Hello again, so I took a little bit of a break from ripping apart debt settlement companies/” debt relief” program companies and the other different variations of names they call themselves to make them look different from their competitors.
So grab a drink or coffee, sit back and enjoy the read…..
NOW… to start off I will say that I believe Debt Settlement/Relief is a valuable service BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE and you have to watch company fees.
MANY times people ask the question is this company a scam (ANY DEBT RELIEF COMPANY)
If they are a registered business like most of them are they have employees, they pay taxes they rent office space ( maybe not so much these days with work at home.
So in the legal sense are they a scam? The answer is no but read more below….
If you read any of my blogs you will learn I absolutely detest these companies personally, mostly for the reason of what they charge and the dishonesty of not fully explaining everything to the customer.
But as I will mention this advertisement below takes the top spot of a step over the line of just blatant lies you see in their advertisements.
SO, now of course everything I’m about to tell you is my opinion and my personal opinion only.
And for some context to anyone who has not read my blogs before, I’ve been in the credit and finance industry now for over 19 years, I have analyzed over 24,000 credit reports been on radio, local and National TV in the past among other credentials that I have but that’s the hardcore portion of them.
Marketing/advertising/promotion is what all companies do to get their name out there and to catch your eye so you look at them, But when it comes to this segment of their business what personally gets me on top of my soapbox is the level of just straight up lying they ALL DO.
Credit Associates used to have a commercial which I really don’t see that much anymore but I’m sure it’s still around starting off with” there’s a secret that credit card companies don’t want you to know about”…
As far as I am aware, they were one of the first ones to advertise that lie since it’s not a secret, a secret is something you actively hide, you call your credit card department and customer service will probably tell you that’s a question for the collection department to answer since they do not handle that aspect of the business.
But that statement is what they use to try to grab your attention and listen to the commercial to hopefully rope you into their product or at least get you to call and then let their slick sales people AKA “debt advisors” talk to you.
And there is nothing wrong with that to a certain degree and I’m rather certain their argument would be its not advertised so that’s why they believe it’s a secret.
For some reason the social media algorithms decided to kick back into gear and I started seeing the below commercial very frequently which tells me they are putting more money into advertising since the numbers are starting to show credit card delinquencies and auto loan delinquencies are starting to occur more frequently now.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/30/delinquencies-credit-auto-loans/
So after seeing this “commercial/promotion/advertisement” or however it is officially labeled I said to myself “wow these are not just normal lies this company is stepping up the B.S, so let’s go through the exact words of the commercial first then review the company itself as what they say in the advertisement needs to be said first.
So below is the word for word on the advertisement if you have not seen it, just so no one thinks anything is taken out of context. This is just more lying then I’ve ever seen in any commercial ever so far.
If you’re ever going to do research on them or if you’re thinking about hiring them I’m just going to make sure that you’re looking at this with open eyes and if you’re going to make that decision then at least you can say “I understand everything that I’m getting involved in”.
NOW… I am NOT saying do not hire them
I just want you to not be double talked by their “debt specialist” in case you get one that does that to you. like make everything sound wonderful and not talk about the good as well as the bad.
So this commercial I have seen on Tik Tok, it may be on other social media sites but I have not seen or looked for it. The title of it is called “US Economic Relief”
The Start of the commercial shows a TV screen with someone that looks to be pretending to be a reporter from MSNBC or it could be the actual newscaster but it’s labeled as breaking news “loophole eliminates $10,000 of more in debt”.
I’m guessing with technology they could have super imposed thos words in there But I have no clue.
Now I will say while this could also have been a paid commercial/advertisement on MSNBC I don’t actually know because they don’t actually show the entire screen. and considering the last time I saw an advertisement from this company they were full-blown lying about how the government is authorizing this program and that commercial is no longer around so I’m assuming they got their hands slapped trying to imply that lie.
Ok, so here is word for word the commercial:
“GUYS this is SERIOUS! The banks are literally crashing and they “JUST MADE” a secret loophole for people to clear out $10,000 or more in debt because of it,
I thought it was a scam But I tried it myself I just finished the program And I just literally went from over 23,000 in debt to owing absolutely nothing.
Now I’m sharing this with everyone I know it is called the “emergency debt relief program”, so guys it is completely free and it only takes 2 minutes to see if you qualify, “THE DEADLINE” for this is apparently this week so take advantage of it right now before it goes away they may never do this again.
WOW, “JUST MADE” & “TAKE ADVANTAGE NOW BEFORE IT GOES AWAY”??
This companies BUSINESS is debt settlement and they has been in business for approximately 12 years. So are they going out of business? lol
Even though the company on paper is completely legitimate so I’m not calling them a scam/illegal company they’re legitimate in that aspect of being a licensed business that has employees, pays taxes (I assume) but they’ve also been around for 12 years do lots of advertising and pay people to write articles about them.
In advertising bending the truth is just part of business, we NEVER expect the food to look like what is shown on TV so why expect anything else to be as “advertised”
BUT this is ridiculous…..
So here what I think is a bit funny, when you click on the button to learn more it says this company helps American settle 15,000 to 30k thousand in debt.
BUT the “commercial/advertisement we just watched/read says you have to have at least $10,000 then they tell you to pick your age and then click the button to get your case reviewed for free however you don’t even have to do that just click the get my free case reviewed.
While I have not called to listen to their sales pitch after my years of experience I am certain it’s the same.
They ask you how much are your currently paying on your credit cards monthly knowing you are most likely only paying the minimum, which is understandable since why would you be calling them?
They will give you an approximate number of half that or maybe a tad above it, regardless it’s a breath of fresh air as the stress is heavy on you.
They DO NOT tell you they will be charging 20-25% of the amount of money you owe as their fee.
The “Debt Specialists” mostly likely WILL NOT tell you that if you are current on the cards they will stop paying on the cards and let them go delinquent as that is the only way to get the amount lower.
*** NOW don’t get me wrong there are some good people that work in this field and will tell you these things BUT in my experience from talking to people that call companies in this industry most do not.
They most likely will not tell you during the call that it is possible you could be sued if the debt gets charged off (no payment for 180 days).
Read the rest of my blogs to learn more of what to look out for…. Knowledge is power! And will help you make the best decision for you and your family.
Here are some links to look at if you google The name Accredited Debt Relief:
NOTE: with all of these look at the advertising disclosure where they say “if you click on the link they get a fee”. and then they state and I paraphrase ” but don’t worry, us making money doesn’t affect the “editorial”. and i am sure it doesn’t sine the news is always non biased…..
https://money.usnews.com/loans/reviews/accredited-debt-relief
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/debt-relief/accredited-debt-relief-review/
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/debt-consolidation/accredited-debt-relief/
NOTE:
Feel free to reach out to me if you want an non biased educated opinion on your specific situation as I do that all the time for people.
*** UPDATE as of 10/23/2023
A new advertisement I have seen from them NOW literally says why are you paying your credit cards? WOW…. Now they are telling people to just stop paying???
Have to dive into this one next will post towards the end of the week.
