Just got my Experian report in the mail and it seems that Junum has disputed three tradelines. One was a reposession that was "verified" in March and Experian refused to reinvestigate. The other two are a Discover Charge off (didn't dispute the duplicated discover collection agent tradeline) and a Paid collection from 1997. The paid collection is supposed to come off next May, and the Discover Charge-off will come off in 4-2004. The duplicate Discover collection is supposed to fall off in 7-2004. Wouldn't it make the most sense to dispute the Midland Credit Management (Discover Collection Agent) tradeline first? Anyways, I'm not too sure that this is going to go so well. If anyone wants to make me feel better, go ahead. I have my Junum doubts.
I don't really know a lot about Junum or any of the other credit repair firms. All I know is what I see around these message boards, and what I see on them is a pretty good number of people who aren't all that happy with most any of them that they have tried. Then there are probably about an equal number who are. Strange thing, however, is that most of those who express happiness with them are those who just recently started with one or the other of these companies and after some period of time they become quite disenchanted. I've seen estimates posted that these companies get about 40% of the disputes removed successfully, and that tells me that what happens is that they get the easy ones off quickly, giving a flash-in-the-pan effect and after that, the customer often ends up like the Energizer Bunny. They just keep on paying and paying and paying. At least until they get sick and tired of it and tell the comany that enough is enough. It's pretty easy to prove that it's far better to learn how to do it yourself simply because you can do it quicker and cheaper than they will and you get at least as good or better results.
Bill, I see what you are saying, but this is only round one for me. The reason I joined Junum was because I had hit a brick wall with my own disputes. I was getting nowhere fast. I also weighed my hourly salary times the number of hours I spent on writing and mailing letters and added the cost of Certified Return Receipt letters and decided that the nominal cost of hiring Junum to do the disputes is well worth it. BUT with the report in my hands, I am disenheartened. Any other thoughts?
Not really, Erica. But let me put it in another context as a means of illustration. Suppose I go out and buy a watch for $39.95 and it lasts me for 5 years. Then I go out and buy a watch for $100 and it lasts me 20 years. Where was I ahead? Things that seem cheap quite often (usually??) turn out to be the most expensive in the end. As you have already stated, your time is valuable to you and worth good money. You may have hit a brick wall, but maybe you just were not using the right techniques. Since I don't know what kinds of techniques you were using, I can't really judge if you were or not. But let me give you a for instance with the techniques that I use. Maybe you have seen my posts about the experience I had with EMCC INC and how they simply forgave the debt rather than take a chance on having to defend against lawsuits when the original debt was less than $200. Now their subsidary, NCO Financial Services out of New Jersey is attempting to collect from my wife on an identical debt she is supposed to owe X.COM. It's for about the same amount of money. They keep calling up here wanting to talk to my wife. I keep telling them that she is not going to talk to them on the phone about anything whatsoever under and conditons whatsoever and if they want to communicate with her about some matter or other (as if I didn't know what about) then they were either going to have to do it by mail or forget it. They asked me why and I told them it's because she does not speak english and would not understand a word they said to her anyway. So they just hang up and call again the next Sunday. Same dumbo as called the last time. Why? Because they already know what is going to happen to them if they let me in on the dealings. They think they can bluff her into paying and they already know that if I get into the deal, they are going to lose. Their parent company, EMCC INC lost, so they don't have any hope of doing any better. There isn't much use in trying to fight the CRAs so long as that original debt remains because you will keep on getting the same answer as before. So the obvious answer is to go beat the **** out of the creditor or the collection agency and when they have given up the ghost and admitted defeat then and only then can you be certain that the CRAs will have to follow suit and mark it off. The CRAs are not your "enemy". It is the original creditor or the Collection Agency who is your real "enemy" not the CRAs. Ever try to kill a snake that's biting you by hitting his tail with a stick? Probably not, but you get the ideal real quick, I'll bet.And that's essentially what Junum and these other credit repair companies are doing. And in net effect, they and most other people who are doing credit repair are actually even hitting at the wrong snake. They are not even hitting the snake that's doing the biting. They are hitting at the snake across the street that's only hissing at them and rattling his tail instead of killing the snake that's doing the biting. Make sense?
