Gold West Financial, Brea, CA

If I could do a negative star, I would. Charles Shinalo, You are a liar and a scam artist. You told me over and over again that legal action would not be taken against us by any creditors, you told me not to contact any creditors, period, because they would only try to sway me from this deal and charge me far more interest, you told me that our accounts would not be closed, you told me that my credit score dropping so low would not affect my ability to rent another home in the future, you told me that after 30 days of being in the program, each contact from the creditors would be a hit against them to the tune of $1500, you told me that I would not receive a 1099-C from any creditors, and you sat there multiple times and spat many, many more lies in direct contradiction of the contract and the facts because you were desperate for another closed deal. Shame on you! My beloved husband was also scammed by you and he died one day before the first payment was drafted from our account and only two weeks after we signed your god-awful contract that has completely wrecked my finances, credit score, and life. If you had told me the truth at any point when I contacted you in December or January, the MANY accounts closed due to lack of payment and communication would still be OPEN and my credit score would not be so awful that I now have to fight to rent a new home for myself and our three young children. I've not only had accounts closed, but programs where I built up loyalty and rewards that were EXTREMELY important to me were closed right along with them. Things that took years to build up came crashing down on your lies. The awful part is that people like you, people who only care about making money, lies, and greed, are still walking this Earth, while a good man, father, and honest worker died for nothing. Exactly two small accounts have been settled by Start New Financial and the settlement fees almost total the amounts of the settlements. You told us, because I wrote down what you said, that the balances would go down in 60-90 days. It took 4 months for 2 out of 19 accounts to even be touched. The others still haven't even been contacted and almost all HAVE CLOSED! I also found out just now that I will be receiving a 1099-C, however, because you had me change the address for correspondence, I wouldn't even have received it. I have to notify all of the other accounts to have the address changed back as well. Then you have ALL of the CFTPay bank fees, which again, you assured us were not going to cost what they have when I asked you directly about them. I have already closed this contract, after a lengthy discussion with an attorney that I also had to pay. You are the scum of this planet and I will be leaving this review in multiple places to warn people about you, Gold West Financial, Start New Financial, and Crossroads Financial Technologies. You and these companies have cost me thousands of dollars, lost time, a 400 credit score, closed accounts that I needed, and pain. An incredible amount of pain. Oh, and let me just tell you, I have you on record on my phone. You can record calls in Texas and I did just that, so if you wish to deny any of this, I absolutely do not mind sending the recordings of your lies to these companies. Have a nice day, Jenny Westmark

I have since decided not to go through with this program I was charged over $600 for the legal club team and given the rest of my money in a timely manner. I was unaware that my payments wouldn’t go towards my debt until this company settles with my debtors. It’s not a quick process.

They sent us a mail. And we called them. We are in debt. We gave them our social security number and they never called back. And all the people here except me have only left one review on Google. They might be fake accounts. Good reviewers have reviewed other restaurants and other services but this one doesn’t. Strange. They on phone said calling us back Saturday which never happens. It’s scary to see how many people in debt and need help. The best way is to work hard and pay it off. Not rely on others.

I always get these pre approval letters in the mail and never get approved for a loan but what the heck. I'll never know until I try so I gave these guys a call. BEST decision I ever made hands down. I don't know how they did it but they were able to get me approved for a $40,000 personal loan! I still can't believe it actually worked. My wife lost her job in April and finances have been tight. Depression, insomnia, and nausea hit me all at once and finally went away. Saving $600 a month is night and day when you are pay check to pay check. Thanks Austin! Hope your boss see's this!!

Gold West Financial has changed me and my wife’s life. We’ve been trying to buy a home for the last 10 years but could never save enough money for a down payment. Goal was to buy a home then start a family. American dream right? Wrong. We couldn’t even go out at night and enjoy dinner. Our lives were ruined because of our credit card debt. We considered filing bankruptcy but then we wouldn’t be able to buy a home so we just kept on paying the minimums. We were trapped in a nightmare that was real and no one could help us out. When I contacted Gold West, I was desperately hoping they could give me a loan even if it wasn’t for the full amount. They told me they’ll try to get the whole thing and called me back the next day with an approval. I’m in tears writing this right now, I have been struggling for so long. I felt like taking my own life at one point. Me and my wife were fighting on a verge of a divorcing because we just couldn’t keep doing this. I felt worthless like I was a loser. Gold West Financial has forever changed our lives. I don’t know how to thank you guys enough. Thank you so much for listening to our situation and finding a way to help us. Thank you!

