TransTech Merchant Group, First American Payment Systems Holding my customer's money, won't allow return of equipment Fort Worth Texas
TransTech / First American Payment Systems of Fort Worth, Texas, a credit card processing firm, has swindled University Motors out of $5,000.
University Motors, opened in January, 1975, and incorporated in the State of Michigan in 1989. We are in the automotive service trade, dealing specifically with MGs and other classic British sportscars. We have automobiles in our shop today from Illinois, Massachusetts, and Colorado, as well as Michigan. We have bench service jobs in our shop from Florida and Pennsylvania, as well as Michigan. We have had credit card service since about 1980.
We frequently receive telephone solicitations by credit card processing firms offering us low rates. We have always rebuffed these cold sales calls. However, Mr Robert Westing, a former customer, approached us in person, representing TransTech Merchant Group, and showed us dramatic savings if we changed to his firm. We made that change about the beginning of September, 2006. For two months our credit cards, whether swiped or keyed in, were processed and deposited into our account without incident.
On Thursday, October 19, 2006, we attempted to key in a customer's card from Florida for about $3500. The charge was not immediately approved. We had to call our customer and ask him to call his bank to authorize the payment, which he did. The next morning we received a telephone call from Jeremy #3, representing TransTech, who told us that he would not process the card. Further, he told me that we were not allowed to key in transactions. In all our conversations with Mr Westing, the ability to key in cards was stated as paramount, as so many of our sales come from out-of-town owners. Jeremy suggested that things were not on the up and up ? how could we possibly have a customer from Florida? Further, he stated that we were not authorized to key in cards. This was not the service promised to us by Mr Westing, so I cancelled my contract with TransTech on Monday, 23rd October in a letter delivered by certified mail and by fax. Later in the day, that Monday, we received a phone call from a woman at TransTech or First American Payment Systems asking for us to re-instate our business. She told us that Jeremy's refusal to process was a one time event. One time too many! She asked if there was anything she could do. I told her she could tell her superior about the treatment we received from Jeremy, and that she could help us return our credit card machine that we purchased, outright, from TransTech.
On Friday, 27th October, I began to attempt to get a refund on the equipment we had purchased from TransTech. During three hours on the phone, mostly on hold, I spoke to at least seven individuals from TransTech, from First American, from LSG (the leasing company), including Charles Montgomery who was listed as Robert Westing's superior. Everyone I spoke to pointed me to someone else. Finally I came upon Curtis #7125, a ?level two? supervisor. He told me, at 1:30 in the afternoon, that he or someone from TransTech would be back with me later that day. By the close of business no one had called.
I have asked for a refund on my Merchant Pro 3. But that's not all!
Later on Friday, 27th October, Jeremy called our business. ?I haven't heard back from you,? he said. I explained that TransTech was no longer our credit card processor and that he was the reason.
On Monday, 30th October, we received a letter from TransTech about the $3500.00 charge. Caroline, my wife, business owner, and bookkeeper, returned the call to find Jeremy. He explained that because we had not credited our customer for the $3500, that the money HAD been charged against the customer's card, and that TransTech would hold that money for 180 days before returning it to our customer.
So now, I have $1500 in a machine I neither want nor need ? AND, I have $3500 charged to my customer who most certainly will not allow me to charge his card again for the same amount. I lost a week's worth of receipts until my new card processor was up and running (we returned to our local 5/3 bank); I have an upset customer; and I'm out $5,000.
The actions of TransTech, their representatives Charles Montgomery, Curtis #7125, Robert Westing, and Jeremy #3, have been deplorable, shameful, and immoral, if not criminal.
I implore TransTech and/or First American Payment Systems to return my client's money and to repay University Motors for the redundant equipment.
The details:
TransTech Merchant Group
First American Payment Systems
300 Burnett, Suite 300
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
Agents for the TransTech
Jeremy: 800 701 2831 Option #3
Charles Montgomery: 866 471 1099 x 5742
Curtis: 800 789 8897 x 7125
Robert Westing: 888 415 0004
Robert Westing: 616 813 9432
Pam: 888 590 1863 x 7018
I will GLADLY report that TransTech has made good on my complaints. The only redress I seek is the return of my customer's money and a refund for my equipment.
John
Ada, Michigan
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
John h
Ada,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Credit Card Payment Made
#3Author of original report
Fri, November 10, 2006
TransTech charged my customer's Mastercard on 19 October 2006 for $3346.71. They credited my account yesterday, 08 November 2006 for $3346.71. They had use of this money for about 20 days. But, in the end, they did pay.
I am still waiting for a response about the $1500 credit card machine I purchased directly from them.
Jason
Appleton,Wisconsin,
U.S.A.
