Debt Settlement Companies Target Minorities?
I heard a debt settlement company’s advertisements a radio station in Allentown Pennsylvania.
Maybe you’ve heard it, it has something that sounds like gospel music playing in the background and the song has a lot to references to freedom. I’m not against freedom, but it’s clear that they were targeting a demographic, and that demographic is African-American people, particularly women
I market to a specific demographic too, so there is nothing inherently wrong in targeting your audience to make sure your message reaches the right group of people who need your services, but this is more nefarious.
African-American women are being targeted by this company because they believe they are an easy mark for an inferior product at a lower price. This debt settlement company’s product is inferior because they are not lawyers, in fact you will probably learn that their employees are in as much debt, if not more, than you are.
I have heard the Spanish language version of this ad. This ad has Latin music playing in the background, so what? As stated earlier, there is nothing wrong with demographic marketing.
What is wrong is the reason behind this target. This company preys on these people because they are unlikely to fight back. The Spanish speaking customer who is wronged will call in and suddenly they will not be able to find a Spanish speaking employee on site (by the way, I just hired my first bi-lingual employee today, his name is Manuel, and he will be converting this site into Spanish over the next few weeks). Spanish speakers have less access to the courts because of the language barrier and if there is an immigration issue hanging over their head, they do not want to be noticed. One immigration lawyer told me this company can market to Hispanics because “if they screw up and the customer tries to sue, they will get them deported!”
I suspect this company is targeting African-American women for similar reasons. Most African-American women who go to a debt settlement company do not have extra money to hire a lawyer to chase this company if they fail to deliver.
I might be completely off-base. There may not be any bad intention on this company’s part, but I’m pretty good at smelling a rat, and non-lawyer debt settlement is a lousy product.
If you are ready to resolve your debt problems and are ready to talk to a lawyer who will show you the respect you deserve, call me at 484-661-2891 or email me at jim@padebt911.com, and you can experience freedom from debt too.
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Comments
I was on these blogs a few months ago trying to get help and reading articles such as these. But I don’t think i’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for dedt settlement. I’m a 49 year old man and I’m married with 2 kids so I have bills up to my neck every month…and on top of that I found myself unable to pay all those stupid credit cards I decided to open up when I was an immature and irresponsible college student. I didn’t want to mess up my credit score but I would avoid phone calls and I just hated living my life like that so I finally decided to do something about it. Debt relief is exactly that…RELIEF…I honestly feel so much better and it’s because of XXXXX Debt Settlement . I did my research and Googled the company and they are legit and helped me with my creditors…now my debts are significantly less and I can actually afford to make payments.
Debt settlement companies teach the consumer to go so far past due on their debts that the creditor will take 40-50% of the balance in settlement. This usually requires going past due six months or more. Since you are treated as if you filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy when a debt goes more than three months past due, I find it laughable that they settled your debt without hurting your credit, unless your credit was already shot. Bottom line, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, and that’s exactly what these companies are peddling to consumers, especially minorities.
I agree. Debt Settlement companies are not the only one that does this type of emotional marketing. It appears if you go after someone’s emotional state you can manipulate them faster.
My problem with Debt Settlement companies isn’t their marketing strategy, that works great, my problem is they sell a lousy product. There are very few clients who debt settlement works for and I am happy to handle a case like that if it does, but frankly Chapter 7 is usually more cost effective and solves more problems because banks are forced to comply with the court.
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