Complaint Review: RonCor Group Inc. - Los Angeles California

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to make a formal complaint against the RonCor Group, Inc., located at 450 N Brand Blvd. Suite 600, Glendale, CA 91203.  In 2015, I was on Medical Disability for two major back surgeries.   Knowing that my income would be drastically reduced, I did some research on Debt Settlement Groups.  I chose the RonCor Group, Inc. to help me through my debt settlement issues.

I signed their contract and paid them $190 for setup fees and since September 2015, I have been sending them $256 per month through October 2016, totaling $3,328, with no accounting as to how the funds were being spent, until I made a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

At least one once a month I would call them for reassurance and to see how things were going and to put my mind at ease that I had made the right choice in choosing The RonCor Group to help me out.  They assured me that the process takes time and that I needed to be patient.

I periodically felt uncomfortable; however I thought I was stuck in this contract.  I finally called my Employee Assistance Program through the State of California and they referred me to their financial planning group, My Secure Advantage, located at 3001 Lava Ridge Court Suite 150, Roseville , California 95661.

The first financial coach I spoke to was Laura Lee, [email protected].  We spoke on October 26, 2016.  I shared my experience with her in regards to The RonCor Group.  And she told me I came to the right place and that she and Chris Sheldon, [email protected]  would coach me through the process of working on recovering my money and getting my debts taken care of.  Laura Lee assured me that I had done the right thing by calling the EAP for assistance.

Unfortunately there are Debt Settlement Companies that are good and some that are bad and unfortunately, I chose incorrectly.  Ms. Lee also suggested:

1.      I contact The RonCor Group to cancel my contract because The RonCor Group should not have been getting money paid up front.

2.      That I should let The RonCor Group that I had contacted my state agency and in addition to canceling my contract, I wanted my money returned to me and that I would not be sending them any further funds; I changed my bank accounts so they would not have access to my funds.

3.      I called The RonCor Group and left two messages letting them know I had sent a hard copy of the letter dated October 27, 2016 in the mail and that I faxed a copy of the letter and got confirmation that my fax went through.  The letter dated October 27, 2016 is included as well as other documentation that will be pertinent to my complaint.   

4.      Laura Lee suggested I get a credit report to see how bad things had gotten.

My initial debt was $11,104 and the last time I spoke to The RonCor Group, the total debt had increased to $12,910, with no accounting as to why my debt had increased.

I later spoke to Ms. Lee and she asked me if I had gotten any response from The RonCor Group and I told her no I hadn’t heard anything.  She suggested that I call The RonCor Group to see if I would get any response.  I called and left a message and I had not heard from them through November 29, 2016.

My next coaching appointment was with Chris Sheldon on November 11, 2016.  He suggested that I get my information regarding my debts, etc. to him so we can discuss the situation on our next session.  He also suggested I put together my monthly expenses and get an accounting of my retirement funds.  My next coaching session with him was scheduled for November 22, 2016.  In the meantime, he suggested:

1.      I contact The RonCor Group, since I had not heard anything from them since before I sent and faxed the letter to them at the end of October.  I called two different times and left a message asking them why I had not heard any kind of response from them.  I reminded them that I had canceled my contract with them, would not be sending them anymore money, and that I wanted my money returned to me.

2.      That I was to let the Roncor Group know that I would be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General.

I made these phone calls on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and told them that I would like to hear from them, realizing that they might be out of the office for the rest of the week, since it was a holiday week.  I did not hear from them on Monday or Tuesday after the Thanksgiving Holiday.  On November 30, 2016 I called The RonCor Group and spoke to the receptionists.  I gave her my information and asked her why I had not heard from anyone in the office.  I told her that I mailed the letter dated October 27, 2016 to the office; she asked me what address I used and I told her the N Brand Ave. address and that I also faxed a copy of the letter to their office and got a confirmation that the fax had been received.  She then told me that my account had been locked and that she was not able to access any information.  She put me on hold and told me she would locate someone that could answer my questions.  I was on hold for 6 minutes, after talking to her for several minutes.  I only have a 15 minute break, so I could no longer hold; I went back to work and had no return phone call when I got back to my car at 4:35pm.  I eventually received a check for $865 from them; however, I feel ripped off.  Althought I signed a contract that I thought I understood I did not understand that they should not have paid themselves first which is what I learned from My Secure Advantage.