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Report: #420157

Complaint Review: Apex Merchant Group, First American Payment Systems, TransTech Merchant Group, MERIMAC CAPITAL, - Plano Texas

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Framingham Massachusetts
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
  • Why?
  • Apex Merchant Group, First American Payment Systems, TransTech Merchant Group, MERIMAC CAPITAL, 5220 Tennyson Pkwy., Suite #400 Plano, Texas U.S.A.

Apex Merchant Group, First American Payment Systems, TransTech Merchant Group, MERIMAC CAPITAL, MERCHANTS, JOB SEEKERS, STAY AWAY FROM APEX MERCHANT GROUP!!! READ THE FINE PRINT AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU SIGN. Plano Texas

*UPDATE Employee: APEX Merchant Group is a Great Company

*General Comment: Better Business Bureau

*Consumer Suggestion: I'm Waiting Bill

*General Comment: don't belive everything you see

*General Comment: your report

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Bill, you need some education

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Bill, you need some education

*UPDATE Employee: Possible Apex Employee Representation

*Consumer Comment: APEX MERCHANT GROUP IS FRAUDULENT

*UPDATE Employee: Misinformation

*UPDATE Employee: company

*Consumer Comment: This is the actual Better Business Bureau Truth

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: A response to #9 "Don't believe everything you read"

*UPDATE EX-employee responds: Response to commens #7, #10 and #11

*UPDATE Employee: If you actually knew what ur talking about

*UPDATE Employee: As too your post

*UPDATE Employee: Don't believe everything you read!

*UPDATE Employee: WHAT A JOKE!

*UPDATE Employee: WHAT A JOKE!

*UPDATE Employee: WHAT A JOKE!

*UPDATE Employee: False Claims on this company

*UPDATE Employee: Apex Merchant Group and the truth....

*Consumer Comment: Failed to mention...

*Consumer Comment: Apex vows they are not affiliated with other companies listed

*Consumer Comment: I too know first hand, the way APEX works.

*Consumer Suggestion: CONTACT GREG ABBOTT (TExas States Attorney) NOW

*UPDATE Employee: respond

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Apex Merchant Group of Plano, TX, from all indication seems to be a new LLC formed some time in late 2008, filed with TX Dallas BBB in January 2009.

Merchants, please look elsewhere. Other credit card processing companies will give you the credit card processing machines FREE. Apex will try to get you to sign a NON-CANCELLABLE 5-YEAR Leasing contract with their "sister company" (Merimac Capital) costing you up to a total of $6,000!! Be wary and read the fine print before signing the 3 yr and 5 yr contract which is AUTO RENEWABLE BY APEX!! If you don't cancel, you are hooked for another 3 or 5 yrs!! At that point, they will nail you for hefty early cancellation fees.

Apex Merchant Group is linked/affiliated with, if not one of the same, as First American Payment Systems (Forthworth, TX) and Trans Tech Merchant Group. These companies have had many complaints and disputes against them. Go read First American Payment Systems' rap sheet on Fortworth TX BBB, and the endless complaints on this site (ripoffreport.com). Fortworth TX BBB listed all the different names they operate under:

APPSTAR FINANCIAL
Eliot Management
FIRST ADVANTAGE
MERIMAC CAPITAL
Summit Merchant Solutions
TMG
TRANS TECH
TransTech Merchan Group
TRANSTECH MERCHANT GROUP

Number of complaints processed by the BBB
in the last 36 months: 240
in the last 12 months: 126

http://www.fortworth.bbb.org/codbrep.html?wlcl=y&id=97040065 (see more with this link)

It's evident from all the complaints on Ripoffreport.com and the number of complaints filed with TX fortworth BBB, that those companies have unethical business practices and treat their merchants poorly and unfairly. So it seems that they reinvented themselves, created a new name and will continue to do what they have always done.

Try asking them how long they have been in business or how many employees they have. You will never be able to get an straight answer!

Apex Merchant Group is nothing more than a brand new ISO/MSP for KeyBank National Association of Cleveland Ohio. Independent Sales Organization (ISO), also called a Member Service Provider (MSP) which is an outside company (not a MasterCard or Visa member) that is contracted by a member bank (each member bank may be a member of Visa or MasterCard, or both) to procure new merchant relationships for the specific bank. They are like a mortgage broker, working on commissions only.

I know there are a lot of unemployed folks out there now in need of jobs. Apex is aggressively seeking for independent contract sales reps in the MASS/New England area. They are advertising on job boards like Monster.com. Job seekers, please be wary and very careful, read ALL the fine print, before signing anything from Apex. They may have the right to investigate your credit and employment history, or even obtain credit reports on you.

