ComplaintsforConsumer First Financial

• Initial Complaint

  12/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company was supposed to take care of my debt with ESL credit union. This company said they would save me at least 25% of what i owed ESL. Instead they charged me **** dollars on top of what ESL would settle for . Saving me a mere 200 dollars i made pymts to consumer for a year and they only paid esl ****** of the ***** that was owed.

  Business response

  12/19/2023

  ******************** enrolled into our debt settlement program in October 2021. She enrolled with an estimated debt of $42,696.92, she had agreed to a program of 48  months with a monthly payment of $668. ******************** was scheduled to start her monthly payments in October 2021, she then asked us to lower her monthly payment amount down to $600.00 which then extended out the program. When ******************** came into the program she voluntarily stopped the regular monthly payments to her creditors to allow them to fall behind to allow us to negotiate and settle the balances for less than full balance. In April 2022 she informed us that ESL FCU filed a civil suit to recover the debt; she supplied us a copy of the summons; in June 2022 we contact ******************** to let her know the offer to settle the account. She agreed to accept the settlement and pay the higher amount to stop further court action. Her agreeing to this extended her program an extra 6 months. ******************** was also upset over the settlement fee that was charged. As per the contract and in compliance with FTC the settlement fee charged is 25% of the enrolled balance of the account; this information is clearly stated in the contract she signed. Once the settlement was agreed upon with ESL FCU the client received stipulations of settlement that needed to be signed by her and returned to the attorney. As this settlement was being paid on she was being sued on another account; she decided to remove the second account and accept the settlement we negotiated but chose to pay it on her own so no fees would have to be paid. As a result of her removing the second account and entering into payments we had to lower her monthly payment down to $350.00 a month; this was in August ************************************* September 2022. She then had us skip the payment that was scheduled for October 2022. We continued receiving her monthly payments of $350 through February 2023; she contacted us 3/8/2023 and asked us to stop taking monthly payments until she called us back with the new banking information for the account she wanted us to deduct her payments from. She was advised that we had enough funds to keep making payments on the legal stipulated settlement. We attempted to contact ******************** via text messages and phone calls to remind her we needed new banking information. She never responded to our requests and the final payment we made on the stipulated settlement was *** 2023, at that time we requested the payment processing company issue a refund of the unused funds to the address we had on file. ******************** called this morning and was advised of the account being canceled due to not providing us new banking to continue with monthly payments; that conversation did not go well and she ultimately filed a complaint. We checked and the address we have on file is the same as the one provided when this complaint was filed; I found the refund check from *** was not cashed so I requested that refund check to be voided and a new one to be issued for the unused funds dating back to *** 2023. The payment processing company will have that refund check in the mail back to the client by the end of this week. It may take longer due to it being holidays; but the refund has been issued. 

  Customer response

  12/23/2023

   
  Complaint: 21028824
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  This place deceived me right from the beginning.  They told me to stop pating all my bills and not to speak to them . Then when you haven't paid . They take u to court and consumer financial becomes your advisor .they told the attorney at esl i had stage 3 cancer and my health was dire. *** said they would settle for **** and then consumer charged me **** dollars for representing me .they never took care of any of my other bills . Just this one .i want a full refund as they lied about their charges and had no right talking about my health as that falls under hippa

  Customer response

  12/29/2023

  The way this company goes about its business is unethical.  Consumer First knew that by me not paying what i owed to my debtors and not corresponding to them that a lawsuit would probably occur. They they say they will represent you . At a charge you have no idea what that is till after the fact. I owed ESL10,200. Somewhere around there. By Consumer finance represented me they falsified all my information.  The information given to the lawyers was that i had stage 3 liver cancer and wouldn't survive. The attorney has this letter but will give me a copy if needed.  Not only was this false information but cf charged me **** to deliver this news. So ESLwas going to settle for **** but then cf wanted ****. Dont see where this fall into the 25% they say in their contract 

  Business response

  01/11/2024

  Attached is a client copy of the original contract stating that we cannot guarantee certain creditors settle within a certain amount of time and that a creditor can *** her and that by stopping payments to credtiros she is aware of the further late fees a creditor can apply to the balance. The contract guarantee was also provided on the basis that the client made all agreed upon payments as scheduled. Ms. ********* skipped her first monthly payment for the program and then immediately lowered all payments extending and voiding the original guarantee. This settlement would have been continued to be paid by the debt settlement program had she contacted us to provide the new banking information for her monthly payments to be deducted from. When she failed to contact us with that necessary informatoin we were unable to continue the stipulated settlement payment agreement with the lawfirm for this particular account. The payment adjustments that were made from her first enrolled month negatively impacted our ability to proceed with the guarantee provied.

  ******************** requested in March 2023 that her monthly payments be placed on hold until she could obtain new banking, at that time ******************** was advised that we had a limited amount of funds available and we would not be able to satisfy the stipulated payment arrangement without receiving funds on a regular monthly basis. We reached out to her a few times and she never responded so due to non-payment form ******************** the account was closed. 

  There was a refund of $978.13 which was re-is***d to ******************** in December 2023 and that check still has not been deposited by her. The original refund was is***d in May 2023, but that still did not prompt her to contact us and she never deposited that refund check. 

  The amount paid toward the stipulated agreement was $2,966.64 of the $8,900. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  06/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I initially signed up for this program to clean up my credit report. I am set up for auto draft each month so they could negotiate the few things I had in my credit report. They have only negotiated one of the things in 6 months and they charged a fee almost as much as what the initial debt was. My credit score went down 100 points since the beginning. The credit that I did have in good standing is no longer. Every time I speak to someone I get the run around. I have emailed the supervisor numerous times with no help. I can negotiate my own debt at this point and not pay the fees. I just want all of my money refunded so I can repair my credit that they have now made worse.

