Superior Debt Services - Has anyone dealt with this company?

I am just about complete with Superior. The settlements are complete and now we'll if their promise to restore credit holds true. I thing you should know is they cannot settle with every creditor. I had to settle my Advanta account on my own, which was frustrating to say the least. Another thing you should be aware of is when estimate the settlement it is a percentage of the current balance. What they do not clearly explain is as you making payment to Superior, interest is accumulating on your accounts and when it come to settling, the percent is actually on the original balance and interest that has accumulated. In other words, if your debt is high enough, you may end up paying the entire amount of the original balance because of the high interest. When asked about it they state they cannot guarantee settlement amounts.

My husband and I have been with Superior Debt for 14 months now and yes they are great to deal with but I don't think I was fully aware of how hard it was going to be when I signed up. I never realized how persistent the bill collectors can be. Because I'm not answering my home phone they call me at work, they have called the owners of the company I work for and my family members. This has proven to be very humiliating! I'm not sure who said it but Debt Solutions does not stop any phone calls nor do they take any phone calls unless you have enough money in your account to settle a debt. The other matter I neglected to think of was the fact that the longer it takes you to settle your debt interest and penalties are accruing each month increasing the amount of debt you owe. Remember, when you look at the estimated payment schedule it is only an estimate. They agree to settle your accounts for 40 percent of the debt but by the time you are able to settle your debt your balance could have doubled. I still think we made the right choice for us in choosing Debt Solutions but I think before anyone sighs up they should know what they are in for.

so glad to read all thepositive reviews.I am going to sign up also,but was getting cold feet because of some of the scary things I have heard about the industry in general.My first impression was good,espicially after speaking to other 'companies".Thanks,I needed that positive feedback!!!

I would like to start off by saying that I am a client of SDS and I am NOT a spammer or anything of the sort. That said, I would like to tell you all how I feel about Superior Debt Services. I signed up with this site years ago and no longer recall my log in info. When I signed up, I was contacted by SDS. I have been using them for 3 years now and I have never had a problem with them. I have had Priscilla since day one and she has been a very helpful and pleasant woman to talk to. Even if she's not in the office, there is someone kind sounding and courteous who is willing to help with any questions you may have. Would I recommend them? Hell, Yes!

For the past three years I have learned to live with out credit cards. Sure I was aware of how just a few purchases will add up and so on, but what got the ball rolling in the direction of being debt free was one slip up on the credit company's part. I had sent a payment in to the creditor on time as usual. But seeing that we had a holiday, my mail was delayed a day getting to them. So they not only tacked on a late fee, but also doubled my interest. It's been so long I don't recall who it was, but I do know after a few times they did drop the late fee, but not the interest. I don't like being ripped off. I've been ripped off prior to that and was not going to let it happen again.

When we moved to a new town make a new life for ourselves, we found ourselves facing down the barrel of debt again. We had no problem paying the credit card bills as we moved into our new home (we had some extra left over from the sale of our previous home). Then the unexpected happened, the job that I was hired for didn't pan out and I was now on the market in a new area. Believe me, out here it was and still is a struggling area for a computer artist. With the local college the kids will work for peanuts and their work shows. We tried our best to make minimum payments, but with interests high enough it was a losing battle. We even contacted the creditors and explained our situation. A few actually helped, but most of them didn't really care. We ended up slipping and never got back up to speed.

Then the calls started.

I never answered them, I knew who they were and what they wanted. I searched around and found a debt consolidation company that we put half of the cards in. That worked out fine until I was talked into refinancing my home to pay the cards off with. Well in order to get that ball rolling we had to drop out of the debt consolidation service, that was a bad idea. After a month past the due date of getting our home refinanced, we got word that the company doing it went under and we were on our own. Great. Then the phone calls started up, this time it included the other cards.

So I looked around online while researching phone numbers of collection agencies who had been calling me. I found this company who not only would work with me, but also would take care of the harassing phone calls. Now it was a relief to find them, because one other company I was going to use wouldn't deal with a few of the collection agencies and told me they would work with the debt after it was sold to another collection agency and if I was sued I was on my own. Whatever. So I found the one who claimed they would do everything and would help if a collection agency wouldn't play ball and wanted to sue.

