Complaint Review: United Merchant Services - Renton Washington

Hi My name is Hassan I'm an ISO, I own Merchant Services Company Express MPS Group partner with Digital Financial Group one of the best company Sponsored by wells Fargo and First Data. WOW I'm sorry you got Ripped off, by these guys. Do not sign a terminal lease if it's more than $30 a month. AND DON'T BUY A FREE CREDIT CARD MACHINE.BECAUSE IT'S A RIP OFF. Dont let any merchant services pay off your Current lease,because they will put you on new lease,and that you will be paying more Read the contract very closely and keep a copy of it and tell the agent to wait for TOW days or comeback within TWO day so you have time to read the contract and look up their company @ www.ripoffreport.com when you decided to sign with them make sure you get your contract copy right a way. (it Means) go to the copy machine and make your own copy of the contract you signed. WE ALL LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES This is some Consumer Guide on Merchant Services to help you choose your merchant service provider wisely. Merchant Services: Beware of Marketing Ploys Like any other business field, merchant service providers have their own jargon, inside information, heroes and villains. There are honest companies and those willing to say just about anything to close a sale. This is Consumer Guide on Merchant Services to help you choose your merchant service provider wisely. Don't Be Fooled By Marketing Tricks. In the field of merchant services, there are many price variables that can be manipulated to fool a customer into believing they are paying the lowest price, but in fact they are not. The merchant services industry is advertising a low discount rate. The discount rate can be temporarily manipulated through "introductory" offers which quickly expire. This is the rate that a merchant pays for a swiped card transaction, usually between 1.69% and 2.69% depending on credit, volume, product type and risk factors. Below are some marketing techniques and issues to be educated on. 1) "Merchant Accounts 1.09% 1.39% 1.59% and 1.64%!" When you see such an ad, click through and try to find the rate guaranteed and watch out when you see (guaranteed**) anywhere on the merchant services website. See if you can even find it ever mentioned again! Some advertising might grand-stand lower rates that are only given to extremely high volume customers. Once you have invested time into the application process, a savvy high pressure closer will explain with great charm and detail why your final rate wasn't as good as the one given to say, "A world wide fast food chain" but was still a great deal considering your risk factors. 2) "Free Merchant Account?" What does this mean!? The merchant account provider must charge a discount rate and per item transaction fee. Does that sound free? A free set-up fee can easily be exchanged with an "annual fee" or some other kind of hidden charge. 3) Hidden Charges: Another "switch" is simply substituting hidden charges that you won't discover until after you get your first bill. STEPS 1-Customer Service... Ask your sales agent what you can expect when you call their office for support. Who will answer the phone? Do they have one of those annoying automated system that takes you into a black hole, or do they have a live human answering the phone? What are the hours of operation? If you speak another language, do they have a translation service? If you have an emergency, is there a 24 hour telephone number? 2- Rate...You should not base your decision solely on price. Be weary of those that are offering extremely low rates. They may be padding the back end with additional fees. Qualified and non-qualified rates are determined by Visa/MasterCard. Look at their websites to determine what these credit card companies are charging your processor to run Visa/MasterCard transactions. If the rate is lower than this "set" rate, be cautious. Remember that your processor is a business, with expenses and employees to pay. 3 -Funding...How long will it take for your e-funds (funds from credit, debit, and e-checks) to be deposited into your bank account? The deposit or funding time is different with each processor. If your business needs daily cash flow to pay employees funding time could be very important to you. Processors fund anywhere from 24 hours to several days to even weeks. 4-Experience...How many years has the processor been in business? This can prove to be very important when a problem arises with your account or your equipment. Ensure they have the know-how to get things resolved, and fast! 5- Equipment...Long gone are the days of having to purchase costly equipment, or get stuck in a long lease. Leading processors are offering free equipment with new, approved merchant accounts. Understand that this is a free terminal placement while you are a current client of the processor. If you terminate the agreement, for any reason, you must return the equipment. Be cautious about processors who push new, costly, equipment. Unless you current equipment is not PCI compliant or network compliant, you should not have to upgrade. Do not sign a terminal lease if it's more than $30 a month If you have a lease and it's the end of the lease TERM make sure you call the lease company to cancel your lease, because IF YOU DON'T CALL THEM they will continue charging you. 6- Contract Term... Know if there is a contract term. If there is a contract term and you want to cancel the contract in the future what is the fee. Are there certain exceptions to this early-cancellation fee? TIP... Be honest with your processor about your business type, How much you process and the average ticket amount. Don't claim a $20.00 average ticket amount when your average ticket is around $200.00. This may see like a good idea to qualify for a "lower" rate but what will undoubtly happen is. After you run a few "abnormal" transactions, a red flag will go up at the risk department. They are looking for fraud. If your account has abnormal activity that might be fraudulent, they will freeze your account to minimize their exposure. Your account will be held until an investigation is completed. This can take months. Be honest and up front with your credit card processor to eliminate this hassle all together. WARNING Ask Questions. Be studious. Look at all contracts, really all the lines. Your processor can't realistically go over everything. It is your job to look the contract over and ask any questions you might have. Be weary of processors who are quick to get your signed without addressing all of your concerns. THANKS TO www.ripoffreport.com If you have any Question please feel free to email me

