Educational Funding Company, Inc.

Review: Back in October of 2013 I signed up to start martial arts at [redacted]'s Martial Arts begining in November of 2013. Unfortunately in November I fractured my tibia and fibula resulting in no physical activity for 2-3 months. **. [redacted]'s was immediately notified and advised my contract would be suspended. Subsequently, I learned Educational Funding attempted to withdraw money out of my account on December 20, 2013. Therefore I notified their agency advising them that withdrawls are not authorized. On March 21, 2014 I received a alert from my banking advising Educational Funding made a demand payment of $106 out of my account causing a extra $30 NSF fee. Immediately I contacted Educational Funding and [redacted]s. **. [redacted]s agreed to enter the imformation into the system hi**elf as he is aware I still do not have authorization to particpate in a kickboxing activity. I received an apology for this error, was informed that I could receive a refund for the amount withdrawn and that future withdrawls would cease. Today, March 27, 2014 I received an alert from my bank that Educational Funding sent another demand payment for $106 resulting in a charge of $30 NSF. I have left several messages for Educational Funding Company and left a message for [redacted] to no avail. I also mailed a letter to both agencies.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a refund check for the amount sent. I am also requesting a termination from this company.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

Review: My two daughters and I started taking karate lessons in the spring of 2014. After a few months I started to become very uncomfortable with how the instructor was behaving towards myself and my daughters, and told the instructor that we would no longer be able to continue and that I wanted to cancel. The instructor told me that it was totally fine to cancel and directed me to contact the Educational Funding Company. At this point I had no idea who the Education Funding Company was because we were never told that our payments were being processed through EFC. I called EFC and faxed over our cancellation form as instructed and was told that everything was complete and that there was nothing more we needed to do. After that I received paperwork in the mail informing us that we had to "buy out" the remainder of our "contracts" in order to cancel. I was under the impression that we were just paying per month and was not aware of a contracted arrangement. I called and explained this to EFC, including the fact that we left the karate studio because the instructor was acting inappropriately towards myself and my daughters, and EFC again told me that they understood and that the contracts were cancelled and there was nothing more I needed to do. Again, I received more notices on the mail now saying that I owe payments and late fees. We do not owe anything and are no longer under contract. I will not pay money to a company for lessons we had to cancel because the instructor was inappropriate to my daughters and myself. That is very, very wrong and unethical.Desired Settlement: I would like the Educational Funding Company to stop contacting me and to remove all of my information from their database.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

Review: I attended [redacted] only once in 2013 despite paying $135 monthly fee. After my bank discontinued my debit card on file, I decided to discontinue payments to the martial arts school due to nonattendance. I received a bill for April 2014 on 3/20/14 and subsequently called the Educational Funding Company to cancel Account [redacted]. I spoke to a representative and made my request to terminate the account clear to the rep. In addition, I sent an e-mail to [redacted] on April 15 to confirm my cancellation. I sent her my new updated address change along with my new business card specifying that I wish to terminate for nonattendance and can no longer attend due to distance to [redacted] school from home and office. [redacted] requested documentation. I e-mailed her and sent hard copy by postal mail documenting my home address in [redacted] and my new workplace in [redacted]. The company obviously received my information because they now send bills to my new home address but will not terminate the account. I am not using the martial arts school service and am not under contractual obligation to continue the service.Desired Settlement: Discontinue the account and remove all false billing for non-service. I have terminated the service in writing yet business continues to bill me

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

Review: I have attempted to end my "contract" with these people. I was under the impression that I was signing a credit card authorization form, I suppose not...

I'm willing to pay my 60 day cancellation fee, which would amount to $300. But it seems they won't let me cancel without proof of moving out of state. I intend to move to Chicago in the eventual future and need to start saving money. Thus I have no proof of a new residence or anything else. Please just take $300 and stop charging me.Desired Settlement: Stop charging me. This is my official notice of termination of contract. So I should only be charged $150 on Nov 19th, and Dec 19th. $300 in total.

Business

Response:

December 5, 2013

Dear Ms. Horne:

The Educational Funding Company has been engaged by the [redacted] School to administer tuition payments.

Our record indicates that the above account has been cancelled after receiving payment through December 2013 with no balance due.

If you have any questions concerning this letter or the above account, please call this office. Monday-Thursday 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM and Friday 9.30AM to 3.00 PM.

