to the recorded calls that they've had.”

LenCred is proud to be a part of Ripoff Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program.

The information provided in this report is based on comments made by Thomas Gazaway during an onsite inspection held by a third party verification company with no biases toward LenCred.



LENCRED – HOW DO I GET A SMALL BUSINESS LOAN WITH BAD CREDIT?

"Bad CreditAcquiring a small business loan when you have less than perfect credit is actually easier than you think. The major difference with acquiring a small business loan when you have bad credit rather than good credit is that you have fewer funding options you can take advantage of. It largely depends on whether or not you have a startup or existing business (that is generating revenue) and/or own assets that you can pledge as collateral to a lender.

Bad Credit Funding Options for Startup Businesses

If your small business is a startup and you have bad credit, there is one primary option you could take advantage of to fund your business and that is microloans. Microloans are the most viable funding option for entrepreneurs who are just starting out and lack the credit need to get approved for traditional bank financing. The SBA (Small Business Administration) provides billions of dollars in financing to local, community based lending institutions that issue microloans up to $50,000 to business owners in their areas. These lending institutions often have minimum credit score requirements of 500 or less (some have no minimum credit score requirements at all)!







The SBA provides a list of microloan lenders in each state on their website. If you’re in desperate need of startup capital, have less than perfect credit, and want to apply for a microloan, you can find a lender in your area here. You’ll most likely need a full business plan, marketing plan, and at least 3 years of detailed financial projections when applying for a microloan. So if you don’t have one, now is the time to start working on one or hire an expert to help you. The experts at CapitaLinker can be of assistance with the development of your business plan (and the submission of your microloan application to lenders in your area).

Bad Credit Funding Options for Existing Businesses

If you own an existing business and you have less than perfect credit, you have more small business funding options than just microloans. Existing businesses that have revenues of $100,000 or more annually may be able to qualify for merchant cash advances, accounts receivables financing (i.e. factoring), and/or purchase order financing. The key to obtaining small business funding when you have less than perfect credit is having a consistent stream of customers or clients who are paying you in a timely manner. Owning valuable assets that you can pledge to a lender as collateral can also increase your chances of being able to qualify for a small business loan when you have bad credit. If you’re an existing business owner with bad credit, significant revenue and a steady stream of clients and you need working capital for your small business, contact the experts at CapitaLinker or LenCred to assist you with choosing the best small business funding option and referring you to the most appropriate lender.

LENCRED – EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION

LenCred's The team at LenCred has expressed that they feel very confident doing their jobs. Many have grown passionate about the work they do. LenCred takes employee satisfaction seriously as well. Employee feedback and surveys reveal comments such as this, "LenCred is very intentional about the culture they want among their employees and the employees have responded time and again with very high levels of production and service." Ripoff Report was pleased to learn that LenCred's past and current approach to business is focused on its pledge to total commitment towards client and employee satisfaction.







STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM LENCRED

LenCred recognizes that complaints posted on Ripoff Report (whether true or not) are issues that need to be addressed, not ignored. If handled correctly, complaints can be valuable learning opportunities. With the feedback generated by Ripoff Report's review, LenCred has made organizational changes allowing its clients and employees a more streamlined approach to problem resolution and a commitment to a great client experience.

In summary, after our review, which included discussions with Tom Gazaway, Tim Gazaway, Chastie Crawford, and Phil Tuinstra, Ripoff Report is convinced that LenCred is committed to quality delivery of services resulting in total client satisfaction.

Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Ripoff Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, it’s a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.

Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program, a program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. This program works.

As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer.

ABOUT THE RIPOFF REPORT BELOW:

Ripoff Report would like to let readers know that Ripoff Report emailed this customer so the member business could make things right with them. When a business joins the Corporate Advocacy Program, Ripoff Report emails everyone from the past so the member business can make things right with them. Of course, everything within reason. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer.

