Learn how to resolve this complaint. But some payment processors may provide only limited support for brick-and-mortar payment processing or may only provide specific processing hardware on a lease. is the best thing you can do to improve your business cash flow and offer more payment options to your customers. eMerchant Authority can help with this. PaymentCloud provides users with advice on choosing a chargeback management service and fraud mitigation service. Then they sent me a replacement machine that I had absolutely no use for; they actually sent me the wrong machine and billed me for it. TMS offers a dedicated support phone line and an email form on its website. In Summary: 4 Best Merchant Accounts For Collection Agencies. Many other high-risk merchants are notorious for offering card readers and monthly gateway fees, but Durango helps new collection agencies set themselves up for affordable success by making its hardware directly for sale online. They, by their own admission, billed me for numerous new and unauthorized charges that were not in my contract, and then sent me an opt out form 2 FULL DAYS AFTER the charges cleared, and refused to refund my account or cancel my service in light of their unscrupulous activity. So not only was I billed WITHOUT my consent, but then they refused to refund more than half. Trouble Getting Approved? The second your merchant account closes down is the second that you are no longer able to accept payments for your company. However, you need to hire a merchant debt collector account provider who offers merchant collection solutions that meet your company's needs.. To know the right provider, here are factors to consider when . one year. According to The Merchant Solutions complaints filed on this site and elsewhere, TMS appears to offer a standard contract of three years with automatic renewal, an annual fee of $79, a PCI compliance fee of $99, and an early termination fee of $395 or more. Stay away from Themechantsolution!!! Bitty advance immediately escalated my debts to Recovery Solutions Group and they have been harassing me ever since. Since I have tried to cancel with them and agreed to pay them whatever fee I can to get rid of them (which was not in my contract I signed), they are now telling me their equipment I returned is not theirs so that I cant cancel or Ill have to pay more than the equipment cost for losing it and again because I already paid for it! $35.00 When people stop paying, unpaid debts are sent to collection agencies These agencies go after debtors to recover the money for banks and creditors. My request to talk to a supervisor and to review the contract I had supposely sign went unanswered. Monthly Processing RangeUnder $1,000$1,000 - $5,000$5,000 - $25,000$25,000 - $50,000$50,000 - $100,000Over $100,000. Dont sign up or you will regret it at the end. Fortunately, there are providers willing and able to help. For this reason, they are often linked to high complaint totals. Telephone: (818) 409-6000. Looking For One Of These Merchant Accounts For Collection Agencies? They use the guise that they are affiliated with Wells Fargo, but a call to Wells revealed that they never heard of TMS because Wells owns their own merchant company. I think I was the set up by Merchant Solutions. All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses. The debt collector refers to themselves as an investigator, or that they will contact the investigator on your case. Product & company names, logos, and trademarks referred to on this site belong to their respective owners. The chargeback will be made against their account. The worst company to do business with ever!!!! When an account like a credit card, auto loan, or cell phone bill becomes past due, the original creditor may attempt to collect the amount owed. The .gov means its official. If you think the bill is not yours, you could call the Attorney General in Tennessee at 615-741-3491. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this material, which is provided as is, and without warranties. DONT BELIEVE IN ANYTHING THEY SAY ALL LIES AND FRAUD!!! They will not return my phone calls now. Its a TOTAL SCAM! The company has a higher-than-expected number of complaints for its apparently small size, and the contract terms that we have seen reported for this company arent especially competitive, especially when compared to the best overall credit card processors. Essentially, they steal from the customer. The merchant service provider should also be transparent about the requirements of working with your business and the circumstances under which they would terminate the contract. Numerous calls went straight to voicemail without any return calls. If you want to pay unregulated fees like a $9.99 a month regulatory fee and a $6.95 monthly data insurance fee and a $150.oo yearly anuall PCI FEE this is the processor for you.. I got this straight but for the next several months they continued to charge me after 30 min of me wasting my time on the phone they refunded me, the next month charged me again. Phillip created this website and has written over 1,000 articles regarding all things payments. Youll need a robust suite