First American Payment Systems Complaint
FIRST AMERICAN PAYMENT SYSTEMS RUINED MY CREDIT! - Credit Card merchant processing
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Reviewed by zamalek Complaint |
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I then discovered that First American had charged my business account about $150.00 for a new system they have with Discover. When I contacted them to protest the charge, they referred me to Discover, who told me that they had sent me a letter advising me of the charge some time in March 2008. I never received this letter, nor would I have ever agreed to this charge, because I knew that my lease was for one year only, and was about to expire. When they refused to refund the money, I decided to close my bank account to keep First American from further unauthorised charges and I closed my merchant account with them. I was told that I had signed a three years contract and that there would be a termination fee. I asked for a copy of the agreement, and they faxed me several ilegible pages which were never given to me by the representative with whom I signed the agreement.
I then got a phone call from First American Systems demanding that I pay them $460.00 ($300.00 for early termination penalty, an additional $100.00 for early termination of wireless service, and $60.00 for the two returned items fee from my bank). When I tried to explain to the Collections Specialist Crystal Whitehill that I thought I had a one year contract, that I could not find anything in the agreement about an additional $100.00 (I did find a statement in the fine print about a $300.00 for early termination), she kept interrupting me and would not give me a chance to explain that I had to close my account because of the unauthorised fee related to Discover. I told her that I would only be willing to pay $300.00. Of course, I would first want a refund for the unauthorised $150.00 Discover fee. She would not let me finish and demanded $460.00 and threatened that if I did not pay, "things would only get worse from now on".
And apparently, they did.. She called me again to settle with me for $330.00. I told her that I would, if she would sent me a letter that I would be paid in full, and look in to the Discover matter. At that point she stated that American Systems had already reported me to the Credit Bureaus. I told her that I could not believe that she offered to settle AFTER they reported me, and that I would not pay anything until they removed the bad credit report; she refused. Things got even worse after that.. Apparently, they ruined my perfect 40 years credit. American Express - which I paid faithfully on time for thirty seven (37) years - wrote me a letter advising me that they were suspending my "flexibility", and that I could no longer use their extented payment option. Another credit card wanted to raise my interest rate; I opted out, however, if I have any new charges on this card, the new rates would apply!
I just received a letter from Ms. Whitehill, stating that " First American Payment Systems will pursue this debt aggressively through third party for appropriate actions", that "all collections cost and Attorney's fees will be added to the balance of your account", and that "this debt has been reported directly to the Credit Bureaus".
I wish I had never heard of First American Payment Systems. This is a ruthless company that hides behind the fine print of their agreements, and that does not even provide it's customers with all the pages of the agreement when they sign up. They will ruin your credit without even trying to listen to you, and after they have messed you up really bad, they have the nerve to ask you to settle for what you had offered in the first place.
PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL BEFORE SIGNING A MERCHANT CREDIT CARD PROCESSING AGREEMENT WITH FIRST AMERICAN PAYMENT SYSTEMS. MY ADVICE IS TO HAVE THE AGREEMENT REVIEWED BY A LAWYER BEFORE SIGING ANYTHING. THEY WILL OFFER YOU LOW DISCOUNT FEES, BUT WILL HIDE EARLY TERMINATION FEES AND OTHER FEES IN THE FINE PRINT, AND THEY COULD DEBIT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT FOR UNRELATED CHARGES WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION; THAT'S TANTAMOUNT TO STEALING, IN MY OPINION.
Apparently, I am not the only one who had a bad experience with FIRST AMERICAN PAYMENTS SYSTEMS. Here is what the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU had to say about them:
"Based on the BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the bureau for failure to correct the underlying reason for complaints. Complaints processed by the BBB in our three-year reporting concern selling practices and customer service issues. Specifically, consumers allege the service was misrepresented and others allege the company continued to debit the complainants bank account after the service was canceled. The company has responded by furnishing a signed copy of the contract. The contract includes a cancellation fee."
Thank you for your time.
Lee
Atlanta, Georgia
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I am experiencing the same thing. They are charging me $698 for early cancellation, that $595 plus interest, so I was told. My lease was over so I decided to close the business down 3 months ago. I asked the manager to call and cancel because the company was charging at least $37 dollars a month which averages between 20%-40% of the money that was coming into the account from TransTech Merchant Group. every month. The manager told that there's a cancellation fee of $595 (not sure the exact number, but it's around there). It was a surprise because there wasn't supposed to be any cancellation fee. My manager told me that the sales man told him that there wasn't going to be any cancellation fee when he signed up (I didn't know he signed up for a new company). The manager said that he'd specifically told the salesperson that the business will most likely close when the lease is over which was approximately 10 months down the road. The salesperson convinced him that there will no cancellation fee just like the old company which was Chase and will save more money than Chase. I told the manager to deal with them.
A month or so later, I received a collection letter from First American Payment Systems for $698.
I called the number on the letter spoke to Ryan Bear (if that was his real name). I asked him to fax me the contract and list down the charges. But refused to "waste" his time doing it because I told him that if the charges are unreasonable I'm not going to promise that I will pay them. I told him that I personally didn't sign the contract the manager must have gotten sucked by his salesman and signed it. Not to mention that the manager has just got out of a month long coma in the hospital and when he communicated with TranTech's salesperson. Ryan's reply to me was than it's fraud and if it's fraud you need to give me back $2000 (something like that) that was credited into the account. If my numbers are correct the total credited into my account was around $2000 and my total charges from First America Payment Systems is around $1000 if not more. So what legitimate credit card service company charges almost 50% of the merchant's sales? After arguing for about 45 minutes or so, I told Ryan that I didn’t call to argue about the same thing over and over. He said he was going to sue me, ruin my spotless credit, and I’d better be willing to go to Texas for court. I didn’t understand why I would be going to Texas when my business wasn’t in the state of Texas. Anyway, I thanked him for talking to me and have a nice day.
