Complaint Review: EPS 90

I have been a customer of EPS using their credit card processing services for the past 4 years & when my contract was up I decided to research other credit card processing companies, not because I wasn't happy with them (i was) but I wanted to see if i could save money.  Through my intensive research & quotes from 6 others, I found that I am indeed getting the best rates available in addition to the standard fees all being lower with EPS. 
 
I was shocked to see complaints here on RipOff Report so decided to read through them all.  After reading through them & EPS rebuttals, I have come to the conclusion that EPS is still a great company & i will continue to do business with them as they have done everything possible within reason to rectify these complaints & I applaud that. As a small business owner I also know the golden rule that the customer is always right, but let's face, sometimes they really aren't.  I believe all businesses have encountered customers who no matter what you do to make them happy they simply will never be satisfied & I've come to learn over the years that those are the type of customers a business is better off without.

I have had very good experiences with EPS & decided to post this as it doesn't seem fair for any business to get their reputation trashed because of customer complaints from not getting their way. EPS customer service has always been very polite & helpful when I've had questions. I even used their tech support once which saved me from losing sales when my system went down over the weekend & a real person answers their support lines 24/7.  Needless to say, when evaluating EPS against other companies, they are not only by far the lowest cost & but also the best service so I decided to renew my contract with them. I even added their No credit check payment program & am looking forward to offering this new option to my customers. 

I would highly recommend doing business with EPS!

I wrote above:

So all these leases are "non-cancellable"?  Why?  For obvious reasons; the merchant has been paid a large check for the lease, and the leasing company wants its money back, along with a profit. (end quote)

I meant to write:

So all these leases are "non-cancellable"?  Why?  For obvious reasons; the Independent Sales Organization (like EPS) has been paid a large check for the lease, and the leasing company wants its money back, along with a profit.

Merchants do not receive checks from leasing companies.  The Sales company, called an ISO/MSP receives the check for signing up unsuspecting merchants.

EPS employee wrote;
"You are required to commit to the 4 year lease with them and switch to use their processing, its that simple."  FALSE -merchant is NOT required to commit to lease - A merchant always has the option to purchase equipment outright instead of financing, however, many choose the lease option rather than spending their cash.  Also,  the lease for equipment is NOT with EPS but with the leasing company.  

Reply
An EPS sales agent told us our Hypercom T7Plus was "not PCI compliant" (meets the industry security standards).  He said we would suffer potential big fines from the credit card associations for running this terminal.  Said we "needed to lease an EPS terminal to "be compliant".  He quoted lease rates that ranged from $30 to an admitted "well over $100 per month for 48 months".  The lease contract is with a separate company, but EPS sales agents are responsible for selling and getting signatures for the lease, which are only then referred to the "leasing" company.  The leasing company then pays EPS for signing up the lease.

The agent lied to us.  The Hypercom T7Plus is absolutely PCI compliant with First Data, TSYS, Paymentech, WorldPay, Elavon, Vantiv and all other Processors certified by PCI Committee certified Vendors.  Why did EPS claim that we needed a lease?

EPS employee wrote:
On a side note, we do not offer "Free" terminals because the facts are that nothing is free & the companies offering so-called 'free' equipment are making much more than the price of equipment ten-fold through various other miscellaneous fees.  We value our merchants & therefore prefer to be straight-forward with all cost and have no hidden fees. 

Reply
Absolute nonsense!  EPS signs up merchants for leases because they get a huge check from the leasing company.
For example, if the lease is for $100 per month for 48 months, the leasing company gives them a check, when the merchant has a good credit score, that typically falls around $3736!!  *That* is the sole reason for the lease.  Good
PCI compliant dial-up (runs on phone line) terminals cost only about $95 to $165 from many or most industry
suppliers.  Internet operated terminals (like a VX510DC or VX570 or FD-50) can be bought all day long for around
$300 or less.  It is precisely because terminals are so cheap that so-called "leasing companies" can pay so much money for the "lease" (Leasing companies are really "finance" companies, since in most cases they don't even supply the terminals to merchants.  They are supplied by the Independent Sales Organizations who sign up the leases in the first place, such as EPS.) 

Most providers, Independent Sales Organization Merchant Service Providers, who offer "cost-plus" pricing (used by all major corporations in the U.S.)  who provide free use of terminals, do so precisely because terminals are so cheap to begin with, and do not wish to rip off unsuspecting merchants.  Their pricing is the most transparent there is, and details all costs and fees.  There is no where to "hide" fees!

Rather, it is EPS who hides the fact that the real reason leases are pushed by them is for the big payoff check they get from the leasing company.  Terminals very rarely break down, or need to be "replaced" for "free" during any 48 month period.  

Claiming that a terminal is not PCI compliant when it is compliant is fraud when leases are claimed to be needed. Or, saying a terminal does not run on their "system" when it does run with the Processor who handles their transactions, for the purpose of imposing a lease, is also fraud.  Claiming that a merchant needs a terminal that has a "slot" in it for the new "smart cards" to work (when the current terminal lacks one) is also fraud.  These terminals only have slots, with nothing connected to them -- no hardware of any kind!  They require complete reconditioning to work.  In fact, most processors don't even have the software programs necessary to even run them on smart cards. 

The same terminal can be leased for any range of rates, according to how much the sales agent wants to make off the unsuspecting merchant.  They can lease a terminal for $30 per month for 48 months, or the very same terminal for $300 (or more) for 48 months, depending on how much the agent thinks he can get out of the particular merchant. The higher the lease, the more the agent, and EPS, makes on the lease.  An agent can lease a terminal to a very small merchant for, say $30 per month, and get a check from the leasing company for over $1100, for a $200 terminal at industry standards.  Or he can (and has) leased the very same terminal to a large merchant for $200 per month and get a check for around $7400.  The sole motive in each case is to get a large check, as big as the agent believes he can induce.

So all these leases are "non-cancellable"?  Why?  For obvious reasons; the merchant has been paid a large check for the lease, and the leasing company wants its money back, along with a profit.

If you are a merchant and have been unduced to enter into a lease by being told that your original terminal was not PCI compliant, or any of the reasons above or any other reason, feel free to fax this information to the following number and you can be informed of how to prove that you were defrauded.  Fax to:  1-866-861-2837

Please stop wasting time, I agree.

I was able to get a job and am thankful for it, but I still don't like the idea of your company taking advantage of small business owners.

Your company is in business since 1994.  Get it straight thats not 25 years, thats 17 years.  You keep posting low complaints for 25 years.  Everything you say is a stretch of the truth.  Apparently you cant help yourself.

You collect 7.5%, from someone, but you deduct from the batch payment to the merchant.  You actually only guarantee 10%.  The merchant is told to raise the price to cover your fee.  The merchant pays period!

People use words like threshold to attempt to confuse, but anyway you look at its still 10% only guaranteed by EPS.  A merchant can do this on his/her own risking only 2.5% of the monthly transactions.

There are post all over the web on your shady business practices. 

I would not recommend this product to friends or family, neither would you.  Well, on second thought, you probably would!

I'm really sorry for you that you are still so very confused over this, I will make one last attempt to 'clarify' the facts here but do not believe this is the forum for your lack of understanding of how EPS90 works nor do I think this is the place to rant & rave over a job opportunity you obviously couldn't grasp. 

1.  Lane Dorsey is the owners son,  this is a well known fact which is openly communicated to anyone.  He was ALSO a very successful agent in the field before joining our corporate team as he needed to prove himself before training agents; not sure how this realistic and good business decision on behalf of our owners can be construed as suspect. He was and still is actually held to higher standards than our over 400 other agents.  For full disclosure purposes, EPS currently has 2 other successful agents who have also joined our corporate team as they have proven to be invaluable assets to the company.

2.  Yes, our training does have the agents pay for their own transportation to Denver.  We train  30-50 agents per month, EPS pays for hotel accomodations, training materials, and all meals.  We also reimburse airfare once deals are made.  It's unreasonable to expect a company to pay for the airfare before a person even does any work, this is a business, not a free vacation.  For instance, had we paid for your airfare, it would of been a complete waste of money. In addition, although recommended, it is not required for a new agent to immediately come to corporate training upon signing up with us, we provide webinar training and one-on-one sales support so the agent can actually begin working & sign a few deals which we then pay for their airfare.  EPS invest alot to train its agents, but it is not a free ride. It is a great sales opportunity to make a very good income and build a business but it does require work.

3. Not sure why you're having trouble understanding the simple concept behind EPS90 or where you came up with 'we collect $7500' but it is completely absurd.  One more time how EPS90 works:
Ex:  Customer goes to dentist and needs $4000 of services but only has $1000.  He can put down the $1000 and use EPS90 for the remainder $3000 to be paid over 90 days not needing a credit check.  The merchant has 3 items to get from customer: ID, proof of employment/income, and bank info. There is a one-time $50 charge and 7.5% that customer pays NOT merchant.  Traditional Care Credit financing would cost customer 14.99% and not approve anyone with bad credit so the Dentist would altogether loose that patient and referrals. Payment IS guaranteed to merchant even if NSF unless the NSF checks received is over 10%- which hardly ever happens as long as upfront due diligence of 3 steps above are done.  IF merchant does happen to reach over 10%,  EPS still collects the money and gives it to merchant, it just may take longer than the 72 hours.  EPS then works with merchant to get them back under 10% - cumulative is based off total volume processed forever, it never resets.   

To put it simply, your explanation of our program is completely WRONG. There is no Scam, we offer a legitimate opportunity to help merchants offer a better payment option over traditional financing options.  EPS90 is designed to bring merchants more customers & more profits.

If anyone reading this would like to learn how EPS90 really works and the benefits of adding this alternative payment program to their business, please give us a call at 1-800-863-5995.  There is nothing hidden nor deceiving, it is a great program which is helping thousands of businesses grow across the nation.  Is all clearly laid out in our contracts and our corporate staff will gladly explain each piece in detail.  

Your lack of understanding is unfortunate but I will not waste anymore time here. We wish you the best of luck in your job search! 

First Off, the fact that Lane Dorsey was represented as a successful field agent, not the owners son, makes you suspect. Never did you mention he was a owner or son of the owner.

In order to attend this "great" training you speak of the rep has to pay for his/her own airfare to CO and pay for his/her own shuttle to the hotel 40 miles away.

10% of 100,000 is $10,000.00. You collect $7,500.00 + in up front fees for this "so called" guarantee. Also, you reset the cumulative every month, so if a merchant has a great track record, he/she looses that cumulative every month. Even when you say it, its the same thing! Also the merchant is on the hook for whatever is not done correctly. The merchant has to check pay stubs and bank records to qualify for the reimbursement. Why should a merchant be involved if this is your guarantee? Its designed to leave a loophole for you to weasel out of.

Your system is designed to leave EPS without liability. You hire loose, make agents sign for liability, make the merchant sign for liability and guarantee very little. Your rebuttal post on this site proves your scheme. This is a scam, thats all it is!

Yes a merchant can buy the system, not lease for the same amount of the lease total. Its still way over priced . You have no cash price as stated in your training.

I'm sorry you think I'm misguided, I'm not. We agree that we shouldn't be in collaboration on anything. You are completely deceptive.

Apparently you are very confused & do not understand how the program works; following are the 'facts' about how the EPS90 program works as you asked:

1. "A problem when asked for a few names/numbers of agents using this system and I was given only the owner's son name as a successful field rep" - it sounds like you only called in, talked to someone for a few minutes at most & are disappointment because we did not offer you names & numbers to call other reps?  We have a recruiting process and IF you were truly serious about joining us, you would of went through the process which includes comprehensive training at our home office and the opportunity to speak with not only our entire corporate staff but other successful independent reps as well.  Unfortunately, we do not give out names & numbers to just anyone who ask over the phone,  our reps are busy working & shouldn't be bothered with calls all day - that is what our recruiting personnel is for. Gee, really seem so strange?  Perhaps you should post your phone number here so anyone with questions could call, make sure to include your name too.

2. "company only guarantees 10% of the accepted checks"  - WRONG, You really messed this up:  EPS90 10%  threshold does not mean that only 10% of the amount of each check is guaranteed. The 10% threshold refers to keeping NSF guaranteed items at 10% or below and it's calculated on the overall processing volume not per check.  All payments are GUARANTEED as long as merchant does not exceed 10% NSF checks of overall volume.
For instance,  if a merchant processes $100,000 as long as they never go over 10% threshold, they are guaranteed ALL funds. IF a merchant did exceed the percentage of allowable NSF items, EPS collects the money owed through our collections department and the merchants is then paid. 

We have incorporated various safe-guards to ensure the guaranteed payments are made. For instance, the qualification process for accepting a customer into the program is clearly laid out on each customer application to keep the likelihood of NSF checks from being presented to a minimum. The vast majority of our merchants never reach the 10% threshold and therefore do not have any issues with payments being made. In addition, EPS works diligently with a merchant to get that percent down to under the 10% so that the payments will once again be guaranteed.  Also, merchant DOES NOT pay the 7.5%, the consumer does which is great for those with no credit and those with bad credit where using their credit card could cost double. 

3. "You are required to commit to the 4 year lease with them and switch to use their processing, its that simple."  FALSE - merchant is NOT required to commit to lease - A merchant always has the option to purchase equipment outright instead of financing, however, many choose the lease option rather than spending their cash.  Also,  the lease for equipment is NOT with EPS but with the leasing company. 

On a side note, we do not offer "Free" terminals because the facts are that nothing is free & the companies offering so-called 'free' equipment are making much more than the price of equipment ten-fold through various other miscellaneous fees.  We value our merchants & therefore prefer to be straight-forward with all cost and have no hidden fees.

If you are ever again in a potential business opportunity situation and you do not understand something, you should gain the clarification and facts before attempting to disparage a company.  I'd like to say it is unfortunate that we lost you, however, we are obviously better off as we would not want our agents to misrepresent our products.  EPS 90 No Credit Check Payment Plan is a great program that helps many merchants increase their revenues & grow their business.  It was developed to help our merchants in a tough economy gain business rather than continually loosing it. 

If you are still confused and need further clarification, please call us at 1-800-863-5995 or visit www.ezpaymentplan.net. Our staff is always willing to explain the details and help in any way.