We too had briefly worked for UMS. We each individually stated that we would not recommend products unethically. The training is 1 week long to become a sales person for this company, done by Anthony. He trains a very specific wording and presentation that accomplishes two things:(1) how to hide the truth from his sales staff so they dont recognize how they are being trained to lie and scam customers, and (2) wording that will make the sales person the bad guy, and not him and Jeff. I have found out from a reputable company that the fees and rates that they express as "set by Visa/MC" are far from true statements. They are actually making more money per swipe than most companies in a very sneaky--and almost illegal way. But of course it is "what your sales person told you." Simply put, their EPS contract is filled with hidden fees and charges. You have to stick with the lease on the equipment, but you can transfer your processing to another company with MUCH better rates and fees. Not only did I make sales to customers initially unkown to me, but I closed some sales with personal friends--and that doesnt sit well with me. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH UNITED MERCHANT SERVICES,LLC., ANTHONY LUCERO, JEFF DELEEUW. FYI - UMS will be changing its name soon to United Merchants USA of WA. All four of us hired together, and because of unethical actions on UMS part, we have all quit together--to our relief!

These companies are different on paper but they are all part of an organized crime syndicate and I am sure there are a lot of other names that they go by. They are all crooked and they do win judgements against people because people do not show up in court to fight them and they count on this. Usually they pick in people quite a far distance from their home office and hope people won't show up forcourt date.

I stumbled upon this complaint (and others)as I was researching United Merchant Services of Renton, WA. I remember these nice folks in Rochester so well. They were one of the first merchants I signed up. I have to take this opportunity to apologize profusely to this couple. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't realize what a horrible company I signed up to work for. I didn't even think of researching them because I thought that the merchant credit card processing industry was federally regulated. I worked for them approximately 45 days until I started receiving phone calls from customers who were outright "pissed" at the company. I quit immediately. I never intended harm upon anyone. Everything I told you, I thought was true. It was part of my training and I believed them as much as you believed me. I also have to tell you that you are not the only ones. They do this everyday to so many people, it's Unbelievable! I signed up around 20 businesses in my time there and all of them, as far as I know, were lied to and abused. There are around 2-4 sales people working there at any given time. All of them run about 2-4 appointments per day all over Washington State, Oregon, and Northern California. They sign up about 1-4 new accounts a day. Futhermore, the owners of the company, Anthony Lucero and Jeff Deleuw are sick scumbags (in my personal opinion). They have disgusting mouths, cuss like sailors, and I've heard from their own mouths, they don't give a "f" about you, their customers. They are reported alcoholics and drug-heads with no care or concern for anyone but themselves. I'm glad they tried to avoid paying me as much as possible, because I wish I'd never accepted a dime from them. To top all of this off, the girl that worked the front desk and handled ALL of the papers, including those with your social security numbers, birthdates, and bank account information, was busted by the Feds for aggravated identity theft, social security fraud, and theft. She was caught with 7 ID's on her person from various states, with her picture on them. This is not here-say, the court documents are available on the internet. OH LORD! I can't believe that they are still allowed to conduct business. Seriously. Where's the Attorney General when you need him? Don't give up Debbie. Call MBF and tell them exactly what happened. File with the BBB and the State Attorney General. Perhaps we can file a class-action law suit. If you want to, I'm open to testifying. Yours very truly, ~Theresa

