Gwen Magnuson, First Data and TCF Bank Credit Card Processing Scam Mesa Internet

Near the end of last year, I opened a bank account at TCF Bank on the corner of McKellips Rd and Stapley Dr in Mesa, AZ.  During the course of opening the account, the teller at TCF Bank recommended that I contact First Data to process my credit cards.  Being a small business with not a lot of cash flow, I was happy with the company I had been using (Square).  Upon the teller's insistence, I contacted Gwen Magnuson at First Data to see if they could give me a better deal that I was currently getting.

Gwen met me in the branch of the bank and told me directly that I wouldn't have any startup costs and that she could get me to where I was paying half the percentage of what I was paying at Square.  I agreed to sign up with her company based solely on these claims.

The next thing I knew, First Data was charging my bank account almost $800 resulting in several unexpected overdraft fees from the bank.  It over drafted my account almost $800! I wasn't even aware that this was taking place until I went to deposit funds into my account to cover a car payment and my car payment was returned NSF.  In order to see why there was an NSF, that is when I first noticed all of the charges to my bank account from First Data and all of the overdraft fees.  I was shocked and upset beyond belief.

I asked my bank for support with this and they said that their branch couldn't do anything about this and that I had to write a formal letter to the main branch and fax it.  Upon reviewing the letter, my bank said that I was on my own and that they wouldn't reverse the charges or overdraft fees.  Upon further conversation with my bank, they agreed to remove about half of the overdraft fees, but my account was still being hit by First Data and still suffering charges and losses.

I tried 3 times to call First Data, waited on hold for hours and never got through.  I left a voicemail with Gwen Magnuson (my sales rep) and she had First Data call me back.  When I expressed all of these details with them, the representative at First Data told me they were sending me to collections!

This morning, I received the collection letter from First Data for over $700 and I also received a letter from TCF Bank that they were closing my account for being overdrawn and that I owed them  over $300!

If the bank referred me to a company that wrongfully charged my account, and the bank refused to advocate for me (their client), I am left believe that both are in this together.

I would NEVER have signed up with First Data if I had known there were fees attached to their service beyond the percent of sales.  I never even used their services once.  I was later contacted by another Credit Card Vendor who told me that my income didn't justify them qualifying me for their services to begin with.  I was told that I should have had $10,000 before being allowed to qualify for this type of service.