- Report: #412497
Complaint Review: Pipeline Data Corp - Hagerstown Maryland
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Pipeline Data Corp
pipelinedata.com Hagerstown, 21740 Maryland, U.S.A.
Phone:
877-754-0530
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Pipeline Data Corp $150 PCI Compliance Fee Ripoff - How to get it back Hagerstown Maryland
There are many complaints here about the unannounced $150 "PCI Compliance Fee" that Pipeline Data charged to the bank accounts of their merchants.
Pipeline claims to have announced the fee in a November mailing, but we never received the mailing. We did not receive an email announcement either. This is a violation of Regulation E Section 205.8 - failure to provide notice of Change-in-Terms 21 days or more prior to the change.
The $150 fee does NOT show up on the December statement from Pipeline. This is a violation of Federal regulation E Section 205.9 - Monthly statements must be issued describing types of electronic funds transfers, dates and amounts, and "other information."
Other relevant information:
- The customer service manager at Merchant Express (one of many ISO's who work with Pipeline) describes this unexpected "Fee" as the biggest disaster she's seen in her 11 years in this business. She says that 60% of her Pipeline clients have filed complaints about the fee, and most are leaving Pipeline. She says that Pipeline has the highest cancellation fee she's ever seen in the business. If you haven't been with Pipeline for atleast three years, they will charge you a $300 cancellation fee.
- According to employees at Transparent Financial Services and also at Merchant Express, the authorize.net gateway is already PCI compliant. The PCI compliance issue Pipeline is claiming to address can be satisfied by mailing a questionaaire to each merchant asking a series of questions about how they handle and store credit card data. A reasonable fee for this service might be $10 per merchant. Not $150. Many providers are not charging their merchants any fee for this questionnaire.
- According the an SEC filing dated 11/18/2008 (available on the Pipeline website), Pipeline is dying. Quote: "...However, the Company has incurred significant losses and has an accumulated deficit of $11.6 million at September 30, 2008, with a history of quarter losses since December 2005. The Company has a net loss of $3.1million for the three month period ended September 30, 2008, partially as a result of a major creditor filing bankruptcy causing a write down of over $1.0 million in notes receivable. These losses have reduced working capital and retained earnings to the extent that the company may not be able to continue as a going concern."
Why charge merchants $150 each when you know you're going out of business?
I called my bank branch. I talked with the manager for 4 minutes. I described all of the information above, plus i mentioned the series of comlaints on ripoffreport.com (she was already familiar with this website!).
She said she would commence a "Reg E" filing immediately, and I should have paperwork to sign within 2 days.
If Pipeline data really does have over 30000 merchant accounts, they just stole over 4.5 million dollars from us. Don't let Pipeline management "retire" with your $150. Call your bank today!
Bill
Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.
Pipeline claims to have announced the fee in a November mailing, but we never received the mailing. We did not receive an email announcement either. This is a violation of Regulation E Section 205.8 - failure to provide notice of Change-in-Terms 21 days or more prior to the change.
The $150 fee does NOT show up on the December statement from Pipeline. This is a violation of Federal regulation E Section 205.9 - Monthly statements must be issued describing types of electronic funds transfers, dates and amounts, and "other information."
Other relevant information:
- The customer service manager at Merchant Express (one of many ISO's who work with Pipeline) describes this unexpected "Fee" as the biggest disaster she's seen in her 11 years in this business. She says that 60% of her Pipeline clients have filed complaints about the fee, and most are leaving Pipeline. She says that Pipeline has the highest cancellation fee she's ever seen in the business. If you haven't been with Pipeline for atleast three years, they will charge you a $300 cancellation fee.
- According to employees at Transparent Financial Services and also at Merchant Express, the authorize.net gateway is already PCI compliant. The PCI compliance issue Pipeline is claiming to address can be satisfied by mailing a questionaaire to each merchant asking a series of questions about how they handle and store credit card data. A reasonable fee for this service might be $10 per merchant. Not $150. Many providers are not charging their merchants any fee for this questionnaire.
- According the an SEC filing dated 11/18/2008 (available on the Pipeline website), Pipeline is dying. Quote: "...However, the Company has incurred significant losses and has an accumulated deficit of $11.6 million at September 30, 2008, with a history of quarter losses since December 2005. The Company has a net loss of $3.1million for the three month period ended September 30, 2008, partially as a result of a major creditor filing bankruptcy causing a write down of over $1.0 million in notes receivable. These losses have reduced working capital and retained earnings to the extent that the company may not be able to continue as a going concern."
Why charge merchants $150 each when you know you're going out of business?
I called my bank branch. I talked with the manager for 4 minutes. I described all of the information above, plus i mentioned the series of comlaints on ripoffreport.com (she was already familiar with this website!).
She said she would commence a "Reg E" filing immediately, and I should have paperwork to sign within 2 days.
If Pipeline data really does have over 30000 merchant accounts, they just stole over 4.5 million dollars from us. Don't let Pipeline management "retire" with your $150. Call your bank today!
Bill
Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Bill
Denver,Colorado,
U.S.A.
Update - not so easy to get refund
#2Author of original report
Wed, January 21, 2009
My bank tells me that Pipeline used a code on the transfer called SEC Code CCD. This means the transaction can only be contested for a day or two after it occurs. If not contested in that timeframe, it cannot be contested. It seems clear now why Pipeline dated the transaction December 23rd. No one would see it until after Christmas. Also, I learned that Reg E may not apply to commercial bank accounts, only personal accounts. I contacted the OCC, and they said i could file a complaint with them, but they could only leverage my bank to reverse the charge (maybe). OCC has no jurisdiction over Pipeline because Pipeline is not affiliated with a national bank. The only remaining option is a complaint with FTC, but FTC will likely not push it past the vague terms of the Pipeline contract which says that Pipeline is authorized to take money out of your account. Bottom line, Pipeline is going out of business, and they are grabbing up some cash before they go. Crooks. Stay away.
