Sometime back in August 2016, I was in search of a way to raise my poor credit score so that I can become eligible for a small loan to fund my business start-up. I am a highly skilled individual with a disability employers cannot accommodate. The only way I can be a functional contributing member of society is if I; do business on my own utilizing my construction skills to serve homeowners, earn an income and pay taxes. Talking with a representative from Refresh Financial, I was lead to believe the fictional loan/savings program offered by Refresh Financial was my best option at the time. The Refresh Financial rep I spoke with via phone lead me to believe: a) I could have a fictional loan amount of my choosing reported to all credit burrows b) Affordable payments would be debited monthly from my bank account to pay down the fictional loan amount and, reported to credit burrows creating a payment history c) All payments made towards this fictional loan will be held in trust and available for me to access at any time d) I can cancel or stop paying at any time and not have a negative impact on my credit score; after all, the loan is fictional and all payments towards the fictional loan is rightfully mine e) A high fictional loan balance will improve my credit score quicker After being sold the above hype by a Refresh Financial rep, I was directed by the rep to go to a nearby Easy Financial to sign my application. While in the nearby Easy Financial storefront, I was presented with a loan agreement and - I had lots of questions. Valid questions, such as: a) How is it possible for Refresh Financial to charge interest on a fictional loan? b) This agreement states I am a borrower and Refresh Financial is the lender; I am not receiving a loan from Refresh Financial, how can they be the lender and me the borrower? Answering my questions, the Easy Financial rep replied; a) Refresh Financial is not a charity, therefore Refresh Financial charges a fee to help you boost your credit score. Don't worry about the interest, it's just a fee that will be paid from a portion of your monthly payments. It is not interest! How can we charge interest on a non-exiting loan? b) Correct, you are not borrowing anything! This is just a standard process we use to make your fictional loan and all payments towards it visible to credit burrows. We have to process your fictional loan as though it were a real loan, otherwise, credit burrows will not report it on your credit file and the Refresh Financial credit building program will not work. Ignore everything in this agreement; your loan is fictional and all payments made towards it are yours to take at any time minus whatever fees Refresh Financial takes for doing you a favour! . . . Believing what I've been sold, believing there is no possibility of damaging to my credit and, believing Refresh Financial is the only organization dedicated to helping poor credit holders raise their credit score when all other options are/seems to be unattainable, I signed up for a fictional loan of $5000 on or about August 31 2016. October 12, November 10, December 12 of the year 2016, Refresh Financial debited from my bank account $139.63 for each sated month to pay towards a fictional loan balance of $5000. 139.63 was too much for me to pay, as my only income was Ontario Disability Support Program payments. I contacted (via phone) a Refresh Financial representative to have my fictional loan amount reduced to $1200 so that I will have lower affordable payments towards this fictional loan/savings program. On or about December 13, 2016, my fictional loan was reduced to $1200 and, monthly payments towards this fictional loan were to be debited from my bank account at a rate of $43.38/month. On or about the month of March 2017, I checked my credit report and noticed Refresh Financial had posted an outstanding loan balance of $1200, payments were being made towards the fictional loan but the fictional loan balance was not reducing. I contacted Refresh Financial on or about the month of March 2017 and, questioned the Refresh Financial rep about payments being made towards this fictional lone but the fictional loan balance was not decreasing I was informed (for the first time) that Refresh Financial charges a $500 fee for services and all initial payments towards my fictional loan go toward the $500 fee until its paid, then you will start to see a reduction in your fictional loan reported on your credit Following the belief I could cancel at any time; I requested to cancel and received the following response: Yes you can cancel and withdrawal from the program at any time before payments have been made. Because you have already made payments towards this fictional loan, you can not cancel. A trust fund has been opened on your behalf and, you must pay first the $500 fee for services and then you will see your fictional loan balance decrease. You owe $500 for services and $1200 on your loan if you do not pay we will have to send your file to collections. You signed the agreement, you knew what you were getting into - now you have to pay or your credit will suffer! Though I felt I've been scammed by Refresh Financial. Having limited funds from my only source of income (ODSP), did not realize I qualified for free legal assistance and, decided to bite my tong and swallow my pride, continued to allow Refresh Financial to debit my account to pay a fictional loan that was supposed to help me build credit without damaging it further. Some time on or near the month of August 2018, I contacted a Refresh Financial Rep via phone to discuss about me not having any source of income because my ODSP file has been suspended. The Refresh Financial reps response was something like the following: Sorry to hear about your misfortune, unfortunately, there is nothing we can do from our end; payments will continue to be debited as scheduled. Maybe you can get a family or friend to loan you some money or, your credit is good you might be able to get a loan. The only other option would be for you to go to your bank and request a stop payment on transactions from Refresh Financial; your bank might charge a fee and, we would have to report a missed payment on your credit. I went to my bank and requested that they block all transactions from Refresh Financial. The bank manager told me he could block all transactions from Refresh Financial if I first pay a $60 fee for the service. I had no money to pay the fee therefor my bank refused to block transactions from