Same old story
#3Consumer Suggestion
Thu, November 02, 2006
As a merchant processing sales rep, I hear stories similar to yours every day. Everyone chooses their merchant processor based solely on price and uses the information that is given to them by the sales rep they are speaking to rather than researching the industry as they should. Too many businesses lease equipment and pay 2X to 5X the value of a terminal that they could have purchased outright for much less. Almost no one, especially smaller businesses, ask or are interested in customer service information - which as you have seen can be a major factor.
You allude to working with a new processor and I hope you were diligent in researching your options. If not, here is some info about what you should look for:
Let's start with pricing. What you should try to gauge is the EFFECTIVE RATE. The effective rate is the total percentage paid in fees for your credit card transactions over a given period of time. Your target for your effective rate will vary depending on your average ticket, total volume, method of processing and card assortment.
Your average ticket plays a big part in targeting your effective rate. A smaller average ticket will be impacted more by per transaction fees than a larger average ticket.
Example with 2% rate and $0.25 total transaction fee:
$5.00 transaction-
($5.00 X 2.00%) + $0.25 = $0.35 or 7%
$100.00 transaction-
($100.00 X 2.00%) + $0.25 = $2.25 or 2.25%
Example with 3% rate and $0.15 total transaction fee:
$5.00 transaction-
($5.00 X 3.00%) + $0.15 = $0.30 or 6%
$100.00 transaction-
($100.00 X 3.00%) + $0.15 = $3.15 or 3.15%
This tells us two things. First, the smaller your average ticket the higher your effective rate will be. Second, with a higher average ticket you should be more concerned about the rate and less about the per transaction fee while the opposite is true if you have a lower average ticket.
Once you have determined what your expectations should be based on your average ticket then the total volume, card assortment and method of processing come in to play. For starters, it is important to note that Visa and MasterCard (the card associations), and not merchant services provider, receive the majority (over 75%) of the fees that merchants pay for their processing services. The remainder of the fees, or the margin, is what the merchant processor receives. What this means is if you pay $10,000.00 annually in processing fees, over $7500.00 of this goes directly to the card associations and is non-negotiable by you or your merchant processor. The card associations have also designated over 240 different card categories that each merchant processor must recognize and process. Every merchant processor, no matter how big or small, is charged the same rates and fees by the card associations and every merchant processor differentiates each card category utilizing exactly the same card category name as designated by the card associations.
The card categories are designated in the following manner:
1.)Industry Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Government, Utility, Service Industry, Gas Station, Supermarket, etc.
2.)Type of Card Personal Visa or MasterCard, Visa or MasterCard Debit, Visa Rewards, MasterCard World, Commercial Visa, Corporate MasterCard, etc.
3.)Method of Processing Face-to-Face (swipe), Mail Order/Telephone Order, Key Entered, E-Commerce, etc.
4.)Processing Efficiency Address Verification, Authorization/Settle Match, Timeliness of Settlement, etc.
These categories are as diverse as they seem. If a cardholder uses the same card to buy something from a retail establishment, lunch at a restaurant and pay their electric bill, all three of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. If a retail establishment accepts two different types of cards (ex. - a Visa Debit Card and a Visa Rewards Card) for a purchase of the exact same amount, both of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. The same is true for a Face-to-Face transaction as opposed to a telephone order. Furthermore, if a merchant does take a telephone order and doesn't enter the required cardholder information, the transaction will be downgraded to a higher priced card and rate category than a properly executed telephone order.
Sure, some merchant processors offer a simplified statement format with bundled categories, but only to keep from disclosing individual rates. Often, these categories are designated as "Discount", "Mid-Qualified" and "Non-Qualified". In some cases, all corporate cards and/or key entered transactions are considered "Non-Qualified". The simpler the statement format the less a merchant knows about what their true credit card processing costs are or should be. A simple statement also makes it very difficult to perform an accurate comparison to other programs. For many merchant processors, their most successful customer retention tool is their customer's complete inability to understand their services. If you ask all of the right questions you will certainly be able to make an educated pricing decision.
There are some additional things to consider when making your merchant processing decision:
*Service, support, integrity and education-
Many merchants make their choice solely based on price. Be sure to ask questions about the service platform. The web is full of stories from merchants (like yourself) who have had horrible issues with a processor that they went with for a perceived minimum monthly savings.
*Leased equipment-
Always, Always, Always a bad deal. I have never spoken to a merchant who is happy that they did this. Do the math.
*Term agreements-
Avoid if possible and check the buy-out. Look for a processor who will sign you to an at-will agreement so you will always have open options.
*Beware "FREE" anything-
Free setup. Free equipment. Free software. These things cost the processor money and their margin is incredibly small - especially with small businesses. Ask yourself the what, when, why and how of your business giving away something for free and try to figure out what the benefit is of a processor doing it for you. If it is too good to be true........
*PCI Data Security Standards
Your merchant agreement states that you will abide by Visa and MC regulations. It also states that you agree to pay all fines for breaches of these regulations. What you may not know is that you may be sublect to fines of between $2K and $500K if not compliant. Check out the Visa website and you'll be surprised!
Good Luck!