We Have Momentum!

Investors with Heritage Education Funds are infuriated by tactics of misdirection by customer service and sales reps, loss of funds, penalties, changes in policy, red tape and and are NOW ready to take action!

If you are serious about moving forward with a class action lawsuit against Heritage RESP, contact SuperPower via khef2016@gmail.com  It's time!

Creating a Petition

The back & forth comments have been happening long enough. It's clear that there are people willing to come forward. I will look into creating petition unless someone has already started one? Let me know.  What should the petition state. What exactly are we asking for? What is our goal?

A New Way To Rip Us Off!

A new wrinkle is emerging after the "changed rules"! From what I've read, it seems that for those of us who invested before the change, we will not be getting the full amount as promised upon maturity. It was difficult if not impossible to get it before, but now we will get even less? See comments from Bennetta on A Vunerable Time & Proposed Plan Change from Heritage.

Money matters are emotional in general, add in our kids futures and Heritage... well, panic sets in! This is no joke.

I have said in previous posts, that we plan to stay until the end (another 7 years to go) because we've invested so much money, and will hope for the best when we need to cash out, despite our past experiences. To learn now that there is no chance to get 100% and that a portion of our investment will be added to the Scholarship Pool is infuriating.

We should be at the 7 yr mark to pull our money out early (see more comments here). I have been putting off  making the call because I know it will be a fight; we lose a lot of money and most likely create an unsettle in our household. Life is stressful enough without the drama these crooks create. Ugh. I guess the time has come to find out where we stand. I will certainly keep you posted.

Have you cashed out early? When and what happened? Do tell... we all need your input!

Also... if you are a rep of Heritage past or present. You can post anonymously... any tips are more than welcome on how to manage this step.

Thank you! 

RESP Contributions as a Gift?

Christmas is around the corner, maybe a birthday too, and your loved ones are excited to purchase gifts for your children. Toys are usually the go to items for little ones.

One year, when the kids were little, we asked the Grandparents to make a contribution to the RESP instead of spending too much on gifts. This was just before our experience with Heritage went south. My mother-in-law had heard some questionable stories about Heritage, and opted to buy the toys instead. Others just wanted to see the look of joy on their cute little faces.

Have you ever asked your family/friends to contribute to an RESP instead of buying gifts? How did they respond?

Proposed Plan Change for Heritage Plans

Heritage Education Funds has recently proposed changes to their plans. Invitations and proxies have been mailed out to Plan Subscribers to participate in a vote to help decide IF they will proceed with the changes, or not. Heritage has extended this opportunity with the message, "You Asked. We Listened." Were they actually listening?

Here are links to an overview of the changes and to the official documents that were mailed out. Subscriber Vote on Proposed Plan Changes:

• Plan Changes: FAQ
• Letter to Subscribers
• Management Information Circular

Note: IF changes are made they will only affect "plans that are expected to mature after July 31, 2014 and who typically have a 2016 Year of Eligibility." 

What do you think of the proposed changes? Will you vote?

As reported by one of our contributors, "Heritage has been under investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission for the past year. They have also been fined $50,000 by the BC Securities Commission."

It has been suggested that we "reach out to the securities commission in our home province or at least to the Ontario Securities Commission so that they know that the underhanded practices are still continuing." Great idea!

It is evident that many families are suffering emotionally and financially at the hands of Heritage but, for obvious reasons, people want to remain anonymous on this site. Perhaps you would be willing to share which province you are from, so that we can demonstrate to the Securities Commission, the reach of Heritage's bad behaviour? To put it mildly!

CBC News : Canada - Group RESPs: Reading the Fine Print

Here is a link to an older ('10) but informative CBC News article on Group RESPs. It is quite thorough in it's approach to navigating the Pros and Cons of this sort of savings plan. Well worth the read if you are looking for an RESP.