Refresh Financial. I then had the following communication with Refresh Financial: Inquiry 09 Aug 2018 11:41 AM Hey my only source of income is ODSP and I have not received my payment this month. My phone is cut off you can't call me. I need to access funds from my savings. What time tomorrow are you debiting money from my account? There is no money in the account and I'm trying to find a way to put enough funds in for tomorrows payment. How much time do I have before you try to take money out of an empty account? Customer Service Customer Service 09 Aug 2018 02:36 PM Hi Jay, I am sorry to read about the difficult times you are experiencing at this time, wishing you well. I am not sure what time the funds will be pulled. it could be anywhere between 12am - 5pm. Every bank is different. However, if you wish that payment to NOT be withdrawn, please contact your bank and request a ;quot; one time stop payment ;quot; on your refresh It will still be missed payment on our end, but it will save it from being withdrawn and causing you an Bank NSF fee. Right now you have $250.00 available to you. Would you me to process your equity? It will not be immediate. Once authorized it can take 7- 10 business days to be deposited. Also, there is an early access fee of $20.00. So the amount you would be getting s$230.0 Thank you for choosing Refresh Financial, Cheyanne. Inquiry 09 Aug 2018 03:07 PM Thank you Cheyanne. I would like to take out $250 And pay $20 fee Customer Service 09 Aug 2018 04:22 PM Hi Jay, I will send out the request for your equity. Once approved it does take the 7-10 business days that you were quoted earlier. The $230 will be processed as per your request. Hope you have a lovely rest of the day. Regards, Mandi For months afterwords I continued to contact Refresh Financial via phone request that they return my equity, stop debiting my bank account, close my file and remove themselves off my credit report. I had the following conversation with a Refresh Financial rep January 2 2019: Inquiry 02 Jan 2019 12:35 PM I have not been receiving my only source of income ODSP. Please do not attempt to take payment from my bank account as it is already negative $180 from NSF fees from Refresh. I will let you know as soon as I have an income. Right now I'm dealing with an eviction notice and I have no financial help. Also my credit is worse now than when I started with Refresh and Refresh is the only thing on my credit report. Customer Service 02 Jan 2019 12:48 PM Hi Jay, I'm very sorry to hear about the troubles you are going through right now. We are not able to put a pause on the payments, we can only cancel the account or have the payments continue. If we cancelled the account down today, we would be able to send some equity back over to you of roughly $20. Please let me know how you wish to continue. Kind Regards, Jessica I immediately called a Refresh Financial rep to talk about this. Since 2016 I have been requesting to cancel the account and told I can't because a trust fund was open on your behalf, you have to pay $500 in fees plus $1200 for your fictional loan. Now that I have absolutely no way to continue paying, I have been given the option to cancel and receive $20 of my equity back? I have paid a total of $1375.25 to Refresh Financial Three payments of $139.63 = 418.89, when I had a $5000 fictional loan. Twenty-two payments of 43.38 = 954.36, after my fictional loan amount was changed to $1200 On two occasions I requested and received some equity totalling $460 First occasion $220 plus an early access fee of $20 Second occasion $250 plus an early access fee of $20 My bank account has been overdrawn $360, 8 x $45 NSF fees plus interest from Refresh Financial continuing to debit my account after I have repeatedly told them I have $0 and I want to cancel. Refresh Financial is also charging me $200 in NSF fees 8 x $25 I have paid $1373.25 I have received back of my own money $460 I have been charged by Refresh Financial $40 for accessing my own money I have been charged by Refresh Financial $200 for not having money to make the past 8 payments I have been charged by my bank $360 for the 8 times Refresh Financial has tried to take money from an account they know has no money. I have 8 missed payments towards this fictional loan reported on my credit. My credit score has dropped from the high 600s to the low 400s My bank called me the other day and informed me that my account will be going to collections at the end of the month unless I zero out my account immediately. I want Refresh Financial to: a) Immediately return to me 1373.25 - 460 = $903.25 b) Pay the $360 NFS fees immediately before my bank sends my account to collections and further damages my credit c) Cause themselves to be removed off my credit report - Refresh Financial has never extended any credit to me and therefore should not be on my credit report d) After a, b and c have been completed, never contact me again! Stress kills and everyone's life is priceless, but I will accept one million in compensation for damages Refresh Financial has continued to cause me from late 2016 to today. Read what former Refresh Financial employees have to say about the company: "This company has too high of sales expectations with the clientèle they are trying to sell to. The employees are treated as a revolving door. They are constantly hiring and firing without cause. It was my first experience with such poor management. The expected targets have never been hit since the company started. They are also a pretty sexist company. There are no women in management and they are paid a lower wage." "Company is young so they have no solid idea of how many things shohld be done and they are not big on taking suggestions. They dont need a reason to fire staff as I have seen countless times in my years there. Company does well with staff social events. Low morale and low wages. High stress, high pressure environment. Shady practices. Majority of these reviews are fake to cover what really happens there." "If I were to describe working at refresh with one word I would describe it as depressing. I've never had a job where there has been so much unorganization, no management structure and just no structure at all. You will be constantly be looked down upon and not accepted by your co-workers there is a high high turnover rate and my tenure at refresh Financial there were no experienced agents over 3 month. That always shows what kind of company refresh Financial is. Be careful if you get a call