NPMG - Lease Finance Group Non-Cancellable you didnt ask we didnt tell Phoenix Arizona
After receiving calls from these people for at least a year i finally stopped to listen to one and find out why they were calling me or how they got my information. They told me they were with JP Morgan and Chase company. They said i was picked to have my rates reduced by how much output i was doing every month with my small business. They wanted to schedule a salesperson to come out to my business and explain the program. I kept asking what the catch was here and i kept getting the answer that there wasnt one. (if its to good to be true then it is!) The sales guy showed up 2 days later and brought his laptop to show me how much money i could save on his spreadsheet program every month by using there company. He showed me i could save up to 200 to 300 dollars a month with my merchant transactions.
One of the catches was that i would need to sign a lease for a machine to get the good rates. I told the guy though that my business does not use a machine. I dont own one and i have been doing my transactions online for 6 years now. The sales guy was slick --i signed everything and thanked his company for helping a small business out. What he didnt tell me because he said i didnt ask him was if my business were to fold what would happen then. Well about a week after he came out i found out that i might be going out of business. I was not expecting this to happen but it did. I had just gotten the machine in the mail and it was still in the box.
I called NPMG up right away and told them i might be closing my doors to my business and that i hadnt opened the box for the machine yet and i wanted to cancel there service and return the machine that hadnt been opened yet. The supposed supervisor told me that i signed a Non-Cancellable agreement with them. They told me i would need to pay 500.00 or so dollars to get out of the contract with them. Ok i thought to myself this was definetly a dumb mistake on my part and i should have been smarter to catch something like this.
After arguing with the girl on the phone for a while about them charging me for services that hadnt even started yet on my account i decided that i should just pay the 500.00 and get out of this deal because i didnt want it to ruin my credit. She then explained to me that i signed a Non-cancellable lease on the machine and that i needed to take the matter up with the lease company. Ok here is where it gets worse.
I called the Lease Finance Group LLC up and told them i was going out of business and the machine they sent me last week i needed to return. I told them the machine hadnt been opened or programed yet. The guy was rude right off the bat and warned me that if i got irate with him that he had every right to hang up on me. I hadnt even gotten irate yet but he was telling me this. Sounded like to me that i wasnt the first person to call about something like this. He explained to me that it didnt matter that i only signed the agreement 2 weeks ago and the machine wasnt opened--it was that i signed a Non-cancellable agreement. Ok i started to get mad with the guy and said dont we get like 14 days or 30 days or something to return this and he said no. You are held responsible to pay from day one that you signed. I asked him how much it would be to get out of the lease and he said 6300.00. I laughed and told him i could have bought a machine for 500.00 to the same thing.
I then knew i was getting seriously ripped off here. I tried to tell the guy that i was going out of business but he didnt care--he kept saying YOU SIGNED THE LEASE and that was it. I told him he didnt give a rats a*s about me or anyone. He then said that i used profanity and started on his ego trip. I hung up the phone on the guy when he said he was going hang up on me. I was furious and started looking up the company to see if anyone else had a similar experience. Well wouldnt you know the second post on google is Ripoff.com. I click on here and read all the complaints. Now i am writing to share with all of you my experiences. I havent reported them to anyone yet but i guess i am going to now. I wonder if i should change my business account with Wellsfargo so i dont keep getting charged for something i dont want to use. I wonder if the bank will understand what happened. I had my merchant services with them before and everything was great except i felt they were charging me to much. I will help anyone with this. Please let me know if someone does file a class action lawsuit. Any other advice on this would be great!
Thanks
John
Tucson, Arizona
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Darlene
Pigeon Forge,Tennessee,
U.S.A.
Complex Scam by Multiple companies
#5Consumer Suggestion
Tue, March 28, 2006
There are multiple ripoff reports posted concerning the issue of credit card processing sales and services. Many of these are listed against Lease Finance Group. I would also suggest that you report the company that came into your business and the ISO for which they are doing business.
