Payless Financial Group, LLC Bait-and-Switch Scam--Stay Away Mobile Alabama

After taking out three payday loans, I was immediately bombarded by telemarketers from foreign countries.  One of them was for Payless Financial Group, LLC.  I decided to hear their pitch.  The representative told me that the company validated debts from payday lenders and usually gets the debts negated because so many internet lenders engage in illegal practices.  She also said the company would settle any validated debts for a fraction of the original amount, without interest and fees.  Sounded good.  She then sent me to a website to sign a contract.  I looked at the contract briefly and noticed that there was a clause stating that I would pay them around $800.00 for their services.  When I inquired about what that fee was for, she said it was used to validate the debts, and then pay off any loans that were valid.  She explained that the company would charge me around $90.00 initially, then a nominal monthly payment after that.  I decided to give them a shot.  I explained that two of the loans were due in full on 09/30/13, and she said no problem, she was going to send me various documents.  One of these documents was to be presented to my bank in order to prevent bank drafts by the lenders.  After I hung up, I got an "introductory" email about the company, which was of no substance.

I received not contact after that.  I never received a copy of my contract.  But they sure did charge my account asap.  On 09/30/13, when two of the loans came due in full, I contacted the representative by email and asked where the documents were.  I received an email with a "welcome package," which included a letter I was supposed to take to my bank to keep the lenders from making debits.  Needless to say, this letter was worthless.  Luckily, the manager at the bank is a friend of mine, so he closed my account and opened a new one.  As a result, the lenders' debits bounced and I incurred several overdraft charges.  Later, I called Payless and asked for a copy of my contract, which I did not receive.  I asked the second representative for a copy of the contract and what exactly what I was paying the company to do.  She stated that the company would validate my debts, then settle them without high interest or fees.  Needless to say, she never sent me the contract either.

On 10/11/13, I decided that this was a bunch of nonsense.  I called the company and was told by the first representative I reached that I needed a copy of my contract and that I wanted to know exactly what they were doing for the money they charged.  She stated that my account was in the validation stage.  I asked her what happened after that and she said that my account would then be sent to their "sister" company for settlement of any validated debts.  After going round and round with her, she finally emailed me the company's contact info and address.  Turns out that the address was not in Palm Springs, but in Mobile, Alabama.  I had to call a second time to complain about not receiving my contract, which was sent in less than an hour.  The contract clearly states that Payless does nothing but validation.  For over $800.00.  I called a third time and asked what the company was doing for me and got the original explanation that they would validate then settle my debts.  I referred to the contract and that representative acted stumped.  She put me on hold for a long time, then came back with the retort that I should have read the contract and that my account would actually be handed over to the sister company for settlement.  I work in the legal field.  I went over some basic principles of contracts and said I wanted to cancel per the terms of the contract.  She put me on hold to talk to someone in another department.  After several minutes, she got back on the phone and said only one person with authority to cancel was in the department, and that she would call me back to help me with the cancellation.  It never happened.  I will be sending them a certified letter tomorrow.

Stay away from Payless Financial LLC.  Their representatives will make substantial misrepresentations to induce you to sign up for their service.  It is a scam, and you will wind up probably paying them a bunch of money and still wind up paying the payday loans, along with interest and penalties that accrue while these jackasses run you around.