Today I checked my mailbox and received another from First American Payment Systems accused me of not answering to their “attempts” to resolve the matter. Which attempt was that I wonder “the send me cashier check next week or I will take you to court!” ?
Those of you that are reading this: Did you get the letter from them with the cc: Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller – Attorneys at Law?
I found this site http://www.protectingtheconsumer.com/contact.php . I think they are attorneys that would take class action if the case is worth while for them. If you guys are interested, lets put a group together. Not sure it would help, but hopefully we helped prevent future victims.
I hope that First American can sleep good at night .
Thanks gain!
Lee
Eliot Management
FIRST ADVANTAGE
MERIMAC CAPITAL
Summit Merchant Solutions
TRANS TECH
TRANSTECH MERCHANT GROUP
If a merchant originally signed up with, let's say for example, Transtech and they have a 3 year contract and an Appstar Sales Rep told that same merchant that he/she could get them better rates. If the original contract with Transtech was in it's 2nd year, then the merchant will have to pay a closing fee. Once the merchant realizes that, he will call to cancel the contract with Appstar - but guess what? Appstar will require a 'closing fee' of about $500 - now mind you, Transtech and Appstar, among others, all process with FAPS - FAPS doesn't care that the merchant has to pay a fee or make any exceptions.
Another problem I found is that their "Research and Development" group is a joke - they put out equipment that really hasn't been tested like it should nor does the Technical that oversees the R & D have the smarts of what is going on with the exception of 1 young lady in that department - Yvette.
Another issue with FAPS is that early in 2008, the company identified approximately 1000 merchants that had been double billed. These merchants could have been refunded on their next bill but instead, Management decided that it would ONLY REFUND the merchant ONLY IF that merchant caught it and called in about the billing problem. If the merchant did not call, then they would not be refunded. The over charges could not have amounted to a few thousand dollars but because of THEIR GREED and uncaring just for the sake of money. I guess this is how Neil Randall, the owner of FAPS is able to build a home in 2007 in an exclusive part of Fort Worth, TX. Ever hear of the originator of Radio Shack - his family live in this exclusive area.
Just thought you might want to be aware.
http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/28257/
Small Business Fights Back as Merchant Credit Card Provider Scam Strikes Again
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Oakland, CA, United States, 01/10/2008 - First American Payment System-Merimac Capital and Affiliates has been accused-yet again-of fraudulent billing, deceit, and not honoring its non-cancelable lease agreements with customers. Small business owner fights back.
Dallas, Texas based merchant equipment provider, First American Payment System-Merimac Capital and Affiliates has been accused-yet again-of fraudulent billing, deceit, and not honoring its non-cancelable lease agreements with customers.
In March of 2006, Body Bar shop owner, Triche Christmon, signed a 48 month non-cancelable lease with First American for a “Way 2 Pay” wireless merchant credit card machine. “From the beginning there were issues” claims Christmon.
Several months into her contract, she says the device wouldn’t power on and the charger stopped working completely. After contacting Merimac Capital’s technical support about her troubles, Christmon says they replaced their charger but her problems with the machine itself still persisted.
“It was like they completely ignored us. We told them about the problems we were having with the machine and we still didn’t receive assistance in repairing or replacing our equipment.” stated Christmon. They began losing revenue and were forced to turn away customers who wanted to use their credit or debit cards to pay for purchases.
“Our business has really suffered. We’re losing money and to make matters worse, they have the nerve to continue to bill us. There are no merchant charges because the equipment doesn’t work, so what are they billing us for?” demands the angry shop owner. “We feel as business consumers that Merimac Capital should provide adequate working equipment. That is what business owners are paying for."
The problems with First American Payment System-Merimac Capital only escalated from there. Body Bar experience double debiting from there Bank of America Business Account, and Crystal Whitehall of Merimac Capital refused to honor the contract by providing Body Bar with replacement equipment unless they continued to pay monthly fees on the lease. When no agreement could be made Crystal Whitehall sent Body Bar to collections for the full amount of lease.
Christmon says that she will take her fight public until the company acknowledges their wrong doing.
According to Christmon, her recent research into the companies past business dealings has turned up less than favorable reviews. She found that in 2005 The Federal Trade Commission settled a lawsuit against First American Payment Processing, Inc. the FTC alleged that the defendants violated the law when they helped fraudulent telemarketers by electronically double debiting consumers bank accounts.
Body Bar has been forced to take further recourse due to Merimac Capital’s failure to perform their obligation under its non-cancelable contract. Body Bar filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau and plans to file in small claims court.
Number of complaints processed by the BBB
in the last 36 months: 225
in the last 12 months: 114
Complaints Concerned:
Selling Practices (58 complaints)
53 Resolved
5 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve
Service Issues (39 complaints)
35 Resolved
4 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve
Customer Service Issues (2 complaints)
2 Resolved
Credit or Billing Disputes (42 complaints)
37 Resolved
5 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve
Delivery Issues (2 complaints)
2 Resolved
Refund Practices (9 complaints)
6 Resolved
3 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve
Product Quality (5 complaints)
5 Resolved
Contract Disputes (65 complaints)
56 Resolved
8 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve
1 The parties could not provide sufficient information to support their positions nor agreeable to make reasonable efforts toward resolving the issue of the dispute
Repair Issues (2 complaints)
1 Resolved
1 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve.
Be very wary of this company and all of thier alternate names which are APPSTAR FINANCIAL
Eliot Management
FIRST ADVANTAGE
MERIMAC CAPITAL
Summit Merchant Solutions
TRANS TECH
TRANSTECH MERCHANT GROUP
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