of hardware and services to accept payments online and over the phone, if so. Stephanie T. Nguyen, Chief Technology Officer, Include spaces in matter number if applicable. This lack of transparency in pricing is typical of the industry in general. . The merchant solutions is the most horrible company I have ever dealt with. 4 Best Merchant Accounts For Collection Agencies. Since these banks know and trust the quality of our services, they will be able to trust you too. I had signed up with them thinking they can offer me the lowest rates with a price beat guarantee. This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee. Do you feel like its the right time to start a collection agency? Merchant Solutions retail credit card processing solutions allow merchants to offer flexible methods of payments at the point-of-sale, including major credit cards, debit cards and checks. They dont deserve a BBB rating they suck!!!! service to inform clients in a respectful and professional manner of the status of their account before it becomes bad debt. The competition is real with so many POS servicing company. If you are thinking of signing up with them just read the BBB website with all the complaints against them and read how they arrogantly respond and refuse to ever admit they are wrong. Copyright 2023 Merchant Maverick. They stealing $1000.00 dollars from my account. Thats why weve broken down the basic features of the best merchant accounts for collection agencies and debt collectors. Also when you call they have no customer service and are rude on the phone. The debt collection industry is a high-risk one, which means that business owners who want to start a collection agency may face a few hurdles when looking for a merchant account thats right for them. They need to see whether you have run into any issues previously, particularly when it comes to chargebacks. They round up everything, even when they shouldnt according to elementary mathematics! Copyright 2020 eMerchant Authority | Website by JM Marketing. We enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices. Debt Collection Agency Merchant Services, Collection Agency Credit Card Processing Collection Agency Merchant Account Solutions At Premier One Payments, we are the rare merchant account services provider that is ready and willing to work with collection agencies. If they cannot claim the money back from the seller, then the merchant account provider will have to pay these fees. Garbage company. Although Soars $495 early termination fee (for some accounts) may be steep, the termination fee is voided after the initial contract period. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. Either the sales agent or someone at Merchant Solutions copied my contract changed the account numbers and other information to open a second account that involved a terminal. Learn more about your rights as a consumer and how to spot and avoid scams. There is evidence that The Merchant Solutions utilizes independent sales agents in addition to online advertising to market its services. He was patient and knowledgeable and I am more than pleased with the assistance I receive from the Merchant Solutions. HORRIBLE ! Find Loan Options For Your Small Business. They are beyond shady and dont care at all about customer service!!! For instance, some payment processing providers who work with debt collectors may offer services such as chargeback prevention and no additional cost when processing certain transactions. close down your account. This means that you could, effectively, lose your ability to run your business. The majority of Americans use loans, credit cards, lines of credit to pay for their lifestyles. Biggest rip-off company, holding my $ 2500 in the name of government, one employee working all the time and dont know ownership of this company , dont sign any account with this company, This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money. Min. Wondering what else to consider as a high-risk merchant that needs a reliable merchant account provider? Advertiser Disclosure: Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by. Should have know. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria. Additional rates and fees, including a technical support fee may apply. They are charging me a huge fee to cancel. When account underwriters are deciding the fees or terms for working with them, they will need to see the finances of your business. High-risk specialist with anti-fraud and anti-chargeback protections. Whats more, the debt collection industry is regulated by federal authorities including the FDCPA and CFPB, and is subject to legal requirements that vary on a state-by-state basis. Thousand Oaks, CA 91362. Merchant Mavericks ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. The companys chargeback and fraud prevention assistance is a huge help to high-risk collection agencies and can go a long way toward making your customers more satisfied with your customer support systems and less likely to initiate chargebacks. The company never disclosed high fees , fees for not taking a test, and excessive closing fees. Were dedicated to B2B debt recovery. And