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Thanks for the warnings and posting your experiences.
I've just decided not to go through with FDR, and I would like to thank you all.
Even the people who work for FDR participating to this discussions and ending their statements with "please contact our customer representative." I know FDR employees just wanna do their jobs and thats ok.
But - just the mere fact that over 50% (may be 80%++) on the bloggers are not happy with FDR's service or have a ton of complains tells me that there is fundamentally wrong with the way the company operates. Even just having law suits is a red flag for me.
The answer "only 2.4% went to legal" or 2.4% of accounts were mishandled or 2.4% were sent court orders, wage garnish went to bankcruptcy…. I'm sorry, I don't wanna become part of that statistics!
I cannot afford to take that risk.

Thanks for the info. Very helpful!

I work for Freedom Debt Relief and I can tell you that no one would ever not call a client back to discuss any questions they may have. We pride ourselves on our superior customer service. If you have any accounts that have been sent to a legal firm and you would like any questions answered or clarified, please contact customer service to get this taken care of. Also we have been and are still licensed to do business in California. Regardless, I apologize if this was the experience you felt. We do have a very good group of people working for us who work hard to do the best for their clients.

It is good that you are being diligent in your research to find who to work with, but I can tell you as a consumer that also does research, look at complaints and law suits against places like McDonalds or even Wal-Mart. In my opinion it is best to gather the most information about debt settlement and call each company you are thinking of doing business with. Make sure they are a member of TASC, also make sure that they are following the FTC guidelines and most importantly they answer any question you may have directly without trying to deceive you.

Hope this will make up some minds out there.

DO NOT GO WITH A CREDIT CARD DEBT RELIEF COMPANY! If you can afford to make minimum payments after talking with each one of your creditors, then MAKE THEM! NO excuses, stop eating out and spending money on things you don't need. Discipline yourself and your spending habits, PERIOD! These companies could give a s*** less about you because there's another sucker waiting on the other line, waiting to be told the same things. DON'T BE FOOLED. Ok, but if you seriously are making ends meet to feed your family and simply can not afford to make minimum monthly payments and can't arrange some sort of reasonable payment schedule with your creditors then by all means, SEEK HELP. But please read some reviews, do your research, call them up and ask them what happens to your credit rating when you stop paying them, ASK QUESTIONS. Make them work for WHATEVER MONEY YOU HAVE LEFT. MAKE THEM SELL YOU on their services.

My experience with them was pitiful. I was desperate and needed help. Long story short my credit was rating was declining and I had no idea. I finally called back a law firm that my discover card account had transferred over to because why? I had not paid it, the deb relief company was taking care of it for me, duh. NO, they weren't, that's the honest truth. So I schedule a payment with them that was what I could afford. Finally when I had some extra money I'd use it to pay the account down until it was paid off. I'm not 100% out of debt but pretty darn close and I'm not f****** up my credit and I know what the hell is going on because I'm handling it myself, not someone else who could care less. I did get a refund of $300 dollars from them but it was a lesson I'll never forget.

Like any industry, unfortunately there may be bad apples. I work for a debt settlement company and we are very up front and honest in trying to help our clients. If we don’t feel our program is the best for them we will provide them other options. Debt Settlement is a good option for those struggling with their debt, but like anything you go into be sure to and check them out.

I work for Freedom and I know we attempt to work every account as soon as there are funds available in the clients account to get a settlement. We disclose to all clients that we cannot stop collections or stop a creditor from suing someone that owes them money. We do work with law firms to obtain settlements and payment arrangements. Frequently letters from attorney’s are only collection letters and are not tied to any legal action. We ask our clients, if they receive what they think are legal items, to call customer service and be connected to our team that specializes in handling these situation.

I m agree about mcdonalds JSW I always thought of McDonald's as junk food and terribly unhealthy. But for fun, I looked up the nutritional information of the french fries, which I always associate with McDonald's, and have found that it really isn't that bad! There is fiber, protein, and most of the fat that is found in it isn't even saturated. Why is it considered so unhealthy?

My wife and I are very (meaning I have filled out and have the welcome package and I am ready to fax it back) close to going with FDR. I decided to do some additional searching before I faxed the enrollment paperwork back and I came across this thread. Like most people, I take everything I read online with a grain of salt. Rarely will anyone post anything about a positive experience they have had.

I have read about people going to a lawyer and having this done without using a Debt Settlement Company. The main difference being that those people had the means to pay a lump sum to each creditor. I don't have that option so I have been forced to look elsewhere for help. My DTI ratio prohibits getting any sort of unsecured Debt Consolidation Loan. I don't have the equity in my home to take out any kind of Line of Credit against it. At the end of the month, after paying all the bills (min payments on my CCs), I am in the hole. Basically I am out of options. We don't have any extras left to cut out of the budget.

Whether it's FDR or some other company I don't see any way around going with a DSC. I have looked into several and FDR seems like the best option.

Thoughts?

