Balance

This a follow up to my previous review, I was contacted by the Balance CXO on two different occasions asking me to reconsider my review. As I told her my original review stands.

What makes me write this second review, is that the CXO has attempting to gaslight me and low key harassment by guilting me into changing the review.

BTW, CXO lady do not message me or contact me again. I will reach out to the CFPB, CA Attorney General and anyone else I can think of if you continue messaging me or asking me to change my review.

My bank recommend I contact Balance through the bank's website link. I was frustrated with the slow recovery of my credit rating after a bankruptcy 5 years earlier.
I was able to have an online chat with a company representative. I was told I would be sent an introduction package. While continuing the chat I noted the email never arrived. A was told to get a copy of my current credit reports from the three credit agencies in preparation. I confirmed my email a 2nd time and never heard from them.
I checked reviews on Yelp. No positive reviews since 2016. I think the organization has gone through changes that have been detrimental to there customer service. Nothing bad happened working with them. Just nothing happened. Organization is not worth spending the time.

Must have caught the wrong representative on the wrong day.
The gentleman on the line started out rude, interrupting, condescending, etc.. but I figured maybe he just had a different style. Then after I explained the answer to one of his questions, he responded with, "you still haven't answered my question." In no way is that sentence ever ok to say in customer service. I decided to end the call without incident. No way was I going to share my credit information with this guy.
He called me back and politely asked if he lost me. I responded, "no, I let you go. You should reflect on how you talk to people over the phone. Good bye."
Over all, I gave a 3 because all I lost was 10 minutes of my day. Hopefully the rest of the company is better equipped in customer service techniques than this one person. And hopefully this gentleman reflects.

Side note: My accounts are with a credit union in Seattle. They are the ones that referred this company to me. Needless to say, I decided on another course.

In my initial meeting with Balance, in which during the meeting she, my financial coach, referred to it as 'Balance Pro,' and for most of the hour-long session, I filled out forms. I just think it would have been a better use of time to send the forms ahead of time in an intro email so that I can also take the time to review these forms, but that didn't happen. I like to make sure that I understand what forms that I'm signing, etc, especially in regards to my financial matters, so in the remaining 15 minutes, we went over what were my high priority items, in what she would later describe in a follow-up email as a 'detailed discussion' -- which I can only assume that she was referring to the last 15 minutes of our discussion, all 15 minutes of it.

To make a long story shorter, there was an initial follow-up email that had 16 pages of actionable items, charts that didn't have proper labeling so I had to guess what the charts were for, and even with 16 follow-up pages of our initial discussion, there were at least two items from my high priority list that never were addressed or mentioned in her response. I responded to her email, stating that it had become apparent to me that much of the information had not been updated in quite some time, possibly years, and the response I received was that I had to do my own research.

Do my own research? But I thought that's why I was going to them to get help, and instead I had to update them on their outdated information that they were continually disseminating to others seeking similar help. So I already have 16 pages of actionable items all due 'by the next meeting' which normally is the following week, but I fortunately had to postpone it to two week later -- thank my lucky stars I did. On top of it all, I'm spending a whole lot of time trying to clarify our initial discussion and following-up on my high priority items, because apparently it's only a high priority for me.

I asked my financial coach if she thought it was reasonable to address and complete 16 pages of actionable items by the next meeting -- twice, and each time she ignored the question. This is only the start of it, but do you get the picture? Ugh. Kind of defeating, if you asked me, and amateurish.

This is an opportunity to be part of the greater solution to resolving people's financial woes because they're actually taking the initiative to seek help, and likely there are associated issues that can be resolved in the process, just by the very action of the client initiating to seek help, but when you get this kind of response from those purporting to address your financial concerns, well, I don't know what to say. So I ask the question, given the above, 'How committed are they, Balance Pro as an organization, to address their clients' financial concerns?'

Oh, one of their forms ask permission to pull a 'soft' credit report; this appears to be some shorter version of the 'hard' credit report. I asked for a copy of this soft version on several occasions, and all I received was a screen shot -- let me repeat that, a screen shot -- of seven random lines of the report, so there's actually no way for me to review my credit report, as was suggested in the 16-page action list -- come on, a little shady.

Unfortunately, I don't have an alternative organization to turn to, but if I did I would mention it here. Please feel free to post, if you have leads to another organization that could help people, lots of people, including myself.

I used Balance.Org when is was called Consumer Credit Counseling Service 25 years ago, when I was trying to settle me consumer debt, pay off my school and get ready to buy a house. Thanks to this organization, I did all of that and I learned how to budget, save, invest and plan my retirement.

Now I work as a financial professional, guiding people to save for college, retirement, build their business or protect themselves from the cost of long term care. AND I still recommend to my clients and potential clients, who may need assistance with consumer debt or a first-time home buying program.

This organization is 50 years old now, still a non-profit, and still useful and needed.

This company helped me consider my budget more wisely and made it able to pay off $22,000 of credit card debt in 4 and 1/2 years.They worked with the companies to reduce the interest I had to pay, enabling me to finally conquer the debt that burdened me. My stress levels have plummeted.

My wife got into trouble with credit cards. We decided "to do the right thing" and pay the cards off. The credit card companies refused to deal with us, so we went with Bslance. One of the biggest mistakes of our lives. Balance often doesn't send us a monthly invoice, they have not posted a couple months payments ($1,000 each month), and are completely unprofessional and incompetent when speaking with them. Not a month goes by that we don't wish we would have filed bankruptcy and been done with this loan shark industry - who pays companies like Balance to convince consumers to not file bankruptcy. If you're thinking of using a credit consolidation company, don't! Go see a lawyer and save yourself a lot of stress.

These guys are AMAZING!! They are so helpful that the word helpful is an understatement. It's kind of weird to be so enthusiastic considering my options for getting rid of my debt has left me with filing for the "B" word, BUT I'm so relieved with the advice, resources and help that this place gave me. I think it's imparative a company like this be genuine about their desire to help you with your finances without trying to drain you for every penny you have left...I mean...debtors are BROKE...that's why they're in debt!! duhhh...

so the fact that these guys actually give a you know what about helping you through a tough time is rare to see these days. I would HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone seeking information and help to get their debt in control and see what options are available to them.

I went through the CCCSF program for 4 years. Ithey helped me go from 13,000 worth of credit card debt to $0. My payment was $400/month, but as the credit cards were paid off, the money I paid went towards getting other cards paid off.

I have only great, awesome, positive things to say about this company! With their calculations, it would have taken me 9 years to get the debt paid off!

I loved how I was able to go online and see exactly how much was paid to each credit card every month, and how much I still owed. I highly recommend this company!!

These guys are fantastic, and they're free. What a wonderful service. I've always hated checking my finances, because they depress me. I've got a lot of debt and don't make a lot of money, but one visit to this place and I left feeling confidant about my future. Seriously, I put this off forever, and now I regret not going sooner.

They are non-profit, so they have no interest in screwing you or promoting some shady deal. They are very honest about their experiences in negotiating with creditors, and by the time you leave, you have a very clear (tangible and digital) plan on how to address whatever financial issue it is that you may be experiencing.

Not having money sucks, and I dreaded going here, but suck it up and go in. You won't regret it. And yes, I know I already said it, it's free! Awesome. Special thanks to Marie and Monique.