USA Card Services - Startup Essentials - A-1 Leasing (formerly Known As Bond Corp) SCAM, LIES, DECEIT. Wife received amazing offer via telephone after web-surfing one afternoon, "We invest in you," they say. Now I am paying dearly. ripoff Dallas Texas, Grand Rapids Michigan
My wife (at the time) and I were both employed and shared an eight-month-old daughter. We could hardly make ends meet. So my wife looks into homed-based businesses online one day, with little luck. but then, that same day, comes the miraculous phone call. It was a man named Lorne from USA Card Services/Startup Essentials, with an incredible offer for an online merchant account. "We invest in you," he says. We were guaranteed to be making the big bucks within several weeks, with him carrying the only 'risks'. An A-1 Leasing contract was presented by Lorn via fax.
To make a long story short: we wound up paying near 150 dollars a month for a website that didn't work and a credit-card terminal we didn't even need! The $150/mo went down to $108/mo and was supposed to go down MUCH further. We're now headed into the seventeenth month of the two-year contract with nothing to show for it. A-1 Leasing no longer has access to the bank account and is asking for the equipment back plus $3,755.02!
Michael
Richmond
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Angela
Portland,Oregon,
U.S.A.
Michael...I really feel for you
#2Consumer Suggestion
Fri, May 18, 2007
My elderly grandather got involved with the same scam! Same story as yours. He sent back his CC Processing Machine about 3 months after he recieved it and told them to keep it and that he wanted out of the lease because they were not holding their end of the bargain. They promised him that he would be making money within weeks and that he would have his own personal "Coach" to help him set up his business.
So he called the "Coach" and asked for help. The guy never got back to him. Not once. So anyway he sent back the equipment and refused to pay the $130.00 a month for this useless machine. He defaulted on payments so they took all his money out of his checking accounts. Cleaned him dry.
Now the fun part comes. They sued him for breach of contract. He was ordered by a judge in california to pay about $11,000 for breaking the lease although he sent back the equipment. They put a lien on his house. The collection agency told him that if he did not pay up that they would take away his home and his house. What is a man to do on a limited income who has been screwed by these people.
We hired an attorney to look at the paperwork and the attorney told us that USA Card Services is not registered in the state of Oregon so therefore they cannot sue him her. Somehow they got around it, but it is still a legal contract. I would hate to see this happen to anyone else as I have experienced it first hand through the misery they have put my grandfather though. So in closing Michael, this is what you have to look forward to.
As a former Collections agent here is what I would suggest you do. Send them back the credit card processor, make sure you send it signature mail because they can lie to you and tell you that they never recieved it. Make sure you jot down the serial number for your records as well and I will tell you why in a minute. Send them a letter telling them that they did not hold their end of the bargain etc etc.
Once you are in collections fight this as much as you can. When you recive your first collections letter revise the letter telling your side of the story. Send it to all 3 credit bureaus and dispute this the best you can. Now as far as the serial number goes, keep that in your file because **IF** (I hope not) it comes to the point where they feel they need to sue you then you can request a serial number check. If the machine is being used by another person then they do not have grounds to sue you as the lease states that the serial number is in your name cannot be leased to anyone else.
The owner of the company is an ex convict and has been popped in the past for running scams. I spoke with a former employee there and he said that they consider themselves a christian company! Yeah, no joke. Keep your eyes peeled for class action lawsuits and try and join in if you have the means to do so!
I wish you luck in this hard time you are having.