North American Bancard - Global Payments Check Processing ripoff, False representation, Lied about fees & length of contract Troy Michigan
North American Bancard i.e. Global Payment Or Global Payment STL or whatever they call themselves has taken advantage of me and my new business in the classic way that only cc proccesing companies can.
First of all, when I signed up, I was told that I was signing a 1 year contract and leasing a "refurbished" machine for $14.95 a month for 1 year. The cost of the machine if I bought it outright was only $150.00, leasing I would eventually pay $179.00. Being that my business start up capital was getting low, I opted for leasing, only a $29 loss. Plus leasing helped build my new business some credit.Which it has.
My machine had a 60 day limited warranty b/c it was refurbished.
The swipe device on the machine stopped working 6 1/2 weeks later. When I called NAB about this they said that they did not provide the warranty, that I would have to call the lease agent - CIT - to get it repaired. When I called CIT they informed me that they were only a finacial company providing the funding for me to lease the equipment from NAB.
Called NAB back and they said I should call the machine manufacturer - Hypercom. Hypercom said that they had sold my machine directly to NAB outright & had no responsibility.
Called NAB back, (see a pattern here?) and they finally admitted that the machine was their responsibility but since I had waited so long to contact them it was now out of warranty. By the way, all of the calls I made was over a period of 2 weeks and I was hung up on & transfered so many times that it was impossible to get any kind of answer in just 1 business day.
NAB did give me 1 solution to my problem, buy a new machine. They told me I could ship my old machine back to them & buy a brand new machine for only $100. This sounded odd to me b/c at my initial sign up a new machine sold for $550. So, I told them I would buy the new machine. They then informed me that I still had to pay the lease to CIT for the old one I was sending back. Which by the way, was now $19 instead of the $14.95 I was quoted.
I called CIT for the exact date of my end lease. They told me that I had a 48 month lease. OUTRAGEOUS! When I reviewed my contract, there it was - 48 months. Boy I was mad! Why does this make me so mad? I know it was my fault for not reading the fine print. But now I am stuck with this junk machine.
Why am I saying NAB is stealing from me? Because you see, my swiped/keyed ratio is 95% swiped & 5% keyed. With my swipe not working,I now have to key in every single transaction. This means more money for NAB. Alot more. Not only do they keep 1.49% of every trans, they keep and additional 1.59% for every trans that is keyed, a total of 2.99% plus an additional percentage for not meeting my ratio.
I have tried to get them to change my ratio to 100% keyed, but of course they won't do it until my contract is up, and they say it is not up until 2007. NOT what I agreed to. I checked my contract & no where on it does it give an end contract date.
Also, today they charged me $70 for my monthly service charge. My monthly service charge, as explained by my rep is only $25 per month. I added their check processing for an additional $10, bringing my total to $35. So why are they charging me double? NAB told me that they did not charge a monthly service fee. I told the rep that they charged me every month, I even got a statement with their name at the top.
The rep told me the full charge of $35 was just for the check processing and nothing more. Now I am really mad b/c my original rep lied to me when he stated on a recorded call that my monthly fee for credit card processing was $25 and I could add the check processing for $10 extra. None of that was true! If he would have told me that check processing was $35 total I would never have agreed to it! I have another source that charges $15 a month. I would have signed with them instead.
Now regarding the overcharge of $70, it was explained to me that it was for an annual fee. Well, I was never told that I would have to pay an annual fee, nor is that in my contract! Plus, it has only been 10 months since I signed with them, why charge me an annual fee now? Doesn't that come at the end of your contract when you renew?
So far I have met with nothing but hang ups, transfers, and "you need to call the other company, your problem has nothing to do with NAB". How can NAB not be responsible for any of its own divisions, or for any product or part of an agreement that I signed solely through NAB on their own letterhead?
Stacey
Danville, Virginia
U.S.A.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Stacey
Danville,Virginia,
U.S.A.
progress report
#6Author of original report
Fri, March 03, 2006
Shortly after posting my comments to the Rip-Off Report, North American Bancard did contact me and provided me with the customer service that I had been looking for. Kim Tippin, a representative of North American, sent a replacemnet machine at their cost in exchange for the bad machine that we had. Also, the terms of our contract were ammended to be a one year agreement,which is what we thought we were bound to - not four years as the omitted pages of the contract stated,and this seems satisfactory for all parties involved. I commend North American Bancard for finally stepping up and righting the wrongs that occured with our service agreement. I apologize that we had to resort to these tactics in order to receive customer service, but I hope that North American Bancard learned a lesson in providing customer service. We have certainly learned our lesson regarding reading and requesting contracts.
