With student loans and debt piling up, Fatima Contes accepted an offer from a telemarketer in desperation.

"They said that they worked for VISA and Mastercard and that they were calling me to help me lower my interest rates," said Contes.

Skeptical at first, the full-time student says she finally agreed to the service because the company, Dynamic Financial, offered a full refund of their $995 fee if they could not save her at least $2,000 by September.

But soon after Contes paid the almost $1,000 fee up front, she realized she made a mistake.

"This guy's not doing anything that I can't do and he doesn't seem to be applying any special leverage," she recalled.

After much back and forth with Dynamic Financial and no savings to show for it, Contes decided to call her credit card companies on her own and get her rates lowered – after which she requested a refund from Dynamic Financial.

"I said, 'Can I get a refund because what you're offering to do for me is something I've done before?' He says, 'well you took our idea and went ahead and implemented it,'" said Contes.

Initially Contes says customer service agreed to give her a partial refund with proof that she no longer needed the service. She sent the proof, but was then told she was not eligible for a refund because she interfered with the agent's work.

"This really just really added to my stress," she said. "I mean one of the reasons I decided to go with the program is because I'm already financially strapped."

NY1 called Dynamic Financial and they refused to speak with the station about Contes' case or their business practices, saying only that they would deal directly with Contes. However, she's not holding her breath, since she cannot even get the company to return her calls.

To steer clear of telemarketers and situations like these, sign up on The Do Not Call Registry by logging onto DoNotCall.gov.

If you'd like "NY1 For You" to look into a problem, call our 24-hour helpline at 212-379-3599 or send an email to ny1foryou@ny1.com.