ComplaintsforSpecialized Consumer Strategies

• Initial Complaint

  03/27/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received a call from this company stating my social security number had been stolen and they were attempting to cancel all my credit cards and put a stop to all pending transactions. When I asked them for the number they were calling from, they gave me the number to the ****************** at *********Its a SCAM.

  Business response

  03/28/2024

  We understand your concern, but we believe there has been a misunderstanding. Our company has no affiliation with the ******************* at ********, and we did not make any such call to you. Our interaction with *************** occurred back in February when we provided financial planning services to assist her with her debt. For example, we assisted *************** with her **** of America account and successfully negotiated her interest rate from *****% down to 1.75%, saving her a significant amount of money (over $10,000.00).
  It seems there may have been confusion regarding the identity of the caller claiming to be from the ******************* at Experian."We assure you that our company operates with integrity and is not involved in any fraudulent activities. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, but we are not the company you are referring to in your complaint.
  If you have any further concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. We are committed to addressing any issues and providing assistance as needed.

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was contacted by SCS to help resolve financial & credit issues. They promised to reduce my debt exposure by placing my accounts into a lower interest, payment accelerated program. At the time I owed approximately $10,000 in credit card debt at an average interest rate of 23%. The upfront cost for this program was $1,575 which they charged to the one credit card which I still had an open credit line. That increased my debt to $11,57 and after a year of regular payments the low interest rate they promised has increased to 29.99% and my payments have increased to a higher amount than I can commit to. I would like to have a refund of the monies they stole from me and help others avoid being taken advantage of by these scam artists.

  Business response

  03/07/2023

  We have been in contact with customer and resolved his issue with miscommunication. We did do everything we were suppose to do and helped with his all of his accounts. Customer is satisfied. 

  Customer response

  03/07/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** ***

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  September 19,2022 I received a call on my cell phone from***************, A man told me he was from ******** Credit Center and because I had a good rating with them, I qualified for a reward of a lower interest rate on my credit cards and debt relief. He turned the call over to a man named Taylor L***** to explain, That call lasted an hour and 18 minutes. He asked me for my bank account numbers and all of my credit card information along with my personal information. I believed that ******** was going to charge money and use that money to settle an amount with my creditors and I would be debt free. I am 90 years old, I wear a hearing aid and have poor vision, and only have social security so any help to not have debt made me hopeful. After they hung up I got texts that $850.00 was charged on one credit card it was maxed out and they maxed out another card. Altogether they have so far gotten more than $1,100, and are calling me for more money. I found out through my credit card company that they are not ********, they are Specialized Strategies and that they have nothing to do with ********, They charge thousands of dollars for advice only, I feel like I have been robbed. My Children advised me to stop being nice and refuse these scammers by hanging up, but I need my money back for my bills. The next day September the 20th when Mr L***** called me asking for more money, I told him I did not want his service and that I wanted my money back. He started arguing with me I kept telling him to please give me back my money and I had to end up hanging up. Thank You. **************

