Suspect Vegas firm moves to isles

A Las Vegas-based company rated “F” by the Better Business Bureau because of the number of complaints it triggered on the mainland is moving into the Hawaii market, offering help with college admissions and financial aid.

The company, Right C3 LLC, which stands for “Right Career, Right College, Right Cost,” turned out to be the wrong choice for more than 80 customers who filed complaints with the BBB in Las Vegas in the last three years over problems with its services, billing, advertising or sales practices. The firm is not accredited by the BBB.

Parents complained to the BBB that Right C3 got them to sign contracts to pay up to $2,000 for information and services that turned out to be available free elsewhere or were of no use to their children. Some trusted the pitch because they thought their high school had given the company their child’s name.

“At the very least, what this company engages in, and what we see in the complaint pattern, is what we refer to as deceptive advertising,” said Gregory Dunn, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Hawaii. “What is particularly scary about this operation is that they require parents to sign what is essentially a very ironclad contract.”

The BBB of Hawaii posted a “scam alert” on its website Wednesday noting the “F” rating and Right 3C’s track record after the Honolulu Star-Advertiser inquired about the company.

Dunn said the letter grade was based on the number of complaints given the size of the business, which is a limited-liability corporation founded in 2012. The BBB in Las Vegas suppressed the rating temporarily later in the week while Right C3 addressed some complaints that had been closed previously for lack of response from the company.

Personalized letters from Right C3 began arriving in Honolulu homes last week, informing students and parents they “are scheduled to participate” in a free workshop and interview on college admission and financial aid Oct. 24 or 25. The letter includes a reservation number and urges parents to confirm their appointment because their child’s future “is too important not to attend.”

A reservations representative said the company gets students’ names and addresses from “the same listing services that colleges use to find students.” The letters went to the parents of juniors and seniors at public and private schools including Mid-Pacific Institute and Roosevelt High School.

Jospeh Spiccia, chief information officer for Right C3, said the number of complaints against the company is small and that its own surveys find that more than 91 percent of graduating seniors who used its services got into one of their top two colleges and 93 percent would recommend the program to a friend, he said.

“We don’t have many complaints with the BBB or anyone else, especially in relation to the millions of people we communicate with annually,” he said.

He declined to disclose how many paying clients the company signed up last year after its free presentations in other cities, saying the company and its information are private.

“By no means do we pressure families to enroll in our program or even to participate in the personal interview,” Spiccia said in an email response to questions. “Nobody has to ‘sign up on the spot’ unless they choose to. To keep our costs low and our services affordable, we only enroll students at workshops.”

“We also make it clear that we are not a scholarship search company and that we cannot guarantee financial aid or admission to college.”

He said the company’s services include online preparation and practice for tests such as the SAT and ACT, study skills, math and science tutoring, guidance in finding suitable colleges, reviews and critiques of college applications before submission, and help meeting financial aid deadlines and identifying merit aid opportunities.

Right C3’s workshops are scheduled just a few days before the Honolulu National College Fair sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and the venue is the same: the Hawai‘i Convention Center. That might lead parents to assume they are related although they are not.

“There is no reason why they should go (to the Right C3 workshops) when they can get the same thing free a couple of days later,” said Derrick Kang, director of college counseling at Mid-Pacific Institute. “Counselors from various schools will volunteer and provide free counseling at the college fair to students and families that may be interested.”

“My advice to people is they should never pay for these services,” he added. “Try to deal with their counselors within the school system. I think they are going to find they will be supported and don’t have to pay for outside services. … My fear is what these companies do is prey on families that are often first-generation (college applicants) or low income who think, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to do this.’ But they don’t have to.”

The Honolulu National College Fair will be held Oct. 27 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., to accommodate school groups, and from 5 to 8 p.m. for students and parents. Early next year the Pacific Financial Aid Association will hold free financial aid workshops as part of the “College Goal 808” program.

With college costs spiraling, parents are eager for any help in figuring out how to afford it. But counselors point out free websites help kids get ready and plan for college, find scholarships and assess what school might be a good fit. Practice tests are available online, and tutoring is offered at many schools.

“These things are available to the community and without having to pay thousands of dollars and being tied into a contract that you won’t be able to get any money back,” said Dunn, the local BBB president. “Our mission is to denounce substandard marketplace practices. The BBB helps keep the marketplace safe and trustworthy.”