Thank You,
Stacey
Danville,Virginia,
U.S.A.
progress report
#6Author of original report
Fri, March 03, 2006
Shortly after posting my comments to the Rip-Off Report, North American Bancard did contact me and provided me with the customer service that I had been looking for. Kim Tippin, a representative of North American, sent a replacemnet machine at their cost in exchange for the bad machine that we had. Also, the terms of our contract were ammended to be a one year agreement,which is what we thought we were bound to - not four years as the omitted pages of the contract stated,and this seems satisfactory for all parties involved. I commend North American Bancard for finally stepping up and righting the wrongs that occured with our service agreement. I apologize that we had to resort to these tactics in order to receive customer service, but I hope that North American Bancard learned a lesson in providing customer service. We have certainly learned our lesson regarding reading and requesting contracts.
Thank You,
Stacey
Danville,Virginia,
U.S.A.
progress report
#6Author of original report
Fri, March 03, 2006
Shortly after posting my comments to the Rip-Off Report, North American Bancard did contact me and provided me with the customer service that I had been looking for. Kim Tippin, a representative of North American, sent a replacemnet machine at their cost in exchange for the bad machine that we had. Also, the terms of our contract were ammended to be a one year agreement,which is what we thought we were bound to - not four years as the omitted pages of the contract stated,and this seems satisfactory for all parties involved. I commend North American Bancard for finally stepping up and righting the wrongs that occured with our service agreement. I apologize that we had to resort to these tactics in order to receive customer service, but I hope that North American Bancard learned a lesson in providing customer service. We have certainly learned our lesson regarding reading and requesting contracts.
Thank You,
Stacey
Danville,Virginia,
U.S.A.
progress report
#6Author of original report
Fri, March 03, 2006
Shortly after posting my comments to the Rip-Off Report, North American Bancard did contact me and provided me with the customer service that I had been looking for. Kim Tippin, a representative of North American, sent a replacemnet machine at their cost in exchange for the bad machine that we had. Also, the terms of our contract were ammended to be a one year agreement,which is what we thought we were bound to - not four years as the omitted pages of the contract stated,and this seems satisfactory for all parties involved. I commend North American Bancard for finally stepping up and righting the wrongs that occured with our service agreement. I apologize that we had to resort to these tactics in order to receive customer service, but I hope that North American Bancard learned a lesson in providing customer service. We have certainly learned our lesson regarding reading and requesting contracts.
Thank You,
Kimberly
Troy,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Response to Danville, VA's Concerns
#6UPDATE Employee
Wed, December 14, 2005
At North American Bancard we pride ourselves on providing quality service to our Merchants. We sympathize with Stacey's frustrations but would like to address the allegations made by her, as we have been unsuccessful in obtaining a return call from her to personally address her situation.
Stacey requested the services of three separate companies to accommodate her processing needs. This included North American Bancard for credit card processing, Global Checks for check processing, and CIT Lease Group for the lease of a POS terminal. Each of these requests required a separate signed contract and each contract outlined the terms and conditions specific to that unique agreement.
Our, North American Bancard's, contract specifies a three-year term and breaks down all fees associated with the contract and how they are applied. This includes the Discount rate paid based on sales volume and transactions, as well as applicable other fees, including the Monthly Minimum and Statement charges mentioned in her post. Global Check's contract specifies a one-year term and breaks down the Discount rate paid based on check sales volume and transactions, as well as the Monthly Minimum and Statement charges. CIT Lease Group's contract specifies a 48-month term. CIT Lease Group also conducts a verbal review of each contract with the merchant, verifying the contract terms and condition are understood and agreed to.
It us our understanding, based on Stacey's post, that there is confusion between the contracts and associated fees. Our notes indicate multiple attempts have been made to eliminate this confusion and to educate her on whom to correspond with at Global Checks and CIT Lease Group in order to resolve her issues or address her concerns.
As to the POS terminal, our records indicate the terminal was delivered on January 31st, 2005. The initial contact regarding the inability of the terminal to accept swiped transactions came to us on April 29th, 2005, which unfortunately exceeded the 60-day warranty time frame. Our records indicate that an alternate solution was offered at that time to Swap the existing terminal with a new refurbished terminal for the reduced price of $99.00, however this offer was declined. In addition, we conducted a conference call between Stacey and the manufacturer of the terminal, and they explained to her the extended limited warranty and how to return the terminal for repair. Again, this offer was also declined.
Again, North American Bancard empathizes with Stacey and understands her frustration. However, as clearly noted above, we have made multiple attempts in good faith to contact her to agree upon a mutual resolution.
Since our inception in 1992, we continue to provide unparalleled merchant account processing services for each and every customer. In dedicating ourselves to providing quality services, we continue to scan the digital horizon in able to offer state-of-the-art merchant account processing equipment, competitive rates, and superior, personalized service that will help you better serve your customers. Our responsiveness, integrity, and commitment to quality services have propelled us to the top of the merchant account processing industry.