Comments on: A new pyramid scheme: United First Financial

By: Tracy Coenen

Tracy Coenen — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:51:25 +0000

NN – Then thank goodness that I have plenty of firsthand knowledge about the UFF product, how it works, and how it is being marketed.

By: NN

NN — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:00:26 +0000

Anyone who makes assumptions about something without first hand knowledge has about as much validity as an apple complainging about being an orenge.

By: George

George — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:24:37 +0000

Hi Steve,

quote I have been told they practice what they preach and are totally debt free as a company. unquote
quote United First Financial does not have any of its clients account data only the balances in their accounts I am told unquote

Curious who told you this? and why you would necessarily believe them?

Steve are you a u first agent? Coz if you really were not, and you have spent the effort to find this site and have read all of the various posts here I find it hard to believe that you or anyone would still consider u first as a legitmate business opportunity or product offering.

Oh and by the way, that Ernst and Young plug that all the agents keep going on about. Do a little research to really find out what that is all about. Its been brought to light here that it is really nothing more than a sponsered promo. In fact, its a bit of an ongoing joke that probably half of the companies that are nominated for these awards end up bankrupt within the next year or two following. Now I can’t back this up but it is has been a bit of a joke in the business community since the high tech melt down last decade.

good luck with your decision.

yours truly Geo

By: Judith

Judith — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:08:25 +0000

I’m in Iowa. I ‘bought into’ the MMA idea in August of ‘08. The ‘agent’ didn’t know how to explain the system to me (found out later she didn’t even use it herself) so she just said, “You’ll understand it once you start using it “. I’m a real estate agent, commissions only! After getting all my numbers into the program, she came over to ‘attempt’ to help me get going. Well, she did something that erased ALL the numbers!! We called the company. They re-entered numbers but they were wrong. When the light went on and I realized how the program was intended to work, I also realized that it wasn’t a program that I would be comfortable with. If I had extra to put toward my principal (which I rarely did), there was no guarantee I wouldn’t need that ‘extra’ money just to live on the next month! I tried to ‘talk’ to someone at UFF about a refund but got nowhere. I did the lengthy BBB complaint and got nothing there either. I just spoke to someone again tonight and am getting NO PLACE with them. I may have to get an attorney involved. Any suggestions?

By: Sandy

Sandy — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:17:16 +0000

I stand corrected … UFF got down to a D+ rating with the BBB in 2009, not a D- (sorry, a typo). Then later it went back up to a B+.

I doubt everyone who had a problem with UFF filed a complaint with the BBB. It’s a long process and not much gets resolved. Even a “resolved” case may not mean it’s resolved to the satisfaction of the consumer.

By: steve

steve — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:45:36 +0000

Also – I checked the Better Business Bureau in Utah about this company and they have a B+ rating and the complaints are minimal – it is important – especially in researching a company with forensic detail – to be truthful and honest. Due to the person hosting this column I would hope the information could be more factual and less emotional which is why I choose to refer to this website

By: steve

steve — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:41:57 +0000

The complaints about United First Financial are interesting and yet the specific situation is no different than what we daily face with many other companies. Getting a password to use a piece of web based software is a technology that many companies use It goes by various names like SAS software as a solution, Data Centers. hosted software etc. Many insurance agencies for instance now store all of their data, which is your personal data, off site on a server provided by their software vendor. Welcome to the modern age of technology. United First Financial does not have any of its clients account data only the balances in their accounts I am told. My guess is anyone reading this column is a regular computer user and has probably purchased items over the Internet. given your credit card numbers and even the security code – either to a person directly or typed it onto a form. Sounds like we all put our trust in businesses and people on a routine basis.
Not sure what Sue means about Ernst and Young awarding versus sponsoring – they both sound like an endorsement to me.
Bottom line – if people could do this on their own – why are we so in debt? I have a very solid hand on my finances, always have, and while I am not in debt to the level of many folks who are losing their homes I have been hoodwinked into believing that a low monthly payment and low interest rates are where I should be focusing. My banker and mortgage lender and even the guy who sold me a car with financing had me focusing on the monthly payments, not the total cost of ownership. If you are mature enough to own a home you should be smart enough to understand an amortization schedule and realize that refinancing is not the answers to all your worries. Paying interest to third parties is what is robbing you and I of realizing our dreams and goals. Heck it is even in the bible for those that lean that way.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:09:53 +0000

Ernst and Young did not choose them for the award — they just sponsored it. But UFF will mention this award several times in their sales sessions.

If you decide to us the program, keep this in mind … (wished I had known this before wasting my money)

Anyone can be an agent. They do not have to be licensed or certified. Get an agent who actually uses the program themselves. Good luck.

Your agent and sales people do not work for UFF. They can tell you anything, and UFF will not back them up.

You are not buying software. You are buying a login to UFF’s servers. If the company does fold, then you no longer have the software. And the folks at UFF can see every move you make with the program.

Ask about the guarantee, and make sure you understand what it is. If they tell you it’s a satisfaction guarantee, don’t believe them. Call UFF directly and ask about them about the guarantee. You need to be okay with no chance of a refund after handing over your money, no matter what happens.

Document everything. Get everything in writing – every problem you have, every phone call, every question, every promise made to you. Know that UFF keeps a record of every phone call made to you, and if you don’t answer (like if you’re working or whatever) it’s noted that you were unresponsive.

Read the contract. Note that it is against your contract to save a screen shot of the program. So if you have a problem, you will have a hard time proving it. Don’t let anyone change anything on your program to fix the problem until it’s resolved and you are satisfied, or your proof is gone. Make sure UFF documents the problem in your records and get them to send you proof. They probably won’t, but you may need proof later.

UFF got down to a D- rating with the BBB in 2009. That’s another entire issue. Filing a complaint to the BBB will not get you a refund if you have issues with UFF.

You also need to be okay with your bank account getting down to zero, and living off borrowed money.

It’s not as easy as they make it out to be. Every time you spend money, pay a bill, or move money around (and you will move money around a LOT) you have to document it. You will constantly be thinking about money. Maybe that’s good for some people, but it gets old real fast. And it takes time, much more than you are told. And you’re doing this every day or every week for years.

You CAN do it yourself. Even UFF says on their QA that you can. If you take all your leftover money at the end of the month and send it to the bank, you just did it yourself. Ta-Da!

By: Tracy Coenen

Tracy Coenen — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:26:22 +0000

Steve – I’m afraid that if your problem is “life taking over,” that UFF MMA will not solve that problem. Life will happen, and you’ll just be $3500 more in debt. MMA doesn’t stop life from happening.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:21:09 +0000

curious you say that United First is going bankrupt. I have been told they practice what they preach and are totally debt free as a company. I can’t find any news about them going bankrupt or having financial difficulties. Are you speaking in the hypothetical? I have worked with a number of software companies and all of their clients would be in the same boat if any of them went bankrupt – but I have never heard of any that are debt free. Surprising that a company with the reputation of Ernst and Young would give this company an award if what they provided was suspicious. Looking forward to hearing more as I am considering their offer. I have too many years of trying to ‘do it on my own’ and finding little success. My intentions are good and I am more disciplined than most but life has a way of taking over.