Our Reviews and Ratings of DD214 Acquisition Companies ...
Review
If you can afford to wait for your DD214, use the direct source provided by the NPRC that we describe in detail on the previous page. If you require your DD214 in a day, or within a week, use a private research company. We've identified two on the previous page that specialize in this service.
However, there are about half-a-dozen companies that regularly advertise on the Net, on the major search engines, and are listed in related DD214 searches. Each site should be read very carefully to determine precisely the service that they offer, and the value you'll get for your hard earned dollar. Here they are (in alphabetical order) ...
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DD214.com
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This web address merely forwards you to another web address, valoans.com. While the company provides you with an SF180 AFTER THEY COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION, their intent is to provide you with their loan services and collect prospect information. They state, "VALoans.com is a private company and is not part of The National Personnel Records Center. When you submit this request form, we will send a blank form SF-180 to you by mail." Geesh, you can get that right now for free - and without filing out a form - on our previous page. |
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DD214.org
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No street address, no phone number, and a WHOIS query that produces an anonymous owner for the domain. We wouldn't deal with anyone we couldn't, if needed, call or visit. Apparently, they provide you with an SF180 and fax it to the NPRC on your behalf. You can do that easily yourself and for free (see our previous page). Furthermore, their "red flag" is a red flag. They state: "No PayPal Fees. Other services use a third-party credit card processing service. They do not have their own merchant account. This is a red flag." PayPal is the most widely respected payment processing company on the Net, and they are owned by Ebay. PayPal actually provides an additional level of protection: you don't give your credit card to each merchant, particularly "unknown" merchants. And, "There are several websites that prey off veterans looking for their DD214. We are helping to prevent that from happening." "Scare tactics" always turn us off. Be a well-informed consumer! |
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ezDD214.com
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ezDD214.com (Click HERE), a private company, puts a new electronic spin on the processing of your SF 180. Not all records are at NPRC, and if you use the Government's standard submission procedure, above, you may simply receive a letter from the NPRC indicating that they've forwarded your request to some other records facility. This will add at least days to the process, if not weeks or longer. For just $10, ezDD214.com guarantees to submit your SF 180 to the correct facility the first time. And, better yet, with their patent pending eSign service, if you don't have a printer or fax, no printer or fax is required. There's nothing to printout, mail or fax to anyone anywhere. Their entire submission process is conducted purely electronically, entirely and completely Net based. |
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expresscitations.com
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This company sells "Authentic Military Replacement Certificates," and provides only a link to the NPRC website (the same link that we provide on the previous page). |
military.gov-record.org
(This company apparently is no longer in business.) Despite their loosly phrased "With Government-Records You can Find any record you are looking for by doing a Military Record Search," DD214s are NOT available on-line. Their statement is misleading at least in regard to DD214s. Don't waste your money if that's the document that you require.
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militaryrecordsfast.com is a domain that points to right-to-know.net/ military.html.
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They state "For only $99.50, Right-To-Know will perform a one-on-one telephone consultation with you to focus our background search and find your files. In some circumstances an additional agency search determined by you may be necessary with the original request at a charge of $49.50. Usually a single agency background search is all that will be needed."
NOTE: Despite the fact that this company's BBB Membership had been revoked in October, 2009, for failures to comply to BBB Membership standards, as of today (March 29, 2010) they continue to misrepresent their membership status. They are now rated an "F" for scores of complaints. See: http://www.bbb.org/dallas/business-reviews/searchers-of-records/right-to-know-in-dallas-tx-90003982#revoked. They will assist you in filling out the SF180 and determine where your DD214 may be located, but they don't actually secure your DD214 for you. If you can read the SF180, it has all the necessary directions you'll need to do this for free. For the same price, you could use Touchstone or Lyon to get you your DD214 in person (see previous page). |
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orderdd214.com
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(This company apparently is no longer in business.) charges a $25 "service fee." Their business model is similar to dd214.org, above. They clearly state: "We are unable to control process time as it is done by others. We send your application by Federal Express to the archives for processing. A complete application with all information will help expedite the process. Times vary between several weeks to several months to receive your document. There is no way for us to determine a specific process time." In other words, you complete the SF180, fax it to them and they FedEx it to the NPRC for processing. Again, you can do that yourself for free (well, you'd have to pay FedEx their standard fee) as we describe on the previous page. |
True Research Companies
Touchstone and Lyon have researchers at the facilities and will retrieve your records GUARANTEED within a week. (See previous page.)
Conclusion
If you're not in a rush, follow the instructions on the previous page to acquire your DD214 for free. If you need it within a week, use a private research company (also described on the previous page) that has researchers at the facilities where your DD214 may be located and who physically retrieve and ship your records to you.