Thanks you

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. As long as I don't get charged again.

Regards,

Review: Account Number 321-209

I was a member of [redacted] in NYC and the [redacted] contracted out their billing to this company.

I was moving to a Hawaii and wanted to cancel my membership. My teacher said to contact Gigi at Educational Funding Company. I did - via phone, multiple times the week of May 27th. They said that in order to cancel my account, I must give proof of relocation. On May 29th, I called them again to let them know that a fax with my lease was coming and again, confirmed that they received it. This confirmed my 30-day notice and cancellation. Making my last payment would be in June. - This was fine with me. I have Fax transmission confirmations that show that I've sent it to the number Gigi gave me.

However, they have not taken me off their automatic payment and have charged me $157.50 in July and another for August.

THis is very dishonest and extremely disheartening because they deal with Karate students who are very diligent in doing the right thing.Desired Settlement: I demand a refund for $315 for fraudulent charges in July and August and immediate removal of my payment information from their payment system. I would also like an acknowledgement of this in writing as I do not trust what they say via phone.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted].

Review: I have contact this company on September 3, 2013 via email, about payments to [redacted] boxing Academy, INC for those two accounts to be refund for June and July payments of 2013 a total of $494.79. I have talked to Mr J[redacted] the Senior Executive of Educational Funding Company his number is ###-###-#### he ensure me that my refund will be giving it has been over a year and have not receive. I have all the email transaction of this situation.Desired Settlement: please send check to [redacted] Md [redacted] and contact me at ###-###-####

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted] ,

Review: The educational funding company has failed to respond to phone calls and written requests to correct billing errors. When confronted, they attempted to pass the blame onto their business partners and failed to take responsibility for their own bad business practices.Desired Settlement: I would like to terminate all business with the educational funding company, have all past payments made to the educational funding company refunded, and receive a written apology from the educational funding company.

Business

Response:

October 24, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]:

The Educational Funding Company has been engaged by the [redacted] School to administer tuition payments.

Our record indicates that the above account has been cancelled with no balance due and the information has been sent to the account holder.

We apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused.

If you have any questions concerning this letter or the above account, please contact this office. Monday-Thursday 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM and Friday 9.30AM to 3.00 PM.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Review: Educational Funding Company is responsible for billing students for Martial Arts schools. My contract deemed that my official end date was June 8th , 2013, upon I was charged the amount of 147.00 as a monthly due on June 20th. This amount is not authorized as my contract with the school had already ended. I was never notified that they were going to take out additional payment. Upon calling EFC several times to dispute the charge they said they would look into it and call me back . Also said they would call the school and also call me back. Both cases I did not receive a call or email with what the result was.

Finally I received a Final notice in the mail that the amount of 147.00 was going to be filed to collections if I did not pay. Once again I called them and explained and they were going to contact the school once more and call me back. No word at all for 5 business days. I decided to call them and they mentioned they called the school and they said i'm required to make 17 payments regardless of what the school contract says of what the last day of school would be. So despite what my " last day " really was , they were going to take out 17 payments regardless. Though this is not clear or written on the contract that states this , I was verbally threaten that this account would go to collections if I did not pay.Desired Settlement: Billing policies would be ethical to allow consumers to expect they are being charged for the month they are attending school and not after the fact. No billing should take place after the student is discharged from the school assuming all charges are up to date to begin with. payment schedules should reflect the enrollment period of each student per contract. Collecting payment 2 weeks after a student is discharged is unlawful as the school contract says the student is no longer obligated as they are not considered active any longer in the system.

Business

Response:

October 4, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]:

The Educational Funding Company has beervengaged by the [redacted] School to administer tuition payments.

Our record indicates that the above account has been closed after receiving payment through June’2013 in good standing.

If you have any questions concerning this letter or the above account, please call this office. Monday-Thursday 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM and Friday 9.30AM to 3.00 PM.