  Business response

  11/17/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/20) */ Ms. **** was hired by our company she knew we were Specialized Consumer Strategies. We introduced ourselves as Specialized Consumer Strategies and the paperwork she received from us had our company information on each page. Our calls are recorded and never did we say we were ********. We went through Ms. **** finances and developed a financial plan for her due to she was on a fixed income. We went through all of her accounts, reviewed her ******* Credit report and went through her monthly budget. After providing different financial options, she agreed to the action plan that would save her over $7,500.00 in interest and financial charges and her debt would be paid off in five years or less. Her credit card payments would be half of what they are now and would bring her monthly budget down which was our main goal for her. We have in no way taken advantage of Ms. ****, we did provide the services she asked us to provide. The contracts were sent to her, in which she signed and did a recorded verification agreeing to our financial planning services. Ms. **** was aware of our service fee and agreed the split charges. Ms. **** had no issues until her daughter got involved and told her mom to just hang up on us due to her daughter assumed we were a scam. We are helping her with the best financial plan for her, but unfortunately the daughter is holding her back. Her daughter told her to cancel and file complaints against us. She is hindering her mom from saving so much money, even monthly on her fixed income. We didn't do anything wrong and do not appreciate the slander. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/25) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I am sitting with Mrs. ****, my mother now. She was told she was taking to ******** about reducing her debt and her monthly payment for her credit card debt. She did not worry about sharing her financial and personal information because she knew ******** already had her information, she thought she was verifying it for ********. She only saw that it was Specialized Strategies when her ******** card sent a text saying $850.00 had been charged by them that same day. She was not employed by you, she was scammed by you. You sent to her phone asking her to sign that it was ok for who she thought was ******** to help her, and then you maxed out several of her credit cards. You lied to a 90 year old widow. She lives with my sister she is hearing and vision impaired and only has social security. You called her and lucked out that she did not understand you were calling to take money she did not have. She was home alone you kept her on the phone making for more than an hour wearing her out and promising her she should trust that you were going to save her money as ********, a lie, then drained the little credit she had left. By your reviews which I read to her when she called me after ******** listed your real company name, listed you as a predator company and a lot of the reviews of attacks by you were done on the elderly. She told you when you called the next day after she froze her accounts and you were looking for more money, that she did not want your services she wanted her money back.She still wants her money back. Mrs. **** says she was lied to. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/10/26) */ We apologize for the mistype at the beginning of our 1st response. It should have stated "Ms. **** hired our company to help her with her finances." She understood who we were, as it was stated multiple times in our calls with her as well as our name is all over the contracts she signed. We even did a Quality Assurance recording, where we went over everything that we did with her including our company name. She understood we were not her banks and understood our services were rendered. Again, our calls are recorded and at no point did we ever say we were from ********! All of our calls explained exactly what we are doing (financial planning) and who we were (SCS). Ms. **** understood everything and at no point expressed otherwise. We provided Ms. **** with a financial plan that saves her over $7,500.00. How is it fair that ********, ***** Mercury and************ is taking advantage of Ms. ****, a 90-year-old woman, by being charged such high rates on a fixed income? Most of her payment is going to those banks for interest and not to her principle, which is why her balances are going nowhere and she has such high payment she cannot afford. This is where we came in, we listened to her and what she needed, went through her budget, credit report to include all of her debt and we explained all of her options, Ms. **** did not know about these programs and we helped her so the banks are not taking advantage of her that will save her thousands in interest and financial charges. Ms. **** agreed to this plan and signed the plan that would lock her in at lower rates and lower payments, which is exactly what Ms. **** needed right now. Yes, there is a one-time services fee for our services that were rendered and yes, we had all the signed, recorded documents authorizing that charge before she was ever charged. We went over our fee numerous times with her and Ms. **** understood our fee would have to be split between three of her cards due to she was already maxed out and didn't have enough available on one account. Ms. **** knew how much our fee was and exactly how it was being split between each account. She verified each amount and the card information to each charge. Again, Ms. **** signed contracts and did a recording agreeing to that one-time fee to be split between her accounts. For Ms. **** Daughter to claim her mom didn't know, is wrong. We have the recorded calls and quality assurance recorded call #******. After listening to all the calls, Ms. **** did hear us very clearly, she knew we were SCS (specialized consumer strategies- Not ********) and she signed all the contracts authorizing everything. She had no issues reviewing the contracts with us before she signed them. We did what we were hired to do and that was to help Ms. **** with her financial options that saves her the most and with our plan that she agreed to, does just that. We can resolve this more efficiently if you gave our office a call instead of believing everything you read on the internet, not everything is true. If Ms. **** and her daughter took the time to read the responses to every complaint, the few we have, you will see almost every one of them is someone else getting involved. They jump to conclusions and assume we are a scam and hindering the process. If you read all the 5-star reviews of all the people that were nervous about this being a scam, but trusted us and now they couldn't be happier. We are not here to hurt anyone, just here to help Ms. **** with a way to not give so much of her money to these banks and we will not sit back and allow someone to slander us when we didn't do anything wrong. We are Sorry Ms. **** and her daughter got scared, but had they just trusted the process we wouldn't be here responding to a prejudged complaint.

• Initial Complaint

  02/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I'm filing this on behalf of my mother who received the initial call from this company, even though she's on the National Do Not Call Registry. That right there was a crime. My mother is 94 years old and sadly, her cognitive abilities are declining. Who know what this company told her or what information she gave them because she can't remember. They sent her documents to sign, which she did, including an authorization to charge her card $1,575.00. That certainly won't help her with paying her bills. She did not know what she was doing. Proof of that is the fact that she has told us (my sisters and I) that she didn't pay them anything. This company may be covering themselves and staying just within the law (except for the call), but they have certainly crossed the line on ethics by targeting seniors who may not fully understand what they are signing up for. My sisters and I will pursue all legal means to rectify this situation. This complaint, along with all the others about this company, is your warning to never do business with them or let an elderly loved one talk to them.

