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Report: #332887

Complaint Review: IPayment, Inc., Company Representative "Daniel" - Calabasas California

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  • Reported By: Salem Oregon
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  • IPayment, Inc., Company Representative "Daniel" 26707 Agoura Road, Suite #100 Calabasas, California U.S.A.

IPayment, Inc. Company Representative "Daniel" iPayment RAIDED our Account! STOLE RENT & PAYROLL $$$ Calabasas California

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We were changed to iPayment,Inc as our merchant processor by a "Cash Advance" Company. We had been using our own Bank's Merchant Processor and never had issues in over 6 years.

Problems started immeduately with iPayment. Could not "program" our credit card machine, took over 3 business days to get it right. Failed to transfer all accounts over; American Express cards "not supported".

Our business is the marketing and selling of Martial arts products and services (Taekwondo Classes & Gear). We frequently sell memberships totaling $695 to $7695 for individuals & families. A ticket of $2400 + is common enough.

Monday March 31, 2008 processed a ticket for $2800. It did not deposit until Friday! The delay cost money in bank fees and delayed payments to our vendors & service providors.

The following Monday April 7, 2008 we processed a ticket for $2400 and by late wednesday night we received a phone call from "Daniel" at iPayment to call back- after their close time. Thursday AM we call and are informed by Daniel that the $2400 ticket was "flagged". It exceeded a limit they had imposed and we had to "reverse charges".

We were afraid that would extract $$ from our account and we were told it WOULD NOT TAKE $$ from our account, but simply release the charge from our client's card. We did as we were instructed and faxed a "raised limit" form to prevent them from flagging future normal transactions.

The following Monday AM (4/11/ 2008) when we checked our accounts online everything looked OK. We Continued to conduct business and "desposited" over $2000 into our account through the caredit card machine.

That Thursday we checked to see if all funds had cleared so as to write payroll and rent checks and found the account over $1800 OVERDRAWN!!. By end of business Monday the 11th iPayment had taken $2405.95 from the account! Monies they never transacted or deposited!

We called DANIEL at iPayment, Inc. and were informed that that was a mistake......all further phone calls met with voicemail for over 2 days but $ was not returned and iPayment would not take responsibility for the overdrafts caused or for lost contracts and services.

We went to our bank to see if we/they could reverse the damages and have met with failure, because we had contracted them as a merchant providor we had given them authorization to take funds from the account!

Over ten days later iPayment returned a portion of the monies minus 40% + fees! They refused to take calls or return calls or $$ to undo their damage.

We have had to freeze the account, try to open new accounts and begin all over again with debts and no cash. We have gone to our lawyer and had a demand letter sent, no response. We have forwarded this report and all documents to the State Attorney General and await a response.

We don't expect to hear anything positive.....we found other reports on this site and elsewhere about iPayment, Inc and we are very discouraged. We hope we do not lose our business, it was suffering financially already due to changes in the market and losses of trained employees.....

Theresa
Salem, Oregon
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/16/2008 08:42 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ipayment-inc-company-representative-daniel/calabasas-california-91302/ipayment-inc-company-representative-daniel-ipayment-raided-our-account-stole-rent-p-332887. 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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#1 Consumer Suggestion

learn

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

POSTED: Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hi
My name is Hassan I'm an ISO, I own Merchant Services Company Express MPS Group partner with Digital Financial Group one of the best company Sponsored by wells Fargo and First Data.

WOW I'm sorry you got Ripped off, by these guys.

Do not sign a terminal lease if it's more than $30 a month. AND DON'T BUY A FREE CREDIT CARD MACHINE.BECAUSE IT'S A RIP OFF.

Dont let any merchant services pay off your Current lease,because they will put you on new lease,and that you will be paying more

Read the contract very closely and keep a copy of it and tell the agent to wait for TOW days or comeback within TWO day so you have time to read the contract and look up their company @ www.ripoffreport.com

when you decided to sign with them make sure you get your contract copy right a way. (it Means) go to the copy machine and make your own copy of the contract you signed.

WE ALL LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES


This is some Consumer Guide on Merchant Services to help you choose your merchant service provider wisely.

Merchant Services: Beware of Marketing Ploys
Like any other business field, merchant service providers have their own jargon, inside information, heroes and villains. There are honest companies and those willing to say just about anything to close a sale.

