There's this one site which allegedly can help you with your bills. Quite obviously they'll charge a fee for their services Not bad at all, is it?Log InI came across the site today so I can't say whether they are legit or one of those many scam sites that promise much and deliver nothing. Has anyone here heard of this site or used their services? Would you recommend them?
Sounds shady and too good to be true to me. The way they sell it kind of reminds me of those electric saving things that promise unrealistic amounts. I'd be careful though, who knows what kind of information they can obtain from our bills. I'd rather pay my bills in full than risk having my personal information stolen.
To be honest it does sound like a scam. Could be they are just collecting personal data so they can sell it to companies that they can get you to buy their products through direct marketing. While their offer sounds tempting, I highly doubt you can get a discount for something like an energy bill no matter how great you are at bargaining.
I would be careful with them. They list a lot of high profile sites that they have supposedly appeared on, but when you click on any one of them it just takes you to a page of testimonials. Often times, sites are stretching the truth when they say that they've appeared on a bunch of other popular sites - what they may be referring to is they bought some paid ads which showed up on those sites. It's a far cry from those sites specifically featuring them in some way. You can buy ad inventory from Google AdWords for example, and technically speaking "be featured on AOL" via some ads on AOL's search results pages. The other thing I would be cautious of is that this simply sounds like a debt consolidation service, in which case the process of negotiating your bills down often involves closing your accounts as well. What they are offering is essentially something you could do yourself. You can always call your credit card company and explain that you are having financial hardships and see if they can reduce your interest rates to help you pay off what you owe faster. Similarly you can call your cable company and tell them you intend to change providers if they cannot give you better rates. If you really must go through with a debt consolidation service, I would suggest CareOne. I know two people in their program, and they've been very pleased.
I agree with the others. It does sound like it could be a scam. it would be great if that did work out though. I would love for my bills to get paid by someone else. It would be a relief. Unfortunately, the bill for them may end up being worse than the bills I already had.
Even if what they promise is true, it's nothing you couldn't do for yourself. If you take the time to call utility companies, you can usually work out an "energyshare" program and pay a set price that is often lower than your usage. At the very least, you can spread the payments out evenly throughout the year so you don't get socked with a crazy gas bill in the winter or an out of control air conditioning bill in the summer.
I did not go to the site because it sounds like the kind of site that might actually screw up my computer, but it definitely sounds like a scam. They may be trying to collect personal information to steal your identity, and they may also try to steal money outright with this so called "savings." If they negotiate the discount, you don't have any proof that the bill was actually settled do you? They are probably not going to pay the bill, but will steal your information and potentially wrack up a whole lot of other bills in your name, then you will later find out nothing ever got paid in the first place.
This is obviously a scam, and you're absolutely going to lose money one way or another. Companies aren't going to be able to negotiate a lower rate on your bills for you, and chances are high that you'll barely be able to succeed in that goal yourself. Getting a limited time reprieve on your bills through discounts isn't that hard, but good luck getting that offer for more than a couple months at a time. Some companies won't do anything no matter what excuse you come up with.
Hmm... This type of service seems unusual, that in itself makes me a bit skeptical of it. Now, it may be completely reputable and trustworthy, but I've heard no buzz about it. Usually something that could help someone to this degree with their bills would be much more publicized or you would hear people talking about it. I've heard absolutely nothing about billcutterz.com (even the domain name seems a little unprofessional, but that's beside the point). Despite all of this, when I clicked on the link you gave, I was presented with a very clean looking website that makes it look reputable. Many times, scammers will throw together a simple looking website to scam the unsuspecting victims, though some will take their time building up their websites. You never really know until you try it. However, I would not try this service until I read some real reviews online from real billcutterz.com service users. Whatever you decide to do though, be cautious. Like Amanda K said, this isn't something that you couldn't do on your own (risk free) if you really wanted to. It would take the worry of possibly being scammed out of the deal.
