Complaint Review: MBF Leasing Vericomm Corporation - Burr Ridge Illinois

Kathy,

I have worked in the Credit Card Industry for many years both in the field and as an in the office.  For you to state that this was a big surprise to you on the lease is a lie. Leasing company's will verify the lease amount and terms of the lease (on every lease) on the phone with you the merchant at the time of install, that is a standard operating practice.

You as a merchant dropped the ball by not asking any questions, so by default its your fault that you are in this mess.  Not the fault of the salesperson who's job it is to sell and not the fault of Vericomm, I-Payment or the leasing company.  

Did you tell the sales person that you needed a mobile unit (comes with a wireless fee $25 a month) or a line based unit ( no fee)? That makes a big difference on what it cost you to swipe a card, one is a qualified rate (taking from card holder at time of sale) or a non qualified rate (card not present at time of sale and key entering).

Now as far as the lease is concerned it is stated on the lease in bold letters at the top and in plain sight that THIS A NON CANCELABLE LEASE. On the phone the lease agent will ask you do you understand the terms of this lease? They will tell you your monthly amount to be deducted from your bank account each month. Then the agent will tell you that it is a 48 month NON CANCELABLE LEASE and ask you if you understand this. The only way to end the lease early is to buy it out.   

Now as an industry person I can tell you that on national numbers that a company that does advertise that they except credit cards and debit cards as a form of payment will increase their sale by 15% - 30% a year some less some more. The data supports that claim.

To say that the company's are at fault or are wrong is misplaced and definitely misleading on your part. You made the mistake that a lot of first time merchants make, you did not ask the RIGHT questions and THAT is what cost you money.    

In the future I would suggest that you ask as many questions as you need to, before that deal is done and you have no recourse.

Barry

I am wondering Kathy if you called the company right now today could this be resolved? I have a couple of friends over there who could help you with your situation.  I suggest that you call the company and ask for a lady by the of Natrietia in Customer Support.  She is very nice and she will glad to help you. Just a suggestion.

As an individual that works inside of Vericomm, I see and hear things.

Merchants are approached by our Independent Outside Reps who sell our services.  It seems that Merchant when presented with the lease, fails to read the document to see whether or not they need the services provided by Vericomm.

You stated in your complaint that you signed the lease and apparently failed to read it.  I see the leases everyday and the language is very clear on the time frame and the amount of fees to be paid.

Each page has areas for the Merchant to initial that they have seen and supposedly read the document.  The standard lease for all Merchant Services Companies is 48 months so that we are clear on that fact.  Also another relative fact is that you could have gotten out of the lease by paying the termination fee of $595 and returning the equipment.

Small business owners.  If you are considering adding credit card acceptance and processing as an option for customers, look up the manufacturers websites for such equipment.  Buying the equipment, (which works with most point of sale software packages), and setting up an account with your local bank, will be far less costly.  Most of these do not require contracts, and can be changed without penalties.  

I have worked as a master distributor selling terminals, and POS equipment for many years.  Have the manufacturer's recommend a good local vendor, and ask them for references.

Maxim, Your suggestion is not the way to deal with these leasing companies!! Do you realize that they are destroying your credit on a monthly basis now? You need to talk with these folks and make a deal with them. DO NOT CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNTS AND NOT EXPECT ANY FALLOUT!! They reporting to the big three every month you dont pay!!!

Hey, same case here. I changed my bank account. MBF Leasing tried to take the money and obviously failed. Then they started calling on my phone non-stop. I have a caller ID, so I just ignore their phone calls. Its cheaper this way :) If they try to take you to court (which is unlikely but might happen), a decent judge will rule in your favor when you present him with all the rip off reports. If you do lose, you'll end up paying ~ same amount if you were to pay every month. Be careful, some of the responses sound like it might be MBF Leasing responding you, trying to get you to pay. Good Luck Kathy

Hey, same case here. I changed my bank account. MBF Leasing tried to take the money and obviously failed. Then they started calling on my phone non-stop. I have a caller ID, so I just ignore their phone calls. Its cheaper this way :) If they try to take you to court (which is unlikely but might happen), a decent judge will rule in your favor when you present him with all the rip off reports. If you do lose, you'll end up paying ~ same amount if you were to pay every month. Be careful, some of the responses sound like it might be MBF Leasing responding you, trying to get you to pay. Good Luck Kathy

Have you actually looked at all the different places that take money from your account and they also charge a yearly fee to my surprise. My payments as promised by the Rep. Randy were supposed to be about $68 a month but he took the lease with him because he wasn't qualified to fill it out and fees were added without my knowledge to $150 a month and a $85.00 annual fee. I did get the call to confirm I read the lease but I assumed she was talking about the one the Rep brought with him not the one that was droped off. The more people that write to the States Attorney General the better. Your's is the same place as mine in ILL. I actually wrote to Colorado and they forwarded it to ILL. They have to investigate and this needs done. I've written Media, FTC and the BBB but they are limited. These people are pros and need to be stopped. We need a class action law suit against them so please Report them. We need to all get together on this one.

Sorry to hear of your difficulties. Sad to say, as a business owner myself, it is critical when in business for ones self that we fully complete our own due diligence prior to signing any legal documents of any kind. I learned a similar lesson in the past. It is imperative that we are ultimately held responsible for our own decisions ,"Fast talker" or not. Having dealt with leases for various equipment I must say that at times they are a ,"Necessary evil".(When cash is tight.) I just add that I would NEVER sign any lease without knowing both it's length and the factor rate used to arrive at the payment. Though it may be of no solace to you at this point, hopefully this incident will be a lesson as you move on with your new business.Good luck.

Did you verbally verify the lease terms and payment with the leasing company? They only pay their reps when they sign these leases (your rep made a $1000.00 or more on yours). For the reps to get their money they have to have you verbally verify that you are accepting the lease payment and terms with a leasing company representative. The leasing company will record this call so they can say that you did approve this lease. If you did not do this you need to call the leasing company and request that they pull the tapes of the recorded lease acceptance. Once they know that they do not have your voice accepting the lease they will resolve your issue. If you did accept the lease terms you are pretty much put of luck because the lease is non cancellable and is noted in very bold type on the form in several areas.