How to get a refund from 21st Century Health Care Consultants

We are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. It is what a careful person would do in the first two weeks after discovering that a consultant they paid $8,000 to $21,000 has gone dark. Where a deadline or rule depends on your card network, bank, or state, we say so, and you should confirm it with them. If you are still working out whether the company is actually closed, read what happened to 21st Century Health Care Consultants first.

First, assemble the file

Every route below asks for the same things. Build the folder once.

• The signed contract or statement of work, with the deliverables list and dates.
• Every invoice and receipt, and the payment method for each one. A package paid partly by card and partly by wire is two different cases.
• Bank or card statements showing the charges.
• All email and text correspondence, especially anything promising a date, and the last message you received.
• Anything they delivered, however partial. A half-finished policy manual is evidence of both what was done and what was not.
• Dated screenshots of the dead websites, the disconnected phone recording if you can, and the BBB complaints page.

Route 1: card chargeback (the one most likely to pay)

If any payment went on a credit or debit card, this is your best route, and it is time-limited. Card networks let you dispute a charge for services not received. Call the number on the back of the card, say you are disputing a charge for services that were paid for and never provided because the merchant has ceased operations, and send the file.

Two things about timing, which you should confirm with your issuer:

• Dispute windows for services not received generally run from the date the service was supposed to be delivered, not from the payment date, and are commonly around 120 days from that point, with an outer limit measured from the original charge. A package paid in January 2026 for a license "in about 90 days" may still be inside the window in September. Do not assume it is not.
• Issuers decide case by case. A closed merchant, disconnected phones, and a public record of unanswered complaints are exactly the evidence that wins these. Include the BBB page.

Route 2: bank transfer, ACH, or wire

• ACH or online bank payment: consumer accounts generally have a window to dispute unauthorised transfers, but an authorised payment for services never delivered is weaker ground. Call the bank anyway and ask what recall or dispute options exist; some banks will attempt a recall on a closed merchant account.
• Wire transfer: honest answer, wires are rarely recoverable once received. Ask the bank to attempt a recall and document that you asked.
• Financing or a business loan used to pay: you still owe the lender. Tell the lender what happened in writing; some will pause or restructure, none will cancel.

Route 3: complaints that build the record

None of these will send you a check. All of them create a dated, official record that a card issuer, a court, or a bankruptcy trustee will weigh, and each one makes the next client's case stronger.

1. BBB. File a complaint against the Sarasota profile. It will likely go unanswered, which is itself part of the record, as the 18 unanswered complaints already show.
2. Florida consumer complaint. The company is a Florida business. Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services runs the state consumer complaint line (1-800-HELP-FLA) and an online complaint form, and the Florida Attorney General's office accepts consumer complaints as well. File both.
3. Your own state's attorney general. You were harmed in your state. Consumer protection offices track out-of-state businesses affecting their residents, and multi-state patterns get attention that single complaints do not.
4. Your state licensing agency. Not a complaint, a status check. Ask what has been filed under your entity name. If nothing was, that fact belongs in every dispute above.

Route 4: bankruptcy, small claims, and lawsuits

• Bankruptcy. As of September 10, 2026 we found no filing. If one opens, you file a proof of claim with the trustee; unsecured clients are usually paid last and partially, if at all. Check federal court records periodically or set a search alert on the company name.
• Small claims. Florida county court small claims cover disputes up to $8,000. You can win a judgment against a company that no longer answers. Collecting on it is the problem. Treat this as a last step, not a first one.
• Group action. Multiple clients with the same contract and the same failure are the shape of a group claim. If a Florida consumer attorney takes one on, joining costs you the file you already built. We are not aware of one yet.

Then, the part that actually gets you open

Recovering money is worth pursuing. It is also, in most cases, going to return a fraction of what was paid, months from now. The larger loss is the agency that never opened. That part is fixable, and it does not need the consultant.

What you need is an honest list: what was delivered, what is missing, what the state has on file, and what comes next. We do that for former 21st Century clients for free, in writing, within two business days, and anything you still need is priced per milestone with a 25% Restart credit and nothing upfront. The list is yours whoever you hire.