Scarey Business Practices

A lot of scarey stories regarding the business practices of Heritage Education Funds have been posted on this site. We now have a link to a recent CTV Consumer Report, an example of the misconduct/polices of Heritage. CTV Consumer Alert: Family Fights For RESP Money

It has been suggested recently that we take this collection of accounts to the media and/or seek legal council. Does anyone reviewing this blog have any solid advice on how to proceed? Let's see if we can't put our heads together?!

Heritage Education Funds Inc is not BBB Accredited.

I've added a new link to the Better Business Bureau (BBB). There are recent complaints against Heritage.
Better Business Bureau

Financial Adviser Feature

Recently I've wondered if you, the investor, would appreciate having a financial adviser or two (independent of each other and definitely not affiliated with Heritage) available to answer RESP questions and to provide guidance whenever possible.

If you'd like the help of someone like this please let me know.

Should you pull your money out?

This weekend there were new postings on the Red Flag Deal's thread, "What's Wrong With Heritage Education Funds?", that deal further with the loss of thousands of dollars upon maturation of a fund, and also, with pulling your money out of the fund company early. People are taking a loss upfront to avoid major losses down the road. It crossed my mind to close our account as we'd already lost thousands but, if we'd taken our money out we'd have lost even more.

Currently, we are paying a minimal amount per month to mitigate risk with Heritage. But... did we do right thing? I wonder now if we should have cut all ties with them when we were going through the investigation? For us, we were fighting to get our money back from them. That didn't really work out. Thoughts like this can keep a person up all night!

What do you think? Do you risk staying the course and hope it works out? Or cut your losses and loose money?

What's wrong with Heritage Funds(RESP)?

There are a lot of people who have been taken advantage of by Heritage Education Funds. Here is a link to another thread: Whats Wrong With Heritage Funds Resp?  I recommend you have a read.

It's important for you to post your questions, thoughts and your concerns on our blog too. We need to inform and educate our fellow investors. I will keep searching the Net for threads such as these in order to help "the cause".

Staying Informed & Making The Right Choice for You!

I'd like to point out a new link we've added to the site called, Choosing the Right RESP from the Government of Canada website: It illustrates the differences between RESP plans. Take a moment to explore the site it's very helpful! :)

The Gall!

A side story:
Just around the time the investigation with Heritage & OBSI was coming to a close, we discovered we are expecting baby #2. Do you know that despite my obvious disdain for the company they asked me if I would like to open a new account! The gall! There truly is no end to their ruthlessness. They offered me discounts and various saving options. Needless to say I declined.

Cautionary Tales for New Parents/Investors

I'm thrilled to see that there has been quite a lot of dialogue surrounding this subject matter. It's important to keep up the chatter so new parents realize that they have options for RESPs beyond the aggressive sales tactics of Heritage Education Funds. I applaud you all for sharing your feedback!

While most of you seem to have unfortunately seen the light, I see there are people in support of Heritage Education Funds. Some who have very specific accounting type info... I'm not at all suggesting you are an employee of the company ;)... and others who seem to have gotten lucky or rather, their luck has not yet run out. Give it time... there is always a wrinkle.

Since my original post, I've been through an investigation involving said company for which OBSI, an Ombudsman, was required (supported by Heritage Education Funds). It took well over a year to go through the whole process! I wrote countless emails, letters of complaint, forms had to be filled out and telephone conversations had to be written out and emailed/faxed to all involved parties.

In the end, we lost thousands of dollars and I still have to contribute monthly until my child goes to school. Otherwise, I would have lost even more or all of my contributions if I'd chosen to let my account go dormant. All over a clerical error made on the part of a Heritage employee! What a nightmare. I'm holding my breath until the day comes when we need to withdraw the money. I'm quite certain that will not go smoothly. Sounds all doom and gloom but given their track record...

A word of unsolicited advice... not matter who you are dealing with... PLEASE KEEP RECORDS OF ALL YOUR CONVERSATIONS IN PERSON, EMAIL & TELEPHONE FROM THE BEGINNING OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS. It could save you and your family a lot of grief in future dealings should anything go wrong.