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American Debt Relief Reviews

Written by Ben Tejes
Updated Mar 24th, 2023

Are you unable to afford your debt and wonder if American Debt Relief is the best option? Is the monthly payment feel too good to be true? What are American Debt Relief's eviews?

This article will look specifically at American Debt Relief to see how other clients felt working with the company. 

Let's get started.

What Is American Debt Relief?

American Debt Relief markets itself as a debt relief company, but in reality, it seems they mostly do debt settlement, a specific form of debt relief. Debt settlement is a process in which a third party (typically a debt relief company) acts as the intermediary between a creditor and a borrower. The goal of debt settlement is to have the creditor agree to accept a lower repayment that will satisfy the full debt amount. 

American Debt Relief acts as that intermediary and negotiates on the behalf of the borrower. 

I was the previous CEO of a debt settlement company, and I believe debt settlement can be a good option for some, but not for others.

So, debt settlement may be a great option for you, but it’s helpful to understand each of your options.

As such, if you are struggling with debt and wondering what to do next, we built a free, unbiased debt options comparison calculator (not even an email address is required) that provides a wide range of debt options that may be able to fit your budget. The data is personalized to your income and expenses, so you can get accurate costs, pros and cons, and options. Debt settlement may be a great option for you, but it’s helpful to understand each of your options.

American Debt Relief History

According to it's BBB page, American Debt Relief was started in July, 2022. It has it's headquarters located in Plano, Texas. On the page, it also shows that the BBB file opened for American Debt Relief was 1/16/2020.

How Much Does American Debt Relief 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.


Debt settlement companies make their money by charging the borrower a percentage of whatever debt they are able to have forgiven. So, for instance, if you owe a creditor $10,000, a debt settlement company could potentially negotiate the debt down to $5,000, saving you $5,000. The debt settlement company would then charge the borrower anywhere between 10-25%. This means you would potentially owe the debt settlement company anywhere between $500-$1,250 on top of the $5,000 that you owe the creditor. While you still save at least $3,750, the additional cost of the debt settlement company does decrease the total amount you can save. 

Let’s take a closer look at what clients have to say about working with American Debt Relief.

With that the cost mind, let's take a look at some of the reviews on American Debt Relief.

American Debt Relief Reviews

In this section, we will cover the BBB reviews, Google reviews, and TrustPilot reviews. What you'll notice is that Google and BBB have similar reviews, but TrustPilot are overwhelmingly positive. 

BBB Reviews

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American Debt Relief has a shockingly poor rating on BBB. With a 1.65 out of 5-star rating, ADR has a low rating, even for a debt settlement company. However, to be fair, there are only 6 reviews found on the BBB website. Most of them are only one-star ratings. The most in-depth review comes from a woman claiming that ADR charged more than was laid out in her contract. 

She also claimed that the customer service she received after signing her contract was terrible and rude. Other reviews simply claimed that ADR was spamming them with calls non-stop. There is a chance that another company with a similar name was the one calling, however, multiple reviews said the same thing about getting incessant calls. Despite this, ADR still has an A+ rating on BBB. 

To help better understand the company, let's take a look at a different review platform.

Google Reviews

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Unfortunately, the Google Reviews are worse. The business has been around for 10 years and only has a collective 30 reviews between BBB and Google. ADR’s Google Rating is only 1.3 out of 5-stars. Similar to BBB, there are a few reviews that claim ADR is spamming the client with calls. 

There are also some complaints that the client didn’t realize they would be paying a charge on top of the settlement amount. While this typically points to the client not fully understanding what debt settlement is, it definitely is something that should be explicitly discussed before signing any contracts. While Google Reviews are abysmally low, there is one platform with glowing reviews.

TrustPilot Reviews

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American Debt Relief has an almost perfect 4.9 out of 5-star rating on TrustPilot. They also have over 2,600 reviews on the platform. 

It is obvious that this is the site ADR is directing their clients to send their reviews. While the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, the content of the reviews does show something peculiar about the time in which the reviews are written. 

Many of the reviews may be written before any debt settlement service has been rendered. Because of this, we know that the reviews are giving positive feedback on the initial customer service they are receiving, not the debt settlement process. 

Keep this in mind while going through the TrustPilot reviews.  

A Way To Read American Debt Relief Reviews

Before we start looking at reviews, it's important to keep a few things in mind about the reviews themselves. Remembering these things will help you have a better understanding of American Debt Relief and whether or not it is actually worth considering. Here are the most important things to consider while reading through reviews. 


The Best and Worst Reviews

Some people only read the reviews they want to read. If there is a company they really believe they want to work with, it could be easy for them to only consider the reviews that praise the company. Make sure you are reading through a wide gamut of reviews to get the whole picture of the company, not just the reviews that fit how you already see the company. 


When Was the Review Written? 

It's important to try and discern when the review was written. Oftentimes, companies will request clients review their services after the first customer service call (which also happens to be when most companies are on their best behavior). This method of review collection can skew the ratings a company has for the better. Be sure to try and find reviews from people who actually went through the entire debt settlement process with the company, not the ones who had a single phone call. 


How Old is the Company?

A company that has thousands of reviews, but has only been around for 6 months, is still a company you should be wary of. Ultimately, time is one of the greatest determiners of whether or not a company is reliable. Consider how long the company has been around and whether or not that speaks to its reliability. 


Conclusion

Overall, it is a little bit of a red flag that American Debt Relief only has a significant number of reviews on a single platform. There also don’t seem to be many reviews that positively paint ADR’s actual debt settlement services. Because of this, you may want to think twice before moving forward with ADR. At the very least, consider giving them a call, getting specific information, and seeing if you feel comfortable with the company. Better yet, see if you have a friend or acquaintance that has worked with ADR before. A first-hand testimony can be so much more valuable than reviews you can find online. And if you want to talk to someone about your options, give Ascend a call today!