Rafael Garganta was amazing to work with! He really helped me improve my rating and was by my side throughout the entire process. He was always available to answer any questions I had and made everything feel clear and manageable. He's knowledgeable, professional, and genuinely friendly. I truly felt supported every step of the way. I would definitely recommend working with him! read more

Started strong, ended in total failure -- avoid if you value communication or results I'm a veteran with a severe back injury that the VA originally rated at only 20%. I signed up with Veteran's Benefits Guide (VBG) hoping to get the fair rating I deserved. At first, things went great -- the intake was smooth, my case manager had a clear plan, and within a few months, VBG helped me get an increase to 50%. The plan was to file another claim afterward since my other injuries were directly connected to the back injury. That was almost two years ago, and everything since then has been a nightmare. I went through the intake process again, but never heard from anyone. After calling multiple times, I was told to "just wait" because they were overloaded. Months later, I discovered the VA had a new claim filed for me -- listing every body part imaginable and no supporting documents. When I finally reached someone at VBG, they admitted I'd never been assigned a case manager and that my records were missing. They blamed it on switching to a new system that "must have automatically filed" the claim and promised to call me back. They never did. I called again a month later, warning them my Intent to File was about to expire, which meant I'd lose a full year of back pay if they didn't act. They claimed they still hadn't received my records -- even though I'd already sent them twice. I sent them again, called again, and was told they finally had them. Still, nothing happened. My Intent to File expired, and I lost 12 months of back pay because of their negligence. When I called again, they said my case manager had been on an "extremely long vacation" but would be back soon. He never called. Over the next six months, I called every few weeks -- most calls went unanswered, and when they did answer, I was given one excuse after another. No updates, no progress, no accountability. At that point, I stuck around only because I had a baby on the way and didn't want to start from scratch with another company. Looking back, I should have switched to Veteran Compensation Services -- they actually answer calls, follow up, and text you updates. If you're considering Veteran's Benefits Guide, save yourself the stress. They will ghost you, ignore your deadlines, never call back, and cost you real money. VBG started strong, but once they got my first increase, they completely dropped the ball. Absolutely unprofessional and unreliable. read more

I should have read the reviews. Warning, they will make it seam that they will only recover from your back pay, but beware, they missed my deadline and restarted the clock. No retroactive pay and a hefty bill for over 6000.00 dollars. Its exactly as they say. I regret my decision and if I could do it again, I would have been more diligent and not just take a referral from a friend. My mistake does not have to be yours. read more

A fellow retiree mentioned this service after fighting the VA for years. Well I myself have been frustrated with the claims and how the VA would up my percentage but not compensation So after 15 years of this with the VA I was awarded the 100 % P&T with using the VBG. The entire process was attention to detail. We went over the documents multiple times so they were exactly perfect. The problem I have with them was the price quote was not the price on the invoice. It was $3K more. Also the entire bill is based off your rating that you would receive from the VA according to what they provided during the process. I was already at 90% from the time I retired until the increase in July 24 for the VA decision letter I was told via email that the increased rating was more than expected and since it was P&T and that they never know the exact price for the entire process. I would say if a business gives a price quote before the process is completed. Than that quote should be honored!!!! So their process is to tell you a number for the Veteran to prepare to pay and when it's over they add more to the cost without your knowledge, you don't know the entire amount until the VA decision letter goes to the billing department. The person you were working with to complete the process doesn't know the full price. How is it that the same person is not aware of this when they gave you the initial quote from the beginning. So the bill is almost double the back pay that I did not receive yet. I brought to the person I was working with but the focus was on the monthly amount that I would be receiving over my life time. Now that I have contacted them for full payment restitution I find out they have a 30 day payment plan which consists of paying the entire bill at one with in the 30 days. If you don't pay with in that time the discount received will be revoked. Also you can set up a payment plan of 3 months however anything over 3 months will accrue financing charges. Payment plans have to be set up via automatic draTo sum it up in the bottom line terms. If you are going to use this service be prepared to pay a hefty amount of money if your rating is increased. In my case out the door was $7301. My plan is to pay them in full. All veterans I truly understand nothing is free. What I'm saying here is if you use this service it may or may not work for you monetarily for the fees that you will have to pay. Who knows if the VA compensation could hit before the bill is due. In my case it wasn't the case the claim was received in June 24 and I got the decision in July 24. read more