Anonymous
Framingham, Massachusetts
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 02/04/2009 01:21 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/apex-merchant-group-first-american-payment-systems-transtech-merchant-group-merimac-capital/plano-texas-75024/apex-merchant-group-first-american-payment-systems-transtech-merchant-group-merimac-cap-420157. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
25Consumer
2Employee/Owner

#27 UPDATE Employee

APEX Merchant Group is a Great Company

AUTHOR: Joe Mann - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, March 28, 2012

APEX Merchant Group is not a Scam; they actually have great commissions and a good pay structure. Initially I wasnt sure about APEX, but once I got started it was obvious that they knew how to help me in the field. When I first started, I saw some of the negative postings, but its been nothing but a good experience for me, I can tell that they really care about how they treat their customers and sales reps. I have nothing bad to say about them. Also, I love getting paid daily; I dont have to wait a week like lots of other places I worked at. APEX makes it easy, fun and I love the way that I feel like Im getting the best support possible from my Manager. I have written 48 deals with APEX and only had minor issues, and also I get a big bonus once I write my 75th deal, so I can't wait for that. So many companies out there are full of it, I love the way that APEX does what they say they are going to do, and Last week I made $1,900! Love this job!

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#26 General Comment

Better Business Bureau

AUTHOR: Anonymous - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, August 12, 2011

I just accessed the BBB.org site and found 74 complaints since this business began??
To give a reference, I worked with a major corp, handling only the issues that came from BBB, state regulatory offices and the president's office. I personally handled 10 complaints per week and we had a staff of 5 in my office, so that's about 50 per week.  So, that's about 7000 complaints within the same time frame mentioned for these 74 complaints. Of course, we'd all love to have zero complaints when dealing with businesses, but problems are unavoidable.
Anyone who has searched jobs recently will see almost all companies require background checks, many, many, clearly state they WILL require credit checks and this is not unusual at all. Most require drug testing as well.

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#25 Consumer Suggestion

I'm Waiting Bill

AUTHOR: MerchantProtect - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, May 23, 2011

Or anyone else for that matter.  I appreciate Tom's support but I can not help but wonder why the "EMPLOYEES" like Bill and others have not responded since my original post about the Frankel's.

And for the random comments spread throughout this post about how APEX has no affiliation to other companies listed; well answer me this.

If APEX uses Merimac for their leases and FAPS (First American Payment Systems) owns Merimac; well how is that not an affiliation?  Also I have spoken to merchants that cancelled service with APEX over service / fee issues and as they researched legal outlets ended up in collections; guess who the collection notices were coming from?  FAPS; that's right, First American Payment Systems.  Oh, wait there's more; First American Payment Systems owns a company called Certified Payment Processing who operates under two names -- Summit and Transtech.

So to the comments about Apex not having any affiliation with FAPS or Transtech; I hate to burst your bubble; but really for anyone willing to spend a few minutes online, most of this information is readily available.

Oh, I can not remember if I posted this in my initial response; but Andy Frankel (President of APEX); was named the President of Certified Payment Processing in 2004 after the parent company (First American) purchased Certified Merchant Services from his brothers and conveniently stayed there until 2008 when APEX was started.

All I can say is be very careful; whether you are a merchant or a potential employee when dealing with APEX.

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#24 General Comment

don't belive everything you see

AUTHOR: tom - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, April 06, 2011
The BBB that you referr to is a joke I used to manage a company that sold over the phone Vacations when ever we got a bad rating the owner would pull out his c.c. and it would go up two. The only thing that he could not fix was his day manager running numbers thats when i left he is still opened under his mothers name because of that 

Just be careful the owner Andy Frankel has two brothers that have been in trouble with the ftc 
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#23 General Comment

your report

AUTHOR: tom - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, April 06, 2011
 I was about to start work for Apex when i saw your report so I did a little checking and  found out your right Andy Frankel is the pres. of the company but im sure the brothers are involed in this company somehow thats the way it works also Arthur Banks in on the board and he was working with JON and Craig Frankel as far as people looking at the BBB that is a JOKE you can buy your rating from them

Thank You for the info I will not be joining the Apex team
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#22 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Bill, you need some education

AUTHOR: nelson1600 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, March 28, 2011

Bill,

The first rule of thumb is to do your homework before you comment on a site like this.  As an employee of APEX I can imagine that you feel like you have a working knowledge of the organization.

However being based in Saint Louis there is a high probability that you have never visited their home office in the Dallas area and even if you have, there is no way for you to have a complex knowledge of their inner workings.

Here are the facts:
APEX MERCHANT GROUP was founded in 2008 by Andy Frankel.  In 3 years or less time it is practically impossible for a payment processor to acquire over 200,000 customers.  As you will read below; his brothers ran a shady, shady processing company which was acknowledged for being one of the largest in the country and in 12 years their merchant count never hit 100,000.  And guess what Bill, Andy uses the same model his brothers did for his business.