This is Consumer Guide on Merchant Services to help you choose your merchant service provider wisely.
Don't Be Fooled By Marketing Tricks.
In the field of merchant services, there are many price variables that can be manipulated to fool a customer into believing they are paying the lowest price, but in fact they are not.

The merchant services industry is advertising a low discount rate. The discount rate can be temporarily manipulated through "introductory" offers which quickly expire. This is the rate that a merchant pays for a swiped card transaction, usually between 1.69% and 2.69% depending on credit, volume, product type and risk factors.
Below are some marketing techniques and issues to be educated on.

1) "Merchant Accounts 1.09% 1.39% 1.59% and 1.64%!" When you see such an ad, click through and try to find the rate guaranteed and watch out when you see (guaranteed**) anywhere on the merchant services website. See if you can even find it ever mentioned again! Some advertising might grand-stand lower rates that are only given to extremely high volume customers. Once you have invested time into the application process, a savvy high pressure closer will explain with great charm and detail why your final rate wasn't as good as the one given to say, "A world wide fast food chain" but was still a great deal considering your risk factors.

2) "Free Merchant Account?" What does this mean!? The merchant account provider must charge a discount rate and per item transaction fee. Does that sound free? A free set-up fee can easily be exchanged with an "annual fee" or some other kind of hidden charge.
3) Hidden Charges: Another "switch" is simply substituting hidden charges that you won't discover until after you get your first bill.


STEPS
1-Customer Service... Ask your sales agent what you can expect when you call their office for support. Who will answer the phone? Do they have one of those annoying automated system that takes you into a black hole, or do they have a live human answering the phone? What are the hours of operation? If you speak another language, do they have a translation service? If you have an emergency, is there a 24 hour telephone number?
2- Rate...You should not base your decision solely on price. Be weary of those that are offering extremely low rates. They may be padding the back end with additional fees. Qualified and non-qualified rates are determined by Visa/MasterCard. Look at their websites to determine what these credit card companies are charging your processor to run Visa/MasterCard transactions. If the rate is lower than this "set" rate, be cautious. Remember that your processor is a business, with expenses and employees to pay.

3 -Funding...How long will it take for your e-funds (funds from credit, debit, and e-checks) to be deposited into your bank account? The deposit or funding time is different with each processor. If your business needs daily cash flow to pay employees funding time could be very important to you. Processors fund anywhere from 24 hours to several days to even weeks.

4-Experience...How many years has the processor been in business? This can prove to be very important when a problem arises with your account or your equipment. Ensure they have the know-how to get things resolved, and fast!

5- Equipment...Long gone are the days of having to purchase costly equipment, or get stuck in a long lease. Leading processors are offering free equipment with new, approved merchant accounts. Understand that this is a free terminal placement while you are a current client of the processor. If you terminate the agreement, for any reason, you must return the equipment. Be cautious about processors who push new, costly, equipment. Unless you current equipment is not PCI compliant or network compliant, you should not have to upgrade.
Do not sign a terminal lease if it's more than $30 a month
If you have a lease and it's the end of the lease TERM make sure you call the lease company to cancel your lease, because IF YOU DON'T CALL THEM they will continue charging you.
6- Contract Term... Know if there is a contract term. If there is a contract term and you want to cancel the contract in the future what is the fee. Are there certain exceptions to this early-cancellation fee?

TIP...
Be honest with your processor about your business type,
How much you process and the average ticket amount. Don't claim a $20.00 average ticket amount when your average ticket is around $200.00. This may see like a good idea to qualify for a "lower" rate but what will undoubtly happen is. After you run a few "abnormal" transactions, a red flag will go up at the risk department. They are looking for fraud. If your account has abnormal activity that might be fraudulent, they will freeze your account to minimize their exposure. Your account will be held until an investigation is completed. This can take months. Be honest and up front with your credit card processor to eliminate this hassle all together.

WARNING
Ask Questions. Be studious. Look at all contracts, really all the lines. Your processor can't realistically go over everything. It is your job to look the contract over and ask any questions you might have. Be weary of processors who are quick to get your signed without addressing all of your concerns.


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TO www.ripoffreport.com

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