Merchant Account Fraud Alert!

Gwen, I am also sorry to hear about your experience with credit card processing. There may be an out for you. I work in the credit card processing world by day and may be able to help. First of all most processors will want to sell you equipment, even though you probably don't and didn't need it. There are some changes that are happening with the laws as they apply to credit cards, that in the future will require you to upgrade, but most merchants still have time with existing equipment. New acceptors for credit cards "do" have to buy equipment that meets the higher standards(so you need to be careful with refurbished equipment). In your contracts there will typically be an out for you. Most often something to the effect of "cancellation of his contract will result in a $250.00 fee". I have seen higher and I have seen lower but there is always some sort of an out. In your situation a buy out is the best if the fee is the industry standard. What you must do though is send your intent to cancel in writing by either fax or mail. I prefer fax because you get an automatic confirmation that the fax has been received. At that time you will be notified that the cancellation fee has or will be deducted from your account.
For the future, when a merchant processor wants an opportunity to process your account, you should insist on a side by side comparison that details your entire statement with all of the extra charges and what their charges are in the exact same situation. Then if they are not disclosing all the facts you have a way out due to miss-representation by the sales person.

It is also not uncommon for many of the credit card processing companies to be unavailable to you once they have your signature. Be sure to question their customer support policies. The company I work for not only has a 24 hour 7 day a week help line, but has local account management. I know that when I set my customer up they have full access to the help line, their account manager and myself. If anyone needs me to review a proposal that they have received from any company I will be happy to let you know if it is worth while.
Nancy

furniture store and I own my machine already. For anyone else out there looking for credit card info, ask about a refurbished machine you can get them now for around $100. I deal locally for my credit card processing. My discover card fee is like $5 per month and I think 1.63 discount. My discount for MC/Visa is like 2%. Gwen I hope you can get things worked out. Sorry about your misfortune.

Jen

Dear Gwen,

This must have been what you were telling me about before. WOW! Thank you for letting us know. I just recently opened my retail store and will be very happy to have that information. I only pray that they catch this person before they get someone else hooked.
I will be so excited to work with you. I think you have so much to offer us and are truly a blessing.
Sincerely,
Carol & Dan
The Fort Village Chandler's
beth's soy candle co. LLC
bethssoy@ticon.net
Fort Atkinson, WI
920.568.9770

Gwen,

Merchant accounts are fertile territory for the scammers. Same with long-distance telephone services. The worst thing is that these people prey on individuals and small businesses. We're the ones too often with paper-thin bottom-lines, so we make good targets.

As the Guild matures, this is certainly one of the areas where supplier and service provider recommendations will be a valuable benefit of membership. Certainly that is no consolation to you in your current situation, but this 'life lesson' will sure make you a motivated member to help us when we try to organize around setting up such supplier and service provider certifications and recommendations.

Still, I am sorry to hear about your loss. It was a pleasure meeting you at the Congress and I look forward to working with you on the Table of Twelve.

Thanks for reminding us of the sharks in the water,
--Sohodojo Jim--