A reader sent in a mailer they received from a company named Debthunch. It is always a good idea to check out any company that you are not familiar with to make sure you know who you might be giving over personal information to if you contact them about the advertising offer.
The reader received the envelope below which did not identify the company on the outside.
This mailer was sent to me through my I Buy Junk Mail program. If you have junk mail you’d like to sell, click here. To see other mailers, click here.
The inside of the offer said the consumer was preapproved for a “debt consolidation” that also promised a “balance reduction.”
The information shown on the front page of the mailer certainly lead you to believe this is some sort of debt settlement type offer.
The back of the advertisement says if the consumer visits Debthunch online they will “Get matched with the smartest debt consolidation for you.”
I find that very hard to believe especially when “debt consolidation” is so poorly defined. If it’s debt settlement then why not just say that. Saying it is “debt consolidation” could give the impression the offer is for a loan.
The fine print on the back of the offer provides not a whole lot of additional information that provides clarity.
The terms could confuse a consumer this is for a loan especially when it say “You received this offer because you met certain credit criteria for creditworthiness.”
I would recommend that anyone considering using such a company should read the following free guides.
- The Ultimate Consumer Guide to Checking Out a Debt Relief Company Before You Sign On the Line
- 10 Must Do Steps to Find the Best Credit Counseling or Debt Settlement Company for You
- How to Check Out a Business or Company to Avoid Getting Scammed or Ripped Off
To get more clarity I went to the listed website, debthunch.com.
The site leads off with “The smartest way to pay off your debt” but is it really?
They also show the following testimonial.
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
The testimonial says the consumer “started using Debt hunch services 1.5 years ago.” However, the Debhunch website has a BBB logo which takes you to a listing for a company named InboundProspect. The BBB says the company operates under the alternate business names Loanhunch, Debthunch, and Listinghunch. It also says the company has been in business since 2003 and the CEO is Scott Couto. The State of California does not have a business listing for a company named Debhunch so they probably are, as they say, operating under the assumed name of Debthunch.
InboundProspect says they are a pay for performance direct mail lead generation company.
They describe themselves by saying, “InboundProspect pioneered Pay For Performance direct mail marketing lead generation for the financial services industry well over a decade ago. We put our money where our mouth is by shouldering the marketing performance and financial risk for our clients as a true, world class marketing partner should. We accomplish this by providing our clients with pre-qualified, direct mail generated inbound live transfer leads on either a Cost Per Acquisition, Cost Per Call or Cost Per Lead basis.”
They also go on to talk about their ability to generate debt settlement leads. They say, “You’ve finally found a reliable, world class Debt Relief Leads marketing partner in InboundProspect who can consistently provide some of the highest converting direct mail generated Debt Relief Leads and Debt Consolidation Leads on a Pay Per Lead basis for your agents at consistent live transfer lead volumes day in and day out. Our Debt Leads are generated via direct mail and result in pre-qualified live transfers directly to your sales agents with a simultaneous real time API post.”
My Opinion
Debthunch appears to actually be a lead generation company that sends inbound leads to companies who attempt to make a “debt consolidation” sale. That’s why I’m confused about how a consumer could use Debthunch or InboundProspect services for 1.5 years. That’s a long time on hold.
If you receive a mailer like this just realize this is an advertising piece and exercise the same level of care that you would with any company before you give up personal information.
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Absolutely enlightening review! I had reservations about Debthunch’s mailer, but your comprehensive analysis has cleared the air. It’s incredible how appearances can be deceptive. Your experience with their services offers a cautionary tale for anyone seeking debt solutions. Transparency and honesty are paramount in such matters, and your blog serves as a vital resource to steer people in the right direction. Kudos for shedding light on the reality and saving countless individuals from potential pitfalls. This is the kind of content that empowers readers to make informed decisions about their financial well-being.
I just signed up for their program. I don’t know much about this type of company and I am not an expert on much of anything. I have been trying to pay off my debt for years and still owe about the same amount. I hope they are not a scam or just taking advantage of me because I really need help. I am retired on disability and barley make ends meet. I am not trying to rip anyone off I just want to get out of debt while living my life. Tell me this if I feel like I am being ripped off by debt hunch how can I get out of this and still just pay my monthly payments, sincerely Harold
We received one.
Called and told them not to send more and was hung up on. Wrote a Google and Trust Pilot review. He told a bunch of lies, claiming to have been polite and professional and said he spoke to a gentleman. All lies. When we called him out he claimed none of it happened and accused us of being paid to slander him.
I just got yet ANOTHER of these questionable mailers from Debt Hunch and am circling back. I noticed that some SHILL has since added a comment questioning my previous one, and called me a troll of all things. Steve, I am going to suggest you remove the very obvious shill comments here. I am all for free speech but it is pretty obvious that those are shills. I think what they are trying to do is bury real comments with those fake ones. By the way thank you for taking the time to write this in the first place. Outfits like this make my blood boil because I know that there are good people out there falling for this, or they would not keep mailing out this junk. I wish our government would do their job!
Paul, I think the totality of the comments helps inform future readers. When good people like yourself come back and provide a response then it defeats efforts to manipulate comments. Thank you.