Veteran Benefits Guide - This is what the focus is on for payment - Veterans Organizations Near Me - Chula Vista, California

Very disappointed in my service from VBG. It was my initial time filing and I will not be recommending them to any of my fellow Vets. As it was my initial time filing, they asked me to fill out the VA forms myself and copy and pasted all my own work into my VA file and all they did was mail in the forms for me. I had to scrub my own record, everything they did for me I could have done easily myself. I hired them with the intent that they would aid in filling out the forms, add additional knowledge and insight, but all they did was copy and paste what I had written for them. And when it came to my C&P exams. They didn't tell me anything I couldn't google online, and my point of contact stated he could only help me in increments of 15 minute appointment calls. Once my C&P exams were done. All communication went dark, and the only communication/check in I had was when they asked for payment. I signed contract, therefore, I honored my side and paid them. But it was a huge regret of mine. I will be telling all my friends and family to stay far away! read more

I never got really started once I learned how much they were going to charge me, which is twice as much as I was quoted by other " accredited " organizations and lawyers , which they are not. They wanted to charge me 5x the difference of what I am currently getting and a 100% rating , which came out to 10k I would owe them. just read their reviews and look around before you hire them because no one should be charging Vets those kind of prices. There's a reason why they aren't accredited . read more

There was no communication at all unless my husband makes the call for any update on his case continually. He even made the call when his rating went up another 10% because they did not even know. And based on the details reason for the rating was due to my husband's xray & his VA doctor's evaluation that he had executed himself due to his health issue at that time. This company DID NOT do anything but send out the application on time. The rating changed due to my husband's efforts, not VBG. Their "doctor" did not even do a thorough examination & did not care to look at the xray my husband had done at the VA hospital. Once my husband noticed the rate change, he made the call & MELISSA SANDOVAL (his rep) checked and that was the last call. She never called back to inform him what the next step is; instead, we recieved a bill for $1,500. They claimed they can bring the rate up but my husband did the work and all they did was send paperwork in. There was no communication from Melissa unless my husband calls her first. No paperwork, no phonecalls, but emails. If you need full communication, VBG is NOT the place to get help. We just paid their fee to push the application in, expensive application. Avoid this place at all cost! This place does not deserve a star at all but needed to submit this survey.. read more

VBG is a great service. I was going back and forth with the VA and local VSO for almost 2 years trying to get my rating increased with zero success and zero help. A coworker recommended VBG and it has been the best decision I've made since retirement. Mr. Rafael G. , my case worker really took care of me during this process. If you're not getting the help you need from the VA or a VSO, give VBG a call, they take care of veterans!!! VBG I salute you! read more

Rafael Garganta was the best in this whole process. Thank you for your support. Would have never made it to the desired rating without your help. read more