Erica, Just relax! Have confidence...it shows in everything you do. & you know what I mean too. I am impressed you got Ex back so fast. Anyway, don't let the negative vibes from some people make you re-think your tactics so fast...let it work...it will. -Dave
Erica, I realize that time is money. But there is no way that I would someone else with my credit and personal information. It seems much easier to let these other companies do the job for you. You said that you feel like you had hit a wall with your own attempts to clean up your credit. I can understand this because it does take a lot of education to get the process going right. Ive been working on my credit for 2 years now. When I started, I was totally clueless. Now I am still going and educated and comfortatable. It sounds like you have all the information in front of you to handle this yourself. The post by bbauer hit the nail on the head when he said that it is not the CRA that you are after its the CA or creditor. This process of disputing with the bureaus is crazy. These agencies see these disputes everyday and unless the CREDIT repair companies are changing the form letter everyday, I doubt that they are fooling the experienced personel at the CRA's. Think about how flawed the process is and how many times an item is disputed before it is actually deleted or reinserted. This process is good only for the ones that you have probably have already removed. Pretend that it is a part time college course and you want an A+, only this time its an A+ on your credit score.
Erica, I also wanted say that I am not bashing your way of doing things, I just want to let you know that there is a different side to the story. Think about it, after all you are paying junum a small fee every month to get the items removed. The fee is somewhat nominal, but you could run effective form letters off your computer every time you did a dispute and save yourself the junum fee every month. What could they possibly be doing on your behalf every month for such a low fee. How effective is it really? Do they let you see the letters they are sending out. If so, are they something that you can do yourself. More than likely, it is just a process that requires a little bit of time.
Lexington"s website almost screams the fact that if you have the proper talents and experiences you may very well do an excellent job of reairing your own credit. They even let you take a little test that purports to tell you how well you may be suited to doing your own credit repair. While there are some questions on their quiz that I think are not very well scored, it's at least interesting to take the test and see how you come out. It's obvious, of course, that some people who don't have any leadership or organizatonal skills, little or no patience, low tenacity levels and so on might very well be much better off letting those more adept do it for them. Some people have almost no tolerance for rejection or temporary failures and blow up far too easily. Others have no ability to analyze situations and have almost no imaginative capabilities with which to explore new possibilities and turn them to one's own advantage. Many of these people are simply not "cut out" to do their own credit repair. But if those same people who have little of the necessary talents themselves have someone available to them at all times who does have those skills and talents plus the experience to handle just about any situation that might arise they too can do for themselves what they otherwise might not be able to do for themselves. Having someone at your virtual fingertips teaching you every step of the way, coaching you when you need and ask for it, bringing new strategies to your attention as they become available and who is pretty much up to date on all the latest stuff because he makes it a point to keep updated at all times and is willing to do all that for you for a very reasonable and affordable fee is far, far better even than having a whole library of credit repair books at home. There are literally hundreds of books out there on credit repair. While most of them have some good little tips and tricks, I often wonder if their authors really ever cared anything at all about their customers. If they did, they should realize that their book which they thought was so valuable as to be worthwhile to do the research and write would very quickly leave some poor soul in a position of hitting a brick wall and having no where to turn for help would simply chunk the book and forget the project as hopeless, having therefore thrown away their money for all practical purposes. That's why credit wrench is neither a printed book nor an email book. I don't want to be responsible for taking someone's money and then just leaving them in the lurch wondering what to do next and having nowhere to turn for help. I've been there, done that and worn that dirty T-shirt too many times while attempting to learn something or other. Many of the things I have tried to learn over the years have been made far too expensive for the simple reason that I had no one with the expertise that was needed to turn to that would teach at an affordable and reasonable price. Ivory tower teachers who do not practice in the field in which they purport to teach soon grow stale and get out of touch with the realities of the world. Many of them are totally unprepared and unqualified to survive in the school of hard knocks, so they seek a haven teaching others in highly touted schools and colleges in order to make enough money to survive. The best teachers are those who teach only part time, one or two hours per day and spend the rest of the time working at their trade in the real world. Those kinds of teachers are a bit hard to come by.
