Complaint Review: Todd McCartney Wholesale Merchant Processing Wholesale Merchant Services - Beaverton Oregon

Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW:

EDitor’s UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to Wholesale Merchant Services for its high level of dedication to its customers, employees and outside sales team.

Founded in 2007, Wholesale Merchant Services remains highly dedicated to their customers, employees and network of outside Canadian-based sales representatives. Wholesale Merchant Services offers EMV compliant terminals and equipment backed up by expert LIVE customer service and technical support 24x7x365. Wholesale Merchant Services is 100% committed to the growth of small to midsize Canadian merchant customers and the success of their employees and sales team.

Ripoff Report’s discussions with Wholesale Merchant Services have uncovered an strong commitment by the company to customer and employee satisfaction. This means that they can expect that Wholesale Merchant Services will take all actions necessary to find a mutually satisfactory resolution to any issues or concerns that may arise.

The information provided in this report below is based on comments made by Greg Slote during an on-site inspection held by a third-party verification company with no biases toward Federated Payment Systems.

Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..

Federated Payment Systems is a credit card processing center and merchant account provider operating in both the United States and Canada. Their business model is to focus on improving the operating procedure of small to mid-size businesses by helping them save on operating costs while at the same time providing efficient and excellent customer service. Federated Payment Systems acquires leads through internet advertising and by purchasing targeted call lists in which their employees at the call center contact the potential clients. Once a client expresses interest, an appointment is set and confirmed and they will meet with a sales rep to review the services offered. All sales appointments are reported to and reviewed by the regional manager. Leads are also generated by client referrals and if any of those leads result in a sale, the client is paid a referral fee.

Once a sale is generated, the application is reviewed by the risks and underwriting department. Once approved, a welcome kit is sent out to the customer which includes operating instructions for the equipment. The equipment is then sent out to the client. The new system gets activated and tested. Customer service department is directly involved to handle any initial questions. Thereafter, clients can contact merchant support which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.



WHOLESALE MERCHANT SERVICES CUSTOMER CARE & COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

At times, a client may not feel satisfied with the product or services they received. Upon receiving a complaint from an unsatisfied client/customer, a representative from whichever department is involved will contact the customer. The supervisor from that same department well be informed of the complaint as well as all actions taken to rectify the situation. Recently, a client contacted Federated Payment Systems complaining that the equipment he was sent was very difficult to understand and to use. Federated Payment Systems, at its own expense, sent the client new equipment that was operated in a different manner which made it easier for the client to understand and use. This is not a common complaint, however. All equipment is thoroughly tested prior to being shipped.

Merchant support helps all new clients to operate and understand the equipment, therefore it is very rare that clients call to complain about the use and operation of the equipment. To resolve this issue, Federated Payment Systems immediately shipped the client new equipment. Merchant services followed up to ensure everything was working properly. The client was very pleased on how fast the situation was resolved. Once a client complaint is resolved they are sent a satisfaction survey. If any client fills out the survey and gives a rating which is below an outstanding receives a follow-up call by either customer support or merchant services. To ensure that a potential client fully understands all details and is fully aware of the company’s processes, all new clients fill out the contract with a sales rep present to answer any questions. The client initials every page. Once the contract is complete, the client then reviews it and signs the last page in front of the sales rep.

Federated Payment Systems also has protocols in place for dealing with employees who may not be performing up to the expected standards to ensure that they are treated fairly, even if they need to be let go. When an employee is not performing up to standards or other work related problems are occurring, they are first given a verbal warning to get back on track. If that warning does not work they are then given a written warning. If they still do not improve, they are given a final warning. If all that fails, they are then terminated from employment. All employees are issued an employee handbook in which they must sign a “do not compete” order. If they violate that order, or if they are caught stealing customer information, they are terminated immediately.

In response to a complaint posted about Federated Payment Systems on Ripoff Report, Vice President of Marketing Greg Slote states that they have increased employee training and staff meeting. Additionally, all employees are instructed to make customer satisfaction their number one priority. Mr. Slote also recognizes the value of working with Ripoff Report and the Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program, and the platform it provides for businesses and clients to interact and resolve issues. “Federated Payment Systems appreciates the opportunity to remediate any complaint or issue that may arise from consumers, customers, clients or employees. [This program] allows the business to help resolve the problems.”

WHOLESALE MERCHANT SERVICES / Statements from the VP of Marketing Greg Slote

"At Wholesale Merchant Services, we hold both our customers and our team of outside sales representatives in the highest regard. Acknowledging and resolving issues quickly on either end is of the upmost priority. Wholesale Merchant Services is constantly expanding our services and network of independent sales representatives. While in such high growth mode, it is imperative to minimize any customer issues while maximizing the success of our employees and team of outside sales representatives.”

