buymerchant.com Abused by BuyMerchant.com Bronx, New York

This month (December 2009), I, too, have had a run-in with the owner of BuyMerchant.com, who was verbally abusive from the get-go and turned to bizarre yet worrisome threats on the phone. 

Like consumer Mark (SEE HIS RIPOFF REPORT), my problem began when attempting to make a purchase on the BuyMerchant.com web site, which appears to be a legitimate wholesale/retail business web site.  At Check-Out, BuyMerchant.com signaled me that my Credit Card #1 was denied.  Always assuming I have made a mistake there was no 3-number code highlighted on the back of my card, but there was a unique 4-number code on the top right of my card, so I decided to try it as the requested code I ran Credit Card #1 a second time with a new code, which was also noted as denied by BuyMerchant.com.  Foolish yet determined to make this purchase of Christmas gifts, I proceeded to run my Credit Card #2 through the process; it was accepted and the purchase went through. 

Exiting BuyMerchant.com, my immediate thought was to find out why Credit Card #1 was denied, so I checked online, discovering that the two so-called denied charges now showed up on my card as two pending purchases for BuyMerchant.com and a third pending charge was revealed on Credit Card #2.  Alarmed, I returned to the BuyMerchant.com site, found a phone number and called what I believed to be Customer Service. 

When a man answered, as is my custom in beginning a Customer Service conversation, I asked his name.  He refused to give me a name, launching into a rant that would escalate throughout the conversation (in truth, a confrontation), verbally abusive in tone and even threatening in substance.  I simply wanted to report the problem with my charges to BuyMerchant.com, alerting the company to a potential glitch in the purchasing process on their site, and ask if they could cancel my charges.  However, I could barely get a word inserted within the mans rapid-fire diatribe, immediately accusing me of using stolen credit cards to bilk his company.  He kept threatening to report me to the Fraud Division (of what?), who would take all my credit cards away and never, EVER, let me charge on a credit card again.  Interspersed in this rant were screams that he did NOT need my piddling business and my charges would be canceled, but it would take several days to show up on my accounts. 

As the mans accusations and threats became more intense, I demanded to speak to his superior, noting that I had NEVER been treated in such a manner by ANY companys Customer Service division.  The man became more agitated and bizarre, screaming at me that he was THE OWNER of BuyMerchant.com, and because of my background, I was a scared person who could not believe that he was THE OWNER of a company that did lots of business with nationally-known retailers, all because of his background (I cant be more specific about this part of his harangue, because the specific topic is forbidden under the rules of RipOff Report). 

There was much more hurled at me, but, suffice it to say, I was extremely upset and worried at the end of the call.  Before committing to the process of closing both of my credit cards for safety reasons, one company asked me to try the BuyMerchant.com phone number again, in case someone of more reasonable response might answer and help me solve the problem.  No such luck.  THE OWNER answered and began the assault all over again, this time threatening me with legal action and shouting that legal papers would arrive at my address the next day noting he had ALL my information! -- and he was going to sue me for defaming him and BuyMerchant.com. 

Needless to say, NOTHING at all felt right or legitimate about the conversation/confrontation with THE OWNER.  Truly alarmed, I called my credit card companies and canceled BOTH cards to be safe. 

As of this writing, I still have 3 pending charges for BuyMerchant.com on the old accounts.  (If this changes and BuyMerchant.com follows through to cancel the charges, I will update this report.  If NOT, I will report on the Dispute/Resolution process via my credit card companies.) 

Normally, I would have given the so-called OWNER of BuyMerchant.com the benefit of the doubt, explaining away his irrational and angry response as someone under undue stress from a major life event or whatever.  But this man was off the charts, raging at me from the onset of the conversation as if trying to distract me by his anger from the real issue at hand. 

This behavior closely mirrors the same experience Mark (bloomfield hills Michigan) had with BuyMerchant.com, so I am reporting this incident to warn other unsuspecting consumers, underscoring the saying, BUYER BEWARE!