- Report: #761085
Complaint Review: Bluepay. Inc - Chicago Illinois
Reported By:
M.M. -
San Diego, California, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Bluepay. Inc
184 Shuman Boulevard # 350, Naperville, IL 60563 Chicago, 60606 Illinois, United States of America
Phone:
800-607-6687
Web:
http://www.bluepay.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
Bluepay. Inc ILLEGALBUSINESS PRACTICES THAT WILL HURT YOUR BUSINESS Chicago, Illinois
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM: THEY USE IMMORALAND
LIKELY ILLEGALBUSINESS PRACTICES THAT WILL HURT YOUR BUSINESS
In short, Bluepay INC. contacted my bank without notifying
me first and suspended my entire business account! In addition, they are
holding onto $4912.02 that I processed with their companybut have neither
released the funds to me, nor refunded the money to my clients. This is $4912.02
that I worked for, and yet they are keeping it for themselves! This has
to be illegal, so I know that I will eventually get the funds releasedbut
making them do so is only a waste of my time. And this is time that I should be
spending on my business, not on fighting these reprehensible business
practices.
I have included more details about the experience I went
through with Bluepay INC. below so that you can see why I absolutely recommend
that you DO NOT DO BUSINESS with them:
I have been a business owner for 11 years, and I signed up
with Bluepay INC. in July 2011. I then
processed about $4912.02 with them. About three weeks later, I went to the bank
that I have been banking with for 15 years. When I went to the window, the
clerk told me that my entire account had been frozen. The first thing I thought
was that somebody had hacked into my business bank account, and I was so
worried and stunned I thought that I might have a heart attack. Since I have
been banking with them for 15 years, they were definitely trying to help me,
and one of the officers stepped in right away and started making phone calls to
find out what was going on.
It turned out that without even calling me, Bluepay INC.
incorrectly reported to my bank that I was making fraudulent transactions, and
my entire bank account was frozen. Once my bank discovered what had happened,
they immediately released my accounts fundsthough not the $4912.02 that I had
processed with Bluepay INC..
I went right back to my office and called Bluepay INC.. My
first question was how they can possibly do something like this without even
calling me. I spoke with George Jackson, who lied to me and told me that it
wasnt Bluepay INC. who had done this. He then asked me for the receipts of the
transactions that they had processed. I
provided all of the requested information immediately and also attached my
business license. When I called to confirm that
he had received all of
the information, he assured me that he had everything and would get back
to me the next day. Of course, I didn't receive a call.
So on the next business day I sent him
an email and left him a voicemail. A couple of hours later George Jackson
called me and told me that my account was suspended. Based on my experience
with the fact that they had incorrectly reported to my bank that I was
making fraudulent transactions and also had my entire bank account frozen, I
told him I didnt want to do business with them anyway. However, I told him
that I expected the $4912.02 I processed with them to be released to me. He gave me a vague responseafter which I still
didnt know what would happen with my money.
Soon after, I called him again and demanded that he very
clearly tell me what would happen with my money that they had processed. Again,
he gave me unclear responses. Then, I flatly told him that if they didnt
refund the money to my clients or post it to my bank account, I would call all
of my clients and have them cancel the charges I had processed with themand if
Bluepay INC. gave me a hard time about refunding or releasing my money, I would
sue them.
Three hours later, I saw on my bank statement that the money
had been placed on hold for one month and an investigator had been assigned to
look into these transactions. So my money has
still not been refunded or released.
The irony here is that Bluepay INC. reported me of
having fraudulent transactions, when they are the ones who have
processed my clients cards but are keeping the money themselves!! If this
isnt a fraudulent business practice, I dont know what is!
Clearly, Bluepay INC. doesnt deserve anybody's business, and I am
urging anyone who reads this review to think hard before doing business with
them.
LIKELY ILLEGALBUSINESS PRACTICES THAT WILL HURT YOUR BUSINESS
In short, Bluepay INC. contacted my bank without notifying
me first and suspended my entire business account! In addition, they are
holding onto $4912.02 that I processed with their companybut have neither
released the funds to me, nor refunded the money to my clients. This is $4912.02
that I worked for, and yet they are keeping it for themselves! This has
to be illegal, so I know that I will eventually get the funds releasedbut
making them do so is only a waste of my time. And this is time that I should be
spending on my business, not on fighting these reprehensible business
practices.
I have included more details about the experience I went
through with Bluepay INC. below so that you can see why I absolutely recommend
that you DO NOT DO BUSINESS with them:
I have been a business owner for 11 years, and I signed up
with Bluepay INC. in July 2011. I then
processed about $4912.02 with them. About three weeks later, I went to the bank
that I have been banking with for 15 years. When I went to the window, the
clerk told me that my entire account had been frozen. The first thing I thought
was that somebody had hacked into my business bank account, and I was so
worried and stunned I thought that I might have a heart attack. Since I have
been banking with them for 15 years, they were definitely trying to help me,
and one of the officers stepped in right away and started making phone calls to
find out what was going on.
It turned out that without even calling me, Bluepay INC.
incorrectly reported to my bank that I was making fraudulent transactions, and
my entire bank account was frozen. Once my bank discovered what had happened,
they immediately released my accounts fundsthough not the $4912.02 that I had
processed with Bluepay INC..
I went right back to my office and called Bluepay INC.. My
first question was how they can possibly do something like this without even
calling me. I spoke with George Jackson, who lied to me and told me that it
wasnt Bluepay INC. who had done this. He then asked me for the receipts of the
transactions that they had processed. I
provided all of the requested information immediately and also attached my
business license. When I called to confirm that
he had received all of
the information, he assured me that he had everything and would get back
to me the next day. Of course, I didn't receive a call.
So on the next business day I sent him
an email and left him a voicemail. A couple of hours later George Jackson
called me and told me that my account was suspended. Based on my experience
with the fact that they had incorrectly reported to my bank that I was
making fraudulent transactions and also had my entire bank account frozen, I
told him I didnt want to do business with them anyway. However, I told him
that I expected the $4912.02 I processed with them to be released to me. He gave me a vague responseafter which I still
didnt know what would happen with my money.
Soon after, I called him again and demanded that he very
clearly tell me what would happen with my money that they had processed. Again,
he gave me unclear responses. Then, I flatly told him that if they didnt
refund the money to my clients or post it to my bank account, I would call all
of my clients and have them cancel the charges I had processed with themand if
Bluepay INC. gave me a hard time about refunding or releasing my money, I would
sue them.
Three hours later, I saw on my bank statement that the money
had been placed on hold for one month and an investigator had been assigned to
look into these transactions. So my money has
still not been refunded or released.
The irony here is that Bluepay INC. reported me of
having fraudulent transactions, when they are the ones who have
processed my clients cards but are keeping the money themselves!! If this
isnt a fraudulent business practice, I dont know what is!
Clearly, Bluepay INC. doesnt deserve anybody's business, and I am
urging anyone who reads this review to think hard before doing business with
them.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
M.M.
San Diego,California,
United States of America
These claims by BluePay are absolute lies
#2Author of original report
Tue, August 16, 2011
These claims by BluePay are absolute lies. I will go through each claim below to
explain why they are invalid:
BluePay wrote, On his application, he described his business model as appliance
repair. His account was approved for that type of service. Upon review of his
processing activity, he admitted that the activity he processed through the
account was for services that were in no way related to appliance repair, and
for services that carried a significantly higher level of risk.
In response: I am an appliance repair company. I have been an appliance repair authorized dealer for 11 years. (Attached is my license for you to review.) I also do advertising and marketing
for appliance repair independent contractors nationwide.
Regarding the application, Tom Antonelli, the sales person
who signed me up with BluePay, asked me what my business is on the phone. I
explained to him that I have been an appliance repair authorized dealer for 11
years. And I told him that I also do advertising and marketing for appliance
repair independent contractors nationwide. When he sent me the application he
highlighted the areas that I needed to fill inbut he did not
highlight the part about what my business is. (I have attached this
highlighted application for you to review.) In short, he did not have me fill
what my work is on the application at all. Then, after my troubles started with
BluePay, I spoke to Tom Antonelli again and told him
that I was being accused of misrepresenting my business, and he agreed that I
had told him that I do appliance repair and advertising and marketing for
appliance repair contractors.
Also, I absolutely never
admitted that the activity I processed through the BluePay account was for services
that were not related to appliance repair because all of the activity
that I processed through the account was related to appliance repair.
As I stated, I have been an appliance repair authorized dealer for 11 years.
And I also do advertising and marketing for appliance repair independent
contractors nationwide. So every card that I processed was
either 1) the card of an appliance repair independent contractor paying for
advertising and marketing of their appliance repair services, or 2) it was for
a customer who received appliance repair services.
BluePay
wrote, Mr. Marinov mis-represented the nature of his business on his merchant
application.