After speaking with the management at Wholesale Merchant Services, sales representatives and employees as well as anyone who filed a complaint in the past, Ripoff Report is proud to give Wholesale Merchant Services a positive Rating for making every effort to ensure that all customers and sales team members were satisfied. Greg Slote, Wholesale Merchant Services ’s VP of Marketing and Public Relations, assured Ripoff Report that the business continues to perfect their products and services to confirm the highest possible level of customer satisfaction.

Other employees shared similar thoughts. “Our customer support team is highly trained to provide 100% customer satisfaction with any equipment or account questions that may arise”, stated one employee. A member of the outside sales team remarked, “Wholesale Merchant Services provides me with excellent support. All questions are answered quickly by Wholesale Merchant Services’ sales support team or my sales manager.” A member of the Customer Care team points out, “Wholesale Merchant Services reaches out its customers on a regular basis. After all great support and communication is the key to customer satisfaction.”

Wholesale Merchant Services knows that employee satisfaction is equally important. All Sales Team members have a dedicated group of sales support professionals, access to their own web based agent portal manage their appointments and accounts, upfront commissions paid daily and an experienced sales manager.



STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM WHOLESALE MERCHANT SERVICES

Wholesale Merchant Services has added 10 customer service experts to help reduce hold times and provide the highest level of support.

Wholesale Merchant Services has doubled the size of our sales support team dedicated to answering any of their questions quickly.

Wholesale Merchant Services has lengthened our initial sales training and instituted evening advanced trainings each week for our sales representatives so the merchant customer fully understands all pricing, products and services before signing up.

Wholesale Merchant Services has once again upgraded our agent portal to make sure all sales representatives have the latest tools they need to efficiently and effectively manage each of their customer accounts.

Wholesale Merchant Services reaches out to all merchants on a quarterly basis to review their accounts ensuring we deliver the best customer service and technical support.

Wholesale Merchant Services is constantly adding new programs and developing additional vendor partnerships to provide our merchant customers additional ways to increase profits.

Wholesale Merchant Services conducts criminal background checks on every single employee as well as all contracted sales representatives.

At Wholesale Merchant Services, security is critical in our industry, so we conduct criminal background checks on every single employee as well as all contracted sales representatives.

In summary, after our review with representatives of Wholesale Merchant Services and their customers, Ripoff Report is convinced that Wholesale Merchant Services is committed to quality delivery of services resulting in total client, employee and sales team satisfaction.

Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Rip-off Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, it’s a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.

Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program, a program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. this program works.

NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED

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Todd McCartney, Wholesale Merchant Processing, Wholesale Merchant Services Todd McCartney, Wholesale Merchant Processing, Wholesale Merchant Services Todd McCartney, Wholesale Merchant Processing, Wholesale Merchant Services - complete links and history of all legal issues for Todd McCartney Beaverton, Oregon

THE TRUTH ABOUT TODD MCCARTNEY

11000 SW Stratus Street, Suite 150, Beaverton, OR
97008

Todd
McCartney’s business websites

http://www.wholesalemerchantprocessing.com

http://www.wmpagent.com

http://www.buildlifelongsuccess.com

http://www.wmphq.com

http://www.wholesalepromo.info

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wholesale-Merchant-Processing/144464060450

http://www.linkedin.com/company/wholesale-merchant-processing_2?trk=fc_badge

http://fs10.formsite.com/Clear-Portland/form37/index.html?1295996308804

https://wholesalemerchantprocessing.com/login.php

http://www.manta.com/c/mtxg889/wholesale-merchant-processing

A
complete list of major complaints - http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=wholesale+merchant+services+knut+werpen+company&revid=416537612&sa=X&ei=aIZzTeOnMoyWsgOrvtTKCw&ved=0CHUQ1QIoAzgU&bav=on.2,or.&fp=b4ebd206981bc959

Complaint
from a Former Employee of Todd McCartney:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/corrupt-companies/wholesale-merchant-s/wholesale-merchant-services-ri-bd6d2.htm



