Complaint Review: United Merchant Services MBF Leasing David Gershuny

The sales rep., David Gershuny, came to my house in mid October, 2006. He gave me his sales pitch, and I said it sounded ok, but that I was not working at that time, and that I'd contact him sometime after the first of the year, when I had work. I am a small scale general contractor with no employees, and work gets scarce around the holidays.

He "called his boss" to see if there was anything they could do to help me out. His "boss" supposedly said that they could start the service right away, but that they'd waive all fees until January 1... as a birthday present for my 8 month old daughter! I should've gotten that in writing, because they charged me $580.23 before January.

When I called UMS, they said it was a clerical error, and I'd be reimbursed right away. I never got reimbursed, and they continued to charge me not only for the $135 leasing fee (they told me $122), but also for all kinds of other fees and service charges. I called a few times, getting the same response. Eventually, they basicly said too bad, we're not going to reimburse you.

Mr. Gershuny also pressured me to sign the contract without reading it because he "had another client to meet with that day." He never bothered to tell me that I also had to pay for the credit card processing service on top of the lease fees. He told me it was $0.20 plus 2% per transaction. It was a lot more than that.


I contacted the BBB. UMS told them that David Gershuny no longer worked for them, but this was the first complaint they ever got about him. I saw another report on ripoffreport.com that another agent in another state told the client the same thing... very convenient. They were "trying to contact Mr. Gershuny" to verify my claims.

The BBB basicly said that they weren't going to do anything about it, so I filed a report with the Attorney General of Washington. Apparently, that shook them up because I just got a letter from the Attorney General... they sent a copy of a letter they received from MBF Leasing that said they will cancel the 48 month lease. I just have to send the equipment back to their equipment dept. in New York. I was searching for the address, when I found this website, as they conveniently didn't provide it.

Once they have the equipment, and this part of it is finished, I plan to pressure UMS for reimbursement. They did tell the Attorney General and BBB that they would reimburse me for the $580.23 charged before January 1, if they could confirm that agreement with David Gershuny. I want to get this done first, though, because I'm just glad to get out of the 48 month lease, if nothing else!

If you're fighting them, keep the pressure on. If you're checking into them to see if you want to use their "services"... DON'T DO IT!!! If any class action suit comes up, I want to be a part of it.

These swindlers almost put me out of business, but I managed to get through it, and even regain a little ground... so don't give up!

Peter
Seattle, Washington
U.S.A.