Consumer complaint received 2024-04-19
Product: Debt or credit management — Debt settlement
Issue: Charged upfront or unexpected fees — 
Company: Consumer Financial Services Solutions, Inc. (FL)

I signed up with Beyond Finance on XX/XX/XXXX. I terminate my contract with on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told in the beginning that I have the right to cancel at any time, that they have to return my deposits minus any monthly account fees and they only get paid after the creditor gets paid. My deposit account had over {$2100.00} and they returned only {$870.00} of those funds to me. They claim that even though they did not pay off the creditor, XXXX, they are still entitled to the 25 % of the enrollment debt. 
I am filing a complaint because of : confusing & misleading disclosures, problems with customer service, did not provide services promised and I was charged unexpected fees. 
Beyond Finance designed a monthly payment program where my payments were a manageable {$310.00} per month. The first month they failed to record all the outstanding debt that i submitted to them, so when they adjusted the monthly deposit to {$340.00}. These funds go into an escrow account while they negotiate with creditors. {$25.00} of the payment goes toward account management fees. At first I made biweekly payments then switched to monthly payments of {$340.00}. I began the program XX/XX/XXXX. The company explained that the goal of the program was to allow me to pay debt over a 24 to 48 month period, that my payments would remain {$340.00} and I could choose to pay the debts off earlier by increasing my monthly deposits but it is not required. The first settlement offer was for XXXX which was about a 50 % settlement with monthly payments of {$340.00}. I accepted the settlement understanding that I would pay {$340.00} per month until paid off. I discovered after I accepted the offer that it included a balloon payment in XX/XX/XXXX that would exhaust my deposits. I discovered this after accepting their XXXX settlement offer. XXXX offer was presented around XX/XX/XXXX, a proposed settlement of {$7300.00}, a reduction of {$3000.00} of the original debt vs the 50 % they presented to me at signup. In addition, I would have to make a up front payment of {$1700.00} and the offer was set to expire on XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that XXXX had already sent the debt to legal and that if I didnt accept the settlement, that XXXX would sue me and Beyond Finance would not provide me with any legal support. I would be on my own if I didn't accept this offer. When I declined to pay the upfront payment, Beyond extended the {$1700.00} out over 12 monthly payments. I did not expect that I would have to come up with these additional payments. I was told that if I stayed on the program, my monthly deposit would remain {$340.00} per month. That was not the case and is very misleading. Once in the program, I was presented with a completely different scenario of how the program works that does not fit the original understanding. In addition, I received multiple calls per day pressuring me to accept the XXXX offer. I requested that Beyond send the details of the XXXX settlement via email which I received. I didn't want the deal but I felt pressured to take it. I would speak with one representative & the next day I would receive another call pressuring me and notifying me that I had to decide by XX/XX/XXXX even though the expiration was the XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I decided to accept the XXXX settlement even though I didnt like it. I contacted Beyond and I was told that the {$1700.00} payment can not be spread out over 12 month regardless of what I was told previously. I would have to pay that amount in 6 monthly payments and my monthly deposit would practically double. The settlement offer with XXXX was for a quick payoff which involved another balloon payment & it had to be paid by XX/XX/XXXX. I hired Beyond Finance with the expectation of settling my debts over a 24 to 48 month period. These quick payoffs only add financial stress and serve as a fast track for Beyond to collect their commission. They misrepresented to me the terms of the settlement. I spoke with several representatives between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. At no point had the terms changed until I made the phone call I made to accept the offer. As a dissatisfied and concerned consumer, it was in my best interest to cancel the service. Beyond Finance has as of this date not provided me with a closing statement accounting for the funds {$1200.00} that they deducted from my deposit account.