Complaint Review: Crescent Processing Company

A salesperson for the Crescent Processing Company offered my small business a credit card processor.  He said the monthly fee was $6.50  and each transaction would cost 1.6%.  He also said it would be a 2-year contract. 

I signed a 22-page document full of legal terms that I did not understand, then I began being charged over $53.00 a month in fees, in addition to the 1.6% transaction fees.  The salesperson did not disclose that I would also be paying fees for eight other merchant services that I did not need, such as "gift card service," "check service," and "debit PIN service."  

The first time I called the company to ask about the excessive fees I was told that the extra services would be cancelled from my account.   That was a lie.   The monthly fees were still over $53.00. 

When I called the second time to cancel the account  I was told the cancellation fee would be $495.00.  The salesperson had never mentioned a cancellation fee.  The rep on the phone also said my contract was for 4 years, even though the salesperson told me it was for 2 years.  When I told the rep that the salesperson lied and did not disclose the details, she responded "that was 6 months ago!"   She knew I was scammed and did not care.

I am stuck with Crescent until I find another processing company that is willing to pay my cancellation fee or a lawyer who can prove the company was deceptive and remove the contract. 

My advice to small business owners is to read over the fine print in these huge contracts and ask a lot of questions before signing anything.  If the salesperson is pressuring you, tell him to come back the next day after you have read the contract.