Complaint Review: MaxiFinance - Beverly Hills California

My name is Derrin Redfeather, I received a post card for a company called MaxiFinance with a business address as 8306 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 871 Beverly Hills, CA 90211. With an 800 telephone number of 800-824-9336.

This happened on February 19, 2002. That is today.

They are offering a MaxiFinance card that will quote:"......open the door to all the money you need to(buy): A beautiful home, A mobile home, A business of your own, A new car, Recreation vehicles, trucks, farm equipment................Everything involving money will be much easier..much smoother...Best of all...

You are pre-Approved! But time is short. To secure your financial future contact us before the expiration date listed above.

Call Toll Free 1-800-824-9336 Today!

Guarantee (underlined and in Gothic Script)

Approval Guaranteed!

Card Provider: MaxiFinance

Telephone: 1-800-824-9336

Account Status: Pre-Approved

Annual Fee: $48.00

Approval Expires: 4/30/02

Account Type: MaxiFinance Card" unquote.

They also state, quote: "Get All The Money You Need!

Check off the type of loan you want......New Home Financing []$50,000 []$100,000 []$150,000

.........................................Mobile Home Loan []$20,000 []$40,000 []$60,000

.........................................Debt Consolidation []$5,000 []$10,000 []$25,000

.........................................Vehicle Financing []$5,000 []$10,000 []$15,000 []$25,000

.........................................Credit Card []$2,000 []$3,000 []$5,000 []$10,00 []$15,000

.........................................Personal Loan []$3,000 []$5,000 []$10,000 []$15,000

.........................................Free Money Grants for Home Repair []$5,000 []$10,000

Check the type of business loan you want[]Instant $10,000 Line of Credit for Business

.........................................No Repayment Small Business Grants []$5,000 []$10,000

.........................................No Repyment Medium Business Grants []$50,000 []$100,000

.........................................Free Money Grants For Inventions []$200,000 []$500,000

.........................................Large Truck/Equipment Loan []$20,000 []$50,000 []$100,000

What things do you want to own?........[]New home[]New car[]Debts paid off[]Luxury vacations

.......................................[]Remodel your home[]Money for small business

What other things do you want?.........[]Repair damaged Credit[]Home Loans for People with No Credit

.......................................[]Interest Free Loans Which Require No Credit Check" unquote.

The ststement above my name and address reads as, quote:

"Dear Derrin Bond,

You are approved for a Maxi Finance Card, which enable you to be free of money worries forever...wipe out past debts..rid yourself once and for all of embarrassing credit situations...bring stability back into your life.

Derrin Bond, your membership shows you how to get a credit card in your name, which gives you the freedom to buy whatever you want, whenever you want, even if you have poor credit. Derrin Bond wiil get VIP treatment wherever you go...and instant access to hotels, rental cars, check cashing." unquote.

Then it goes on to say how to place an order, quote:

*-(My personal observations)

"Check one of the following payment and delivery options:

[]I am sending a money order payable to MaxiFinance for $48.00 for standard mail delivery of my package

I will allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.

[]I am sending a money order payable to MaxiFinance for $58.00 for next-day air delivery of my package. *(Next day air)

My payment will take a week to get to you. My package will be shipped the same day payment is received.

I will allow 1-2 weeks for delivery. *(<- Something's wrong here, at most the delivery should only be a week and a day)

[]I am calling your toll-free number above in order to activate my power of MaxiFinance Card immediately. The package will be shipped within 48 hours by Priority COD Mail. A delivery person will bring my package within one week and I will pay &48.00 by cash or money order when it arrives." unquote.

Aside from the obvious mistakes (whether unintentional or not), there is conflicting money sending options. Also, if it is a credit card of some sort, why do the not accept other major credit cards for payment such as VISA, MasterCard, Amex or Discovery? They only want Money Orders or cash. You'd think that if they were a credit card or card company that they would accept credit card information as payment. Even if they are only brokers, every legitimate one I've dealt with accepts major credit cards. But this one doesn't, why? Plus the delivery options are more than just misleading.

So I did what any good consumer/professional writer would do.

I attempted to contact them. The first obvious thing to do was call directory assistance for the telephone number. So I called my cell phone company's directory assistance for help. They actually can search the world for a telephone number. I was surprised at that time that there was no telephone number for MaxiFinance. I thought a company offering all the financial services that they did would be listed. So I called an 800 directory assistanc operator and again with no results other than the 800 number given, and that was only on the postcard.

So I then got on the internet serching for their name. Nothing. So I called several State of California Agencies looking for a business license or at leats a listing. Nothing. I called The City of Beverly Hills Business Licensing Department. The lady I spoke with was most heplful, but she could find no listings at all. My next call was to the County of Los Angeles and City Hall in Los Angeles where Business Licenses are held for the County. Still nothing. So I did an Internet search on the address. The search returned several businesses. After many telephone calls, I discovered that this was a mailbox company named United Postal Center, 323-658-8988. I spoke with a man there who said he was the owner, I told him my situation and asked for any information he could provide. He told me those records were confidential but that the man who opened the account, opened it less than a month ago (January 2002), and after several broad questions, I learned that the man and the presumably the company MaxiFinance, are somewhere in Florida.

My next call was to the Beverly Hills Police Dept to help me decide what my next course of action should be, the Fraud Detective suggested the Postal Inspector. I searched The Internet and found this Web Site.

Now, I do not know if this company is legitimate or a fraud, but I would rather err on the side of caution. This offer really sounds too good to be true, and you know that old saying .....

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." My package is scheduled to arrive five days from today, February 19, 2002 or February 24, 2002.

I cannot accuse this company of fraud, but I can say that this offer, at least to me, is suspect.

Derrin

Lakewood, California