Is 1 Finance a scam? here’s a brutally honest review based on my ~2.5 months long exhausting experience with them
(this is a long one, I hope you will read it patiently)
Do you love your money?
If you have worked so hard to build your wealth corpus,
you would value it all the more.
I did it too - but then 1 Finance happened.
If you have followed them in LinkedIn, you'd be impressed too!
But stick with me - I'm about to show the reality behind their operations and their overall customer experience.
I first watched Sarthak Ahuja’s interview with a big creator/influencer on YouTube.
It seemed very relatable so I downloaded the app and gave their money sign test.
I also booked my session with their advisor and gave them all my wealth details wholeheartedly.
Then their advisor ran away (ghosted me, depending on how you look at it). I didn’t hear from them for almost 3 whole weeks (21 days!).
He had told me he’d send me an NDA to assure me they couldn’t disclose my financial details.
But then after giving all my financial details - I didn't see any NDA for 21 days - did they steal my financial details? Is this a scam?
I scolded them on email and only then they got back to me. Got my advisor changed (even that I had to tell them!)
I got on a detailed planning session - They refused to share that document with me until I signed their in-app membership agreement.
This was a trick - you will see later on in this story.
My registration process resumed.
In their KRA verification process, they asked me to send my KYC docs in soft copy AND hard copy.
I sent them all KYC docs in a package - with fast priority courier - costing me 350rs (over 4$).
I still couldn’t act on their advice. I was spending my money asking for their advice.
They ask me to sign their members agreement on the app - about 2 weeks after I sent my KYC docs.
I see very alarming language that gives them complete control of WHAT THEY CAN DO with my financial data.
Their partners can use this data as and when and for however long they want - including to send me offers (i.e. to spam me)
Their financial advice service seemed too good to be true - 1 full year of free advice - what could go wrong!
After reading their agreement, it became clear - 1 Finance's services were not a product for me, my financial data was a product for them!
It stated clearly that they won’t sell my data but will share it with their partners.
And these partners, you can be assured, will pay them commission.
This kinda language was essentially creating a loophole to deny selling my data while still selling my data.
After another week of back and forth, they tell me they’ll schedule a call with their compliance officer.
All this while my KYC docs not were getting processed on the government’s KRA portal.
On the call, their compliance officer lied to me:
He told me that the rental agreement which I sent as a part of my KYC package - wad being rejected by SEBI.
So SEBI won't let me avail financial advisory services coz I don't own a property?
(I actually did own a property and I have sold it)
Sounded ridiculous to me.
I checked SEBI's e-Kyc verification guidelines. Rental agreement is very well accepted.
I complained about that. They said (after another week or so) they have order from their company’s highest authority that my rental agreement is accepted.
Wait - what about selling my my financial data?
During the call, their compliance officer also assured me they won’t share my data with their partner friends UNTIL I say so.
Assured me that my financial data is safe.
But when I asked him to confirm this on email - their language changed.
Their confirmation email was in the same language as their agreement - "they will not sell my data but will only share it with their partners" - there was no mention of consent!
Mind you - until now it’s been almost 2 months since I shared my wealth details with them. All this time I have been going back and forth with them on email and WhatsApp.
I replied to their email - asking them to confirm the consent part.
It's been almost 10 days since that email. I've only received empty assurances on their WhatsApp channel.
In fact, their customer service guy Rommel (on WhatsApp) continues to not listen to me, continues to treat me like a child.
He keeps telling me we will solve this for you - after telling him twice that I don't intend to continue with 1 Finance.
This is my message to utterly clueless folks at 1 Finance:
I have spent 350 rs sending you docs which you could have accepted as soft copy
I have spent months trying to co-operate with you
I have tolerated your stupid delays
I have opened my heart and cooperated with you
Shared all my personal financial details with you
And this is how your compliance officer talks to me...
This is the treatment I get for trusting you
Lead me on for 2 months and then hang me out to dry!
Shame on you for hiring such dumb people who don't care about customer experience.
If you are considering taking services from 1 Finance, let me assure you:
even if your experience is better than mine, it will still be as exhausting as mine.
Coz they have no idea how attached people are to their money. They don’t care about you or your money.
And if they have changed their agreement language or gone on a PR push, it will be most likely coz I wrote this review on Medium.
