Bankcard USA Deceptive and ripoff company tactics Westlake Village California

On 11/22/2004 I set up a merchant account with BankCard USA. On 12/23/2004 I Faxed the Close Merchant Account Request Form together with an addendum explaining my reason to close the account (It was finally closed on 12/24/2004)

This is such addendum.

I have called Bankcard USA because I needed a merchant account for my online company . The person who took my call was your rep Mr... I explained to him that my company was a 100% Internet business, no face to face or telephone transactions. He quoted me the discount rate at 1.59% and .20 transaction fee.

When I asked about monthly fees I was told I had to pay $79 a month for the lease of the equipment that I needed. When I asked why would I need any equipment if I were a 100% Internet he replied that the $79 was for a packet where everything was included, the terminal, the program, the shopping cart, etc. I then asked if I would have to pay any other kind of fees, monthly or other wise. He told me no. I told him that according to the application there were fees that I would have to pay. He told me to right NA in all of them.

I also asked about chargebacks fees. Again his answer was no, I would not have to pay any other fees. He told me the system was so perfect that I would never have a chargeback fee (a lie) Then, I asked him if instead of leasing I could buy the packet and how much it would be. He told me if I pay up front it would be $2,700. I bargained with him and he lower it to $2,500. I signed the application and Faxed to him on 11/16.

On Friday 19 he called me to let me know that my account has not being approved. I had information on my web related to some supplements (sport) that the Government is going to ban and it was believed that I was going to sell them on my site. Mr. ... asked me to write a letter to Bankcard stating that I was not planning to carry those product on my site. I told him that I would do that.

During the weekend, I had more time to review the application that I had signed more carefully to discover that it was not, what I thought it was based on what Mr. ... had told me. Where it says Card Acceptance Profile I saw now that Retail- Swiped was 80%, Retail-Key 10%, and Internet Transactions 10%. Then, at the bottom it gives the total of 100%. That 100% below Internet Transactions was what fooled me the first time I read the application. It was the second time I read it that I realized what had been my mistake.

In any event, I had explained very clear to Mr. ... that my business was 100% Internet and nothing else and he should have quoted me the discount rate that apply to my case, but he never did. Then, when I read the small letter I find out that the 1.59% discount rate and the .20 did not apply to Internet transactions at all.

On Monday 22, I called Mr. ... first thing in the morning. He asked me if I had sent the letter. I told him that I was not going to send any letter and that I wanted him to cancel the application and return my 2,500. He argued and asked me to give him another chance to present the application because he was sure my account would be approved this time. I told him that I was not interested anymore and to go ahead and cancel the application. He told me if that was what I wanted he would do so and credit the 2,500 to my credit card.

When I got home I had a message from Mr. ... congratulating me because my account had been approved. I called him back and I asked why he had presented the application against my wish. His reaction was to tell me how ungrateful I was after all the fight he had to put up in my behalf to have the account approved. I asked him again to forget the whole thing and to cancel it. He told me it was too now late because my account was approved.

I was mad and we argued. I told him that he lay to me and that I was going to call the president of the company if I needed to. He reacted by saying that if I wanted to play hard ball, he could also play hard ball, and then he said: Let put this in the hand of our lawyers. I asked him to let me speak with his supervisor or his boss, and he responded that he had no boss.

Finally, he told me than at the end it did not matter what either of us had said or had not say, it would be his word against mine, and that I was legally bound because I had signed a contract. Later, I found out that the real discount rate for Internet transaction was 2.29 and .25, a fact that Mr. ... never mentioned before. Another thing that he failed to mention was that I did not have to buy any equipment or program if I did not want to, I could have get it from somewhere else.

When I got the equipment, the Nurit 2085, I called Corey Dipoma as I was instructed. I needed to talked to someone about my problem and I explained to him what had happened. He told me it was up to the rep to return my money. Later, I talked to the general manager, Mr. Scott Hardy, and I again explained the situation to him. He listened to me and said he would talk to the rep.

Much later, Mr. ... called me and asked me what was what I wanted. I asked him if Mr. Hardy had talked to him. He said no, and wanted to know what it was about. I told him Mr. Hardy would call me after he had talked to him. Mr. ... responded that Mr. Hardy was not going to call me. Then, I called Mr. Hardy and confronted him. I asked him questions and he would keep quiet, until I finally asked him if he thought the way the rep had lain to my and the way he had treated me was ethical. He reluctantly responded that no, that it was not ethical. And I said: But you're not going to do anything about it, right? He responded that the company did not have a refund policy and that there was nothing he could do. It's up to the rep to return your money, he repeated again. I asked if I could speak with someone with more authority and he told me he was the one that took decision in the office, and then, he said: end of the conversation.

At this point I gave up and I decided to go ahead and make the best out of it. But then, on December 10, I received a summary statement from Bankcard for the month ending 11/30/04 in which I am asked to pay $10 for customer report and .20 for card fees ( later I found out there is also another $5 monthly fee for the shopping cart)

I am not yet operative, meaning that there is no way I could have any transactions of any kind to be charged .20.

Then, there is a note that tells me that I am going to have a $99.00 annual fee, that I was never told by my rep either (so much for no having to pay any fees) and an additional ten cent per transaction fee.

I paid $2,500 for a Nurit 2085, that I do not need because my business is 100% Internet, for the RT Ware and the RT Cart ( I talked to the person who is supposed to send me the TR Cart four times, and every time he would tell me that he would email it to me in a few minutes. He never did. As up today, I still have not get it)

The Nurit can be bought for $350-450 and the RT Ware and the RT Cart for $ 349 (as advertised by one of your own reps on the Internet)

Can any body tell me where the rest of the money went?

This is my reason for closure:

I do not feel comfortable doing business with people who are not honest, lie to me, do not tell the facts, and treat me with very little respect. I admit that in a way it was my fault by not reading the application carefully. But, not being very familiar with merchant accounts, I trusted my rep more that I should have. That was my sin and I am paying for it. Please close my account.

Sincerely,

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Note: I still would like my money back. Can anybody help me?

Adolfo
Pembroke Pines, Florida
U.S.A.

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