Also report all of these occurence to the FTC. In 2002 the FTC prosecuted a company called Certified Merchant Services for the same type of unfair and deceptive sales practices. This company had to pay $25 million dollars back to its customers.
What we have found is that this is a complex scam which is participated in by many companies. Please bear with me, this gets a little complex.
Visa and MasterCard are both controlled by member banks. Check the Visa web site for a listing of all member banks. The banks that are members don't want the hassle of dealing with thousands of merchants so they hire ISO's (independent Sales organizations) to actually handle the ACH processing of credit card transactions. These ISO's don't want the hassle of marketing to thousands of merchants so they hire "contract labor" to call you and sell you credit card processing.
The sales people that come into your business are actually under contract with an ISO and a finance company. They get money when they sell you equipment. They get a percentage of each credit card you process. It seems to be the trend from all the reports that I have read that they will say anything to get you to sign, but they do not have the authority to provide you with any of the "services" that they say they can.
If the company that came into your business said anything like,"We can offer you a better rate because we are Visa / MasterCard." please complain to VISA. Check the visausa web site for a contact email. This is a violation of VISA guidelines.
Complain to the main bank that is a VISA member, they should know if the companies that they are hiring are honest.
Complain to the BBB but follow up and ask for arbitration if necessary.
Is your company listed on the national no call list. If it is, how did this company get your number to call you? If they are in violation of the National no call law. Please report them.
Basically,don't give up.
John
Tucson,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Follow up--Helpful website
#5Author of original report
Sat, March 18, 2006
I might be taking a chance here posting this here because NPMG probably comes here to read this forum. I took the advice of some of the fellow posters and closed my business account and opened a new one. Thank god i was able to do this before they switched (slammed , bait and switch) my merchant services. I called my currect processor Wells Fargo and they told me i will be safe now with my new account.
I taped the box up for the machine and sent it back to where it came from with a delivery confirmation. I will write a letter telling them i will not be paying there crooked company once i receive that confirmation.
I called the Attourney Generals office today and spoke with a very nice lady in the office who directed me to fill out a complaint on there new website at http://www.azag.gov/consumer/complaintform.html She said once i fill this out they will get it off the web in the phoenix office then send it down to the Tucson office and then they would follow up with me. She did tell me she thought i did the right thing by closing my account and sending back the machine with the delivery confirmation. I am sure the fun will begin next week when they try and switch my processor and the bank says to them you have the wrong account number. I will keep everyone updated what happens. Thanks to everyone for there advice and support on this site.
Jennifer
77502,Texas,
U.S.A.
There is no way to bargain with this company
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, March 17, 2006
A company named Innovative contacted me about setting up a merchant account with them, they promised a free website, the moon and the stars. Of course, they do not tell you about the non-cancelable lease you have to sign in order to get their great rates and free website. Once I signed, there was no website, I could not get a hold of no one at their offices, I only got voicemails and no one returned my calls. I eventually reported them to the BBB.
This leasing company does not care if you are no longer in business; as long as you singed the contract there is no turning back. I had to cancel my bank account in order to stop the charges. This company called me day and night asking for payment, they called every 30 minutes every day for about 2 months. They are rude and you cannot bargain with them. I sent several letters because I wanted to return the machine and I always got a no. I also sent them a Debt Negotiation letter where I offered to pay half of what was owed so they would cancel the lease and they did not accept it either. I guess they prefer nothing instead of something. They eventually ruined my credit and they will not accept any type of negotiation in order to get out of the contract. I am not sure if there is any legal action you can take against these people since we did sign a Non-Cancelable lease even if we were tricked into doing so.
I have tried anything and everything with these people and I also tried to get some kind of legal advice on what to do or if there is even a way to get out of the Lease but with no luck. All these people want is their money so unless I come up with the amount owed, I will have the Charge-Off on my credit for seven years.
Kat
San Francisco,California,
U.S.A.
CIT ripoffs
#5Consumer Suggestion
Thu, March 16, 2006
Read my posting from previous 2-3 days you will find the helpful tip.
Follow through is the thing that everyone needs to do with their compliants.
Close your bank account and open another one.