Erica: It will be fine!! There are a few things I can share with you. I've posted them before but it seems a good time to tell you again so you can relax. Especially when others who have never used junum are sharing insights into something they haven't experienced. (I still say and will continue to say that we should support all decisions by our members and share knowledge about things we know about only.) And, remember, worst case scenario is that you cancel them. There's no need to get worried, but please keep in mind my acutal experience listed below. Anyway, my first reports back on junum in my first round did not reflect the actual changes. I got a report back initially that showed no changes. A week later, I got a report from the same CRA that showed great changes. Also, I have noticed that everything disputed is not always shown as disputed on this first report, either. I don't know why. Junum, I believe, is disputing 4 items every 2 weeks. If so, your other items should be disputed on those reports and that should arrive in a short time if this is true. (I have a good source but I don't want to say for sure. However, it is consistent with what has been posted here.) Erica, I did this myself as you did for months. I hit a wall. I had 2 files at Experian..when I disupted one,they'd send me the other and act like they didn't know what I was talking about, so I'd dispute that one, and they'd send me the other one. I never knew what someone would get when they pulled a file and one was horrible. Anyway, junum fixed that...how, I'll never know...but that was the one that I got an initial report that showed nothing changed. Most importantly, Erica, if you need reassurance, I strongly suggest you call junum. I know that someone here who has junum have mentioned some really good people that they have gotten connected with who can give you the best information. I think I heard the name Mike and Silvia. I have had wonderful help from Silvia, and when I first started out, had dealings with Mike,...she's a sweetheart! I know everyone's experience varies with junum but please hang on and see if it turns out to be similar to my experience. Like I said, if not, you aren't on a contract so you can cancel. My bet is you won't want to when they all come in. Hugz to you, my friend!
BBauer & Erica BBauer, Please don't state that Lex or Junum is for those with no organizational skills, tenacity, etc.....you don't know me (or the rest of us) personally and the assumption is incorrect. I have stated repeatedly that I did a good job on my own but hit a wall. Those kinds of remarks appear insulting even if that is not your intention. You may not realize this as you may not reread your postings. Erica, how can I email you??
Re: BBauer & Erica I'll bet you know as well as I do how good 99 44/100ths percent of these silly "on-line" quizzes are anyway. Even if they are fairly accurate when the answer comes out, the questions are usually slanted worse than a Gallup Poll at election time in order to obtain the desired outcome. But those are some of the actual statements made by Lexington on their website. They are not mine and they are there for all to see. I was just quoting what they said. Actually, they have a whole lot of pretty good tips for those thinking about doing their own credit repair or deciding whether to let someone else do it for them.and they have a lot more that are just pure pap. You just have to sort the chaff from the wheat as usual. They have changed their website quite a lot over the last year or so and it's well worth the reading even if you let someone else do it for you. One of the big objections I have about letting someone else do it for you is the fact that in order for them to be effective you have to give them information that I would not want to trust others with at all. In my own personal opinion, there are far more reasons to learn how to do it yourself than there are to let someone else do it for you, but as Lexington points out, it's not for everyone.
Re: BBauer & Erica Personally, I don't have the time/patience to send out dozens of letters to CRAs. I understand that about myself, and have taken action to remedy that. That action was to join Junum, and let them do what they do best. I work for an International Telecommunications Company -- want to know about IP and Data services, ask me..want to know about the FCRA and such -- don't ask me... Here's what you CAN ask me -- How come your CR looks like crap when you've done what you were supposed to and paid off all debts, past and present? How come I can't get prime credit cards even though I made almost $130K last year? So bottom line for me was I needed something/someone that understood the ins and outs of CRAs and CRs, and I don't have the time (or want) to learn it all myself. Again, this is my opinion, others will disagree with me. The other part for me was that I pay junum $25 a month (joint account). They don't get anymore money out of me unless they get deletions. If they can get deletions (that I haven't been able to get for the last year or so) I'll gladly pay them the money. The way I look at it, the extra money that I pay for deletions is a whole lot less than what it would cost in extra interest if I were to go and get "second chance" auto financing right now! So I'm sure junum won't work for everyone, heck, it may not work for me (since I haven't gotten my first round back yet) but I'll never know unless I give them a shot. I'm sure some things will disappoint me, but that's life. Kinda like the stock market, it has it's ups and downs, but if you bail out when it's down, all you've done is wasted money.... So bottom line, you have to do what makes you comfortable, and be confident in your decision. By now you know that this is...
Re: BBauer & Erica My experience is that most people who retain Lexington do so because they are unable or unwilling to dedicate the kind of time it requires to conduct their own credit repair. I'm sure that I'm a credit repair expert (after doing it for ten years,) but I still hire Lex when I want something done.
Re: BBauer & Erica Unless you are disputing late payments or other paid off derogatory information, the attack of the CRA is not the most effective. As far as the amount of letters one should be sending out, I would have to say a whole lot less than a dozen if done properly per round.