“I am a former employee of WMS, and true it's been a few years since I worked
there. I doubt very much that the 'way' they practice business has changed
much. I started as an appointment setter, and was promoted into a application
processor......surely as I was very naive in knowing that many of the things
they were doing were WRONG on sooooo many levels. I know now I was asked to do
several things that were 'ILLEGAL'. I have kept the information of some of the
things that were asked of me.  In
addition to the shady business practices, I also witnessed drug use on the
premises of WMS . On one occasion I walked into the owner’s office to give him
an update on some of the applications that I had been working on. He had a few
of the 'out of state' sales reps for WMS in the office. They were passing
around a large Tupperware like container containing marijuana buds. On another
occasion shortly after I was promoted up to the applications processor, the
owner excused all of the call center employees early...with pay. After they
were all gone from the building, he called all the rest of the employees up to
the front reception area. I refused several times as I could smell that they
were smoking pot. The owner insisted that I join everyone else up there, and
insisted that I take a hit off of what I later was told was a blunt (cigar
wrapper filled with pot). I insisted that I could not as I am allergic to
marijuana. I was let go shortly after one of the questionable things had been
done, as I 'talked' to a few people in the company about the situation. I feel
they were afraid of what I knew. Honestly, I enjoyed most the people I worked
with, but at the end of the day hated the lies I was asked to tell people in
order to keep my job. It was a total relief when they let me go.”



Todd McCartney and Wholesale Merchant Processing aka Wholesale Merchant
Services represents this bank:  First
National Bank of Omaha, http://www.firstnationalmerchants.com - If you
have been scammed or feel like you are a victim of fraud by Todd McCartney and
Wholesale Merchant Processing aka Wholesale Merchant Services, call this bank
and make a formal complaint with them.



Along with this news story http://wweek.com/portland/article-10187-wholesale_merchant_processing.html, all the
complaints with the BBB http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-reviews/credit-card-processing-service/wholesale-merchant-warehouse-in-portland-or-41001029 and http://www.bbb.org/oregon/business-reviews/credit-card-processing-service/wholesale-merchant-processing-in-beaverton-or-22507255, there
are multiple reports on the ripoffreport.com about Todd McCartney and Wholesale
Merchant Processing aka Wholesale Merchant Services aka Wholesale Merchant
Warehouse from former employees, and his drug use at his office buildings and
his parties at his home. And about his employees lying to merchants, promising
they will save merchants alot of money if they sign a lease and switch to his
company. When the merchants switch to Todd McCartney and Wholesale Merchant
Processing aka Wholesale Merchant Services aka Wholesale Merchant Warehouse,
they find out a few months later that their rates and fees are higher and there
is no savings at all.  They were lied
to.  And now hundreds of merchants are
stuck with high equipment leases of $70 to $120 per month x 48 months totaling
$5760 for a terminal you can purchase from any other merchant service company
or on Ebay for as little as $200 cash, and in a lot of cases can get a free
terminal from other merchant service companies. 


He
has over 27 complaints on the www.ripoffreport.com which can be found
here http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/Wholesale-Merchant-Processing.aspx - there
are now 11 reports about him when there use to be 27 so it appears the ripoff
report deleted past reports because they were paid to remove them.  In order for him to prevent companies from
seeing all the negative reports about his company he made an attempt to create
some 20 websites online with all the social network sites and domains like www.toddmccartney.com which are
no longer there.  He did this to get all
these sites show up in Google on the first 2-3 page search results.  This did not work.  All his negative reports show up in the top 5
of any search result for his person name or company name.  Yes, there are some 27 Attorney General
reports on Todd McCartney and his business names.  They are old and closed.  And Todd McCartney posts comments on this
site about this article saying the article was false and misleading.  But the fact is, if merchants have to go a
few months of calling, emailing, faxing, mailing letters, and get no response
and no resolution, and they have to turn to the www.ripoffreport.com or the BBB or the
Oregon Attorney General’s office, or this article to be written, then you
should think twice before giving him your bank account information, signing any
contract, and doing any business with Todd McCartney and Wholesale Merchant
Processing aka Wholesale Merchant Services aka Wholesale Merchant Warehouse.  Because if something happens, and you find
out they lied to you, it will take you months to force them to refund your
money and allow you to go somewhere else. 


And
another thing, there was a major lawsuit against Todd McCartney and Wholesale
Merchant Processing aka Wholesale Merchant Services aka Wholesale Merchant
Warehouse because Todd McCartney decided he wanted to use a new company name
called www.wholesalemerchantwarehouse.com that was
filed by Merchant Warehouse.  Merchant
Warehouse sued him for using a similar name, and they won, and Todd McCartney
and Wholesale Merchant Processing aka Wholesale Merchant Services aka Wholesale
Merchant Warehouse had to shut down the domain name.  Merchant Warehouse did not want to have to
deal with all the bad and negative publicity if the public started confusing
Todd McCartney and his shady businesses with Merchant Warehouse.  The list goes on and on.  But most of the really good reports posted on
the www.ripoffreport.com site are
now gone. 

Another
thing, Todd McCartney is running a huge telemarketing office in the past with
some 30 telemarketers and the person who is in charge running the telemarketing
office has a criminal record.  He wanted
to close his telemarketing office down to save money and use the Oregon prison
system to do the telemarketing calls, but they were not allowed to do so
because the man running the telemarketing operations was really good, but he
had a criminal record and the prison system would not allow him to enter the
prison facilities.