particularly so for debt collectors due to the consumer demographic of debtors. Home Blog High-Risk Merchant Accounts The Best Merchant Accounts For Collection Agencies & Debt Collectors, Save money on credit card processing with one of our top 5 picks for 2022. Beware, do not do business with merchant solutions. Horrible company. They do not inform you before they process the money out of your account, Which in my opinion is bad business practice. That said, Host Merchant Services exclusively interchange-plus pricing plans may be cost-prohibitive for low-ticket and very new agencies. Click here to earn a reward. Better look for alternatives. Specifically, consumer complaint activity alleges this business claims to be a law firm attempting to collect on debts that. Call us now on 877-700-5790 for further assistance. This company is a bunch of scam artists charging a early termination fee of 395 after we were with this company 6 yrs and only had a 3 yr contract which they took upon themselves to renew, charges for non compliance because they decided to switch companies for their compliance when I was compliant through April of 2013 and now a $50 fee for refurbishing,, it is not my problem that they need to refurbish a machine. When you ready to cancel their services they hit you with ridiculous restocking fee and cancellation fee. You will not have enough time to do it, the machine terminal breaks all the time. They will give you false information over the phone and then tell you their salesperson had no authorization to give it. This is a business that is rife with fraud and chargebacks. Debt collectors that typically process credit card payments rather than alternative transactions such as ACH payments should nevertheless choose a payment processor that supports options for electric check processing and fraud detection. I got a shock when they deducted total of $1000.00 from my account in 4 payments. These are all fees that were started 8 months into my contract. Annual PCI Fee $99.00 In addition to those 2 complaints, the company has received 58 informal reviews. They refuse to refund the money. This is according to the 2016 American Household Credit Card Debt Study by Nerd Wallet. Neither of these 2 complaints was resolved by the company to the satisfaction of the merchant. These customer chargebacks can make acquiring banks wary of approving merchant account applications from debt collectors. eMerchantBroker is a registered ISO/MSP of BMO Harris Bank, NA, Schaumburg, Illinois. The site is secure. I will continue fighting for their dishonest practice.Do not fall for Merchant Solutions,they are a ripoff company and have a false advertisement for the free machine which on Amazon sells for $250.00.and they charge $1000.00!! Dont take their Free credit card machine or any of their so-called free equipment as they will charge you a $350 Restocking Fee when you try to close your account after you find out they are overcharging and ripping you off on credit card processing fees. Our proven investigation tools help us create fast and effective debt recovery services. per month so-called PCI-DSS Validation Fee , a $19 per month so-called Data Breach Security Program fee, plus kilobyte fees: fixed network CP Fee etc I immediately packed up their credit card machine and shipped it back to them with a written demand to close my account immediately. Copyright 2023 eMerchantBroker, LLC. The payment processors tiered pricing plan increases processing rates for non-qualified and mid-qualified transactions as well, which can be particularly constricting for very new collection agencies. They want me to pay almost $900.00 for equipment I dont use. Here Are The Processors Who Don't Hide Fees. Withdrew $900 from my account and told me that it was a $400 termination fee and $500 for the keypad. They bill me $100.00 more for the first month & when I complained they told me they going to have a rate review and correct it, the second months they did the same, one week in the third months I stop using them for processing and then they threatening me with a $495.00 early termination fee that I cross in the application then I find out that Daniel A. forged my initial and change the page. Get Your Quote. Why would we want a service we couldnt use? Durango combats consumer-related fraud with anti-fraud protections such as Verified by Visa, Mastercard SecureCode, Fraud Scrubbing, and EMV 3d Secure 2.0. Instabill offers credit card terminals albeit with little information concerning specific terminal models or features on its website. Weve resolved overdue accounts for clients without damaging customer relationships. BEWARE OF THESE DOGS! They said they had cancelled the account, but the following month we were charged again. On the downside, Durango doesnt disclose its pricing plans to the public on its website, which can be frustrating. Here are other additional benefits that you receive when you apply for an internet merchant account with eMerchant Authority. This is Uncle Fried Chicken LLC, and The Merchant Solutions are scammers and dont follow their own contract rules. This company was nothing but deceitful from the beginning. Soar partners with