Andy Frankel was a Team Leader for Certified Merchant Services (I know because I worked for CMS during this time as an inside sales rep) until the owners (HIS BROTHERS) sold the company to pay a settlement to the FTC which involved charges of deceptive sales practices and altering contracts.  Some how he was given the title of President for First American Payment Processing (Probably because that was the company that sponsored his brothers company as an ISO and was started only 1 year before Certified Merchant Services)

Arthur Davis; listed on APEX's management website directly under Andy was an ex Certified Merchant Services employee as well.

Andy's brothers, Jon and Craig paid almost $24,000,000.00 to settle the suit with the FTC.  I'm sorry but you don't agree to pay that kind of money unless you are trying to stay out of trouble.

You need to research who you are working for my friend; because you are a 1099 employee; and the reason why you are a 1099 employee is because it is much easier for them to get rid of you, it's cheaper on the payroll, and ultimately as a contract employee all the company has to do is say "He's a contract employee and we have no control over what our sales people do out in the field?"  I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but someone had to.

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#21 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Bill, you need some education

AUTHOR: nelson1600 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, March 28, 2011

Bill,

The first rule of thumb is to do your homework before you comment on a site like this.  As an employee of APEX I can imagine that you feel like you have a working knowledge of the organization.

However being based in Saint Louis there is a high probability that you have never visited their home office in the Dallas area and even if you have, there is no way for you to have a complex knowledge of their inner workings.

Here are the facts:
APEX MERCHANT GROUP was founded in 2008 by Andy Frankel.  In 3 years or less time it is practically impossible for a payment processor to acquire over 200,000 customers.

Andy Frankel was a Team Leader for Certified Merchant Services (I know because I worked for CMS during this time as an inside sales rep) until the owners (HIS BROTHERS) sold the company to pay a settlement to the FTC which involved charges of deceptive sales practices and altering contracts.  Some how he was given the title of President for First American Payment Processing (Probably because that was the company that sponsored his brothers company as an ISO and was started only 1 year before Certified Merchant Services)

Arthur Davis; listed on APEX's management website directly under Andy was an ex Certified Merchant Services employee as well.

Andy's brothers, Jon and Craig paid almost $24,000,000.00 to settle the suit with the FTC.  I'm sorry but you don't agree to pay that kind of money unless you are trying to stay out of trouble.

You need to research who you are working for my friend; because you are a 1099 employee; and the reason why you are a 1099 employee is because it is much easier for them to get rid of you, it's cheaper on the payroll, and ultimately as a contract employee all the company has to do is say "He's a contract employee and we have no control over what our sales people do out in the field?"  I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but someone had to.

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#20 UPDATE Employee

Possible Apex Employee Representation

AUTHOR: CreditCardprocessorauditor - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, October 10, 2010

I just finished Apex's five hour training module. I understand why the training it is not longer or shorter.- Motive-speed to market. Yes we had skeptics in our class. and I wonder why all the skepticism when there is no skin in the game by the salespeople. Nobody has a gun held to their head to rep APEX. In todays business climate it is imperitive that all of us have to perform our due diligence on the companies we represent. Ask yourself, why would the Fifth Third Bank allow for so much alleged fraud and screw ups? And most of what has been levied against Apex has been resolved.

If you still allowed the salesperson (con man) to even have a conversation after you discovered that he/she was misrepresenting them self in a "false pretense-fraud" model,(working as a PCI rep and was not) Why in the world would you even let him near you, much less give him the time of day? This does not add up to rational thinking.

I have worked for a few large companies, public and private, and we always had that one idiot that had to misrepresent themselves and or the company, additionally look at all the consumer complaints that go unattended allegedly committed by every small and large business in the USA. Look at the per capita lawyer ratio in the US - unbelievable!

"Trust" becomes the issue with all of us. Do I work for APEX or do I move on? Are the complaints valid or just knee jerk reactions a lousy salesperson or a bad business person who does not know what they are doing?

Maybe some day the merchant services industry will wise up and screen their reps, pay a salary plus commission ramp up, or have some other way to put integrity back into their industry.

My opinion and its just opinion, that greed is rampant in this industry and attracts some very sleazy people and some very desperate people willing to do or say just about anything to get food on the table..... so I concluded and I think that the credit card companies should really be the responsible party as to actual employees hired. On the flip side, a criminal background check should take place also when a merchant services company hire agents or employees. I have never been asked about my background...ever. I have met some agents in the area that I am going to work in and found most of them to be pretty regular salespeople working to make a living.