  Business response

  04/05/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/03/04) */ Mrs. ****** was contacted by a marketing company and they hired our company to work on her profile. She expressed to us she wanted the assistance on her finances. We do not discriminate against anyone for any reason including age. Everyone needs help. On Feb 16th, 2022 we developed a plan to assist her on both of her Chase accounts. She was ecstatic to get a 2% and lower payments on the cards. We asked her multiple times if she had a Power of attorney or if anyone helped her with her finances and she said no. Even with our service fee, the client payments will still be lower. We spoke with her daughter Mary and she understood. We as a company are here to help all consumers that want the help. Client did provide her checking information, which is used to set up automatic payments when the credit cards are enrolled in the program. I can assure you nothing fraudulent has accrued from our company. We are more than happy to resolve this matter, please call us at XXX-XXX-XXXX and ask to speak with Shane. Consumer Response /* (3000, 8, 2022/03/05) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I do not believe that a separate marketing company contacted my mother first. This is the first I've heard of this claim. As I have explained in the original complaint, my mother has declining cognitive abilities and memory problems. So, whatever this company claims she said is irrelevant. I do have durable general power of attorney and can act on her behalf. It now looks like this company has gained online access to her checking account. As I am on the account as well, and I did not give my consent, this is a fraudulent act and they will be held accountable. A complaint has already been filed with the FTC. I do not accept anything they have said as a resolution. I have already spoken with this company and they refused to cancel the contract and refund the charge to my mother's credit card. A chargeback has been filed. The only resolution that is acceptable now is for them to accept the chargeback, cancel the contract and never contact my mother again. Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2022/03/16) */ We went back and listened to all our conversations with Ms. ****** due to all our calls are recorded, as stated at the beginning of every call. Client was very aware of the services and what she was signing up for and never showed any sign of poor cognitive abilities or memory problems as Terry (her son) claims. Ms. ****** was specifically asked if she had a power of attorney or anyone that helped her with her finances, and she stated she did not. She was able to provide us with every bit of financial information that was necessary for a successful process like she did. For example, she was able to provide a detailed monthly budget (2 pages) that she was slightly negative every month. We worked with her to figure out how to make her positive every month instead of negative, which was her main goal of our services. She provided all her credit card information to assist her with her accounts and complete the services to help her as she asked us to do. Ms. ****** daughters were involved and understood the services, but for some reason Terry (Her Son) got involved and acted as if he knew everything and assumed were scamming his mom. Which is the person that filed this complaint. We are more than happy to resolve the issue with Terry as we previously stated to Terry when he spoke with the Owner Lisa on 2/17/22. What was asked for was Terry to provide us with the power of attorney paperwork he said he had, and he has not provided us that documentation. Our company has not done anything without the client's consent. We have tried numerous times to contact the son again and have him contact us; we have had no luck. We will not sit back and allow the slander from Terry. At this point until the power of attorney is provided Terry does not have the right to demanded anything. There has been multiple false Statement by Terry. 1. Claiming we had online access to her checking account, which is not true. We have never had access to his moms online checking. Another false statement by Terry was that we asked her for her debit card number, again untrue, we have never asked for her debit card nor would we. We would never need her debit card for our services. So, for Terry to try to make an accusation Consumer Response /* (4200, 12, 2022/03/17) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This business did not propose any resolution. They keep saying what my mother said. How do they purport to know my mother's mental condition from just a phone call? Are they medical practitioners or trained psychologists? NO! As I explained in my original complaint, my mother's mental clarity is not what it once was. She had no idea that she even paid them the huge fee that they charged. I spoke to her today and she didn't know what day it was. My sister had visited her about 2 weeks ago to try and help straighten this mess out. My mother thought it was only 2 days ago. I don't like having to write about her condition but this company has no heart. Both of my sisters understand that this company is a fraud. One of them has filed complaints as well and is currently negotiating with the banks on my mother's behalf. My mother doesn't need or want the services of this company. I have not received any attempts from this company to contact me. I have not sent them the power of attorney because, why would I send a legal document to a company that I believe are scammers? It's laughable! I said "it looks like" they had online access to her account. That turned out to be incorrect. As for the debit card number, my mother told us that she gave it to them. So either they are lying or my mother was mistaken. So if this company is legitimate, why don't they do the right thing for a 94 year old woman with failing memory? Why don't they accept the chargeback and leave her alone? She doesn't need them and she doesn't need any extra debt. Their persistence and refusal to do the right thing speaks volumes.