STATEMENT FROM LENCRED:

We recently changed our name to LenCred. We are the same company with the same people but we did recently change our name. As a company with established core values of teamwork, excellence, bottom line performance, and embracing change it is always dis-heartening for all of our 35+ employees and team members for someone to say these things about us. Nobody wins when these types of situations happen with our clients. Over the past 5 years we’ve received formal requests for financing from over 25,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners. We’ve been fortunate that several thousand of those hard working people have become clients of ours who we have helped with their funding needs. So what about this client who is making these claims? It’s interesting that he did not include his name in his complaint but we do know who this is from. I'll share a few things that were left out of his complaint. Initially, he demanded to one of our advisors that we give him a special deal and charge him less than we charge everyone else for the funding plan that he qualified for. We informed him that we don’t negotiate special deals just because someone wants to be treated different. Some of our funding plans have no fees and some of them have fees. When we charge fees those fees are always competitive and in-line with industry norms. We informed him that we would be fine with inactivating him and we wished him the best in his quest for funding. The very next day he called us back and asked to proceed with our funding plan that we originally offered him. We obliged. This client had a business that had not been established for very long and he didn’t have revenues and net profits that would merit bank financing in our opinion. That was okay because for the last 5+ years we’ve developed and refined a credit card financing program that has become very popular among early stage entrepreneurs. It helps small business owners avoid all the common mistakes that are commonly made with the most popular form of small business financing (credit cards). Simply put, it would allow him to separate his personal and business credit while also protecting, preserving, and improving his personal credit profile. We are passionate about helping our clients learn how to treat their credit as an asset while they borrow money and grow their businesses. Because this client demanded some answers about interest rates with our various lenders we gave him a call with our funding coach prior to him even getting his funding. So it was explained to him by his advisor and then by our funding coach that he would be receiving multiple credit cards and that these credit cards would be both business and personal credit cards. As a side-note, over 95% of our credit cards that our clients obtain in their initial funding phase have 0% offers for 6-18 months and we can't promise or control what the interest rates will be after the 0% offers end. So that is what is always told to each prospect and client. These plans are put together based on the credit profile of the borrower, their industry, their location, and a variety of factors. So, for example, a startup company in Texas will have a different plan than an established company in Washington. Additionally, he signed our contract which once again informed him that he would receive multiple credit cards. Then he also went through a recorded compliance call where, once again, he was informed about the details of his funding plan and that he would receive multiple credit cards and some would be personal and some would be business. One of the ways that a small business owner can treat their credit as an asset and improve their credit profile is by increasing their available revolving credit that shows up on their personal credit profile. This is one of the reasons why many small business owners should obtain some additional personal credit in the form of credit cards. Then we also give each of our clients access to our FICO Pro Certified funding coach who helps to ensure that they get the most out of their funding and re-enforces the way our programs are designed to work. When our program is followed you can obtain low-cost funding, separate your personal and business credit, and you can improve your personal credit. This client then proceeded to tell us that he was not going to communicate with us anymore and that he was not going to pay us. So he had no desire to talk to us or to abide by our contract. Interestingly, this negative review showed up just hours after we sent him a very well-worded and professional email notifying him that we would prefer to work this out with him and talk it through with him but that if he was unwilling to talk with us then we would have no option but to hold to our contractual relationship with him. That meant that if he did not pay the fees that were due to us that we would be sending his file to collections. Admittedly, we did not handle the discussion with him well about his personal and household income. We had a new processor who had that discussion with him and it was not handled well by us and we did not follow our policy on that. We listened to the recorded call and we didn’t handle it well on our end. Like many other things in this complaint, it didn’t happen exactly as he claims but we own that one and our rookie processor did not do a good job with the client on this. One of his other criticisms is that we are a third party and he shouldn’t mention that he is working with a third party when speaking to a couple of the lenders. There is context here that may help everyone’s perspective. The majority of the lenders in his plan did not need to speak with him. We work with most of them directly and at our discretion. We’ve been formally trained as small business lenders. We have several hundred bank and non-bank lenders that we can work with. We work directly with over 90% of those lenders. However, there are some lenders who prefer not to work with third parties. However, they offer excellent financing options so we include them in some of our plans and we tell our clients that this is one of the lenders who does not want any third party involvement. We don’t do anything illegal or unethical but if the lender offers a good financing solution for our client then we have made a decision to still help the client obtain that funding even though the lenders prefer to work directly with the borrower. That’s a decision we’ve made and this client is likely lacking a perspective and a basic understanding of the strategy behind his plan. That’s our fault for not accurately relaying that information to him but when he refuses to talk with us then it’s also hard for us to clear up his confusion and make these things clear. Lastly, this client has not paid us a single dollar yet. So we’re talking about a situation where we’ve spent lots of time with the client, we’ve clearly explained our funding program to him (via an advisor, a funding coach, our contracts, and a recorded compliance call), we put together his funding plan, then he started to get his funding. It was at that point when we were to begin invoicing him that he suddenly had a problem with everything. We would love to talk with him directly and work this out but this client has chosen not to do that at this point. We will continue to strictly abide by our contractual relationship with him at this point since he has left us no other option.

NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED

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