I have joined this site to share my experience of these companies for the good of all.
In January of this year i recieved a call from Fresh Start Financial asking if im in debt and needed help, i replied yes. The phone call lasted about an hour, in which time i told him all my creditors and incomings and set up a debt management plan. It was explained that the first few hundred would go to set up costs, then after that, the money would be shared out amongst creditors. After a couple of weeks of paying i hadnt heard anything from them to confirm if my creditors had agreed to the plan, so i tried to call them, it took days before someone answered, i was told ill get confirmation after i had finished paying the fee, so i carried on paying, with no contact from them, nothing in writing, no calls, nothing. 4 weeks ago i noticed that they took one payment out by card under the name fresh start then another payment in the same week by direct debit under the name harrington brooks, they continued to do this up until this week, taking over double the amount i agreed to, even though ive been complaining about it since week 2 of the blunder. after spending along time on the phone with various people who kept telling me they would phone me back i was getting disturbing mixed messages, the set up fee changed depending on who i was talking to, some people said agreements had been made with the creditors, others said contact with the creditors would be made when the set up fee was paid, i pointed out that it had now been paid, funnily enough they said they would call me back. today, after speaking to my creditors and finding that theyve had no contact from fresh finance, i decided to cancel and get my money back, guess what, they said they ll phone me back. ive spent all day on the phone chasing them, before finall speaking to a verey rude and argumentative employee who said i wont get my money back cause they ve spent alot of effort setting up the plan, i pointed out that actually they hadnt set up anything, to which there was no answer, when i mentioned complainning she was delighted in telling me they had 8 weeks to respond to a complaint. so now i want to warn the world, stay away from this company, that hides behind many names.