Hello. I am starting this blog so that others will not be scammed by this company as I was, as well as others in my franchise company. I was referred to Direct Connect Ventures, or DCV, out of Thousand Oaks, CA in October of 2012 when I bought into a franchise. I first spoke with Naomi Pennino, who took all of my and my partners financial statements to gather what should have been an accurate representation of what amount of a loan they would get us. Well, Reg Byrd, the President, called me after reviewing all of the information and, of course over the phone (big warning sign looking back!) personally guaranteed me he could and would get a loan for 125,000 which is what I required for our business venture. Well week after week for nearly a year I got phone calls about how they could not find a lender who could do a loan, until finally Vic Kosor, the banking officer, calls and says they found a lender who could only do "up to 100,000 max". This was the best they could do however it was not enough to accomplish our goals and was not the guaranteed amount that was discussed when they got their $5,500 fee, or I would have never paid the fee to begin with. When this option was turned down ( because undercapitalization is the biggest reason for financial failure for a new business) I was informed by Reg Byrd that their job was done, and that as long as they got me a loan ( be it $5,000 or the guaranteed 125,000) they nonetheless got "a" loan and had done what they said they would do. This by the way is how they maintain their claimed 100% success rate. Reg Byrd stated he will not refund the $5,500 fee he took from me when he guaranteed the 125,000 and stands by the fact that as long as he got me "a" loan his job was done.... this is unacceptable and disgusting that someone could scam people out of money in this fashion. I hope everyone who reads this will heed my warning and STAY AWAY FROM DIRECT CONNECT VENTURES AND REG BYRD!!!!!!!