Overall: DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! You're continuously floated off to another person throughout the process. These people don't communicate with eachother or management. The person you're physically dealing with usually has no clue of how the process works. And they will ultimately botch your claim and waste a year of your time and cause you to lose alot of money in back pay you would have been entitled too. They are incompetent and don't care about your rightfully deserved benefits. Details: Issue number 1: when I first emailed VBG, I was continuously shifted off to another person with each step of the process before even talking about possible claims. With each person I was shifted off too, the new person had no clue of the information that was disclosed to the previous and I would have to repeat myself multiple times. When I finally got to a "handler" as they call them (the people who handle your claims) she was nice enough and seemed caring. I submitted everything I wanted to claim along with the evidence and explanations. At that point I was told i could do nothing further until they received my medical records using the process they sent me. It was May 24 I sent the request for my military medical records. Contact went silent until January 2025 when I emailed my handler asking for advice on what to do since I didn't get anything yet. I received an automatic email back saying she put in her 2 weeks notice in October (3 months prior) and absolutely no one from the company contacted me to let me know or gave me a new handler. It took about 2 weeks of constantly calling and emailing them until I was finally contacted by a new handler right before my intent to file was set to expire! Issue number 2: the company clearly had no clue about how the process for service treatment records work because the va received my request using the method and forms vbg sent me but when I called them and the places that store those records, there was absolutely no record of any request at all. And the response I got from the new handler about my concerns of the approaching deadline for the intent to file was "well there's nothing we could do until we have those records" even though I repeatedly told them there was nothing in those records to begin with. It was on me to find me records and have them submitted in a short period of time which turned out I could call the militaries record office and have them sent to me in about a week but why didn't this company know that?! And why didn't they put in some effort to help me figure that out? Issue number 3: when I first talked to the initial handler, I brought it to her that I had some issues I wanted to claim that were originally denied because of a missed appointment. She brought it to her bosses and they said they could work it to try those claims again. Now comes the second handler and all of a sudden they wouldn't touch those previous claims that the previous handler said they could work with me on. So those original issues were never in the claim and some random issues that were hard to prove in my opinion and had less evidence were in the claim. Results: I got my results today and all seven of the issues I tried to claim have been denied. I've wasted over a year working with this company and their complete incompetence, all to come out of the other end with absolutely nothing to show for it. Towards the end of the process, I started to feel like this organization was essentially a cash grab from veterans trying to take on as many as possible and try to get them to claim the easiest stuff possible to make as much money as possible. I work with a lot of guys who have used this organization and some have had good results but most have seemed to have bad experiences which has lead me to the conclusion that they don't care about you or helping you and maximizing your benefits. They only care about the easy work and making sure they have enough veterans to make the money off. read more

Waste of my time. If you don't have solid paperwork they are helpless. I told the intake specialist from day one I don't have solid records. He still proceeded to take my information and then towards the end when I told him again, I don't have solid records, he says "well then we cannot connect your disability to service and we are sorry we can't help." read more

Fellow Veterans, do not use this company. I have used other companies in the past and VBG is by far the worst. Their lack of communication and ability to do their task without my prompt was extremely frustrating and disappointing. I had to reach out several times via email and phone calls to try and get them to file the initial claim to no avail. Please avoid the frustration and disappointment. read more

VBG helped me get from 0% to 40% and then from 40% to 100% permanent & total. I want to thank my first and second case managers, Amairani Rivera and Rafael Garganta. They were both very patient and courteous. Great customer service from both of them! I think the money is well spent and totally worth it. VBG provides better service and is better than free organizations such as DAV. Getting my VA payment is a life-changing event that will benefit me for life. read more

Thank you Rafael Garganta and the whole VBG. 45 days start to finish. 90 to 100%. I couldn't have done it without you. My family and I appreciate it. read more

Theresa provided exceptional assistance throughout my VA process. Her prompt responses, informative guidance, and great customer service made the experience smooth and enjoyable. Highly recommended! read more

My case worker at Veteran Benefits Guide was Erycka Walker. I am extremely lucky and grateful that she was assigned to my case. She went beyond the call of duty by assisting me file my claims on line due to my deficits of computer and technological abilities and understanding due to my injuries. She was absolutely patient, understanding and effective, reinforcing my hope that her coworkers take a page out of her book and acquire at least take a look at her work ethic. Thank you Erycka and VBG. read more

Ya know it started out well for the first few weeks, they made me really believe they were getting something done. But after about 6-8 weeks they basically ghosted me! They made me jump through all kinds of hoops, fill out all kinds of forms and haven't heard a peep from them. I've messaged my case manager many times with no response. I've contacted the original guy I talked to from VBG and hasn't responded either. And I even contacted the direct VBG number to get answers and haven't heard crap. Going to go with DAV instead, I would recommend that as I'm learning they don't charge fees like these guys and have a very good reputation for increasing rates. FOR FREE! read more