So happy to have found this article! Last thing I need is a lead generation company selling my info to who-knows-who to blow up my phone with a bunch of offers that probably won’t even be a lower interest rate than I currently have.
Waste of my time.
I saw the 0% interest too.. but it didn’t take long to see how they made their money and they don’t really hide anything. I don’t know many companies that survive long doing things out of the goodness of their heart. So they make money. They are more of a cross between a debt settlement and consolidation company. Yes, they negotiate how much you owe down and yep, appears they keep some of that money they get reduced from your debt. I’m sure the fact it’s not a straight loan to pay your debt down is why they clearly say and explain that it is not going to magically immediately bring back up your credit score and the reason is your debt isn’t being paid off in full, they negotiate it down. Also I have yet to be able to find and verify the so called facts that this article states.
These comments seem paid to me. I came here after getting a letter. I’ve done a lot of research on Debthunch and they seems solid to me. I’m going to use them because I need help getting out of debt. I don’t have respect for groups that write hit pieces to make money. I want to know how Steve Rhodes gets paid? Let me guess companies that offer debt services? lol.
Thank you for sharing your opinion.
You didn’t say what part of my review was factually incorrect.
Wow. I have a healthy dose of skepticism in all things. Including this article. You made a terrible case. It’s obvious you didn’t follow through on your research and you expect the readers to tell YOU what part is inaccurate? That’s rich. I’m not going straight to Debthunch out of spite, but I will certainly remember this “writer” and website.
At the very least, tell your audience what kind of “matches” they might link up with OR why you didn’t go that far. Otherwise, trash the article. You didn’t finish, and that alone makes it sound like a hit piece.
Did you read the entire post? I said, “Debthunch appears to actually be a lead generation company that sends inbound leads to companies who attempt to make a “debt consolidation” sale. That’s why I’m confused about how a consumer could use Debthunch or InboundProspect services for 1.5 years. That’s a long time on hold.
If you receive a mailer like this just realize this is an advertising piece and exercise the same level of care that you would with any company before you give up personal information.”
Are you disagreeing with that? It’s not clear exactly what part of the post you are pissed off about or where I asked readers to check my accuracy.
Thanks for exposing this. We received one of these “Debt Hunch” tricky mailers today and I was trying to figure out what their game was. Now I know. We do have some high interest debt but we are capable of paying it off. I just thought it was a “better interest” offer, although it did seem strange how they could claim 0% interest for 4 years (what company would or could do that?). Unless of course it is a debt renegotiater, which people can do themselves without paying some big fee for someone else to do it for them. Of course, in that case people better think twice because it could definitely risk destroying your credit for a long time.
I looked up their Google reviews and – WOW – they really put down a bunch of people who ‘dared’ question them or their “services.” The company rep (I’m guessing it’s the owner) called a bunch of the people trolls and dismissed the complaints as the work of “competitors.” I happen to believe those reviews are genuine. That kind of public behavior from a company is unbecoming of any real business.
What bothers me is that their mailer really comes across as misleading. The FTC and state attorney generals should take a close look at these people.
Hmmm. I found some very positive reviews on Google and Trustpilot. This one on Google was eye opening about trolls. Was by a Lilsimser Chloe. Seems like this Debt Hunch company is being trolled. Maybe you’re a troll Paul? lol.
Lilsimser Chloe – Received a flyer by mail. Came here to check the reviews and see if this company is legit & what customers are saying. Started with the first few high ratings, all customers who’ve used the company. I then switch my filter to the lowest ratings… Tell me why there are multiple low rating from NON customers about perception… the company responds bluntly and assertively and then more NON customer reviews follow now complaining and giving low ratings because they didn’t like how the company responded to the reviews… So I’m here as a NON customer leaving my 5 star review because I like the straight forward responses on the reviews and saw nothing but positive reviews from actual customers. I came here to look at reviews from customers who had actually done business with the company and those low rating were all ridiculous- what should have been a quick check of a 5 star business prompted additional reviews because they have a misleading 4.4. Stop posting reviews for businesses you’ve not done business with ~
Thank you for your comment. What part of my post was factually incorrect?
Jan,
Observation. Oddly, comments from yourself and Raymond Steene defending DebtHunch came one after the other, and behind the scenes, I can see a common technical relationship between the two of you.
Were you asked to come and post your comment, or do you have an explanation why two related accounts would come to the defense of DebtHunch and both claim to be in defense of the company yet not clients? That is a lot of coincidence even for me.
Jan, I agree completely with you. I have done all kinds of research on that company and have come to the same conclusions as you making me wonder how legit this so called review actually is.
Ok, so be real. Who got paid to leave their review?
I received the same letter and was leery because of the 0% and in the fine print it states paying off $23,000 less than I owe. I am not interested in this type of settlement. Settling will only hurt my credit and to be fair I should pay back the money I borrowed. I would like better interest rates.
I used them and they’re great! Thanks to Jason and the whole team for their help with my loan. I highly recommend them.
Got one of the letters today, so glad to be able to check out and find out it is a scam, what a world we are now living in.
I was thankful to find this article because I received one of the same letters yesterday. I miss the good ole days when you didn’t have to assume EVERYthing is probably a scam.
I received one too and couldn’t understand how they could possibly make money if my interest rate is 0.00%. When it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!! Thanks for posting this.