• Initial Complaint

  12/08/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Company called and talked me into their service and kept telling me that none of this would affect my credit. Then told me different amounts that they would charge me to have the service completed with a 0% interest rate. I have found out that there is no 0% interest rate whatsoever. Have not seen my credit card paid off and the amount they charged my card that they were supposedly paying off was ridiculous. Tried to cancel the service and kept getting told that the manager would contact me and no one would call me back. I do not want their service after all of the complaints that I have read about them, I do not want my credit ruined by them. I have asked for a refund and cancellation of the service, as I have not even signed any contracts. I want a refund of the $1500 back, otherwise I will file a dispute with my credit card company and close the credit card to stop any further activity to the card.

  Business response

  01/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/12/16) */ Case Number# XXXXXXXX Mr. Christopher ***** signed up for our services himself on October 28th, 2021. Mr. ***** purchased our project management service which consists of us assisting him in building a financial action plan whereby we assist him in finding alternative solutions for paying off his high interest rate accounts sooner with options or programs that he may not be aware of as well as help with anything financial. We did provide our service to Mr. *****. We spent a lot of time with him developing his borrowers profile, completed a detailed budget (which can be adjusted at any time) that allows the Project Managers to provide an action plan that utilizes the best strategies of programs available at that time based on clients' credit, needs and ability to pay. After going over all of Mr. ***** options he wanted to follow our action plan by enrolling his Comenity account into an internal pay off program that would lower his from 24.99% down to 0% and would be paid off within 60 months by making new lower payments. When we were going over the options with Mr. *****, we educated him this would be the best action due to when running estimated savings, he is estimated to save $11,299.03 in interest and finance charges. The purpose of our services is to evaluate the full picture of finances and educate the client with the best options available to Mr. ***** and we did exactly that. Once we completed our services, we sent Mr. ***** the contracts (Services Agreement, Budget, Action plan and the Sales receipts) to sign and send back before we processed our charge for our services rendered. We spoke to Mr. ***** multiple times and he had no issues and understood the services. On Nov. 1st, 2021 Mr. ***** did call to let us know there was an issue with our fee due to it was supposed to be lowered from $1,775.00 to $1,575.00. We did investigate it for him and realized the miss communication about the reduction of price and we did rectify this and processed the $200.00 refund for him on Nov. 11th, 2021. On Nov. 1st, 2021 he also asked us not to mail anything after we told him his package was already sent out on Oct. 29, 2021, which he understood. We also went over a lot of different things that day as well as another option with a 2% loan, which we discussed and still decided the internal program with Comenity will save him more. He wanted to move forward with enrolling the account into the program. Mr. ***** believes if he does follow the steps and close his account. he would destroy his credit. We explained any time you make a change to your credit it does affect your score but does not destroy your credit. To be eligible for the program, you are required to go a week late. On the credit it will show closed and small affect to the score just because of closing it but in the long run it will improve the credit. As he continue to follow our guidance on rebuilding he will be better off than before and the account will be paid off in 60 months or less We followed up with Mr. ***** on December 1st and informed him because he did not go a week late (he made a $400 payment) we had to reset the enrollment date and he understood. On Dec 2nd, 2021 Mr. ***** called in stating he never talked to his wife about this and she found out. She was upset and he didn't know what to do. We explained to him this is his account he isn't doing anything wrong but making a smart move to save almost $12,000. Mr. ***** said his wife thinks she should just file bankruptcy for $700 or do the 2% loan with the bank. We tried to explain why they shouldn't do the bank loan and why they should never file bankruptcy because that will destroy his credit. We explained that our coaching services taught them a way to save thousands and not destroy his credit with an easy rebuild. Mr. ***** completely understood, and everything was fine again. Now on Dec 10th, Mrs. ***** is now involved (not our client or who signed our contracts). She has not been polite and does not want to listen to anything. Our services were provided to Mr. *****. Client has signed all of our contracts agreeing to the services being rendered and has authorized the charge to his card, not Mrs. *****'s. Mr. ***** paid for our services and understands the benefit of the program. Client wife got involved and is the reason for the complaint being filed with this false accusation.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