If I could do a negative star, I would. Charles Shinalo, You are a liar and a scam artist. You told me over and over again that legal action would not be taken against us by any creditors, you told me not to contact any creditors, period, because they would only try to sway me from this deal and charge me far more interest, you told me that our accounts would not be closed, you told me that my credit score dropping so low would not affect my ability to rent another home in the future, you told me that after 30 days of being in the program, each contact from the creditors would be a hit against them to the tune of $1500, you told me that I would not receive a 1099-C from any creditors, and you sat there multiple times and spat many, many more lies in direct contradiction of the contract and the facts because you were desperate for another closed deal. Shame on you! My beloved husband was also scammed by you and he died one day before the first payment was drafted from our account and only two weeks after we signed your god-awful contract that has completely wrecked my finances, credit score, and life. If you had told me the truth at any point when I contacted you in December or January, the MANY accounts closed due to lack of payment and communication would still be OPEN and my credit score would not be so awful that I now have to fight to rent a new home for myself and our three young children. I've not only had accounts closed, but programs where I built up loyalty and rewards that were EXTREMELY important to me were closed right along with them. Things that took years to build up came crashing down on your lies. The awful part is that people like you, people who only care about making money, lies, and greed, are still walking this Earth, while a good man, father, and honest worker died for nothing. Exactly two small accounts have been settled by Start New Financial and the settlement fees almost total the amounts of the settlements. You told us, because I wrote down what you said, that the balances would go down in 60-90 days. It took 4 months for 2 out of 19 accounts to even be touched. The others still haven't even been contacted and almost all HAVE CLOSED! I also found out just now that I will be receiving a 1099-C, however, because you had me change the address for correspondence, I wouldn't even have received it. I have to notify all of the other accounts to have the address changed back as well. Then you have ALL of the CFTPay bank fees, which again, you assured us were not going to cost what they have when I asked you directly about them. I have already closed this contract, after a lengthy discussion with an attorney that I also had to pay. You are the scum of this planet and I will be leaving this review in multiple places to warn people about you, Gold West Financial, Start New Financial, and Crossroads Financial Technologies. You and these companies have cost me thousands of dollars, lost time, a 400 credit score, closed accounts that I needed, and pain. An incredible amount of pain. Oh, and let me just tell you, I have you on record on my phone. You can record calls in Texas and I did just that, so if you wish to deny any of this, I absolutely do not mind sending the recordings of your lies to these companies. Have a nice day, Jenny Westmark

They sent us a mail. And we called them. We are in debt. We gave them our social security number and they never called back. And all the people here except me have only left one review on Google. They might be fake accounts. Good reviewers have reviewed other restaurants and other services but this one doesn’t. Strange. They on phone said calling us back Saturday which never happens. It’s scary to see how many people in debt and need help. The best way is to work hard and pay it off. Not rely on others.

It's a bait and switch scheme. They send you a letter saying you're pre-approved for a debt consolidation loan at a low interest rate, KNOWING full well that you aren't going to qualify for a loan. The "pre-approved" part is a complete lie, in reality you're "pre-disapproved". Once you don't qualify, they offer you debt settlement instead. They charge you 25% of your outstanding debt, whatever that may be, to negotiate with the creditors for a lower payment. That 25% is a fixed fee that goes to them. The settlement is not guaranteed at all. They say they can negotiate 50% reduction, but you just have to take them on their word. They might only negotiate a 10% reduction, in which case you're paying 25% to get a 10% reduction. See how that works? In that case, you end up paying 15% MORE than you would have otherwise. If they were honest, they would charge a percentage of the reduction they negotiate, not a percentage of the beginning balance. BTW, notice the other reviews are all fake and all from within the past 2 weeks. Probably they change their name every few weeks as bad reviews pile up. The only reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1 is that MAYBE they can actually negotiate a 50% settlement like they say. Who knows. I'm certainly not going to stick around to find out.