Here
is a link to a 2007 Federal Trade Commission complaint/lawsuit http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0523162/070411merchantprocess-cmplt.pdf



COUNT I - Deception - Misrepresentation Regarding
Fees, COUNT II - Deception - Failure to Disclose Additional Expenses, COUNT
III - Deception - Misrepresentation Regarding Lease Buy-Outs, COUNT IV
- Unilateral Modification of Contracts

 

Results of this FTC complaint - $26 Million dollar
settlement -  http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/05/ftc_card_processors.html

 

Another
article about this case http://www.digitaltransactions.net/index.php/news/story/1389

 

Small
businesses throughout the United States have suffered substantial monetary loss
as a result of Defendants’ unlawful acts and practices. In addition, Defendants
have been unjustly enriched as a result of their unlawful practices. Absent
relief by this Court, Defendants are likely to continue to injure merchants,
reap unjust enrichment, and harm the public interest.

 

The
main part of this lawsuit was because of the following “Using statements that
the merchants have received from their current processors, defendants’ agents
compute a “cost analysis,” which they claim compares the processing fees the
merchants are currently paying with those that Defendants would offer. After
performing this analysis, Defendants promise substantial savings. If merchants
ask if there are any other fees, the agents typically say no. 

 

EVEN
TODAY, IN 2009, 2010, AND 2011, Todd McCartney and his companies are conducting
business with the same deceptive sales tactics, as noted in all the
ripoffreports.  Todd McCartney is never
going to change, he is who he is.  The
companies mentioned in this FTC complaint were operating their business in the
same are as Todd McCartney and his companies.

 

Here
are more details of the FTC lawsuit:

 

Defendants also offer
for lease card processing terminals, also known as card swipe terminals
(“terminals”). The terminals are subject to four-year leases between the
merchants and third-party leasing companies and obligate merchants to pay
monthly amounts to the leasing companies. Many merchants solicited by
Defendants are already bound by equipment leases. Typically, the monthly
payments on the four-year leases offered by Defendants are higher than the
monthly payments on the merchants’ existing leases.

To induce merchants
to sign the new equipment leases, Defendants’ agents claim that the merchants’
current terminals are outdated or incompatible with Defendants’ services, or
that the new terminals are a necessary part of Defendants’ services.
Defendants’ agents further claim that Defendants will pay off the balances of
the merchants’ existing leases. The agents also claim that, even with the new
higher lease payments, merchants will save money on processing services because
of Defendants’ low discount rate.

Defendants’ sales
agents ask the merchants to sign documents that include a Merchant Application
and Agreement (Processing Agreement) and a 48-month Non-Cancellable Lease for
equipment. In numerous instances, the sales agents do not leave copies of these
documents with the merchants and do not show merchants the last four pages of
the Processing Agreements, which consist of fine print disclosures.

In fact, there is a
“middleman” in the card processing transaction. Merchants’ payment processing
is actually done by a third-party processor, not defendants. In numerous
instances, merchants who use Defendants’ services are charged an additional
processing rate, called a surcharge, for certain types
of card transactions. These surcharges are an additional percentage of the
transaction amount and are described in the fine print pages that many
merchants do not see at the time of signing.

In
numerous instances, merchants who use Defendants’ services are also charged
miscellaneous fees that appear as “other fees” on merchants’ statements. These
“other fees” are not disclosed or are inadequately disclosed.

In
numerous instances, Defendants do not buy out the merchants’ previous equipment
leases, and merchants must pay the balances on their previous leases – which
can be thousands of dollars – or make lease payments for two terminals, one of
which they do not use.

As a
consequence, many merchants contact Defendants through Defendants’ customer
service department. Defendants’ customer service phone number is answered by
employees who claim not to have any authority and who are unable or unwilling
to transfer merchants to anyone who can assist them. Merchants are transferred
to voice mail or are promised return calls that are not made.

Many
merchants ultimately cancel the processing agreements that Defendants induced
them to sign. In such instances, merchants are charged substantial cancellation
fees that are described in the fine print pages that many merchants do not see
at the time of signing or that are otherwise inadequately disclosed.

In
numerous instances, merchants have complained to Defendants about their
practices and also filed complaints with Better Business Bureaus and state
attorneys general that have been forwarded to Defendants. Defendants have not
generally refunded, reduced, or provided compensation for additional costs
incurred by merchants.

Does
all this sound familiar?  After reading
all the ripoff reports about Todd McCartney, it appears his businesses and
sales reps are conducting business in a highly unethical manner similar to this
FTC complaint about other companies who were closed down that operated in the
same area as Todd McCartney’s businesses.