Thanks you

Sincerely,

Review: I enrolled my son in [redacted]'s martial art in [redacted] CT, in the fall of 2013. I have been paying 99.00 per month for 1 class per week. His schedule is such that he can only participate on Saturdays. He was not enjoying the class from the start, but we were encouraged to stay the course. On Saturday May 10th, my son was denied access to a class and the "belt ceremony", this was very upsetting for the whole family. During another previous "ceremony" [redacted], the proprietor took a phone call during the ceremony, leaving the children and parents standing around waiting awkwardly. I had spoken to [redacted] a few times about my disappointment with the class. My son was not enjoying it (he is 4) and I've made numerous calls to [redacted] leaving messages that all but one were not returned. When he did finally return my call a week later, he informed me he would not let me out of the commitment, and didn't care that my son was getting nothing out of the classes or that I thought his business was understaffed and unprofessional. Ive also tried to contact the billing company Educational Funding, several times, but was unsucessful.Desired Settlement: I just want the billing to stop. I have paid throught the month of May and my son will not be returning to the class. Ever. My account # is [redacted]

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

Review: EFC served as a mediary for a karate school that my son attended, handling the automated monthly tuition payments. Upon learning that, for medical reasons, my son could no longer participate in the school's activites, we contacted EFC inquiring about procedure to stop payments from our account (6/17/13). We were told to obtain a physician's letter indicating that he could no longer participate, and that they would place a 90 day hold on the account in the mean time. Such a letter was faxed on 07/21/13. Despite this, EFC continued to place monthly tuition charges to my account for two additional months. We contacted EFC multiple times in the following weeks regarding their oversight with no resolution. We were either told that they would call us back, or we left messages that were never returned. During the last call I was informed that the account had been cancelled and they would not refund the last two charges.Desired Settlement: Reimbursement for the unauthorized charges made to my account.

Business

Response:

September 10, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]:

The Educational Funding Company has been engaged by the [redacted] KARATE STUDIO -TN School to administer tuition payments. The monies collected from students are promptly disbursed to school.

Our record indicates that the account holder faxed medical note on 7/21/2013, accordingly the account has been cancelled as of the date of medical note.

However, the account holder needs to contact the school directly regarding refund.

The school reserves the right to pursue the matter independently.

If you have any questioffe concerning this letter or the above account, please call this office. Monday-Thursday 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM and Friday 9.30AM to 3.00 PM.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

Review: We cancelled this martial arts tuition billing service via phone and via email in April, 2014. We were under no monthly contract. This company has continued to charge my account, and is now sending delinquent notices.Desired Settlement: Stop sending harassing letters. Stop attempting to make unauthorized charges on my credit card.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],

Review: This company services my gym loan from December 2012 until the loan was rewritten with the gym ([redacted] in [redacted], MA) in April 2013. I downgraded from a family membership to an individual membership. The gym credited payments to my new membership and determined I now only owed $20/month until my membership would be renewed in November 2013. I signed the new contract and the gym notified this company of the new payment amount. In May 2013, this company attempted to withdraw the old larger sum. I brought a copy of the revised contract to my bank and they immediately put a stop on the transfer of funds. I spoke with customer service at this company SEVERAL times but they refused to correct their billing information. They hound me with phone calls - most recent call was on August 2, 2013 at 3 PM. The gym, [redacted], has also put in several phone calls trying to correct this billing issue, however this company refuses to correct their error. They even started sending me coupon books demanding payment for the old amount.Desired Settlement: I want this company to correct their files and mark my account as paid in full as of April 2013. If they reported on any of my credit reports for delinquency then I also want them to correct that as well as I never owed them this money to begin with - they were made well aware of the contract change by myself and gym personnel. I do not owe them any further payments. From May on I am to pay the gym $20 a month for kickboxing and that's it. I do not owe $299 a month any longer since we revised the contract in April. I am so disgusted I am considering not joining this gym again in November when my contract comes up for renewal - and that is too bad because the employees at this gym have tried very hard to make this company correct their billing error. But I can't keep dealing with these harassing phone calls and inept representatives who clearly allow what you tell them to go in one ear and right out the other.

Business

Response:

Dear **. [redacted]:

The Educational Funding Company has been engaged by the [redacted] School to administer tuition payments. The monies collected from students are promptly disbursed to school.

Our record indicates that the above account has been cancelled after April' 2013 tuition payment. (Enclosed a copy of student’s payment history)

However, the school reserves the right to pursue the matter independently.

If you have any questions concerning this letter or the above account, please call this office. Monday-Thursday 9.30 AM to 5.00 PM and Friday 9.30AM to 3.00 PM.

Thanks.

Sincerely

Review: This company continues to attempt collections on a debt that is not valid. I've asked multiple times to take some action to have the debt removed and they refuse.Desired Settlement: I'd like to have this erroneous billing removed from my account.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted],