Complaint Review: First Data And Merchant Warehouse - Melville New York

First Data and Emilio Gomez have withheld between $3000-$4000 of my sales from my online stores. They've sited my merchant account as "risky" (due to the fact that there just happens to be some fraudulent activity out there, and some of the sales that got processed through our store ended up being from identify thieves).

(No thanks to Authorize.net who's job it is to screen OUT the identity thieves.)

I first heard of First Data just a couple of weeks ago. Until then, I just assumed my merchant provider was Merchant Warehouse. But apparently, if you have any problems with charge backs (which you have no control over) then you have to deal with Merchant Warehouse's supplier, First Data (in spite of what their salespeople say: that "you'll never have to talk to First Data, no matter what - we handle ALL your processing needs". (Liars, see?)

So Emilio starts leaving me these random messages, saying he needs to talk with me. I have no idea who Emilio even is. He identifies the company, but I have no idea who this First Data is, or how it affects me. I got my first letter from First Data just 2 days ago, again from Emilio (the phone number he put on his letter was a wrong # too (631-631-6915, as opposed to the correct # 631-683-6915) further proving that he's incompetent and a complete moron).

Anyhow, after some time I finally figure out that this guy is responsible for holding back the funds on several thousands of dollars in sales, AND suspending my ability to open a new account, which has been delayed for another online store. When I call him, he NEVER answers. Just goes to voicemail - so I leave a message. 3-4 days go by, and he calls back, leaving a message that goes like this: "You need to answer the phone when I call. I'm tired of playing voicemail with you." (Holy crap - I thought I was a customer?!!?)

So we finally connect. I bite my tongue, and am patient with him and ask him what I need to provide him. "I'll give you anything you need, just tell me how to get my money and my clothing store back up and running," I tell him. He says, "I just need a copy of your bank statements for the last 3 months." "No problem - I'll fax it right over. Is there ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING else you need from me to get this suspension lifted so I can get my business up and running again - my wife and I have a mortgage to pay and this has really hurt us. Can we get it up today?"

"No that's all I'll need from you" He then tells me that he'll try to have it done by tomorrow. Tomorrow passes, nothing. I call him the next day. He leaves a message at 7am my time (he's in NY, I'm in AZ) and says "I have some more questions for you, so please call me back so we can discuss". (I've left this message at least 20 times on his phone: "when you call and leave a message, asking for "more info" tell me exactly what it is you want, and I'll provide the info you want" (so simple, right? Not for an idiot like Gomez here). Anyhow, I call, leave a message at 8am. He doesnt get back to me. I leave over 4 messages in the next 4 hours, one per hour. Finally, he picks up on call 5 and says he's going to terminate my account.

Dumb-a*s Emilio (who needs to go back to Mexico - he's an illegal immigrant, I believe), told me that he was freezing my account, and not forwarding me any of the funds. I asked him HOW I was supposed to pay my suppliers for the products needed to ship to my customer who've paid in good faith. He told me that I would have to forward them from my own account, and if any other charge backs occur (we had only one charge back/refund in the last 30 days, again, for an identity theft issue which we have NO WAY OF CONTROLLING!) then he would not forward me the funds. I asked to talk to his supervisor or a manger, sitting the fact that him and I were simply not getting along. He put me on hold for 30 minutes, gets back on and says "we've decided to shut down your account, and you'll be added to the TMS list", (which basically ruins a merchant's credit status as a merchant).

I've requested several times to talk to his manager, and to try the 20+ phone numbers for various departments to try to reach someone there that can help.

I'm now going to have my attorney go after this company. First Data is the biggest rip-off, monopoly-so-we-don't-give-a-s**+* company I've ever dealt with.

I'm now discussing with my attorney the possibility of suing them. Any one else want to join me, feel free to come along for the ride. Based on the other reports I've seen listed against this company, I think the press should get in on this one.

Kburton

Chandler, Arizona

U.S.A.