I stumbled upon this complaint (and others)as I was researching United Merchant Services of Renton, WA. I remember these nice folks in Rochester so well. They were one of the first merchants I signed up. I have to take this opportunity to apologize profusely to this couple. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't realize what a horrible company I signed up to work for. I didn't even think of researching them because I thought that the merchant credit card processing industry was federally regulated. I worked for them approximately 45 days until I started receiving phone calls from customers who were outright "pissed" at the company. I quit immediately. I never intended harm upon anyone. Everything I told you, I thought was true. It was part of my training and I believed them as much as you believed me. I also have to tell you that you are not the only ones. They do this everyday to so many people, it's Unbelievable! I signed up around 20 businesses in my time there and all of them, as far as I know, were lied to and abused. There are around 2-4 sales people working there at any given time. All of them run about 2-4 appointments per day all over Washington State, Oregon, and Northern California. They sign up about 1-4 new accounts a day. Futhermore, the owners of the company, Anthony Lucero and Jeff Deleuw are sick scumbags (in my personal opinion). They have disgusting mouths, cuss like sailors, and I've heard from their own mouths, they don't give a "f" about you, their customers. They are reported alcoholics and drug-heads with no care or concern for anyone but themselves. I'm glad they tried to avoid paying me as much as possible, because I wish I'd never accepted a dime from them. To top all of this off, the girl that worked the front desk and handled ALL of the papers, including those with your social security numbers, birthdates, and bank account information, was busted by the Feds for aggravated identity theft, social security fraud, and theft. She was caught with 7 ID's on her person from various states, with her picture on them. This is not here-say, the court documents are available on the internet. OH LORD! I can't believe that they are still allowed to conduct business. Seriously. Where's the Attorney General when you need him? Don't give up Debbie. Call MBF and tell them exactly what happened. File with the BBB and the State Attorney General. Perhaps we can file a class-action law suit. If you want to, I'm open to testifying. Yours very truly, ~Theresa

I stumbled upon this complaint (and others)as I was researching United Merchant Services of Renton, WA. I remember these nice folks in Rochester so well. They were one of the first merchants I signed up. I have to take this opportunity to apologize profusely to this couple. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn't realize what a horrible company I signed up to work for. I didn't even think of researching them because I thought that the merchant credit card processing industry was federally regulated. I worked for them approximately 45 days until I started receiving phone calls from customers who were outright "pissed" at the company. I quit immediately. I never intended harm upon anyone. Everything I told you, I thought was true. It was part of my training and I believed them as much as you believed me. I also have to tell you that you are not the only ones. They do this everyday to so many people, it's Unbelievable! I signed up around 20 businesses in my time there and all of them, as far as I know, were lied to and abused. There are around 2-4 sales people working there at any given time. All of them run about 2-4 appointments per day all over Washington State, Oregon, and Northern California. They sign up about 1-4 new accounts a day. Futhermore, the owners of the company, Anthony Lucero and Jeff Deleuw are sick scumbags (in my personal opinion). They have disgusting mouths, cuss like sailors, and I've heard from their own mouths, they don't give a "f" about you, their customers. They are reported alcoholics and drug-heads with no care or concern for anyone but themselves. I'm glad they tried to avoid paying me as much as possible, because I wish I'd never accepted a dime from them. To top all of this off, the girl that worked the front desk and handled ALL of the papers, including those with your social security numbers, birthdates, and bank account information, was busted by the Feds for aggravated identity theft, social security fraud, and theft. She was caught with 7 ID's on her person from various states, with her picture on them. This is not here-say, the court documents are available on the internet. OH LORD! I can't believe that they are still allowed to conduct business. Seriously. Where's the Attorney General when you need him? Don't give up Debbie. Call MBF and tell them exactly what happened. File with the BBB and the State Attorney General. Perhaps we can file a class-action law suit. If you want to, I'm open to testifying. Yours very truly, ~Theresa