So if you gave up some paper work to a rep..Caveat emptor and Caveat venditor

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#19 Consumer Comment

APEX MERCHANT GROUP IS FRAUDULENT

AUTHOR: concerned one - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, October 04, 2010

this company in my opinion uses fraudulent sales practices.  Salesperson came to my location and said that he/she was a PCI compliance officer and needed to inspect my equipment.  He/she told me that they had been notified by Mastercard that I was not in compliance.  This sales person pointed out several things that sounded believable.  It was then that I was told they represented a different merchant processing company.  This individual proceeded to use high pressure sales tactics until it told them to leave my store. This individual then apologized and started talking to me about my business.  Eventually he came back to the processing and was able to talk me into filling out the paper work and said i did not have to decide right then.  We could just fill out the paper work and i would have a couple of days to think about it.  I  was told i could give them a definite answer when they called back to reprogram my equipment. I looked into the information i had been given and decided this company was not one i wanted to do business with. When they called two days later i informed them of my decision and why i felt the way i did.  the next day i got a call from the sales person yelling at me telling me i had gotten him into trouble and i should have called him first. I figured after our conversation all was done.  I was wrong.  On Monday 10/4/2010 this company charged my account multiple fees.  When contacting them they said i had an active account and these were the fees associated with an active account.  I informed them i did not have any of there equipment nor did i have my equipment programmed to process cards through them.  I was told it did not matter what the sales person said or indicated i had signed the papers and was obligated to pay them regardless of whether i use there service or not for the next three years. i could of course get out of the contract if i would agree to pay them $495 for each account, I have two. 


as i stated in the beginning, this company and its practices are fraudulent and all should stay away from them.  i promise that every new business opening in my community will know about this company and there sales practices.
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#18 UPDATE Employee

Misinformation

AUTHOR: DrMac - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, September 27, 2010

1.  I am an independent sales person with APEX and have been with them for about 3 months.

2.  APEX will provide free rebuilt card processing machines - I have done this for several clients.

3.  The contract specifically states that it is a 3 year contract and requires 30 days notice to cancel.  If not cancelled, it continues on a "month - to - month" basis.

4.  APEX Merchant Group is not affilliated with the companies you mention and also are not connected with Key Bank.  They are affilliated with fifth/third bank of Cincinatti, Ohio.

5.  Although I have a business background, I have no sales experience.  I have not made a lot of money with APEX, but have been increasing sales over time.  There are a lot of appointments where it seems the client has (at first) told me they told APEX they weren't interested.  In every case, I called the support staff at APEX in front of the client and told them what the client said.  Every time, when a member of the support staff spoke with them, they admitted that they "may have set the appointment but only because they felt pressured to do so".  Several of these took the time to sit with me (sometimes for an hour) to go over their current situation and to allow me the opportunity to see if APEX could do better.  Some I could and some I couldn't.  Those where I couldn't, I merely thanked them for the opportunity.  Several felt so bad that they provided me with other potential leads.

6.  Sales is not easy and requires a lot of work.  You won't get rich overnight but most jobs are that way.

 

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#17 UPDATE Employee

company

AUTHOR: mokaiba - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I find it odd that all these complaints are a year old and only a few can be even found in the past six months (most of which are resubmits of the same old 2009 posts). I will be doing the training on Thursday and starting the sales part on Friday. I should know by EOB Friday if any of the negative claims are true or not (some of which I believe are false claims since they didn't even get the title of their position correct, which BTW is District Sales Advisor).

 Now, the issue of the BBB, the BBB requires 0.5% of a companies yearly gross income to stay accredited. Apex makes several billion a year...a rough 0.5% would be 500 million. Now, would you spend 500 million just to get an A? Its not worth the investment. Also, like the post before mine, most of the complaints were the result of a bad salesman, nothing to do with the actual company since as a salesman you are an independent contractor (1099 tax forms, you pay your own taxes). Independent contractors are given appointments or find them and go to the appointment. Some appointments do not always work out. For example, plumbers are independent contractors. How many of you have had a plumber come to your house, assess the damage, and give you a price you did not like, and then have them leave? It is the same basic theory for this job (my assumption).

For team coordinators giving bad info...well they don't make money unless you make money. Some of those people may just suck at their job and send you to anyone they think would buy the product. I am pretty sure if this is the case then you can report them to their boss to take care of that.

well, ill find out the answer to the credibility of the company in the next three weeks. I am still looking for a job, but am able to pay my bills for another 45 days with my savings (I don't have anything to lose by trying them out).




