I am currently dealing with Carlstadt Capital in pursuit of a personal loan. The sales agent, Mr. Dave Winter, claimed that once the loan was secured with 6 months payment as collateral, the amount of the loan would be wired to my bank account within 6 to 8 hours.
I signed the papers, sent the security deposit of 6 months payment, and waited for the call from customer service to “set up the account.” When customer service called, a Mr. Todd Henry, he stated that additional money was required to secure the loan as my credit rating was too risky. I insisted that this should not be the case, as we had a signed contract stating the amount of the security deposit. Additionally, the “lender” had ample time to review my credit and should have made that assessment prior to sending the first deposit. When I stated that I wanted to cancel the deal based on the additional requirements, I was told that they would refund the money by certified check within 30 days.
I was sick and livid as I had already made a non-refundable deposit on a major purchase, and was now going to lose the vehicle and the deposit. I decided that I would send the additional funds, and be better off when the loan was transferred to my account. I know, what was I thinking??!! Anyway, they got the additional funds and told me that I would get the transfer within 2 hours. It is now 12 hours later and the money is not in my account. They now claim that the funds won’t be available until Tuesday, as this is Labor Day weekend.
If this is not a scam, and man I am really hoping it isn’t, at the very least, they are not the company they claim to be. I doubt they have an office as their phone answering system is automated, which allows them to forward calls from the central answering center to specific persons or extensions. However, when I asked to be transferred to another department, I was told that they could not do that; an additional call was necessary to talk to the other department.
Overall, thus far, this has been a horrible experience. I cannot recommend enough for anyone considering this loan route to proceed with extreme caution. Be prepared for major delays and obstacles. They always seem to have an excuse for the problem at hand, as well, but there is never an easy or satisfactory solution.
Please, if anyone else has had this experience with Carlstadt Capital, or any other company by a different name that employs any of the individuals named here, post a reply with your information. I did look online for reviews from others regarding business with this company before I started dealing with them, and found none. After my experience yesterday, I checked again and found a complaint dated August 28, 2009, the weekend after I did my online research.
If I am truly scammed, if I do not receive the loan money for which I have contracted, I will be contacting my state’s Attorney General. I will be naming all of the people I have dealt with in my complaint, and I will pursue the prosecution of those individuals involved.
If I do receive the loan money, I will post a reply to this posting stating as such. I will include any new information I have at that time in order to help anyone else researching this company. If I had it to do again, I would not do business with Carlstadt Capital.
This post was submitted by Nathan.
September 8th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Update: Carlstadt Capital-Dishonest at the very least.
After contacting the “customer service department” this morning, Mr. Henry informed me that the optional account insurance program was no longer optional, and, in order to receive the funds, I would have to send another $1,000.00 to purchase the insurance. At this point, I am tapped out and can not proceed. So, I have instructed them to send me my refund, including the money transfer fees. I was told that it would take 30 business days to receive a certified check by mail.
I have filed a complaint with my state’s Attorney General, and emailed a old Army buddy who may be able to investigate this company. If anyone else has had dealings with this company, please contact me, through this site.
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 am
Update: September 22, 2009.
I just attempted to contact the customer service department to check on the status of my refund. Nothing, no answer, no ring, nothing. This was definitely a scam. As I am certain that I will never see my deposit, and that this company was a total, complete fraud, I urge everyone that reads this to be very wary of ANY online loan agency. I would say that if they are not directly affiliated with a nationally known financial instution, DO NOT do business with them. The web site for Carlstadt Capital is still up, but the phone number does not ring through. I had an alternate number for the sales agent, and it is not valid either. To say the least, I am very angry and feel very foolish for having been scammed. People like this depend on people being too embarrassed to report incidents of this nature. Please, if you have any information about this company, or have dealt with anyone going by Dave Winters or Todd Henry, post a reply to this thread.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:50 am
Call me Richie for now… I have the same experience, very exact story. But their names are Ernest Williams and Todd Henry…
THEY ARE PEOPLE BORN IN HELL WITH SATAN. IT IS VISIBLE THAT THEY SPEND AND EAT WITH SATAN AND PUTTING CURSE IN THEIR OWN MOUTH. THEY MAY STILL BE ALIVE BUT THEIR SOUL IS ALREADY BEING BURNED ALIVE…. I KNOW, IT WILL ALL GET BACK TO THEM MORE THAN A HUNDRED TIMES OF SUFFERING, HARDSHIPS AND THEIR SOULS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER AND EVER…. I PROMISE!!! THEY MAY FOOL US, BUT THEY CANNOT FOOL GOD WHO CAN SEE ALL WHAT THEY ARE DOING… GOD IS FAIR, THEY WILL GET WHAT THEY DESERVE… TO LIVE FOREVER AND BE BURNED, THEIR TEETH WILL BE GNASHING AND WE WILL HEAR THEM WEEP…
THEY WILL BE BURNED FOREVER WITH THE MONEY THEY LOVE THE MOST…
September 29th, 2009 at 5:46 am
Richie, I read your statement and felt those same feelings. Carlstadt Capital stole $2,000 from us. Believe me when I say there were awful thoughts running through my head after I realized we had been scammed. I wanted revenge but felt powerless. God willing, we will all get through this one way or another. My prayer for you is that one day you will find peace of mind and the scumbags at Carlstadt Capital be brought to justice.
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:46 am
I almost got caught up in a similar situation. It has been over 20 years since I have done a personal loan which made me scrutinize things more and i’ve heard too much about scams. The company’s web site looked legitimate and I got the link from a credit card website. I filled out the application and got a call from a representative who stated that same 6 months of payment as collateral. They wanted me to wire the money to a private lender in Canada but that’s the point at which I bugged out. I had my wife call to conform my suspicions and she did not like the situation either. They also had that automated answering system as well.
I’m glad I did not go through with it and I started to learn about this possible scam when I found this website.
Sorry for your loss and thank you for sharing your information with me. It has helped me greatly.
What is even more troubling is that we have placed valuable private personal information in the hands of criminals.