Merchant Services Direct Do not be tempted by the "low" rates...it's all in the FEES! Spokane , Washington
September 2010 - Smooth talking Nick came into my store to offer the services. I had been looking for a way to get away from ChasePaymentech (I thought they were overchraging). Nick and I went over my statement and he indicated he could save me hundreds a month even though I wasn't paying Chase "hundreds" every month. I was a small business processor - mostly cash and store credit - but hundreds sounded good. Signed all the documents he requested the next day, met him outside his car in my office parking lot. Should have been wary then but the promise of "hundreds" a month was compelling.
After getting charged the $299 for the new Vx510, I got my first statement. I hadn't even processed anything on the machine -waiting for the new month to start fresh to see the "hundreds" in savings. My first statement had a processing fee for thier "test" penny + statement fee of $5. THe first month without any useage cost m $5.32. All for a penny! Now I'm pissed and confused, call Nick's supervisor, told him the story and he said "next time Nick is in town..i'll have him bring you $5 to make up for it." Nine months later Nick has never shown his face back in my location.
October 2010...the new statement comes out and all looks good but ..who in the hell can read these thing...numbers, confusing jargon, daily interchange rates, miscellaneous fees.
I call the 1- 800# to get someexplanation of why there are miscellaneous fees and why they are not spelled out on the statements. They walk me through it I'm good to go.
This month I also get a LEASE payment drawn from my bank acount for the Vx510. $39.99/month...i call and inquire and they say it was for the Vx510 and it is for 4 years! FOUR years ($2000) for an appliance I could buy on Ebay for around $175. And what was wrong with my original terminal....Can you Kickback?????? I did resolve to get this stopped and they did pay me back for the 3 months of lease payments and "property taxes" they took from my account. took 4 weeks but I got it back.
November - December 2010 - more miscellaneous fees..i call again...get the same BS answer and now they say we'll get those refunded and some are "legitimate" fees. None of the fees are spelled out in my contract. I have read it several times and no indication of miscellaneous fees.
January and i have a $30 PCI non-compliance fee on my statement...what the hell is PCI non-compliance. Again I call the CS center and get ...you must be compliant. No warning no "hey this is a fee for me being an idiot" just you gotta be complinat...never had this issue with Chase Paymentech.
Became compliant end of January...another non-compliance in February cuz "thier system didn't recognize it, we'll get that refunded" Not sure I've ever seen it but hey i pay for customer service.
Feb.march April---same BS stories from their customer service department. They cannot tell me why my Vx510 batches 60x per month to the tune of .20 each (another scam). The only way to fix it was to unplug it at night and manually batch.
Closed my store in May 2011...still no May or June statement...I still have to be compliant for the next 3 years or get charged $30/ month for non-compliance...cannot close the merchant account unless I want to give these thieves another $250-$350.
After all is said and done...the worst business decision I EVER MADE!!!
I would recommend staying away from this company...Merchant Services Direct spokane Washington...
Not a good fit and horrible customer relationship...once we got ya its all about the $$$.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
MT Gamer
Butte,Montana,
USA
Statement!! Finally!!
#7Author of original report
Mon, September 12, 2011
Got my first statement from MSD to my "new" address today! Dated 8/31/2011...recieved 9/12/2011.
As usual it is 2/3 of a page of gibberish about charging merchants more fees and other stuff that is never in the original contract.
THey just suck!!
MT Gamer
Butte,Montana,
USA
Another FEE!!!!
#7Author of original report
Thu, August 04, 2011
Checking my bank account today Igot charged $9.95 From MSD intead of the promised $5.00 for the statement fee. Seems as thoug there is some kind of regulatory fee that hit merchants in July. I haven't been getting statements since May so who knows what the deal is.
While the 2 people I spoke to on the phone were nice...another scenario of "golly we just can't fix anything".
As a small business person located in a small town that talks to each other on business related items...I cannot and WILL NOT recommend MSD!
I called another processor today...they are not even aware of the 2008 Housing Act fee...do not require thier clients to be compliant more than annually.