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#16 Consumer Comment

This is the actual Better Business Bureau Truth

AUTHOR: JDSPEECE - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Here's the actual link:

http://www.bbb.org/dallas/business-reviews/credit-card-processing-service/apex-merchant-group-in-plano-tx-90131267

Here's the REAL numbers:

Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB Rating of D+ on a scale of A+ to F.
*Length of time business has been operating
*34 complaints filed against business

1 - Regarding Advertising Issues
2 - Regarding Billing or Collection Issues
16 - Regarding Contract Issues
          +3 Failure to honor contract or agreement
          +4 Invalid or False Contract
          +8 None of the above- Contract Complaint Issue
          +1 Unauthorized changes to contract or agreement
1 - Regarding Customer Service Issues
2 - Regarding Refund or Exchange Issues
12 - Regarding Sales Practice Issues
          +3 None of the above - Sales Complaint Issue
          +1 Sales presentation did not disclose key conditions of offer
          +1 Sales Presentation misrepresented product
          +1 Sales Presentation misrepresented service
          +2 Sales Presentation no consistent with written agreement
          +4 Sales Presentation used dishonest sales practices

24 Resolved
          +16 Company addressed the complaint issues. The consumer failed to acknowledge acceptance to BBB.
          +8  Company RESOLVED complaint issues.  The consumer acknowledged acceptance to BBB.

10 Administratively Closed
          +5 BBB Determined the company made a reasonable offer to resolve the issues, but the consumer did not accept the offer.
          +5 The parties could not provide sufficient information to support their positions  nor where they agreeable to make reasonable efforts toward resolving the issues of the dispute.


As you can see, YES, they get complaints, but have resolved ALL of them!  12 complaints were based on Sales Practice Issues which I believe is the actual Sales Reps fault, not the company.  The D+ Rating is also affected by the length of operation of the business, which for APEX is less than 2 years. 

I was contacted today about working for this company, and for the last 3 hours have been researching APEX.  All I have to say is that I think the people that complain about the company are those lazy people who truly aren't Sales People & don't know how to hustle for their money.  I am a true Salesman & I am going to give this company a shot.  We'll see & I will report back about my experience within 30 days.

*Also, give me kudos, I had to manually type all of those rating from the BBB site.  It would not allow me to copy & paste.  But I felt this information had to be readily accessible for those seeking the truth.

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#15 UPDATE EX-employee responds

A response to #9 "Don't believe everything you read"

AUTHOR: John - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, April 04, 2010

"Let the Truth be Told" makes this statement: "If you work hard and run every lead they give you you should be successful if you can close."

Even ignoring the fact that new employees are informed during training that the main function of your manager is to help you close deals, maybe he'd like to explain exactly how ANYBODY can close a deal where the business address you've been given corresponds to a private residence in the middle of a housing estate, where the address you've been given simply does not exist (i.e., no such street number), where the current occupants of the property at the address you've been given inform them that the business you're looking for moved three years ago, or (my personal favorite) where you're informed by the manager of a neighboring business that the company with whom you were told you had a pre-qualified appointment went of of business six months ago?

Also, maybe he'd like to advise prospective sales people what to do if you're faced with this situation and complain to your manager, only to be informed that he's listened to tapes of all your appointments being made, and that they're all kosher?


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#14 UPDATE EX-employee responds

Response to commens #7, #10 and #11

AUTHOR: John - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, April 04, 2010

I find this person's posts particularly offensive for two reasons:

1. As is evident from this report and others on Apex, this person basically insults anyone who complains about Apex and effectively calls them a liar

2. With almost every comment he makes, he posts his own phone number - it strikes me that he is completely abusing Ripoff Report by using it as a means to try to drum up business!

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#13 UPDATE Employee

If you actually knew what ur talking about

AUTHOR: William - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, March 19, 2010

My Name is Bill Dales contact # 314-220-4557


 


Apex is a service provider of FAPS yes. But we are not an affiliate of any of the listed entities in this report.


Whoever posted this initial report should be disiplined legally for slander. (but its the internet so there are no rules!)


We will lease equipment if desired from Merimac Capital a finance/leasing agent when a consumer/merchant agrees to the need. (consumer has to sign full agreement and its 2nd voice verified for the consumers protection)


Transtech is a competitor so nuff said. (TMG is same company)


Appstar is a different company.


Summit is a competitor.


 


The people that post negatives are not Merchant Service educators/providers, but are failures in our service staff/industry that prob. are working at "Burger Barn" or back on unemeployment.


 


Apex has over 200,000 clients and a less than .0005 complaint ratio. (thats under 100) and all have been resolved (satisfactory resolution) or admin. closed (bs claim to begin w/) w/ BBB.


 


If you ever need Merchant assistance w/ either fees or product needs please feel free to contact me for a *free no hassel analysis* and if I can't make it better I'll say 'your good! don"t change" cause i do it all the time.


Once again my name is Bill Dales in St. Louis Mo. and my phone # is 314-220-4557 call anytime and ill do my best to make ur situation better and build ur clientel. (yes I answer my messages, and if u get v-mail its cause im servicing a client or on a sales call.......... thants what I do)


Just make the call!