All I pretty much have to do is keep a call log and send it and any mail solicitations to them via mail, fax, or email. With the internet, it's easy to find out who is calling you and the agent will contact them on your behalf and work out a deal. I did get sued though. I had a shady (like they all aren't) debt collection agency who didn't want to play by the rules and attempted to sue me for money they claimed they gave me. My agent hooked me up with her lawyers and we got it settled out of court.

My wife and I are technically finnished with our contract with SDS, but we have extend it because we have one debt collector who still wants more than what we have in our account with SDS. Then when it's paid off we will be out of credit card debt. That will be great because with over $20k in credit card debt, our monthly payments with our agency was around $350. After a year it went down, and went down the third year. So pretty soon we will have an extra $330 to save to spend on a vacation (which we haven't been able to do since we got into debt). That also will be great because I'm still struggling to find a decent job, so I'm going to freelance and hopefully open a shop in town and be my own boss. With the debt out of my hair I can start to build my credit back up.

So what did I learn? A lot.

But just a few things I learned is that banks do not care about anything you can or cannot do. As long as they get their money back when they want it, they will not bother you. I also learned that they really don't care if you are in debt, they will still send you credit card offers, even if it's from a bank who has sent you to collections. Collection agencies are scum, but I don't need to tell you that. They will not only harass you by phone or mail, but they will call you at work (yes they have ways to find out), and they will call your family hoping that they can shake them down for money. My father used to have a fun time cussing and arguing with them. They don't care. They bought your info and they want to milk you or whoever will pay them. Debt collectors will try to scare you with lying to you about putting you in jail or even having balls enough to threaten your life. Their tactics are all uncalled for, a few simple phone calls and mail-outs are good enough. Many people who are in debt want to pay them off, they need to be mindful of that. Save the BS for the ones who deserve it.

The most important thing I have learned and I will continue to do for the rest of my life is never be a slave to the plastic. I will pay cash (check or debit) for anything I want. If I don't have the money, then I don't need it. If I need it (medical, auto repair, etc.) then I will work out a payment plan. I do plan on getting one credit card that is not tied in with my checking account for emergencies that may arise. But I will not have as many as I had and I will not be wiping it out just to buy something I thought I might want. We have learned to look for bargains to make our dollars stretch. Thrift stores, resale shops, garage sales, outlet stores, the list goes on and on. I reuse and recycle as much as I can. It's a life style that I have been attune to before letting the debt get out of control, and I have grown to like it.

Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Sears/Home Depot, I've fought them all and I am winning. Yes it was their money from the start, but when I needed assistance they didn't want help. But I got help and now I am coming up on top. With most or all of my creditors filing for bankruptcy I don't have any pity for them. They got into debt just as easily as they led the rest of us. But I do want to pay my debt off and I did something about it. If you need assistance, seriously consider contacting SDS and talk with them. Superior really helped me out, my other alternative was bankruptcy, and honestly I couldn't even afford the $2000 to start the proceedings on that!!

In my final statement, I would like to promote a book my father gave to me on my birthday a few years ago. It's called "How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver Lifestyle" by Charles Long. You can find it on amazon.com, I've read this book three times and I go back to it to get ideas. It's a damn good read, and I recommend everyone read it. It has helped me not only change my life, but also helped me while I was getting out of debt.

We went with them after a GREAT deal of research. I have found Jamie Orth wonderful to work with as well as Janet Harper. I have been with them almsot 18 months and have settled almost $100,000 in debt for less than $30,000. They were honest, up front, helpful, and always responded to my calls and emails professionally.
I would not hesitate to reccomend them to anyone !

I've been with Superior for little over a year now, and only one account has been settled. I've read that from others - many more accounts have been settled??

Needless to say, ALL the calls have been pouring in from creditors - as part of the program process is to let the credit cards fall into default. The collection agencies are all now calling my family, and at work to track me down. I have been threatened with wage garnishments from creditors and my work phone and home phone ring nonstop.

I've read stories online where their clients were sued and had to go to court and wound up settling the debts on their own anyways. And lost thousands MORE than the original debt was for. Scary!

And, also the original balances I had on my cards have since tripled, and therefore I'm in even MORE debt now. And nonstop calls to my work line and home line don't stop. All hours, weekends, holidays - doesn't matter. I follow Superior's direction on telling the collection agencies to stop calling me at work, home, my family - but that doesn't stop them. No complaining will help stop the calls and its gotten to the point where I can't even sleep at night anymore out of fear of getting served papers (which I was told originally when I sign up that WOULD NOT happen, and last time I called Superior, I was told it could happen, but I would need to get my own lawyer). Even MORE legal costs on top of my tripled debt since I joined their program.

