Square One Debt Settlement LLC- Need information about this company

I have not committed but am going to bail out. They said they would not take any money
out of my account, called yesterday for my first amount to be withdrawn from my account.
This is not going to happen, they are thiefs!

You people sound like a bunch of idiots on here... I have a better idea...don't be so stupid to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt. If you weren't so stupid in the first place you wouldn't have to worry about how you are going to pay back your massive amount of debt. If you are reading this then you either work for a settlement company or you are screwed with debt...so both parties keep this in mind. I work in finance and have a grip on what debt settlement is all about. Settlement is something that does work, but it is not for everyone. It is not a way to save a quick buck. The only people who should involve themselves with a settlement company should be those who understand they will not be able to continue to make payments. If you have a default interest rate (20% or higher), and you are struggling to make minimum payments you obviously have no chance in paying this debt in full....these are the people who may need to consider an alternate avenue to pay their debt. On the other hand, these companies should not be allowing anyone and everyone into their programs. They need to distinguish who this model is going to benefit, and who it is going to hurt. People who can afford to make more than their minimum payments shouldn't even consider getting involved in something like this, but unfortunatly American greed gets in the way of these people making an educated decision. No matter what route you choose, it's going to take time and effort, and for those of you who are not willing to understand that should just go open up another credit card or something because you are an idiot.

Please do not even consider using this company. We never signed a contract with this company to consolidate our debts and they started withdrawing funds from our checking account based on the preliminary information they received from us. We were told by their agents that no funds would be withdrawn from our account until we had signed the contract and returned it to them. The agent also told us that by using their company that it would not hurt our credit but improve it. We told them that we wanted to think about it before signing a contract. We then pull our credit report from the three reporting agencies in order to make a more informed decision. We have a credit score of over 720 and therefore decided we did not want to pursue a debt consolidation. Without our knowledge, Square One had already started taking funds from our checking account. When we contacted them, they said we had given them permission to withdraw the funds. We told them no they did not have our permission to "withdraw funds" for a service that we had not not contracted with them, and for services not provided.

When we asked for a refund in full ($1,472) we were told that it was not possible and we haven't heard from them since. That was October 21, 2009. We have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and are still trying to re-coop our monies.
Their rating with the BBB is an "F".... and our bank told us that is the worst rating and we may not be able to get our money back.

I can not convey to you how dishonest this company is. You should try to find a non-profit organization that can help you or contact the Better Business Bureau for a company that is creditable.

GBM

Bull Shit Scam. That's all I have to say.

This company is not interested in your debt. This company sets you up by reassuring you that they will help you get out of debt and tell you all about their expertise. They want you to pay them first and foremost and they set you up for the kill. Up front fees are based on how high your debt actually is. The higher the debt the more they take 15% to 20% upfront fee. They do nothing just draw on the bank account you set up for them. When you turn to them for reassurance they make you feel stupid and cut you off. When you get angry and want to drop out its ok with them because they got some money off of you. Took over $1,000.00 from us. They laugh at you over the phone. Just a smart ass SCAM...

They don't do anything for your debt but do add to it. They have you set up an account. Really smooth operators. They draw each month from you account and that's all they do. Nothing else, just draw out of the account you created for them. Up front fee is based on how high your debt is. This company cheated us out big time, over $2,000.. They lied about their BBB report and when we checked they lied about TASC also.. Big smooth scam, essentially they are immoral because they robe from the poor. Those poor people that do pay their bills but had bad luck. We always paid our bills but then I took ill, disabled. Balances on medications required and medical bills put us under. I couldn't work any longer and we hit hard times. We weren't stupid people and we had an excellent credit score. Our creditors loved us until we ran into difficulties. It happens, especially now. We trusted Square One and they cheated us and clearly indicated that they weren't going to give us our money back.

I'm really worried and confused on whether to use square one or not ?? I absolutely need some sort of help I'm up to 50k in debt and have been scamed a few times before... Please is there anyone out there who at least knows if JP Morgan Chase Bank deals with Square one ? If not can anyone recomend a more reliable company that will most likely show positive result, or a different solution?

It's rude to use all caps...

Vangie,
Your advice would be better if you chose to write in something other than all caps. It is hard to read and is interpreted as yelling.

I'm glad your so educated douchebag....Put people down in person, not on a friggin website...You a Harvard grad or something?

Square One misrepresents the effectiveness of the program they offer and sells their potential clients false hope. I was told I could be debt free in 3 years by paying about $1K/mo on $60K debt. What they did not tell me is that after the first 6-9 months, if you make a decent living, creditors figure out that they can more quickly recoup their money by quickly moving into litigation and garnishing your wages. By the time a client figures this out, they've already paid a substantial amount to the debt settlement companies in up-front fees and saved next-to-nothing to negotiate with the creditor.

I sure wish I would have done my homework before signing up with a debt settlement company. I could have saved myself a lot of money and heartache. Instead, now I'm having to drain any and all savings, take loans against my retirement accounts, basically beg borrow and steal to stay out of court and keep from being garnished. Once I figured this out I cancelled my contract and am successfully negotiating with creditors directly. But, unfortunately this was not before I wasted $5K in paying Square One's fees.

I would not recommend hiring a debt settlement company to ANYONE. The attorneys and recovery departments of the creditors will give you the same deal the would give a debt settlement company (note - ask for the recovery department, do not deal with the collections department - they will not settle with you). If I had saved the $5K that I wasted on Square One, I'd be in a much better position to settle right now. Huge life lesson learned the hard way. Hopefully this post can help others from making the same mistake.

You will wait on hold for at least 20 minutes and they love to put you on hold for several minutes at a time with the most annoying hold music ever created

I have been contacted by Square One and other companies I am over $40.000 in debt and it is killing me although I have worked out arrangements with the credit card companies myself. Has anyone had a good experience with any of these debt solution companies at all?

I signed up with Square One at the end of December 2009. So far I have been unimpressed with the service and have been getting rather concerned. For the past three months they have been taking $300 per month in fees. When I signed up the rep Scott told me I would be recieving monthly calls from customer service to see how things were going and how much I have in my account so that they may begin the negotiation process. I went over two months without hearing from them.... I called and waited on hold for a customer service representative for over 20 minutes. I have enough in my account to begin settlement on some of my accounts and called them over two weeks ago...the rep told me they would call within 7 to 10 days with settlement details.........I am currently waiting on hold because they did not call me.....again! I do bring up the issue every time I have called but so far the service has not imporved and no settlement has been made. So right now I would advise you to enter with caution!!!

Thanx ya'll! glad I stumbled onto this site BEFORE I made a huge, costly error.

I'm ambivalent towards Square One. In 2009, my credit card interest % increased from 6.9-14.9% up to the mid 20's-29.9%. Suddenly, I was paying over $300 in interest a month to non-secured debt and was making only the minimum payments. I was in a nightmare that I would not awaken from for 20-28 years! .(thx you Pres Obama for the new credit card statements) I can not continue at this rate. I pray that Square One will work for me. I did try to speak with credit card companies on my own and I got no where. I tried to think of a plan on my own and came up with nothing. So in desperation I turned to the next step. Doing nothing is not a step, plus the ole saying "if YOU always do what YOU'VE always done, YOU'LL always have, what YOU'VE always had", motivated me to consider change. Maybe you are not as far removed from recovery as I am. Good luck on doing it your way. But please understand, some of us are in need of a settlement program; buying time, needing help, but not choosing bankruptcy.