  Business response

  06/20/2023

  I believe ************************ may not have understood the program. I have attached the **** disclosures that ************************ initialed and signed indicating that she understood her credit score being negatively impacted and that sufficient funds have to be available prior to the company being able to negotiate and agree to a settlement. ************************ also had a very inconsistent payment history with frequent insufficient payments which also hindered our ability to settle her accounts; a copy of that has also been attached. We were able to settle 1 account for ************************ in October 2022. We have never denied ************************ the right to cancel the program and her first request came to us via email on 6/19/2023; she hadn't even provided 24 hours for a response. We have since close **************************** account and we are issuing a refund of any unused funds. The payment processing company will be mailing her a refund check to the address we have on file. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I signed on with this company for debt relief in July 2022. By February 2023, a creditor was filing a lawsuit against us. We then had no choice but to file bankruptcy. I called ****** around Feb 23 and told him we were filing Bankruptcy. He told me he was sending me $1383 of the $1558 they took from us. Apparently they charge bank fees without mentioning it and for months they didnt even take money out but whatever. I received $1019 back. Im missing $364 that I have been patiently waiting for for some time now. Ive called and spoken to ***** and various others that tell me its in the mail since March 13. The **** is slow, but not that slow. The first check came in 4 days. Why theyre sending this in two checks is beyond me, Im done with this company. They should be looked into for fraud. I want to be done with this nightmare and move on.

  Business response

  03/24/2023

  The ********** paid in a total of $1,558.00. Per the signed contract the payment processing company charges a monthly fee to maintain the account. We are required by federal law to have a 3rd party that is FDIC insured handling all funds. The payment processing company issues all refunds via manual check. Unfortunately, we are not and cannot be held responsible for how fast or slow the **** gets the check to the client. I can confirm that the check was printed by the payment processing company on 3/13/2023. The refund check is on it's way to the address we have on file. When ********************* called today we provided her the option of us voiding the refund check and re-issuing it or waiting for the one that is already in the mail. 

  Customer response

  04/04/2023

   
  Complaint: 19847968
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I paid in $1558. ****** told me he was refunding me $1383. I received a check of $1019 about 4 days after canceling my account with them. That check has cleared. I kept calling them about the $364 that was owed to me still. They had a hold on it, apparently. Who knows why. I was told by ***** that he told their processing company to send the check to me. I did finally get a second check and that has cleared. I am rejecting their response because, again, I am being shorted. I received a check of $334 which has cleared.I had spoken to ***** and he told me $334 was coming, I told him that I was owed $364, not $334.  I am still owed $30. Apparently ***** didnt care enough to mention that to them. Apparently these guys need to communicate better with their processor.  I know Im not getting all my money back, I have a complaint pending on their processor as well. But Im still owed $30. I expect them to pay me back what they stated they would. I am exhausted with calling these people.And I just want to be done with them. They need to send me everything that is owed to me. Im still owed $30.  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  04/05/2023

  I am very sorry that ******************** is not satisfied with the refund. I have attached the signed contract pages for the payment processing company which ******************** signed; it clearly states that the payment processing company charges a monthly fee for maintaining the account. ******************** contacted us on 2/21/2023 and advised us that she would be filing bankruptcy and requested a refund. Her total monthly payment was broken up into 2 separate drafts; there was a payment processed on 2/8/2023 and the other one processed on 2/22/2023. We advised her we had to issue the refund in 2 checks because we needed to wait for the 2/22/2023 payment to completely clear through the payment processing company. There were not any additional fees collected outside what was clearly stated in the contract. As per the *** guidelines we are required to have a 3rd party which is FDIC insured managing all financial transactions, we have no control over the fees charged by the payment processing company. The total amount of the refund issued was $1,353; the first refund check was $1,019 and the second refund check was $334.00.

  Customer response

  04/05/2023

   
  Complaint: 19847968
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  No, I paid them $1558.I have bank statements proving what was taken out if needed.  I was told about the $175. Im not stupid, I can figure out that theyve scammed me out of supposed bank fees. I paid $1558. I was told by ****** and even a ********* at their so called processing center that I was being refunded $1383( even a customer service employee said this to me.)This is from their employee ******. And by the way, I was basically forced into claiming bankruptcy due to one of my creditors pursuing litigation. I love how you say it was all on me. This company again needs to be looked into for scams. My attorney also said as such. These companies should be shut down for fraud and scamming people out of money. If you do the math correctly, which I have, I was shorted $30. I expect that to be refunded to me. Stop going back and forth. I am still owed $30. Again 

  You took:$1558 from me

  ****** stated $1383 was going to be refunded. 
  I received $1019 and an exponentially unnecessary long time later: $334. Do the math, you shorted me $30. 
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I initially signed up for this program to clean up my credit report. I am set up for auto draft each month so they could negotiate the few things I had in my credit report. They have only negotiated one of the things in 6 months and they charged a fee almost as much as what the initial debt was. My credit score went down 100 points since the beginning. The credit that I did have in good standing is no longer. Every time I speak to someone I get the run around. I have emailed the supervisor numerous times with no help. I can negotiate my own debt at this point and not pay the fees. I just want all of my money refunded so I can repair my credit that they have now made worse.

  Business response

  11/09/2022

  I have been in contact with ****************** via email and have provided her a copy of her signed contract along with the information for the 2 accounts we have settled for her to this point. Upon enrolling into the program we were not provided proof of all of her debt that was enrolled and after further conversation it appears that she also has an account that went through the legal process. Prior to enrolling into the program ****************** had entered into a stipulated legal re-payment agreement, she stopped paying that but we were never provided documentation until 11/9/2022. The offer was made to ****************** to close her account and refund the unused funds but she has decided to stay in the program for now. ****************** has my contact information moving forward for anything she needs. 

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