 


Apex Merchant Group "Better Services and Pay Less" Thats what we do!

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#12 UPDATE Employee

As too your post

AUTHOR: William - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, March 19, 2010

I am sure that u work at a fish farm, where u shoot fish in a bucket. This is the real world where u have to present your product, (might take more than 1 day to learn it) and then educate your customer on the benefits.


Go sell burgers, cause they dont complain, and they come too you.

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#11 UPDATE Employee

Don't believe everything you read!

AUTHOR: LetTheTruthBeTold - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, February 19, 2010
To all Business owners out there:

I am a sales representative that has been working for the company since October 2009 and Transtech(summit merchant group) was another totally different company that was interested in hiring me. Totally different company with different numbers, different employees etc. They have a bad rating on the BBB D- I believe. I enjoy working for Apex as I have already saved many merchants money, some more than others including one business where I am currently saving them over $800/month not/year but per MONTH. Some of my own merchants that I have signed up have actually even given me a copy of their statements so that I can prove to sceptics that read the nonsense that some people post on here that Apex is a reputable company that charges what we put in writing they will be charged. Now if a sales person lies to a business owner(this happens in all companies that I have ever known) then it is not Apex's fault that the sales person did not disclose everything. However that being said, like with so many other credit card processors out there, the client will not be happy and most likely somewhere down the line they will switch to another processor and the other processor will usually pay the cancellation fees to get that companies business. This will cause the salesman to lose the account and his potential residual on that account and he will probably not last long. However unfortunately this does happen.

As a salesman that has been in sales for over 10 years I can honestly say that this does make things so much harder for other salesman because of the dishonest ones. As for Apex though I am in the Cape Girardeau area and I can tell you that if you decide to go with Apex it will be a positive experience. I have many clients that can vouch for that. Now it doesn't mean that no one will ever have a complaint. If you think of it that Apex has reps throughout the USA and gets atleast 100 new accounts on my team alone and we have about 8 different teams. So if you get just 500 new accounts / month throughout the USA and you only have a handful of complaints then any business owner who has any common sense will know that the company is doing pretty darn well.

As far as the lease goes, even First Data and numerous other companies have equipment leasing options, and we do have the option to loan a company a basic credit card machine. However this doesn't single Apex out as a bad company, on the contrary. I have run accross other companies that get the business owner into a lease without them knowing that. With Apex our verification department actually calls the business owner to verify that they know not only that they have a lease but must also verify that they know the amount being deducted as well as the term, and if this is not confirmed by the business owner the account will not go further and the sales rep will not receive his commission. This is more than I can say for other companies. They also keep their sales people local so think of the fact that if the company was ripping people off, then no salesman would be with them for any extended time because all the businesses in their area will hate their guts, and they will never earn residual. So make up your own mind but I challenge you as a business owner to look other bigger companies up (ie not the little fruit and veggie market around the corner but bigger companies that are state wide or world wide and you will see that this site will have some crazy complaints about virtually every one of these companies. The point is if you do enough business you are going to have complaints against you and that is a FACT!

For Salespeople looking at joining Apex

If you work hard and run every lead they give you you should be successful if you can close. I have also run into appointments where the business owner was not there, but then I have made appointments myself with a business owner and I have also had it happen where they either forget or maybe don't care. If you have been in sales before you should know it happens. I also do know that I have walked in to places where the business owner said that they told the telesales person that they weren't really interested and they sent someone anyway. Now yes you might find it difficult to get anywhere in that case, however if you persist and find out the reason why they feel that way you can often overcome the objections. I had one that told me that they were absolutely not interested and that they had someone that they were in a contract with so I was wasting my time. I persisted with them and made another couple of appointments with them. A couple of weeks later I got 3 accounts from them, which actually helped me earn my $2500 fast start bonus. So the point is it gets you in a door of a business and gets you the owners name etc which is better than nothing and is most certainly still better than cold calling and having to find out who to speak to etc etc.

The long and the short of it is that they are a good company who treat their salespeople well and all the people that I have dealt with from the people who are team leaders to the people who approve the applications all the way to the customer service department have always been really friendly and if you bring your side you can be happy working for this company.
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#10 UPDATE Employee

WHAT A JOKE!

AUTHOR: M. - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, June 29, 2009

I too accepted a position with APEX. I just finished my training Friday and received my "pre-qualified" appointments for today (Monday). I ran all three appointments. The first appointment, the owner wasn't there and his employee bascially looked at me like I was an alien. The second appointment was also not there, nor did he answer the telephone when I called, or returned my phone call when I left him a message. The third appointment stated "He did not have an appointment and didn't want to meet anyone from APEX!"

