This article is for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal or financial advice.
Have you received a mailer from Century Support Services? Or, have you seen one of the ads below that state that they will negotiate down your debt for you?
What Are Century Support Services’ BBB rating and reviews?
We will cover that and more, so let’s get started.
What is Century Support Services?
Century Support Support Services offers debt review/debt settlement services.
If you are not familiar, Debt settlement is the process in which a third party negotiates with your creditor on your behalf. The goal of a debt settlement firm is to negotiate a lower balance from say $10,000 to $5,000 to provide you debt relief. I was the previous CEO of a debt settlement company, and I know that debt settlement may be a good option, but it also may be a terrible option depended on your financial situation.
Debt settlement may be a great option for you, but it’s helpful to understand each of your options.
Century Support Services History
According to its BBB page, Century Support Services has been in business since November, 2012. It has been BBB accredited since 2016, and is headquartered in Pennsylvania.
Debt settlement is increasingly becoming a more and more attractive option for individuals facing an overwhelming amount of debt. Debt settlement is a relatively straightforward process. In most cases, you want to work with a company when settling your debt. The company would then negotiate on your behalf with your creditors. They would try to come to a lower payment that would fully satisfy what you owe. This can sometimes save you thousands of dollars.
Debt settlement may sound idyllic. But the company you work with could cause other issues you want to be aware of. With debt settlement companies popping up all over the place, it’s important to research the company you are thinking of working with. While almost all debt settlement companies claim to do the same thing, there are definite differences in the way some companies run.
How Much Does Century Support Services Cost?
At Ascend, we believe that debt settlement may be a good option, but it’s only in the context of understanding all of your options and understanding the cost of that option.
This is exactly why we built a free debt relief cost comparison calculator so that you are MOST informed. It will also allow you to compare the cost of debt settlement to debt management, debt payoff planning and bankruptcy. While we don’t know exactly the quote that Century Support Services will provide, this can be an estimate to compare against.
Century Support Services Reviews
Let’s jump right into Century Support Services reviews. So, when you are researching a company to work with, make sure the reviews you are reading are describing the service they offer and execute, not the promises that they make.
BBB Reviews
With the above things in mind, let’s start by taking a look at Century Support Services’ BBB page. According to the BBB page, Century Support Services has been in business for 9 years. CSS is a BBB Accredited Company, and they have a 3.39/5 star review (averaged from 33 customer reviews).
When looking through the reviews, there is a definite mix of opinions. I think it is important to note that a lot of the negative reviews seem to come from a place of not fully understanding the debt settlement process. Understanding the entire process of debt settlement is critical to ensuring you know whether or not the company you are working with is doing its job well. If you want to have a more thorough understanding of debt settlement, take a minute to read through our in-depth guide on the process.
Most of the positive reviews claim that Century Support Services did exactly what they claimed to do. They negotiated with creditors on the borrower’s behalf. The negative reviews claimed that CSS wasn’t upfront with the process. Some seemed as though the borrower did not expect the high fees and the chance for a lawsuit.
Century Support Services was very responsive on the BBB platform. They both thanked the reviewers who recommended them and talked through issues with the reviewers that left complaints.
Google Reviews
CSS has 134 Google reviews and an average rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars. Similar to BBB, Google reviews vary widely. Some reviewers claim that they were not informed of the entire process or charges they would incur, while others claim they felt incredibly pressured by the company to sign up for their program.
The positive reviews did seem to be reviewing the customer service in many cases, rather than the actual services they provide. That being said, there are some positive reviews that claim CSS was an excellent service provider and did exactly what they needed them to do.
Website Reviews
You always have to be careful with the reviews that you find on a company’s website. Take a minute to investigate where the reviews are coming from. Is there a direct review forum that posts your review as soon as you write it? Or does the review go to the company who then decides whether or not to post the account? Most of the time, websites have “testimonials” on their site. These tend to be exclusively success stories.
So it makes sense that Century Support Services has plenty of glowing testimonials on their website and no negative reviews can be found. While it may be intriguing to read through some of these success stories, make sure you balance that by reading through reviews on other platforms.
Trustpilot Reviews
Trustpilot has quickly become one of the most used review platforms for companies like debt settlement agencies. You can find over 700 reviews on the platform and Century Support Services has an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Compared to the other platforms, this score is very high — what might account for that?
The answer is pretty simple (and something that we see a lot of companies doing). Trustpilot allows businesses to invite clients to review their services, and many companies offer incentives for sending in a review. This, along with the time at which the request for review can help us better understand why there is such a big difference in average rating between Trustpilot and other platforms.
After reading through the reviews, it’s easy to see that many of the positive reviews are based on initial contact and great customer service rather than the actual debt settlement process. The negative reviews typically involve being unsatisfied with the settlement process. It’s also interesting to note that, while all of the positive reviews show that the reviewer was invited to send in a response, a majority of the bad reviews show that the reviewer was not invited to send in a response.
What To Consider When Researching Century Support Services
Before looking further into Century Support Services, it is important to keep some key things in mind. Here are just a few things to consider when conducting your own research on any debt settlement company.
Most Positive and Most Negative Reviews
As a rule of thumb, you want to make sure you are looking at the full gamut of reviews. If you only read the excessively positive or entirely negative reviews, you will have a lopsided view of the company. Reading a wide range of reviews will both give you a balanced and well-rounded understanding of the company. This will also keep you from being surprised. Keep in mind that most people either write reviews at the request of the company OR in a time of intense emotion. This can definitely skew the results of the reviews you find online.
Length of Time of the Company
You also want to consider the length of time the company has been in business. We have seen a recent influx of new debt settlement companies that are specifically targeting a younger demographic. Since the history of these companies is so short, it can be hard to tell how effective they are. However, don’t let this discredit the company for you! There are some newer debt settlement companies that are incredibly innovative and fair, especially compared to their competitors. Just keep in mind the amount of time the company has been functioning.
When The Review Was Written
Oftentimes, you might read a review that says something along the lines of, “I just got off the phone with XYZ Company. They told me I would be saving thousands of dollars in debt! I can’t wait to get started.”
Obviously, with the example above, the point in time at which the review was written was before any services were actually rendered. This means the reviewer is simply saying that their initial point of contact was positive and reassuring. All this shows is that the company has excellent customer service for new clients.
Now, if that review mentioned that the company did exactly what they promised and that she was out of debt with thousands saved, then you would know that the reviewer is actually reviewing the service they received instead of the promises they were made.
Conclusion
In total, it seems as though most open platforms and well-known reviewing sites (like Google and BBB) have a more negative view of CSS. Trustpilot, the platform that CSS seems to be encouraging its clients to use, has a much more positive average rating, though the reviews tend to focus on the customer service rather than the debt settlement process.
If you are looking for a debt settlement company that has excellent customer service, and you are fully aware of what debt settlement looks like, Century Support Services seems to be an average company that could do what you are looking for. Keep doing research on the company, consider giving them a call, and maybe try to find a friend who has worked with the company and get some information from them.
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