If you really can't afford to pay your utility bills, there are agencies that will help. Local churches often have a fund- you could even offer to do some light clerical work or help out with the nursery in exchange so it wouldn't feel like you were taking advantage. If you have time and a good internet connection,Log In is a legitimate federal site that may help some. Everything involving the government is slow, though. I would also try the Salvation Army and even a crisis pregnancy center near you. Even if you are not pregnant, they can probably point you in the right direction for help. These organi*ations are set up to help people. Everyone needs some kind of help sometimes, don't let embarrassment lead you to a scam or future debt. I had to rely on my college's Catholic ministry for meals for a couple of weeks- and I'm not even Catholic. It gets hard out there. As long as you are trying to make things better for yourself, take advantage of help. Just be sure to pay it forward once you are on the other side of a difficult situation.
Why would any thinking human pay another entity to pay their bills?! Its not like your on Section 8 housing or can't negotiate payment plans. Simply write a letter to the man or woman, trying to collect on 'your' debt, and ask him or her you can 'only pay' this amount for the next couple of months, until you can get back on your feet. Require that man or woman to understand that their business was not 'chartered' to harm, injure, or wrong a man or woman, and please accept my gift at this time, anymore will harm you and your person. A simple letter like this, but if he or she who is collecting doesn't accept, he or she is the one creating controversy. But seriously, in my opinion, unless it's a lawful business that has been around for years, I would not agree to doing business with the entity you have wrote about OP.
My Experience With BillCutterz I can personally attest to the legitimacy of BillCutterz. I signed up and sent in my AT&t Wireless bill, as well as my Time Warner Cable cable and internet bill. Needless to say I was incredible impressed with not only the professionalism of my savings expert, but the results of my experience. I saw BillCutterz onLog In and thought it seemed legit if a large reputable news agency was endorsing their service. After signing up and sending in my bills, I was contacted by Tony my Savings Expert the same day. He asked me for general usage patterns, nothing intrusive or personal. The only thing I had to do was authorize Tony to speak on my behalf with the representative for both AT&T and Time Warner Cable. Results from AT&T: Tony called me back and let me know that he was able to get me $50 off my bill a month for 12 months. $30 of the overall savings was attributed to free texting for a year in the plan that I had. The other $20 was a courtesy credit, I didn't have to give up any feature or package, It was free. I ended up savings $600 for the year on my AT&T wireless bill for literally 10 minutes of work. Awesome. Results from Time Warner Cable: I have had a terrible experience with Time Warner Cable in the past. There staff is terrible about helping out loyal customers. Needless to say I wanted Tony to give it a shot to see what he could do for me. So, I authorized him to speak on my behalf, about 20 minutes following the authorization I received another call from Tony. He was able to get me $75 off my bill for 12 months!! Are you kidding me?? I had spent hours on the phone with Time Warner Cable for nothing, he spent 20 minutes and was able to save me $900 for the year! He was able to get 3 of my DVR boxes for free ($10 each), I also got Starz, Showtime, HBO all free for 12 months ( $10 each), and to put the icing on top he got me a $15 loyalty credit for 12 months. Needless to say I was more than exstatic. At the end of the day I put in about an 20 minutes of my time communicating with Tony which resulted in total savings of $1500 of two of my bills. I have submitted my electricty, and insurance, to see what he can do. I am beyond shocked with the result, and will be sharing my experience with everyone I know. Finally, a company helps the customers hold the large service companies accountable.
Well, I looked at their face book page and twitter page, and they seem okay to me. If I really needed something like this (and I kind of do, lol), I would give them a try. There are legit agencies that have been around for many years that have helped people consolidate their bills and pay them off. Sometimes a person needs help, and it's a good thing that there are agencies out there that will lend a helping hand, so to speak.
Years ago, we used a service called Consumer Credit Counseling. It was made up of professional businessmen and some attorneys, and they would actually help people with their bills. I think we did pay them a small fee out of the money we saved; but they didn't ask for anywhere near half of what they saved us. Mostly, they were a non-profit and what they charged was to help cover their expenses. They would talk to the creditors, and then explain our financial situation, and that our only other option was bankruptcy, and then the creditor probably would not get any of the money paid. So they would work with the CCC and took the payments we could make. We had to sign an agreement, and could not acquire any more debt while we were paying ths bills off. It took us a while to do it but it worked, and was not expensive, plus it was run by very creditable people in the comminity.
