Well after five months with Junum, I discontinued my "service" with them yesterday. In all that time they never got one deletion. And I got scared they would delete a positive tradeline, after some recent comments on here. Wait, I misspoke; they charged me for 2 Amex deletions that occurred because of MY calls to Amex. That burned me, but I did not "read the fine print" when signing up, where they said they would take credit for anything I did while a client. That just seems like a seedy business practice to me. After Amex, my nastiest stuff were some lates dating back to '95-97. Not real heady stuff, but important. It seems Junum is simple better when a credit report is REALLY, REALLY negative. They do less well with "low-impact" negatives. Has anyone else seen this effect, or just me?
In your situation, you probably would have been better off with the do it yourself approach in the beginning. What plan of attack removed the Amex, if you dont mind sharing?
The method was the old call-them-up, explain the situation, and ask nicely. Contrary to some of the tactics espoused on this board, asking nicely can sometimes get you more than threats can. I always start out playing nice until I have a reason not to. Its a good lesson to learn.
Oh yes, The old Kill them with Kindness approach. Yes, it has worked for me also. Unfortunately, in most situations if the creditor has deemed it uncollectable, they will forward it off to the collector. For the most part, collectors have been a very unpleasant breed of individuals to talk to. They will lie to your face in order to make a buck. IMHO, they should rarely be spoken to, unless they call you. If you do recieve a phone call from one, try to keep them on the phone as long as possible talking about your physical ailments or your love life. This turns them off rather quickly. I never gave them any info that was useful, but at the same time I was as pleasant as one could be.
With 5 months you must have gotten at least 2 if not (close to) 3 dispute cycles and reports back from all 3 bureaus. Why did you wait through 2 and maybe 3 cycles with NO deletions to question Junum? (maybe you did and did not keep us informed which is ok but we simply did not know). I completely agree!! If I got ZERO results I would have cancelled...but I have gotten almost all 3 reports crystal clean with Junum in 2 cycles and after 3, I will contemplate Junum cancellation for me to complete the remaining 1 or 2 negatives. I only wonder why you would have remained with Junum after 2 rounds of no results? Did you call Junum and question your situation? I feel really bad for professing my success while others such as you may have not gotten ANY results. I guess I wish you would have screamed earlier, I know I would have. Hopefully things will work out for you disputing in a different manner...maybe try a round of disputes on your own. If you get things removed that Junum did not succeed in, that would be a HUGE beneficial post for the board (as well as your credit rating -Dave
Nave--Thanks for your thoughts. I did scream at them: online via the LivePerson chat and over the telephone with Sylvia multiple times. No good. I even did the "white-out" thing in reverse--using a black magic marker to blot out the positive tradelines I did not want them to dispute. Again, I think it comes down to just how bad your credit reports are at the onset. I had no bankruptcies, liens, or collections to deal with. All I had were some 30-90 day lates incurred when I was young and dumb. The only thing that makes this less of a bitter pill to swallow is that Junum really was not a huge expense for the 5 months I was with them. And the fact that my Experian FICO score is now 693 because of all my work!! Mortgage, here I come!!
Young and dumb LOL, and understood. Not dumb though...I always look at young as uninformed. I hope your next venture will proove that as you migrate through this mess, your intelligence will not have as much of a bearing on things. It's literally a crap shoot, and it is VERY WISE to have realized your need to dump Jumum and move on to different tactics as you have. Good luck with your next disputes. They will yield better results, somehow, someway! I am hopeful. -Dave
