Financial ruin.

I have never had a worse experience with any company, ever.

First off, I had no idea what debt review is, or how it worked.

I got a cold call from Fresh Start Financial explaining to me that my debt can be reduced, and I can save money each month. I was sceptical, and about to hang up, for some reason I thought, let's just listen, what's the harm in that. Oh, how wrong I was.

The salesperson went on to explain to me that I am paying higher interest rates than I have to, and people under financial stress can make use of this government-approved relief system, where they can reduce their monthly contributions to creditors and save money each month.

The salesperson went on to start listing all my accounts' debts after I received an sms that I authorised a credit check, which I did not do.

I asked relevant questions like:

- Will this cost me any money at all? - Will I still be able to use my creditors or incur new debt? - Will all my debt be paid off individually, or will it go off as one amount? - Will this affect my credit score or put my profile under any kind of flag?

They answered with:

- No, it won't cost you a cent. - Yes, you will, we usually just advise clients to wait a month or 2 before they apply. - No, all amounts will still go off separately. - No, not at all.

I literally said the words, " This sounds too good to be true ", and the salesperson said, I know we get that a lot, but it is a legit program approved by the government to help relieve people of debt, and we are NCR approved.

I asked what the next steps would be to continue with this amazing program, and the salesperson told me I would get an SMS, and while we were on the phone, the salesperson told me to open it and just sign below so we can continue. Not explaining to me at all what I am signing.

After this wonderful experience, someone else phoned to explain to me what I signed up for. It was then that I realised it was all lies. Every question I asked was contradicted by the second person calling me.

I immediately did my own research to see what exactly debt review is and realized is was not at all what was explained to me. I then contacted them to cancel. I was told that, as per the contract I signed, there will be an R8000 cancellation fee. This fee they would also have taken with my first debit order, but I was told this would cost me no money.

I asked if everything would go back to normal after I cancelled. They told me yes, everything will be as it was before with immediate effect. Desperate to get out of this, I paid the R8000.

After that, seemingly nothing happened.

I had to contact all my creditors myself to tell them to remove the debt review flag from my profile. FNB settled my overdraft account with my salary that came in, converted my revolving loan to a 60-month loan, and I am to this day unable to get them reinstated.

I am now in a much worse financial position than I was in before. R8000 paid for nothing.

The cherry on the cake was, weeks later, a debit order went off for Fresh Start Financial. A "service" I was assured is cancelled. It has now been 9 business days since I requested my money to be paid back. I have yet to see that money.

I have been following up daily via email, voicemails, WhatsApp, and phone calls. The only feedback they give me is that they are waiting for the payments department.

This morning, when I phoned them again, the person actually hung up on me.

I have missed multiple debit orders due to this company as well. They have put me in the worst financial state I have ever been in.

I have since reported them to the NCR and hope to take this further.

Please, stay away from this company; they will financially ruin you.