Chargeback.com to offer anti-chargeback features such as chargeback alert emails, services for fighting illegitimate chargebacks, and the iSpyFraud filter to detect fraud and suspicious transactions. TOTAL SCAMMERS!!! These companies and people are banned, by federal court orders, from participating in the business of debt collection. In the podcast below, Phillip explains how credit card processing and credit card fraud affects business owners. If so, you may be a victim of United Merchant Asset Recovery debt collection harassment. See Which Processors Offer No Monthly Fees And No Contracts. For me customer support is key and Austin is definitely an asset to this company. The second your merchant account closes down is the second that you are no longer able to accept payments for your company. Then I began getting charged a PCI non compliant fee $40.00. Over the years, we have built up connections with banks all over the world. A powerful, two-screen point of sale (POS) system that allows merchants to run their business . Suggest you consider that Paymentech and many others do not charge this. Instead, Go with Square, go with Chase, go with Costco Elavon, go with Paypal, or any of a dozen other reputable credit card processing companies but please, dont make the same mistake i did Avoid The Merchant Solutions at all costs. And, likeseveral other merchants weve covered in this article, Soar doesnt publically disclose its pricing plans on its website. This complaint total is somewhat high for a company as small as TMS, and it therefore merits a D grade in our opinion. The job of the business, however, is to ensure that they have processes in place to keep this risk down to the absolute minimum. Customer service is a joke and they just gave me a run around, once even saying they would transfer the info to the analytical Dept while the rep was laughing. We work to advance government policies that protect consumers and promote competition. Required fields are marked *. Merchant account providers know that there will always be a bit of a risk dealing with debt collection agencies. Now they have charged me with a PCA compliance processing fee of $149, payable annually. We have lowered the companys score in this section to a C to reflect this consistency. Comp Admin Fee $9.95 The majority of Americans use loans, credit cards, lines of credit to pay for their lifestyles. A lot of other company with no contract and fees to work with out there. If you are in the debt collection business, then you may find it very difficult to obtain a merchant account. Consider the following points to more easily smooth over your application process for a collection agency merchant account: Business owners starting new collection agencies or even expanding existing ones need merchant account providers that minimize the stresses that come with the debt collection industry, not exacerbate them. After I cancelled my account with them, they debited my account $50.00 to refurbish the terminal they provided free of charge. Learn more about dealing with debt collection at ftc.gov/debt. I have tried to use card reader several times without success. This company is deceitful. I was very skeptical and was sure that the contract did not disclose a 3yr aggreement or termination fee. PaymentCloud doesnt publically disclose its pricing on its website, which can make it more difficult for new collection agencies to accurately project their startup costs. What Debt Collectors & Collection Agencies Need To Know About Payment Processing, 6 Tips For Getting Your Collection Agency Merchant Services Approved. By keeping the risk of chargebacks and fraud to the absolute minimum, your business can benefit. I agreed to pay back the money that was owned. They may even have maximum limits to any transactions that you complete. Also that free terminal will cost you $350 when you try to cancel the account. These businesses are associated with a higher rate of risks related to payment processing and a large volume of chargebacks. Disclaimer: Merchant Maverick aims to provide accurate and up-to-date information to assist you in your research. We appreciate it. To keep an ACH account in good standing, debt collection agency merchants need to keep revokes (chargebacks) under 0.5% and returns less than 15%. Toll free: (888) 544-9711. Their hidden fees are through the roof. Their disclosure pricing on cancellation of service was not mentioned to me when I was docusigning the paperwork via Internet. Dont believe anything their salesman tells you on the phone as they will lie to you endlessly and then screw you later. With EMB, you can enjoy chargeback management tools, payment gateways, and fraud filters. Ideal for collection agencies with a history of excessive chargebacks. Fax: (818) 707-7070. After youve signed up, you than learn there are more charges and feel which they will auto-deduct from your merchant account without notification. Read more below to learn why we chose these options. However, these channels appear to fall short of the support levels offered by top-rated payment processors for customer service. They really do not want to do this. Since 2017, Noah has worked for