In response: Again, I never
misrepresented the nature of my business on my merchant application. As I said
before, I am an appliance repair company. I have been an appliance
repair authorized dealer for 11 years. I also do advertising and marketing for
appliance repair independent contractors nationwide. I told this all to Tom
Antonelli, the sales person who signed me up with
BluePay.
BluePay
wrote: As a result, BluePay established a security reserve for the activity
that he processed.
In response: What they call a
security reserve is actually $4912.02 that I worked for. I charged $4912.02
worth of cards through BluePay and then they suspended my account. Their decision to suspend my account
is their choice. However, they also then held on to the money. I
repeatedly asked them to either release the money to me or to return it to my
clients, but they continually refused to do either. There was no reason to keep
my money as a security reserve because they were not processing cards for my
company any more. If they were no longer processing cards for me, what were
they securing themselves against?
BluePay then said that I could
contact them after August 12, 2011. However, they did not mention that in
addition to keeping the money that I worked for as a security reserve, they
also reported me to the Match
list, a database file that is most commonly known as the
Terminated Merchant File "TMF." Once you are put on this list, all
MasterCard and Visa processing banks know about it. This is essentially a
merchant account blacklist that alerts all
merchant account companies that you have been accused of doing something risky
or fraudulent. And, even in a case like
thiswhen the accusations are falseit is almost impossible to be removed. The only
way to be removed is to have the company that put you on it then take you off of it.
However, on Monday Aug. 8, I did not know that my company
had been put on the Match list, nor did I know what the Match list is. So I was
shocked when I received a phone call from a merchant company that I have worked with for over a year, long before any association with
BluePay, to tell me that they were canceling my account because they received a
concerning report about my business. This is a company that had sent a
representative to my office to validate my business and is a company
that I have never had any charge backs with or problems with the cards that I
processed with them. Still, I am on the Match list / Terminated Merchant File (TMF), so they
canceled my account.
Then,
twenty minutes later, I received a similar call from American Express. In
this case, I had worked with them for 11 years and have had never had a
problem. But they also said that they received a warning report from BluePay
and because of this they suspended my account
for one year.
Since then I have made numerous
calls to different people at BluePay in order to try to solve these
problems. A number of times I have spoken with
George, a representative in the risk departmentand the last time that I called
him he just hang up on me. I also spoke with Tom Antonelli, the sales agent who
signed me up with BluePay. As I mentioned, he agreed that I had not
misrepresented my business, but he offered no help for how to solve these
problems. And a couple of times Tom Antonelli gave me incorrect phone numbers
of other people to call in the company. Finally, Tom Antonelli gave me the
correct phone number for Mark, also with the risk department. I was referred to
him because he was well aware of the situation. But the first time I talked to
him he lied and told me that he didnt know anything about the Match list / Terminated Merchant File (TMF). After I pressed him, he admitted that BluePay had notified
other merchants something about my business (though, he wouldnt say what
BluePay said about my company to the other merchant companies). He then said
that it is totally up to those companies if they want to do business with me.
This may be true, but these other companies were told lies about my business
that made it seem like I was doing something risky or fraudulent (I dont know
for sure what it is that they were told since no one will tell me exactly what
BluePay has accused me of).
In summary, holding on to my money and putting my company on the Match list / Terminated Merchant File (TMF), is no small matter
in my business. I work 60 to 70 hours a week to run my business, yet BluePay
has arbitrarily targeted my company with no warning and for no reason. At this
point, I am demanding that the money be either returned to my clients or
released to me by Aug.16, 2011. I am also demanding that BluePay remove me immediately
from the Match list / Terminated Merchant File (TMF). If BluePay does not
do these things, I will file a lawsuit against them.
As mentioned above, for your review I am also attaching my
appliance repair authorized dealer license and the highlighted application that
Bluepays Tom Antonelli sent me.
Mark - BluePay
Naperville,Illinois,
United States of America
Response to Mr. Marinov
#3UPDATE Employee
Mon, August 08, 2011
Mr. Marinov established an account with BluePay in July. On his application, he described his business model as appliance repair. His account was approved for that type of service.
Upon review of his processing activity, he admitted that the activity he processed through the account was for services that were in no way related to appliance repair, and for services that carried a significantly higher level of risk. Mr. Marinov mis-represented the nature of his business on his merchant application. As a result, BluePay established a security reserve for the activity that he processed.
Our risk management team has already identified to Mr. Marinov that a date has been established for the review of that security reserve. He can contact us after August 12th.
Risk Management
BluePay Processing, LLC