Re: BBauer & Erica Nana, You can e-mail me at my yahoo id. It's in my profile. Thanks for your support. I REALLY appreciate it. Nave, You too. And I do know what you mean. For the rest of you, I let Junum handle my disputes. I am the one that made that decision. I am a full time college student and I work full time. Unless you know my situation, please don't comment on my credit decisions. Being a student of Chemistry, Anthropology and Criminal Justice takes up much of my time. The other part of my time is spent working a full time job. I justify my joining Junum with respect to all of my hard work on my studies and my job. I honestly do not have the time or the patience to deal with Creditors, Collection Agencies or Credit Bureaus. I have other things on my plate right now. If that is not a reason to let someone else handle things for me, I don't know what is.
Frustrating Conversation ARGHHHH...this conversation is frustrating for me. If someone doesn't want to use junum or lexington, great...don't! But, please be supportive of those of that do and we will do the same for you. Now, if I have this right, Roni, for example, used junum once, right? So, if she shares her opinion on this, she has first hand knowledge of both experiences and that is wonderful! But, if you haven't used them..well... I just don't get it... And, as a full-time teacher, I really appreciated those comments. NOT
Re: Frustrating Conversation This conversation is frustrating, due to the fact that some people just dont take constructive critisism well. I have no problem with someone who is busy using these companies, I was just trying to give you some encouragement on the side that gives the best results. All of you who believe that junum or lexington or whoever, can do a better job so be it. I am not trying to sell anything or anyone, I just firmly believe that only you can do the best job in regards to your financial future. If people cant have an opinion without being jumped on then maybe you shouldnt ask for advice, or was it a rhetorical question? My father always told me to give advice to those who want to hear it. You dont have to agree, but obviousily you dont want to hear what anyone has to say if they dont agree with your ideal of credit repair. Good luck!
Re: Frustrating Conversation By the way didnt the original thread say something about "Having Junum Doubts"? What would that imply to the posters here? That you were fully confident in your junum decision? I think not!
Re: Frustrating Conversation I must agree with you completely. To make matters even worse , we seem to have people who just love to pick on others for whatever reason they can find. They seem to look for ways to create hate and discontent. It also seems probable to me that both Junum and Lexington may very well have shills planted in these forums whose job it is to do nothing more than try to bring disgruntled customers back into the fold by giving them false words of encouragement and putting down those with other ideas. They may very well do that as part of their weekly or monthly paychecks. The poor unsuspecting customer would quite naturally feel that these were people who were only trying to do good since they don't ever try to sell them anything, so they must just be good people trying to help when if the truth were known, they are paid shills doing their job. Now then, I realize full well that such may be far from the truth, but how is one to know? They sure aren't going to admit they are shills, now are they? After all, if they did, their usefulness would immediately be ended, wouldn't it? So if they were, they would be very vehement in denying it, now wouldn't they?? They would in fact, do everything in their power to get those who disagree with them and their company thrown off the board. They would look for anything that they could possibly claim was offensive to them, off topic, out of line, untrue, incorrect and anything else they could think of to get rid of the competition or anyone who dared to disagree with them. They might even put up fake websites claiming they were in competition with Junum and Lexington or might soon be in competition, but the website actually just sits there with no changes to it forever. One has to understand that just like there is no end to the tricks and chicanery that the Credit Bureaus will go to to protect their profits and discourage people from attempting to repair their own credit because the more people that are attempting to do it, the more resources they have to put into the fray against them, there is also no end to the dirty tricks and chicanery that these credit repair companies might go to protect their profits. Junum and Lexington are not stupid or they would not long be in business, so what could it possibly cost them to hire a few shills to create hate and disccntent for those who attempt to "steal" their customers in relation to what it would cost them if they lost even a few customers to other companies or because the customers got disgruntled with the bungling and ineptitude that causes customers to start looking for better ways. If they can't find other ways because the shills have run off all the competition, then they will have no choice but to stay where they are? And then there is a steady stream of new people coming on to the board, so they also get the idea that because so many people whom they don't recognize as being shils are in there pumping up their companies, so they too sign up. It's a slick game these companies play. They are not stupid even if they do make big blunders. People need to be on the lookout for these kinds of tactics and how to spot them, or they are likely to get stuck too. Now then, as I said earlier, what I am saying might be ther furtherest thing from the truth, but how is one to know for sure that it isn't true? You sure couldn't believe those who come on later and deny it loudly and bitterly, now could you? The more loudly they deny it, the more likely it is that they are indeed shills. Don't you agree?
Re: Frustrating Conversation Sometimes I wonder if their arent plants on this board with that exact agenda. I am not referring to anyone on this thread.
