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Report: #814974

Complaint Review: The Business Finance Store - Fountain Valley California

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Chelsea — Crystal Spring Pennsylvania United States of America
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  • The Business Finance Store Fountain Valley, California United States of America

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I found this company when I was searching on the internet for financing options when my husband and I decided to buy a truck and start a trucking business.  We started the process in January 2011 and it took 2 1/2 months for us to get the funds we requested!  Everything sounded good at the begining until we got to the point where we were paying out all these fees for their services. 

The local gentlemen we started working with required us to pay him $400 before we could continue in the program and try to get the funds we were requesting.  We then started talking with 2-3 other people about getting the funds we needed.  They told us it would be business lines of credit and that the money would always be there if we needed it for emergencies unlike a regular small business loan.  That all sounded good to us because in the trucking business you never know when you may have a major breakdown!  We agreed along with my father-in-law who cosigned to get the funds, that we would proceed with the program.  We then came to find out that we would be recieving business credit cards with unknown interest rates and we would have to pay this outragous fee before we could get the funds.  We were also told there was no guarantee that we would get the funds we requested. 

So against our better judgement we decided to move forward so we could finally after a long 2 months get our funding to make a better life for our family.  We were charged over $4000 to get our funding!  They also told us that when we got our cards and we needed to use them to do a cash advance that it would be best to go through them to get it because we would be charged 6% for the advance but after 60 days we would get 3% of that back.  It has been almost 9 months and we have yet to receive that money back and they tell us they never promised that.

We also back in June had a breakdown on the truck and needed to use the rest of the funds that was on one of the cards but when we went to use it the card was declined.  When I called the credit card company to find out what was going on they told me that they had discovered the card was opened through a 3rd party finance and they dont work with those types of companies.  So there we were with funds we were told we had and couldn't use them.

We would like to get our money back that we have losted through this program and would hope this doesnt happen to anyone else!!!!

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 12/28/2011 02:55 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/the-business-finance-store/fountain-valley-california-92708/the-business-finance-store-this-company-overcharged-my-husband-and-i-for-trying-to-help-u-814974. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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Updates & Rebuttals

REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
1Consumer
2Employee/Owner

#3 REBUTTAL Owner of company

This Complaint Is Proven to be Completely False. Irrefutable Proof Below.

AUTHOR: The Business Finance Store - ()

POSTED: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
My name is Tim McCormack. I am the President & CEO of Business Finance Store and I have decided to respond personally to this message. This will be our only response.

This complaint is 100% false. We spent weeks researching it and have come to the conclusion that it is a totally false fabrication. I can only guess that this was posted by a competitor trying to advance their
business by damaging ours.

Learn more about our company & services www.BusinessFinanceStore.com 
Call us toll free at this number (888) 777-7713
Email us for further information at info@businessfinancestore.com 

To anyone looking for proof that this is a completely false report, feel free to call the attorney listed in the complaint  as we did. The name is Jonathan Epstein at (703) 549-9138. This is actually a real person, but Mr Epsteins assistant confirmed that he never brought on a client matching this description or intending to sue us. He never assisted this false person in any way. 

False items in this report:

1.     We very rarely charge someone $15,000 for services. This would be for multiple services that would span a lengthy period of time.

2.     We called every tanning bed client who completed our programs within the last 6 months. All those that completed the program were satisfied and had no such complaints. 

We have never been sued by a client. Never. We have never been sued by anyone.

3.     We have never had a client request a refund for such a large amount.

4.     Our contracts guarantee our funding services. If a clients lines of credit had been closed we would have gladly offered a refund. There would be no need for any legal actions.

To anyone who is seeking financing we are happy to help. We will treat you fairly and with respect.  And if you own a business we wish you the best of luck. We love small business owners, we understand the unique difficulties  the joys and pains that we all share. We are all in this together, and we are happy to support you in any way we can.

Sincerely,

Tim McCormack
CEO / President
Business Finance Store

This will be our only company response to this 100% false allegation. 

Learn more about our company & services www.BusinessFinanceStore.com 
Call us toll free at this number (888) 777-7713
Email us for further information at info@businessfinancestore.com 
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#2 Consumer Comment

The Business Finance Store does nothing but stroke your ego and then pull the rug out from under you. SCAM!!!!

AUTHOR: milly - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, January 24, 2013

I wanted to start a tanning business, but could not afford the price of the tanning beds and needed a little help getting it going. I saw this ad for a company named The Business Finance Store. They really do talk a good game and sound to really know what theyre talking about, which I dont doubt that they are probably individuals there that do.
After listening to everything they had to say and waiting about a month and a half, I was informed that they got me the funding that I needed in order to get my business started and now I needed to pay for their services. I received an invoice for $15,000 and had to pay for it with 2 different credit cards. Credit card charge shows up as FINANCEMARK, INC. 16SANTA ANA CA and FINANCE MARK INC 800-730-3084 CA.

I then took the little bit of money that I had left to lease out a location that I thought was GREAT!!! I got everything else I needed for the daily operation like phone number, towels, signs, ads, etc. All that was left to get was the actual tanning beds. I called to place order and used the line of credit that was given to me by The Business Finance Store and was given a delivery date of when they would be there. I few days later, I was contacted by the Tanning bed supplier stating that the card I used was declined and did I have another form of payment. OF COURSE I DIDNT!!! I used the rest of my money to get everything else situated and to pay BFS. I have tried to contact them to see what was going on but I get no answer. I had no idea what to do. Im stuck with breaking my lease and have all these products that I have no use for now.

I still to this day have not got any sort of response from anyone and have resorted in contacting the FTC, Attorney General and a law firm to get my money back. I spoke to Jonathan Epstein at 703.549.9138 and he has helped me to get my money back. He didnt charge me anything upfront to retain his services, which was great since I had no money left.

