ComplaintsforSecured Financial Solutions LLC

• Initial Complaint

  08/17/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Recently, I took advantage of an opportunity to participate in an educational workshop involving ***************** annuities." The advert indicates the event includes a complimentary dinner & the course covers maximizing social security benefits, reduce taxes & avoid probate - Strategies not only of interest to me personally, but my oldest daughter as well, since she has the ********************** of attorney to help oversee my ************* well-being. The mailing also states youre encouraged to bring a guest or a couple but seating is limited so make your reservation today, which is great because I'm not married or under any obligation to share my estate with anyone other than my 2 daughters. The event will also give us an opportunity to get out of the house & away from the confines associated with Covid-19. However, youre encouraged to bring a guest" is far from being true & the nature of my complaint. Apparently there's also an age restriction they fail to mention.

  

  Business response

  08/18/2021

  Please be advised that on our invitation we state that you will receive a call back to qualify and confirm your attendance. Our staff reached out to *** and explained to him that the workshop is for consumers that are 50 years of age and older and that since his daughter is 31 years of age, she would not qualify to attend. We also explained that due to COVID/DELTA Social Distancing protocols we have a limited seating capacity. 

  We encouraged ************** to attend the workshop by himself due to limited seating but he was adamant that his daughter must attend as well. 

   This left us no choice but to respectfully cancel his reservation. 

  Since this is a Private Event hosted by my firm at a Private Restaurant (not a public place such as a Library) we reserve the right, based on the language on our invitation, to disinvite any individual or couple that does not meet the qualifying criteria that we cover when our staff reaches out to them over the phone.

  Please let us know if you have any other questions. 

  Customer response

  08/24/2021

  I am sorry, but I fail to find anything mentionedabout age restrictions in your advertisement. If that truly was the case, I wouldn'thave wasted our time. While I tend to agree that your business may be private,it does in fact cater to the public nonetheless. In order to benefit, I thinkit is reasonable to assume that you rely heavily on the general public as well.Not to sound rude, I find your efforts to belittle my intelligence offensiverather than helpful. It may also interest you to know that a restaurant'sexistence as private business does not excuse an unjustified refusal of serviceeither.
  
  Age aside, the point I tried to explain to yourassociate is that I depend on the help & support of my daughter. If you mustknow, I have a disability, & I tried my best to convey that in so many words overthe phone. Perhaps that is why I sounded adamant that she accompanied me.Again, all I asked was for reasonable modification to your policy. Yet despitemy effort, I was continually denied accommodation simply because of my adultdaughter's age, rather than my need of having her present.
  
  Please understand that my purpose of voicing myfrustration wasn't to complain, but rather bring this matter to your attention.Instead of trying to avoid embarrassment, perhaps I should have been morespecific about my disabilities. But then again, I really shouldn't have to. ***** it fair that a business (private or public) deny people such as me equalaccess to the same goods & services offered to the public.
  
  With that said I only wish to suggest that yourcompany do things differently or at least adjust your rules, on an individual,case-by-case basis. This should include accommodating caregivers, personalaides or family members who help provide assistance to persons with a disability.That way everybody gets a fair shake to access services & participate in programs,such as your workshop, instead of getting the end of a boot & feeling leftout.

  

  Business response

  08/25/2021

  Please be advised that we have attached a copy of our seminar invitation which clearly states at the bottom about receiving a call for qualifying and confirmation purposes.  We do that so that we can explain to the consumer details of our seminars and the parameters to attend.  

   

  We also have to adhere to social distancing policies due to COVID-19 for the safety of our attendees and that creates limited seating.  We have also attached a copy of the consumer's pre-qualification phone call and nowhere does it state that he was disabled.  Had we known that fact, we would have offered for his daughter to have driven him to the workshop and picked him up after the seminar was over.

   

  In his original letter to the BBB, ************** didn't say anything about being disabled or needing his daughter but instead stated that he wanted to attend the dinner seminar as an opportunity to get out of the house and away from the confines associated with COVID-19.

   

  At the end of the day, ************** is not a client of our firm and had he disclosed that he was disabled, we would have given him options available at that time.

   

  As we stated in our previous response that this is a private event held in a private restaurant and based on limited seating and the fact that we have clearly stated on our seminar invitation that consumers will be receiving a call to confirm if they qualify to attend the financial workshop.

   

  This is an unfortunate situation and we have complied with our responsibilities set forth on our seminar invitation and our expected business practices.  We are more than happy to offer ************** a one-on-one consultation and we will go out and visit with him at his home to make it convenient.  Since ************** is not a client, we appreciate that this complaint be closed with this response.

   

  Best regards and wishes!

   

  Customer response

  08/31/2021

  While I appreciate the invitation for a one-on-oneconsultation and your kind offer to allow my daughter to provide metransportation, even though I dont require such help, the fact remains that yourcompany flat out denied my request for reasonable accommodation. Now that I fullylearned how your firm deals with the public, I no longer have an interest ofdealing with you or your company anyway.
  
  Be advised, seminars and workshops are public events,as are radio or television interviews or other speaking activities. As Iexplained over the phone, my daughter oversees my health and finances. Due to cognitiveissues, I especially depend on her when it comes to decision making, a role ofcare and support which I made very clear.  Twice I expressed my need for my daughter to attend, only to be reminded over and over about your unwritten qualifications regarding age restrictionand limited seating due to Covid-19 - which again, is the nature of mycomplaint.  
  
  Yes this is an unfortunate situation, but one you created,and I am just as adamant now as I was then. Obviously, neither you nor yourcompany fully adheres to the invitation of guests that your advertisement encourages.Particularly, when you later toss in unwarranted qualifications on an asneeded basis, while cherry picking and eliminating guests in the process. Not only do I find the advert misleading tothe public, but I imagine that much of the printed information is exaggerated as well just to entice participants. With that said, I simply want to point outagain that some people have certain individual needs and you should respectthat, rather than argue about unspecified rules and policies that are just nonsense.
  
  While I regret your stubbornness to see eye to eye,this is my last response. Oh, and the next time I get an invitation that includesa complimentary meal, Ill be sure to ask if I will be on the menu.

  Respectfully

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