Now, for being pre-qualified appointments, I find this odd. Secondly, I do not like the information I have been reading on this company. I too looked at the fine print of my agent/independent contract which I have yet to sign and sure enough, I will read what is stated under "Ethics Statement" of the signature page.

1. I will Fully disclose to each prospective customer that I am representing APEX Merchant Group LLC and will fully disclose to the customer the name and location of First American Payment Systems, L.P. as the provider of bankcard processing services.

Now that's funny, in my training they never mentioned First American Payment Systems, L.P. As far as I'm concerned, mis-information is a lie and withholding information is ALSO A LIE so I am officially and unofficiailly done with APEX or whatever company they really are.

Another dooped (could have been worse I guess) and concerned consumer in Michigan

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#9 UPDATE Employee

WHAT A JOKE!

AUTHOR: M. - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, June 29, 2009

I too accepted a position with APEX. I just finished my training Friday and received my "pre-qualified" appointments for today (Monday). I ran all three appointments. The first appointment, the owner wasn't there and his employee bascially looked at me like I was an alien. The second appointment was also not there, nor did he answer the telephone when I called, or returned my phone call when I left him a message. The third appointment stated "He did not have an appointment and didn't want to meet anyone from APEX!"

Now, for being pre-qualified appointments, I find this odd. Secondly, I do not like the information I have been reading on this company. I too looked at the fine print of my agent/independent contract which I have yet to sign and sure enough, I will read what is stated under "Ethics Statement" of the signature page.

1. I will Fully disclose to each prospective customer that I am representing APEX Merchant Group LLC and will fully disclose to the customer the name and location of First American Payment Systems, L.P. as the provider of bankcard processing services.

Now that's funny, in my training they never mentioned First American Payment Systems, L.P. As far as I'm concerned, mis-information is a lie and withholding information is ALSO A LIE so I am officially and unofficiailly done with APEX or whatever company they really are.

Another dooped (could have been worse I guess) and concerned consumer in Michigan

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#8 UPDATE Employee

WHAT A JOKE!

AUTHOR: M. - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, June 29, 2009

I too accepted a position with APEX. I just finished my training Friday and received my "pre-qualified" appointments for today (Monday). I ran all three appointments. The first appointment, the owner wasn't there and his employee bascially looked at me like I was an alien. The second appointment was also not there, nor did he answer the telephone when I called, or returned my phone call when I left him a message. The third appointment stated "He did not have an appointment and didn't want to meet anyone from APEX!"

Now, for being pre-qualified appointments, I find this odd. Secondly, I do not like the information I have been reading on this company. I too looked at the fine print of my agent/independent contract which I have yet to sign and sure enough, I will read what is stated under "Ethics Statement" of the signature page.

1. I will Fully disclose to each prospective customer that I am representing APEX Merchant Group LLC and will fully disclose to the customer the name and location of First American Payment Systems, L.P. as the provider of bankcard processing services.

Now that's funny, in my training they never mentioned First American Payment Systems, L.P. As far as I'm concerned, mis-information is a lie and withholding information is ALSO A LIE so I am officially and unofficiailly done with APEX or whatever company they really are.

Another dooped (could have been worse I guess) and concerned consumer in Michigan

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#7 UPDATE Employee

False Claims on this company

AUTHOR: William - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Sunday, June 07, 2009

Hello all,

My name is William Dales in St. Louis, and my direct # is 314-220-4557.

I have worked w/ Apex for quite an extended period of time, and have to state this........

1- Apex contracts state in full any and all lease terms for equipment as needed or agree upon, if applicable.

2- If a company is in need of leased equipment to perform electronic based merchant payment business transactions they are given appropriate options through either purchased or leased options to commence such transactions, and have to twice authorize (1 in writing, and second bye voice authoriztion) these commitments to obtain a greater means to create revenue for the listed business entity.

3- Apex is an indepentand ISO listed properly w/ all needed entities and fully liscenced.

4- This company has in place deemed programs for co. issued equipment for merchants to utilize services for electronic e-commerce of which no lease/purchase is needed if proper profilings are met.

5- I have in the last 5 months applied in excess of 100 accounts (thats just the last 5 months1) where no lease of equipment was implimented and a substancial monthly savings was implimented to merchants that were already processing before Apex became a business parter. (references are readily available)

I state that any and all concerned consumers feel free to contact me personally via the listed contact # above w/ any questions or concerns and I will personnaly assist you and make sure that you are put in the proper and best position as possible w/ your merchant processing.

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#6 UPDATE Employee

Apex Merchant Group and the truth....