FDR is very helpful. My wife and I have been with them for 2 years already because we just went a little spend happy when we were younger. They are upfront with the fact that they take their fees out first and pay off what they can when they have the funds available in your account. they can seem expensive but in about a year or so ill be free of that stuff so I can rebuild my credit after that.

Freedom Debt Relief was the worst company I've ever dealt with. I had problems with my rep before I ever got 100% hooked up with them and now I'm jumping through hoops just to get my first payment back and they haven't even done anything on my behalf yet. I was given one date for the first draft out of my checking and they used another causing major fees from my bank. Trying to terminate before they've even begun negotiating on my behalf is like trying to pass bill through congress and they are going to charge me to cancel and now I'm in the red with fees. DO NOT DO IT!!!!

What debt relief companies can do, you can do as well. If you know how to use a phone, then by all means, call your credit card companies. The bottom line is, you don't have enough income to pay them anymore. Is that so hard to explain to creditors and you need to pay a company to say it for you? The bottom line for the creditors is this, they don't care if you have the White House to speak for you, all they care about is their profit. They would prefer to settle than go to court and pay their lawyers for something they cant really enforce anymore because you are broke. They would settle to get a fraction of what you owe than get nothing at all. DIY, compute if your expenses is greater than your income, if so, then debt consolidation wont work for you and never ever go to debt relief agencies because believe me, they will accept you as client since you will pay them their fees. If you owe some 25K or more, consider bankruptcy to wipe out everything, learn from it, don't look back and move on. By this time, your credit report is as messed up as it can be anyway so bankruptcy wont hurt you anymore but rather help give you a fresh start.

*sigh* This is happening to me. When I started with Freedom Debt Relief, one creditor balance was in 6,000 range. By the time we got to that creditor, the balance went up to the 8,000 range. I have 1, 110 in the Global Client Solutions Bank Account that pays the creditors. They won't make a lump sum payment 1,110 because they think the Creditor will think I have more cash around. I wouldn't be dealing with FDR if I did.
Two choices: Monthly constant payment until April or a lump sum payment. If I could pay the 1,110 it would reduce the payment time range by 3 months. If I had any advice to anyone, stay away from credit cards.
I was paying the balances off reasonably until I had back problems and paid $$$ to the Chiropractor co-payments. It got out of control.. Your advice cash is king, I take it seriously. thank you.

Hi.
I have been with FDR. It has been good until the last creditor. I would learn about FDR's processes. You do have access to your record and your relating bank account that pays the creditors. I cannot stress this enough.. Secondly, be assertive. When you ask about a process that is uncomfortable to you, they have their buzz phrases to avoid giving you a direct answer. Thirdly, put as much wind fall cash in your relating bank account Global Client Services is the bank where your monthly payments are deposited. Document every phone call or email-which you already know-just a reminder. You are charged 3 dollars a call - taken from your Global Client Services account. Hope this helps.

My husband and I have just signed up with the FDR program, and after researching company after company online, we went with them. No, it is not an easy choice to go with a debt settlement company and not something we just wanted to do, but in the long run, we really want to try to avoid bankruptcy, and we thought we would give this a try. We have $27,000 in CC debt and we can't even make the min. payments anymore. We had lots of bad things happen to our family since 07' and this is how all this debt accrued. We spoke with the first rep. from FDR and I can't say enough great things about her. She answered all of our questions and was super nice. She did not make us feel stupid for being in our situation. She went over everything with both of us with a fine tooth comb. My hubby and I prayed and thought about it, and prayed and thought some more, and we just decided that going with FDR was a good choice. No, we know better than to expect "magic" and we know that it will be a rough road ahead for the next 6 months or so, but in the end, just the thought of being out of debt is worth it. Our credit rating is really the least of our worries right now anyway. We know that it will be hurt, but, that is something we are willing to deal with to ultimatley get out of debt, and NEVER get in it again. Just my thoughts on it. We have signed paper work and are ready to start our program with them on
August 1, 2011. So, I think that everyone just needs to do what is best for their situation. There is no perfect way out of this. Do your homework, and realize that going into any program, it will not be a smooth road, but in the end, it will be worth it.

Doing a debt settlement program by yourself would end up saving you a whole lot of money...if you have the discipline to do it. You put your funds away each month in a seperate account and start pay settling the smallest balances first. All credit cards settle...and you can get just as good a settlement without risking your hard earned funds in the hand of dubious companies.

The program does work, and works in a way that at time seems at odds with how we are conditioned to pay our debts. With regular minimum payments, the way the credit card company would like it, it could take 10, 20 or even 30 years to pay off most balances. The reason is the extra interest and penalties added on over the years. We explain to our clients we deal with current balances when we begin negotiating debt, but even with that, we can resolve most debts within 36 to 42 months at, on average, 50% or less than the current balance, even in a term settlement instead of a lump sum. Plus, if we have a term settlement it could leave funds available for a second settlement to be made. We always work to the best interest of our clients to settle their debts.