Complaint Review: Merchant Processing

Many of those affected by Merchant Processing or MPI are retail or store owners. In this case, the organization I belong to was providing the service of finding employees for MPI. We were the first staffing company to provide "contract-to-hire" employees and we had a tumultuous relationship with them from the beginning. They wanted 15 "analysts" or appointment setters the day after our initial meeting with Aaron Rian. We were witnessing tremendous turnover during a 4-5 month period of staffing for MPI.

Several times we attempted to coach and consult with the management of MPI including Aaron, Mike Degroat and other floor managers to ensure our employees were in an ethical and friendly environment. Other names to note are Karely McCarthy, who heads up the Inside Sales department. Each of the aforementioned managers owns a vehicle from the following list: ferrari, hummer, mercedes, lexus and a bmw. At the same time, they promise analysts and inside sales members lucrative bonuses/commissions. When in fact, these promised commissions never materialized. They were lured into jobs paying $8/hr and performing admirably by setting several appointments that were subsequently closed.

The average tenure of an exceptional performer was approximately 3 months. They were terminated for bogus reasons and as a result, never received their commissions/bonuses. We received an influx of negative feedback about the management practices at MPI; thus resulting in our consistent coaching methods to make MPI a better place. We were unsuccessful in our efforts and the bottom-line, we too were ripped off by this organization.

Approximately 5 months into our "partnership" with Merchant Processing, we approached Mike Degroat about his management style. He responded by claiming he would no longer use our service. Minutes after this telephone conversation, he called all of our employees still under contract, into a meeting. He informed each and every one that they had two decisions: Quit the staffing service you belong to and join MPI permanently or have their employment with MPI terminated. As such, most were left with little choice but to accept the former offer. MPI refused to pay our fees for hiring a contract employee prior to the agreed upon contract length. They involved their lawyers who also refused to pay.

Merchant Processing has surreptitiously situated itself for profitable gains at the expense of its own employees and the customer base they target on a daily basis. I regret ever supplying employees to such an unethical company and subjecting those employees to the squandering of honest, hard-working business owners. If I had known of a foul reputation prior to working with MPI, I would have never pursued their business. They are simply positioned for quick and lucrative capital and will move on to a different location and business name once their name is soured enough. My aim is to ensure their organization and the entities therewithin, not their name, is well known to anywhere they may relocate so no one else may be squandered of money. That is all.

R
Beaverton, Oregon
U.S.A.