Care One Credit
Care One Credit Counseling has been in business since August of 2002 and offers a consumer credit counseling program. At the time of this review, the BBB currently reports a total of 68 complaints in the last 36 months. Because this company is a big player in the consumer credit counseling arena, this may not be a large number of complaints in comparison to the number of clients enrolled. The BBB currently reports an A rating, however we find this strange given similar companies with far less complaints showing much lower ratings.
A search of the Internet as a whole brings up a rather large number of additional complaints about Care One Credit’s credit counseling program. As mentioned with other credit counseling companies we have reviewed, many of the complaints are more about the ineffectiveness of credit counseling as a whole, rather than any wrongdoing by the company. For example, there are an increasingly large number of complaints about credit card companies cancelling the agreements through credit counseling because the monthly payments made by the credit counseling company on behalf of the clients were received after the due date.
A large portion of the complaints we found were from client’s who claimed that they had been in Care One’s program for several years, and made all their payments on time, but have seen their credit card balances continue to increase. To be fair, we must also mention that we see this trend in complaints about the other consumer credit counseling companies we have reviewed as well.
A review of Care One Credit’s website shows that they provide a great deal of consumer education information that is very valuable for their clients as well as the general public. However, we recommend to exercise caution before enrolling in any consumer credit counseling program simply because it has a very low success rate and is not appropriate for a large number of those who enroll. If you cannot make your minimum payments, you may be better served with a debt consolidation and settlement program, or perhaps even bankruptcy rather than paying the fees of consumer credit counseling and not actually making any headway.
On March 17, 2009 ChoiceREVU Editor wrote:
Care One Credit is a major player in the consumer credit counseling arena and has been doing it since 2002. They have a solid rating with the BBB, but a lot of consumer complaints. If you are one of the few that a consumer credit counseling program is a good fit for, they may be a solid choice, but be sure you consider all your other options first.
On August 25, 2009 Ryan wrote:
I have been a member for 2.5 years and I was under the impression that CareOne has communicated effectively with both me and my creditors. I was wrong. One of my creditors did not agree to the re-age process when they signed on, and CareOne did not tell me that. Therefore, for a year and a half, my creditor has reported to the credit bureau that I have been 3 months behind. Had CareOne told me this a year and a half ago, I would have made the account current on my own, but I was under the impression that they had it taken care of. Customer service is awful. One representative mis-informed me completely and the other wouldn’t let me speak at all. The supervisor did not even apologize for the behavior nor did she provide a solution to my issue other than that it’s my fault for not paying closer attention to the bills. They have not measured up to my expectations at all and I would definitely rethink joining this organization again.