I heard about Veterans Benefit Guide from one of my coworkers, he set me up with Erycka Walker, she called me and we talked about my service, she sent me a lot of papers to fill out and arranged an exam with one of their doctors. After about 4 months my disability was increased, if any veterans are having a hard time with the VA I recommend going through this service. read more

I am no longer a fan. They were great in the beginning. Then you move from an intake person to the case manager and that is where they fail. They filed an initial claim by throwing crap against the wall to see what sticks. The support is not there after you sign the payment contract. I have not heard from my case manager in nearly a month. I tried contacting them directly thru there web site last week and nothing herd. They promise support but I have seen none from the case manager or this company. I just want a new case manager. The reason I need my support is I have received two letters from the VA so far. The first was stating that my claim was filed incorrectly. The second was asking for proof of my Agent Orange exposure. I sent this all to them and it appears that was not done as well. I am just looking for the support they promised me. read more

If you are a Veteran that feels overwhelmed about filing a compensation claim with the VA, and you're not interested (or you've had bad luck) in getting help from other Veteran assistance groups like American Legion, VFW, etc., then contacting Veterans Benefit Guide (VBG) could be a reasonable option. You will still have to do the leg work to assemble the necessary medical records and others forms, but VBG will analyze what you compile and will competently type up the application for submission to the VA. Do not always expect prompt telephone or email responses to your questions; you will have to be persistent in reaching a person/case manager for updates, but that may just be the nature of this beast. If you're patient, and willing to pay VBG a percentage based fee for any success you may have in gaining a service connection rating (10% or higher), then pursuing the assistance of VBG could be a good choice you. read more

Dealing with them a year with no prevail ive had multiple case workers who didn't help and promised things that didn't come true an communication terrible wouldn't recommend read more

being in the process since September process has been a nightmare I have emailed my case worker no response I have emailed the team leader no response they say the doctor needs to sign a paper but it's been going on since November read more

Talk to Brandy and Broderick. They took all my personal information. Then claim they can't help me . I explained my situation being associated with another Veterans organization. She said she could help with issues that weren't already addressed with other organization. The Broderick the intake guy calls and Says they can't help me. Left 2 messages for Brandy, she never returned my call. After calling and speaking to another representative at Veterans Benefits Guide she finally calls with a different story than we originally talked about. Take your chances with them if you want. The Las Vegas staff seem to be not seasoned professionals IMO. read more

These people are scumbags that exploit veterans. They have the veteran obtain their medical records for them, they push some papers through, then the rest is up to the veteran to go to his appointment for examination. if successful, they'll extort thousands of dollars depending on percentage granted. if you do not pay the unreasonably high fee, the will call you nonstop, sell your information, and sell your account to debt collectors. read more

Melissa was amazing from start to finish. Being a retired military veteran I am always a skeptic. This place is legit!! I wished I had done it earlier. I went from 70-100%. They walked me through the process, kept in contact with me throughout the process 4-5 months. Thank you for everything you did for me and my family. I will continue to recommend your services to any and all people I come across with less than 100% disability rating. -Thank you again ---Adam read more

This business came recommended by another veteran... and I have to say. They do the bare minimum. 3 years later they keep harassing me if the VA made a decision... lol. Per 2 years ago, yes. It remained the same. I got myself up to 80 percent, and it stayed. They did absolutely nothing aside from submit my claim, which in reality I could have done. Another branch of this company contacted me, stating they could assist, from Vegas. I never heard from them again. Find someone else. I understand, veterans work there, but I would find someone else to work with. They simply want your money.... Or maybe they are overworked? Either way, combat veteran here, 3 tours. Messed up ankles, knees, back, ptsd,depression,survivor guilt... they increased my va percentage by 0. But yet, they keep harassing me. read more

Thank you VBG for helping us veterans with our VA claims! I have submitted claims on my own without assistance from anyone and always received negative results (zero increase). I have used VBG twice and both times had increases. Rafael G. was my case manager. He is awesome! He guided me through every step of the process. I reached out to VBG in November 2023, submitted the claim in December and received the results I have been longing for in February 2024. It took me thirty years to get my 100%! I owe it all to Rafael and VBG. read more

Rafael Garganta was able to assist in upgrading my disability rating from 50% to 60%.

