Complaint Review: NOVA Merchant Services

I was contacted by NOVA Merchant Services in April about my small business using their services for credit card processing. I agreed to meet with their sales rep and we set up a time for her to meet with me.  During the meeting she assured me that  they could save me money  and had me fill out and sign some papers. During the meeting I specifically told her, several times, that I was not ready to sign a contract as I needed to confer with my husband and that I'd like references from others that used their services. She told me that I was only completing preliminary paperwork and that everything would be in place IF I decided to move forward. She left, leaving me no copies of her paperwork.

Two days  after the meeting, on April 25th, I received an email thanking me for signing up with PayProtec and two days later received a credit card processing machine from First Data Leasing. Confused I called the company on May 7th and spoke to Jonathan Cohen and told him my concerns about receiving the aforementioned and he assured me that was how they did things and the sales rep, Meghan, would call me back that day; she did not. I finally talked to Meghan on May 13th and she told met that I should not have received the machine and that she would call the company and take care of it. On May 16, 51.36 from First Data Leasing was deducted from my bank account. I called Meghan on the 18th after discovering this and she said the account should  have been canceled. I did not hear back from her but did recieve a copy of the agreement that I had signed.

On May 21st my husband sent an email to NOVA. My husband and I both spoke to Steve Morton (owner) on May 24th. After much "discussion" he agreed to cancel the agreement if we agreed NOT to post any negative comments online. When we told him we had tried calling Meghan to confirm the details of the sales meeting, he informed us that she had been instructed not to speak to us. After the call we received and email with a shipping label to return the credit card machine but no mention of canceling the contract. When we responeded back to that email, wanting confirmation of the cancellation, we were told it could not be provided. My husband sent several texts to Steve and was told each time that we could expect the cancellation by "next week" but of course we never received a thing. 

After numerous calls and text to the company over the next few days, I finally spoke to Dave Schneider on June 16th. He informed me that the contract could not be canceled but they could try to resell it although it could take several weeks. In the meantime another 32.78 was deducted from my account. I did not hear anything for several days and called back on June 30th. This time Dave told me that this was a "process" and could take several weeks but they were working on it. On my next call, in early July, I spoke to Raphael who informed me that everything was taken care of and the contract was canceled. I called First Data Leasing to confirm with them and they said the contract had been dissolved. At this point I was glad to have the ordeal behind me. 

Soon after I received an email from PayProtec stating I needed to complete a PCI compliance questionnaire. Knowing that I was compliant with my current processing company I disregarded the notice. After receiving additional notices, I called to let them know that I was up to date on my compliance. In speaking with them, they informed me that this was for an account that was opened in April. Realizing they were referring to the NOVA account, I informed them that it was a mistake as that contract had been canceled. They informed me that I had to close the account, sign myself, and that it would cost me $800 since I was cancelling before the contract's end. At this point I was talking to someone at North American Bancard which I found at late is the same as PayProtec. 

On August 1, after finding out that the contract had not been canceled I called Dave at NOVA. In this call he told me that what had been canceled was my First Data Leasing contract. I stated that I didn't realize there was more than one company involved, he said I should have been aware of  that and that it was stated in my signed contract.  He also said that I had gone over 90 day limit of cancelation. When I said that I felt that I had been manipulated by his company, he replied that I was the one doing the manipulating. At this point, I hung up!

In further discussions with North American Bancard, we have been told that there is nothing they can do. In order to  get out of the agreement we will need to pay $800. In regards to the PCI compliance, even though we are not using the machine or their services, if not completed, we will be assessed a charge of $19.90/month. We will also be charged a PCI annual fee of $99 regardless of completion or not. 

The take-away from all of this: I feel that the Merchant Industry is made up of some very unscrupulous people. From our first encounter with this company we have been fed lies and have been manipulated. I was wrong in taking the word of the sales rep from the beginning and have learned a very painful and expensive lesson. My warning to others is to let you know that these people prey on small businesses, ones that don't have the time or resources to follow up and to do their due dilegence. Please be wary of anyone that approaches you about saving money with their credit card processing. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Use a company that is recommended to you by someone that is familiar with them and has used their services. Being a new business owner, I was not aware, and naive, about how dishonest companies could be when they want your business.