THe only thing that matched MSD was PCI compliance and non-compliance. Both processors charge it.
RUN AWAY from Merchant Service Direct. THey are ruining the credit card reputation in Montana.
Slick salemen in a sharkskin suit and slicked back hair!
DANGER!!!!
MT Gamer
Butte,Montana,
United States of America
Maybe I'm wrong but...
#7Author of original report
Thu, July 28, 2011
Took them over a month to respond to my original rant on this Ripoff report about poor customer service. I got more than I expected from them.
MSD now has my Vx510 Terminal. I sent it back.
I PCI - quarterly complianced in June and there was not a $30 compliance fee only the $5 statement fee. 1 battle abverted until the next
I never recieved a July 1st statement, I guess you are choosing to ignore the mailing system and sent it somewhere unknown. I cannot get your "asterisk and bold lettered announncements" any longer unless you choose to send out a statement.
I expect that I will close the account formally later in the year. Let you send me to collections for the $250. WE'll settle on a making a deal sometime in the future. You'll leave my life forever and move on to fee some other unsuspecting merchant.
And BTW...I'm glad I gave my name so you remember who I am but, by golly gosh be darned, surprisingly you didn't reveal yours. If you know me an worked with me on my account...i find it surprising that you did not contact me personally so I can place a retraction here on the Ripoff report.
I'd be glad to "trade" you some of the existing product I have left from my store for the buyout!
Ariel
United States of AmericaRebuttal from MSD
#7UPDATE Employee
Thu, July 28, 2011
Jason,
I am very sorry to see that this complaint has been submitted as I worked with you personally on resolving your problems. I have reviewed the highlights of your complaint and it appears as though everything stems back to the original contracts that were signed. Each fee that has been charged throughout the life of your business with us was outlined on either the original contract signed, or was on multiple monthly statements, highlighted by asterisks and capital letters.
I can understand how you feel; I dont know how many times I have signed contracts with fine print that I didnt read all of the way. On that very same note, I cannot get out of my cell phone contract when I realize that I dont like what I signed a few months down the road. All I can do is try to get adjustments to the account that make it a more favorable agreement.
Over the course of your conversations with us, we have done everything we could to keep you informed about fees, as well as working with you to find a fee schedule that best matched your business needs. Although there are no more adjustments that would be possible to make, I would like to opportunity to speak with you about finding what is most cost effective for your needs; keeping your account open will cost you more money in the long run due to PCI Non-Compliance, rather than just paying the early termination fee now. When you have an open merchant account for a business that no longer exists, it is not possible for you to remain compliant.
I believe you have my personal contact information, but if not, feel free to call our toll free line at 877-928-0305 to further discuss this matter.
Thank you,
Operations Manager
Merchant Services Direct
MT Gamer
Butte,Montana,
United States of America
DO NOT WORK WITH MERCHANT SERVICES DIRECT!!!
#7Author of original report
Thu, June 23, 2011
RUN DO NOT WALK AWAY!! Today, I got my statement for June 20 days late and lo and behold another non-compliance fee. After calling the call center they told me that since I was no longer able to "self-assess and scan my network" that I would be charged the $30 non-compliance fee every month! Along with that comes a $5 statement fee.
This company is BS....shady business practices and definitely in it for themselves.
They appreciate your business since they get paid to sit on their back scamming butts and take small retailers money via FEES!
RUN>>>RUN>>>RUN>>>
Merchant Services Direct
Spokane Washington
Like other..I'm not afraid to tell Merchant Services who I am.
Jason M
ex-franchisee
Play N Trade video games
Butte, MT
But I guarantee you....this company has no backbone in good faith or customer service!!!
STAY VERY FAR AWAY!!!!!
Susan
This City,Illinois,
USA
Red flags
#7Consumer Comment
Wed, June 22, 2011
You said the first red flag yourself
" he indicated he could save me hundreds a month even though I wasn't paying Chase "hundreds" every month. "
Ummmm....