Do not use this company by any means. Save yourself the time and the headache. Before signing the contract, I received a handful of calls with "some" helpful information but after receiving my signature, I received 1 phone call in 3 months. When I try to contact the office no actual assistance is given, only empty promises or directives. They dont return emails, voicemails, or calls. Veterans- DO NOT- use this company. read more

They rushed the customer to fill our paperwork but then they let my intent to file expire but lied and said their was a "placeholder". Took two months for company to admit they just let it expire and tried saying it was a "miscommunication ". They lied that's not a miscommunication. They also said backpay from VA is not guaranteed-true unless you had an intent to file. They also sent me to a bogus apt 7 hours from home only to find out the office was closed. I was told the managers or supervisors were too busy to talk to me. I don't recommend them. Go somewhere else that values you as a veteran. read more

This company is a rip off. Don't use a for profit company to file for VA benefits. They Va will do it for free. VBG never told me to get a Nexus, DBQ, buddy statement, nothing. They literally take 3/4's of your back pay for what the VA will do for free in 10 minutes. Don't get scammed read more

Nothing but praise for the VBG team especially my caseworker Erycka Walker. They got me the rating for my issues.

My Navy retired friend referred me to Veterans Benefits Guide. And I was assigned to work with my Case Manager, Ms Erycka. She did an outstanding job in getting me through the maze and came out with a 100% VA disability rating up from 60%. The VBG team did an excellent job in getting this increase. Thank you again Ms Erycka. read more

They did help me with one claim but never called me back on other matters. Was a bit disappointed with that part of their service.

Can't give zero stars. VBG sent me an email from their Docusign with all of my PII (SSN, Address, DOB, DL#) attached in an unencrypted email. Their Administrative assistant that had a sick child screaming in my ear assured me that their company takes every measure to protect information - not the case. We'll see how they handle this but so far I'm unimpressed and would advise you to seek assistance elsewhere. Irresponsible company. read more

Be very careful when signing the contract with them. They leave a very open ended contract that can be interpreted in their favor. They will try to strong arm you into terms that are only to their benefit. The amount of money that they require for their services has gone up a lot and they do not have good record keeping. Tried charging me more than what I agreed to until I provided the original contract. Now that it's time to pay them they are creating terms that were not specifically listed. I'm not even sure if this is legal. I will be reporting them to the VA. read more

I recently completed a lengthly process including consultation, document preparation, superb case management and now awaiting VA notification. The professionals at Veteran Benefits Guide, always provided clear instructions and they were steadfast in keeping me advised as we moved forward. My case manager ensured that the administrative work was complete and accurate. During our conversations, he always inquired about my well being which left me with the impression that these guys really care about veterans. His case management skills and genuine concern for veterans gave me a comfort level that I did not experience with other veterans organizations. I highly recommend Veteran Benefits Guide - they are welcome in my fox hole anytime! read more

Though it is expensive to use Veteran Benefits Guide. You are guided through the whole process and handed the pricing list when you go into it. The way I thought about the fee was as a investment. I was investing money in myself to make sure that I had the percentage I deserved without having to go through the hassle of doing it myself, or using a VBO who would never return my calls. I think that this company shouldn't be necessary but unfortunately the VA's disability system is rigged against us. read more

veterans benefits guide worked diligently to help me. They did all the paperwork, scheduled all the appointments and got my disability rating raised. Very thorough. Really appreciate all their help read more

They were professional and so so proficient. I would recommend them to any Veteran. I was so pleased with my service. They can take care of you no matter were you live. read more