federal, state, and commercial clients as a proposal writer, technical writer, copywriter, and analyst. See this page to learn how we support our operations. We occasionally send out emails with special offers. eMerchant Authority prides itself in being a leader when it comes to the provision of merchant account solutions. Of course, we will provide you with all of the tools that you need to process payments. They terminated my account for non use since I was using another company and had not transferred over yet. Shortly after receiving the product we received an email notifying of the $2.50 monthly fee AND .5 per transaction fee on top of the 2.65%. This company will be out of business in one year or less. We can help you to seamlessly integrate eMerchant Authority payment solutions into your business. Memo from Chair Lina M. Khan to commission staff and commissioners regarding the vision and priorities for the FTC. Instead, it appears merchants must contact the company directly to learn more about the exact terms of this promotion. DO NOT USE!!! Im so glad I read these before making a huge mistake. To know the right provider, here are factors to consider when looking for a debt collection agency for your debt collection business. eMerchant Authority is a registered ISO of Woodforest National Bank, Houston, TX Member FDIC. when you cancel.Please take your business elsewhere. Save money with Merchant Solutions low processing rates and free terminal program. Merchant Mavericks ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships. the rep I spoke to became Irrate and told me he didnt appreciate me accusing him of charging bogus fees and he told me he was going to hang up on me. Soar offers an automated application process online that takes minutes to complete and provides merchants with a quote after the fact. To the companys credit, the website for TMS does not appear to engage in any deceptive marketing tactics. The Merchant Solutions, founded in 1999, is a small merchant account provider based in Woodland Hills, California. There are also several risk factors and legal issues that can complicate your decision when choosing the proper payment processor. These merchant account providers offer high-risk businesses like collection agencies a square deal when it comes to payment processing. John in Customer Service was wonderful today with assisting me with the set up for my new Walker Bluetooth. Because of their undisclosed fees and charges I ended up paying more than my previous company. Start by leaving a comment at the end of this review, Compare Top Rated Processors: Compare Rates, Reveal your hidden fees: Audit Your Statement, Working in merchant services: Our Free Guide. Note: We have adjusted this companys BBB rating according to our own standards. YOU WILL BE SORRY! Whether you're looking to save money on processing or to get approved for a merchant account, PaymentCloud can help. If you need help with rate and fee negotiations, payment integrations, cost optimization, or provider selection, schedule a consultation here. reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations, top-rated payment processors for customer service, Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee, How to Get Out of a Merchant Account Contract, How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money, Cancelling a Merchant Account Contract Without Paying a Fee. BBB received a pattern of complaints concerning collections practices. Several complainants outright accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam operation. The collector has to tell you four pieces of information. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Note that we are not able to provide private consultations, give advice, or answer questions. The Merchant Solutions fees and terms are average for the industry, so we have given TMS a C in this section. Remember; if you do not take the time to find a merchant account designed for high-risk businesses like yours, your company could lose its ability to process transactions overnight. Different benefits and drawbacks that come with high-risk merchant account providers make it particularly tricky for new agencies to find a merchant account thats the right match for them. This means that our job is to reduce the risk of any transactions for the merchant bank. Understand how the CFPB's Debt Collection Rule can help you. Numerous times I informed her that we already had an account with a different company, and we were not ready to transition but would be happy to look at the numbers. Total $247.95. 1008 Mattlind Way. See Who The Worst Processors Are. In light of the companys complaint total and resolution ratio, we have adjusted the BBBs rating to a C for the purposes of this review. Do not get trap by this company. These revenues in no way influence our ratings or reviews. To support this enormous responsibility we earn some of our revenue through affiliate fees and advertising. She also helped us to file our annual PCI compliance saving us about $40 per month. I have been getting charged for a second account since April of 2012 that I did not authorize and for which they are telling me I did.