back from Refresh they are a waste of time in my opinion nothing is stable and consistent. Your pay scale is also on the lower end for the sales side of things as well maybe under 40 grand a year and thats the top salesman working full time. They will also fire you at will with little to no reason as well." "there seems to always be a positive review after a negative shortly after it is posted which means Refresh Management is forcing their employees to post a positive review. I agree the management needs help they don't know how to lead or what to keep. I have seen so many people getting fired for being sick or for eating at there desk. I would recommend refresh only for a pay cheque nothing more." "This is hands down the worst place you can work. The leadership team is the most useless thing I have ever seen. they treat the team like trash. you ask for help to try and do better with your job and they will never sit down and help. they threaten your employment every single day if the team doesn't provide numbers. you ask for help and they do nothing the leaders sit on the computer watching Netflix and other things. this role i will not recommend but if you can get on the other side give it a go. DON'T DO THE SALES they are disrespectful, rude, will not help you even if you ask for it. I am still employed here last week they fired 5+ people for no reason. 1 by 1 everyone went into the side room and was terminated immediately. The team leaders provide no help and just keep demanding as they sit in their chairs with there headphones in. Please don't work here its the worst place ever. This is not a fun environment they make you feel useless they abuse there employees. STAY AWAY FROM REFRESH FINANCIAL" "Company leadership is very confused about their direction and is very good at acting in a positive way by avoiding answering the questions that matter, they don't know how to retain great employees and think it's because of growth but it's not. Both the director of HR and the coordinator have quit which is not good. Team leaders have no idea how to coach their staff to do better so they let them go, no advancement structure for people that want a career, no inflation or performance structure, very high expectations of work for little pay, very short term job where you should not expect a career. Most people leave lately after 6-12 months with the company. I wish I had more positive things to say honestly, free pizza every couple weeks is okay I suppose and feeling like you actually make a difference with clients is good on the short term but not long term as most people leave the company." "They serve alot of alcohol on fridays" https://ca.indeed.com/cmp/Refresh-Financial/reviews?ftopic=mgmt I am presently working with a class-action lawyer and invite anyone who has been damaged by Refresh Financial to join. Contact me jay.graham.[protected]@gmail.com. I already have four people from my neighbourhood and three people from a homeless shelter who have been damaged by Refresh Financial. CBC Market place has already done an episode warning the public of the scam Easy Home and Easy Financial and Refresh Financial play on impoverished people. Too bad I saw the episode after a Refresh Financial rep convinced me to sign up. I am open to working with the CBC to further expose and warn the general public of the scam Refresh Financial continues to pray on impoverished people making them believe they are receiving the very best financial help only to be convinced to sign up and get robbed. Date Debit Credit 10 May 2019 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 10 May 2019 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 10 May 2019 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Apr 2019 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 12 Apr 2019 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Apr 2019 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Mar 2019 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 12 Mar 2019 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Mar 2019 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Feb 2019 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 12 Feb 2019 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Feb 2019 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 11 Jan 2019 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 11 Jan 2019 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 11 Jan 2019 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Dec 2018 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 12 Dec 2018 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Dec 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Nov 2018 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 12 Nov 2018 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Nov 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Oct 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Sep 2018 NSF Fee Charge $25.00 12 Sep 2018 Return Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Sep 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 10 Aug 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 09 Aug 2018 Equity Draw $250.00 12 Jul 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Jun 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 11 May 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Apr 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Mar 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Feb 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Jan 2018 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 04 Jan 2018 Equity Draw $220.00 12 Dec 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 10 Nov 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Oct 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Sep 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 11 Aug 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Jul 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Jun 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 May 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Apr 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 10 Mar 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 10 Feb 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 12 Jan 2017 Loan Payment - Scheduled $43.38 13 Dec 2016 Loan Reduction $4, 300.00 12 Dec 2016 Loan Payment - Scheduled $139.63 10 Nov 2016 Loan Payment - Scheduled $139.63 12 Oct 2016 Loan Payment - Scheduled $139.63 31 Aug 2016 Loan Advance $5, 500.00