Also, when I ran my credit report - my home address changed to theirs!!

I need to move pretty soon and I can't find a place that will take me with such a terrible credit report! Superior's staff have been very pleasant and great to work with - but bottom line is that I've tripled my debt (interest rates, late fees keep on coming!) and Superior won't budge until more money goes into my account with them. And with lawsuits lurking, I can't afford to rack up thousands more of charges, and needing to find my own lawyer should I be called into court.

I'm really screwed and want out of the program ASAP! I've contacted my contact at Superior Debt, who won't return my calls or e-mails. Looks like I will cancel my ACH's that come out of my bank account every month in order to get my point across that I want out of this dent program before I stand in front of a judge explaining why I didn't pay. And Superior will not help me in anyway should that happen. I'll be completely on my own.

Turns out in the end, this program wasn't really for me.

has anyone been sued by creditiors

I have been in Superior Debt's program for three years now. The entire process has made me very satisfied. When I started I had 10 different accounts that needed to be settled and to date there is only one account that has not been settled and that is due to a lack of information that I had and a lack of the creditor attempting to contact me. I have had some accounts settle smoothly, and others that would refuse to settle with Superior. In those cases my account specialist walked me through the proccess and I was still able to settle. At the end, that account was removed from my plan and they reduced the fees that were owed. Also, my account specialist assisted me with how to talk to collection agencies and what info to give them and how to handle the calls. While they did not stop entirely, there was a noticable reduction and I was better able to avoid them.

Superior Debt has been very good to keep in touch, both via email and by phone, with me. I know when they settled accounts or had an opportunity to settle and they did a good job of letting me know what it would take. When I have had a need to not pay for a month due to things like moving, losing a job or some other issue they have been more than willing to work with me. The amount that I pay each month is well within my budget and when I enrolled they worked to get the amount I pay where I wanted it.

If you have $10K or more in credit card debt, I recomend you use Superior Debt. I have been very happy with the services rendered and the fees I paid were resonable in my opinion.

I am also thinking about signing up with Superior Debt. I have researched several other companies and most want up front fees and a monthly maintenance fee. I am working with Nicholas. Has anyone worked with him? Thank you

Glad I found this forum. I'm also looking to sign up with SDS and my contact, Janet Harper, has been very pleasant to work with. Although there are many positive posts regarding SDS, the negative ones are quite frightening. My main concern is that finance guru Clark Howard (for those unfamiliar with him, he has his own national radio and tv shows) does not recommend debt settlement and only recommends the National Foundation for Credit Counseling for those seeking assistance.

So even though I have all of SDS's paperwork and just need to sign and return it, I have set up an appointment with NFCC to discuss my options. Has anyone else dealt with NFCC?

I'm just not sure what route to take and feedback would be appreciated!

How much does Superior Debt charge? Oak View is $100 per account they handle, $50 a month and %10 of what amount they save you. Sounds like alot. Any recommendations. I am not sure about oak view.
Thanks

Do not sign with this company, all they want is the huge fee they get out of you and then tell you to file for bankruptcy. Jamie Orth is my agent, I have been with them for 17 out 30 months. They settled 3 accts, supposedly. Now, I am being sued for 2 accts and I am in the same amount debt as when I started with Superior. Jamie is now pushing me to file for bankruptcy.

Decide for yourself, are they a scam? I know now they are and should have filed for bankruptcy in the first place, but Superior talks a great talk. Too bad they can't back it up.
They are no better than the credit card companies, they are just out for their monthly fees.

Thank You !!!

I am familiar with Superior Debt. I have been a client for one year and am VERY pleased. They didn't require up front deposits, nor did they require that I have a certain amount banked in my account prior to settling with my first creditor. I have one debt consultant that handles my case that I can call or email whenever I want/need to. They have settled several accounts on my behalf and have even fronted some settlement money for me. I would recommend.

Has anyone heard or used Consumer First Debt Solution located in
Virginia ?

I have dealt with them. They did not disclose to me that credit card companies have up to 3 years to discharge a debt after you pay them their money. I now owe taxes because I was told by SDS that all I had to do was prove insolvency at the time I paid the debt but that is not true.