Consumer complaint received 2025-10-01 00:00:00
Product: Payday loan, title loan, personal loan, or advance loan — Installment loan
Issue: Problem with additional add-on products or services — 
Company: Westlake Services, LLC
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/year>, I saw a compelling ad on XXXX and scheduled a qualifying call to obtain more information later that same morning at XXXX. I had contemplated XXXX property management for a career option before, and was extremely curious to know more about this new spin on the industry he claimed to have. A man who introduced himself as XXXX XXXX and I spoke for appx 40 mins. However, maybe 2 mins before we ended our call, he sent me an email with his name in the subject line and ended up confessing his name was actually XXXX XXXX. The next day I realized the XXXX who sold me a {$7000.00} XXXX business-training program with personal mentorship service included, was actually one of the Co-Owners of XXXX XXXX 
I didn't learn the company offered 3 different programs DIY, DWY, and DFY, until I watched the video for Lesson 2. I've included this info for clarity purposes today. The program names are acronyms for -- - Do It Yourself -- Done With You -- and Done For You. The last two include a personal mentor from what I've been able to deduce. XXXX never bothered to explain the differences. He adjusted as needed. 
I am XXXX and have lived a reclusive lifestyle since I became XXXX XXXX yrs ago. I have attempted to start more new business ventures than I'd like to admit. I told XXXX I'd been searching for a business partner lately, and just that morning I'd reached out to a neighbor and was hopeful for a response very soon. He asked what other ventures I was considering. I told him I'd planned to make the final {$600.00} payment on a Tax Overages business I was perfectly suited for, but for the fact I'd not found that ideal business partner yet. I was aboveboard and up front with XXXX about the two requirements I could not compromise and expect myself to succeed. The first... I have to be able to operate at 100 % without ever needing to speak to anyone face to face. I told him i needed to make $ XXXX so i could get my teeth fixed. I know they look terrible and no one is going to want to do business with me if they see them. The second requirement, I'd determined -- after a great deal of self-analysis and reflection -- namely, what excuse did I give myself for the previous failure, when I realized I was being tempted by the next idea? It stopped being fun. I believe work should be fun -- fun for me at work would means sharing a human connection with at least one other person who has a vested interest in my success. Even if I have to do all the work for both of us. I told him, I was done being alone, and ready to start experiencing life again. He sold me on the option of mentorship instead of partnership. I asked if he'd be assigned as my personal mentor since he was deciding if I qualified? He said " yes, at least until you fire me. '' I thought that was a strange thing to say. So I tried to ascertain how this company defined mentorship, answering calls at a help desk, or becoming directly involved to keep students committed and motivated for success? So, I asked if he got bonus checks when his proteges reached certain levels of succus. We went back and forth until he grasp what I was trying to determine. at which point, he yelled, " YES, I will benefit exponentially if you succeed! '' Now i know he was making fun of me because he thought i was being ridiculous. 
I gave examples and there is no way he can pretend he misunderstood anything I I said to him. 
What I do know is he never made me feel rushed or pressure throughput the entire decision making process. I finally asked, " what happens if I decide I don't like the program? '' We have a six month money back guarantee. I asked, " well why didn't you just lead with that? '' I like to think we under promise and over deliver... Okay, I told him, lets do this thing. 
Knowing what I know now, I can not believe he had the audacity to end with that comment. What he should have told me was my first requirement was actually going to disqualify me from ever taking advantage of this guarantee because 15 XXXX  calls face to face was included as a requited task. 
Instead, the moment I decided to commit to the XXXX mindset, his whole personality changed. He began issuing short commands. I signed the contract where and when he told me to. He skipped the rest of it saying you can read the whole thing later. He said the course cost {$7000.00}, Oohhh, I don't have XXXX XXXX dollars, I was afraid of that. 
You could finance it, hmmm, it's {$170.00} a month, Really, that sounds doable. He asked for an email, then told me to find what he just sent me, It was a loan application, I was filling it out slowly as I was trying to focus on my financial capabilities. XXXX payments are minimal as everyone knows. He introduces some man whose now joined our call, Hw was with the loan company, asked me a couple questions I can not even recall what they were, He left the call. I said " they are never going to approve this, I can't even get another credit card because my net ratio thingy is to o high. I told him how much my check was each month, He convinced me to exaggerate my income saying anything my parents provided I could claim as income like rent food, utilities vehicles. '' I told him I could get in trouble for reporting more than I make. No you won't he assured me. I interrupted him... Well, that's what I've heard my whole life. I'll put XXXX. Better put more or they won't approve you.

I didn't care at that point, I knew they weren't going to approve me anyway. I hit submit. 
Less than ten seconds later he's pretending to be all happy and surprised for me, saying You got approved, I don't believe it. 
huh, I didn't believe it either. Are you serious? 
Yes, it says it right here... 
I'm thinking, wow, he's good. he just created a miracle in two minutes, tops.

two more minutes he'd signed me up for a group call the next day, sent me an email so he could show me how to login and access the training course. This is when he realized his real name was what he'd have to tell me to look for in my inbox. XXXX XXXX, that's me. What, I asked. He stumbled thru some explanation I didn't hear because I was a bit confused as to why he would just say it was from some IT guy in the company. 
Last thing he said, " call me tomorrow when you're done with the Onboarding call. '' I figured he was sick of talking to me, so I questioned him, CALL you? 
Well, yeah, just contact me when you're done so I'll know. 
The next day I looked for the text he sent to set up the call. It had vanished into thin air. 
What a jerk I thought. He set me up to call him because he wanted me to know what he'd done. 
Whatever. I continued working my way through the 36 hours of training videos, all hosted by him. I thought any day now he'll find me a mentor to replace him, but i just waited and waited.

the first time i watched the Lesson 2 video, I thought I was signed up on the DWY program so I didn't think much about it. 
Eventually I went back and listened to it again and forced myself to face the hard truth of the matter. 
He sold me a XXXX XXXX dollar course knowing it was not what I would want. 
I called the loan company three times before I got to speak to someone who ] answered my questions. 
Like what kind of deal do you have going with XXXX. I thing it was no coincidence how fast he got my loan application processed. 
I don't want to XXXX y'all over, but I am not going o pay for a product that is the opposite of what I thought I was going to get. 
She gave me a phone number and told me I needed to call it. 
Whose # is it? 
XXXX Why would I call them? 
" XXXX provides the funding we distribute '' she finally explained for me. 
my head was swirling in disbelief ... He has got a serious Greed problem I told her, " all i know is Last time I talked to them, I ended up here? He is too slick for me. if I do call, i know it will not bode well for me, period. 
She told me she'd give me a 10 day grace period but at some point I'd have to call that number. 
Today my grace period ends, they are going to start trashing my credit report every single day again. 
Who does that? 
Can you please help me? I am still in such a state of disbelief that he'd do this to me, I'm afraid I'll say something I'll really regret. 
Westlake Portfolio Management, on behalf of XXXX XXXX, which is owned by XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  {$7000.00} LOAN at 20 % interest {$350.00} APPLICATON FEE I assume the man I spoke with on the phone works here and with XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation