Leaders, Leaders- The Merchant Services Company Fees Not Properly Disclosed and Changes to My Rate Not Guaranteed Calabasas California
I want to report this company as it seems to have many "fees" that are not properly disclosed.
First off, when I signed up with them, I told them I did not want American Express and Discover. My sales rep reassured me to sign the contract the way it was and she would take it off.
Well, that was April, and I just got all these $5.95 fees from American Express. Which needless to say, overdrew my checking account and American Express said that I had to cancel through them, not my merchant services. Well, that was $100.00 in fees that Leaders nor American Express got, but none the less, it affected my business!!
Then in August I talked to a Mr. Marvin Davis at the company. I talked to him on July 24th to be exact, and we looked at my acct history to see if there was a way to save me money on monthly fees as I was hardly staying in business. He told me he could drop me from $25.00 to $5.00 monthly minimum discount plus the $3.00 monthly terminal fee. My cards would be processed at a higher non qualified rate and I agreed. Yet none of my monthly statements have shown that to date. I am still being charged $25.00 a month plus all my cards are at the non qualified rate.
Last month I was charged a dormant fee for not using my machine!! I already pay them $28.00 a month. That fee, to me is erroneous!! And the fee is not disclosed in the list of fees on my contract. It is in tiny print along with some other material. JUst like their $99 annual fee is CONVENIENTLY located in a paragraph that discusses Discover and American Express information. To me it sounded like if I used AMEX or Discover then I get the $99 fee.
Again, that overdrew me! Leaders did refund the fee but I still had a $32.00 overdraft fee. I guess the last thing that has made me file this complaint is I called yesterday to complain about my nonqualified charges when I am still paying the $25.00 and not the $8.00 as promised, Mr. Marvin Davis said there is nothing in the records of that July 24th conversation. And when I asked him about the $7.30 dormant fee he told me it was in my contract under my list of fees! IT ISN'T!! It is listed in fine print somewhere else!!
I tried to call Sarah Tieman and Corrie Fieitsch, but they were not in. I want to cancel my account with them. He told me I would have $350.00 early termination fee. I think after all the headaches, lies, and bank fees I have had, it is time to wipe that clean. I have written here, I will contact the Santa Barbara BBB, the Ventura Attorney General's office and the Federal Trade Commission.
I have had other merchant services before, and was able to let me out of my contract due to the small amount of business I actually transact. Why can't they?? If they are truly a reputable company as they say they are, they will let me send in a written request to cancel my account without any fees.
Andrea
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Andrea
Milwaukee,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Thank You Sarah & Leaders-
#6Author of original report
Tue, January 01, 2008
I would like to thank Sarah and Corrie for the effort to resolve my issues. I am confident moving forward with Leaders at this point. I will call you on Jan. 2nd to get everything squared away and put my trust back into your company.
Sincerely,
Andrea
Andrea
Milwaukee,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Thank You Sarah & Leaders-
#6Author of original report
Tue, January 01, 2008
I would like to thank Sarah and Corrie for the effort to resolve my issues. I am confident moving forward with Leaders at this point. I will call you on Jan. 2nd to get everything squared away and put my trust back into your company.
Sincerely,
Andrea
Andrea
Milwaukee,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Thank You Sarah & Leaders-
#6Author of original report
Tue, January 01, 2008
I would like to thank Sarah and Corrie for the effort to resolve my issues. I am confident moving forward with Leaders at this point. I will call you on Jan. 2nd to get everything squared away and put my trust back into your company.
Sincerely,
Andrea
Sarah
Camarillo,California,
U.S.A.
LEADERS believes in full disclosure of all fees.
#6UPDATE Employee
Fri, December 28, 2007
Leaders Merchant Services prides itself in providing our merchants with quality service as well as full disclosure of all fees, and does not like to hear that anyone has had an unpleasant experience with us. All of the fees assessed to the merchant are clearly identified in the documents signed by the merchant. We clearly urge all of our merchants in our written correspondence to read all of their paperwork before signing their contract to avoid future misunderstandings.
The merchant opened her account with our company on April 26, 2007 and states she was charged for American Express and Discover which she did not want. The merchant also states the sales representative advised her to sign the application and would take the services off once the application was signed. We apologize for this as the sales representative has no authority to alter an application once it has been signed and we do not engage in this type of activity. The merchant also states she is being charged a $99.00 Annual Fee that she was not aware. As stated above, this Annual Fee as well as all of our fees are clearly disclosed on our application and should be read by the merchant before signing. Nonetheless, when the merchant contacted our Customer Care Department on July 14, 2007 the $99.00 Annual Fee was refunded. It was our understanding the merchant was pleased and would continue processing with our company. The merchant also states her monthly fees were to be $8.00 a month, not the $28.00 she is being charged. The merchant also states she called in on July 24, 2007 and spoke with Marvin Davis and was told this would be taken care of. Unfortunately, our records do not indicate this however; I do show on September 5, 2007 her monthly fees were to be lowered to $8.00 a month. This did not happen and we apologize for our Customer Care representative not following through. Lastly the merchant states she was charged a $7.30 Dormancy Fee for not processing in a given month, in addition to her monthly fees. This fee is also disclosed on the pre-application signed by the merchant.
LEADERS would like the merchant to continue processing her credit card transactions through our company and would like to offer the following solution. We will lower the merchant's monthly fees to $8.00 a month and issue the merchant a refund for the difference from July of 2007 through December of 2007. LEADERS will also waive and refund the $7.30 Dormancy Fee.
If the merchant is still not pleased, LEADERS is willing to cancel the merchant account with no Early Termination Fee. We at LEADERS pride ourselves in providing our merchant's with quality service and regret that the merchant had an unpleasant experience.
Andrea
Milwaukee,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Talked To Corrie Feitsch and she promised a no early termination fee...
#6Author of original report
Thu, December 20, 2007
I finally got in touch with Corrie at Leaders today. Only after the receptionist kept asking my why I was calling. It should not matter, I just watned to talk to her or Sarah.
I told COrrie the story I reported on this website and she finally agreed that if I return the machine to their Via Alondra address is Camarillo California, she would cancel my account without penalties.
So we will see what happens next. She seemed nice with a professional demeanor. But I will have to wait and see to make sure she and her company stick to the promise they gave me today.