AUTHOR: Jobseekertiredofshadybiz - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Hello, all. I researched Apex because I was offered (and accepted) a position with them, selling merchant machines. I have been in the banking industry for over six years, and the product looks wonderful! However, this morning, after receiving my "pre-qualified appointments", I opted to read through the contract one more time before trying to make the sale. I was STUNNED, to say the least. At the bottom of the contract, where the consumer signs (in fine print, of course), it reads "Accepted by First American Payment Sytems, LP". On the face of the contract book, it is Apex Merchant Group. They are affiliated. I emailed the HR person when I first found this site last week, but rather than email me back, I was assured, via phone, that there has never and will never be an affliation with First American Payment Systems, LP. Apparently, that's why she insisted on calling me with her response because it was a lie. They are affiliated, and my employment (if it can even be called that) has officially ended. I am disgusted.

I can sell like crazy, if I believe in a product and a company. But, I am not about to put my name on something so freaking shady. Good luck to others in pursuit of a good job--this one isn't it.

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#5 Consumer Comment

Failed to mention...

AUTHOR: Cashcow - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

In my previous comment on Apex, I failed to mention an important fact about the complainant's original post.

The complainant infers that the BBB in Ft. Worth has linked Apex with a group of other entities mentioned in the post, but this is not the case. While the BBB does link TransTech to the other companies mentioned, they do not link Trans Tech to Apex. The entry for Apex Merchant Group on the BBB site, does not indicate any alternative business names at all.

Since about 98% of BBB complaints noted in the post are not attributable to Apex Merchant Group, this appears to be an attempt to claim "guilt by non-association". The complainant is trying to link Apex to these other entities, and is trying to use the BBB to do so, however, I see nothing at the BBB site that would indicate what the complainant is talking about.

For the record, TransTech had a D- rating from BBB, and Apex has a B+ rating.

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#4 Consumer Comment

Apex vows they are not affiliated with other companies listed

AUTHOR: Cashcow - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I am not an employee of Apex, but I have been approached by them. As part of my due diligence, I came across this site. As such, I chose to get back in touch with them, and get their side of the story, so to speak.

I emailed my contact with Apex, and within 30 seconds of sending the email, the contact called me. In this person's words, Apex is not, nor has it ever been affiliated with the other companies listed. I was pretty clear with my questions on this, but again, the person told me that Apex is not, and never has been affiliated with any of the other entities listed in this complaint. It could be the others are affiliated, but Apex
denies they have anything to do with them.

If true, it bears relevance, because the stats about BBB complaints in this complaint stem almost completely from the other entities mentioned, not Apex. According to BBB statistics, Apex has 4 complaints lodged against them in the past 36 months, 2 concerning service/contracts, and two others concerning sales people. You would prefer to have none, but 4 in 36 months doesn't seem that alarming.

As far as the complainant saying that credit card equipment can be had free, well perhaps, although in 20 years of being in business, I've never seen it. If free equipment is available, it is a good bet, that the cost is merely rolled into service charges in some fashion. In short, i don't see that in itself, as much of a complaint.

At this point, I don't know who is right or wrong, but I do have a contact with Apex with a name, telling me in person (over the phone) their side of the story, versus an anonymous complainant, on a message board that basically fishes for complaints. This wouldn't be the first time, somebody tried to mask bad personal decisions, by portraying the other guy as a scam on a message board.

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#3 Consumer Comment

I too know first hand, the way APEX works.

AUTHOR: Burned - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I received a phone call from a merchant service and I was in the market for a new machine. A salesman came to my place of business and showed me some different machines and I decided on one. I showed him my current merchant service and told him what I paid monthly and what percentage went to the company. He was adamant he could save me money. I agreed to lease the machine, for $70 monthly and everything was to be included in the service contract. 15 days into having the machine, my business account stared being hit for "debit settlements". I called the salesman and asked him what was going on? I didn't authorize anyone to take money out of the account on those days and for those amounts. I was told he would amend the contract for eliminate the charges. I didn't wait, I checked on the Internet and sure enough their name was listed as a scam. I canceled my business account, and re-opened a new account to continue business. Now I have charges coming out of that account. I called the bank and they said that the account numbers were NOT given to anyone through there bank. I have no contact with Merimac capital, other that to call and try to cancel the contract. I didn't authorize and debits from the new account. Is it legal for them to do this and how do the little people stop companies from taking money out of bank accounts with out written permission?

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#2 Consumer Suggestion

CONTACT GREG ABBOTT (TExas States Attorney) NOW

AUTHOR: Rippedoff - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, March 09, 2009

I am having the same problem with Transtech. THere are the worst. Legalized Crooks....

jason hitch
balloon creations
urbana illinois

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#1 UPDATE Employee

respond

AUTHOR: Mks - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 25, 2009

hey there Anonymous from Massachusetts.

I have a huge favor to ask of you. Can you please email me at (((ROR redacted))) I would love to get in contact with you.

Thank you.

anonymous from CA

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

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