I have done some more research on The Business Finance Store and they are quick to rebuttal posts on here. Their responses first appeared one way, now they look completely different as if either the President and CEO just doesnt care anymore or the company has changed hands. Either way the company is a scam. Yes, they got me the line of credit needed but then cancelled it after they got paid. Its all sickening and I cant believe I fell for this. At least, I was able to recoup the money that was stole by them or I would completely be screwed!!!

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#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Business Funding is Available. Get A Free Analysis.

AUTHOR: The Business Finance Store - (USA)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 15, 2012
THIS WILL BE OUR ONLY RESPONSE

Official Company Response:
This client is complaining about a line of credit we opened for them:
  1. We did not bill them for it 
  2. We warned them it would likely be closed 
  3. Not including this line, we still obtained the maximum amount of funding they requested
  4. We offered to open additional funding which they declined
We cannot refund her on something we didnt charge her for. If she needs more money all she has to do is ask.

If you are in need of funding for your business, we are happy to help. Well tell you in advance how much you qualify for, what the terms are, and our costs. We will list it on our prequalification, on our contract,
and well have a recorded underwriting call where you can ask anything you want and where well obtain your verbal authorization for everything we will do. We have nothing to hide.


Here is how you can contact us:
www.BusinessFinanceStore.com
Call us Toll Free (888) 777-7713
info@businessfinancestore.com 

Here is the info we have on file for this client:
  • Client: J Hixson Trucking
  • Initial Inquiry Date: Jan 30th, 2011
  • Credit Review Completed: Jan 31st, 2011
  • Pre-Qualified for: $25,000 to $50,000 in business funding
  • Pre-Qualification notes: Business owner has a bankruptcy from 2010. Using a co-signer.
  • Contract Signed Date: Feb 1st, 2011
  • Contract Receipt Date: Feb 2nd, 2011
  • Underwriting Notes: All participants were on the call (husband, wife, co-signer). I had no issues on the underwriting call. Clients understand funding type, agrees to fees. Client capped funding, target of $40,000 and not to exceed $50,000. Client needs us to obtain a fictitious business name, which will delay funding by 3 or 4 days.
  • Funding Received Date: Feb 24th, 2011
  • Funding Raised: $60,000
  • Funding Invoiced On: $50,000
  • Funding Notes: $10,000 line questionable, bank unsure due to presence of previous bankruptcy, last line not billed to client, but left open.
  • Client informed that additional funding is available, but declined to receive it.
  • Client Termination Date: March 8th, 2011
Here are our responses to the issues raised in this complaint.
  • We are sorry that this client was not happy with our service. We take every step possible to ensure that our clients understand in advance what we offer, what our fees are, and the timeline by which we provide them. This client never contacted us with her complaints and instead decided to post her grievances online. When clients are unhappy, if they contact us, we always work with them to find solutions to their issues. If you need money, we promise you well do our best to meet your needs and help you be successful in your business.
  • After a review of this file, and listening to the entire recorded underwriting call, we am 100% confident that this client DID understand what they were going to get, what the fees were, and the correct timeline for this process. In NO WAY did we fail the expectations for funding, fees, and the timelines that we committed to in our contract and our recorded underwriting call.
  • We do not ever charge any upfront fees, and we discourage consultants from adding fees to our services. The $400 initial packaging fee was not charged by our company. If someone ever informs you that you must pay an initial fee to work with our company know that we are not the ones asking for it and you are not required to pay it.
  • We did get business lines of credit for this client, but the only type of lines they qualified for was business credit cards. This was clearly explained in advance, detailed in the contracts, and agreed to on the underwriting call. In listening to the underwriting call it was explained multiple times in order for it to be clear for each person on the call. We are happy to provide access to this recording for anyone desiring verification.
  • Our guarantee is that if we dont get you funding, you dont pay anything. We have a 100% guarantee. Everything we earn is based on our ability to deliver on our promises.
  • This client states our fees are outrageous. We are sorry this client feels this way, but that is what it costs for us to secure this type of funding. It is very labor-intensive and delicate working with the banks. Its taken us years to create a reliable system and we have a very large staff to support the operation. If she felt the fees were outrageous she was welcome to not use our services, no one was forcing her.
  • Our funding was completed within 3 weeks of receiving this contract. Im not sure why this client complained that it took so long.
  • As for the additional fees, this client requested if we knew of a service to help her liquidate her credit cards into cash. We do not do this, but we know of companies that do. We sent her file to one of these companies. 
  • We offered to raise more funds for this client, but they declined. We even offered a special discounted rate for additional funding raised, but they declined that as well.
  • This client authorized us to raise $50,000 in funding. We did this. She liquidated it and used it all. Along the process there was an additional account opened for $10,000. We informed her that it may be closed and did not charge her for it. We suggested she get additional funding which she declined.
  • While this client is clearly upset and posted this complaint, which is clearly false, we are still happy to live up to the terms of our contract and support her business. We have attempted to contact the client many times since notified of this complaint. As the client has decided not to respond to us there is nothing more that we can do than respond to this message here. 
If you are in need of funding for your business, we are happy to help. Well tell you in advance how much you qualify for, what the terms are, and our costs. We will list it on our prequalification, on our contract, and well have a recorded underwriting call where you can ask anything you want and where well obtain your verbal authorization for everything we will do. We have nothing to hide.

Here is how you can contact us:
www.BusinessFinanceStore.com 
Call us Toll Free (888) 777-7713 
info@businessfinancestore.com 

THIS WILL BE OUR ONLY RESPONSE TO THIS MESSAGE
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