I went into Suntrust Bank to open a business checking account. Per their request and recommendation, we applied for a merchant account with Suntrust for processing our credit cards. We told them we had just purchased locations in Florida, and they wanted us to use their bank and banking relationship to help our success in Miami. Suntrust had Laurie Wooley contact us. She said she was with Suntrust Merchant Services, and she pursued us for a merchant account. We agreed based on the way the bank had acted. Everyone seemed professional, forthright and honest. We really felt comfortable dealing with Suntrust Bank. We went ahead and applied with Suntrust for merchant services as they suggested, and we were approved. We met with Laurie of Suntrust Merchant Services at the Spring Hill Bank location, agreed to terms and signed the application.
We were approved and began using the terminal in accordance with our agreement. Two weeks in, we stopped getting deposits into our account and wondered why. We called the customer service number Laurie had given us, and they transferred us to a gentleman named James with First Data Co. He told us that he was holding all of our batches, some $5,600.00, in a reserve for 6 months and closing our account because: 1) A dating service is high risk. 2) We are a new business. 3) We do not have enough money in our account to cover chargebacks. 4) They have big clients and do not need the risk of small accounts like ours. 5) Our services span a period of 6-11 months, which is too long a delivery time.
We disclosed all of this information up front to both Suntrust Bank and Laurie from Suntrust Merchant Services. It was even on our application in black and white. Who is First Data, and why do I have to talk to them? I have not signed or seen anything from them. We did not make any deals with them, only with Suntrust Bank.
I contacted Laurie at Suntrust Merchant Services, and she said not to worry, she would take care of it and everything would be fine. She called us back and said she could not do anything and suggested I call another First Data manager, Mark Wood. After I called him, he told me the same thing as James, and said that they have the right to change terms without notice, without regard to the company and without regard to Suntrust Bank. He told me that he can even take more from me if he wants to. He wanted me to thank him. He also said Suntrust Bank has nothing to do with this, that they just make money selling the service to people. Is that true? Did Suntrust Bank toss me to this lion for a little bit of coin? I do not know, but we were not told anything about all this. We thought we were doing business with a legitimate bank that wanted to help us grow our company. We had no dealings with anyone named First Data. It was not on my merchant application, not included in any paperwork given to me, and not mentioned at all through the entire process. We even had to go to a Suntrust bank to sign the application.
This morning I got up to find that, in addition to the $5,600.00 they are holding, they withdrew an additional $1,700.00, overdrafting our account. We now cannot process credit cards and have no access to the money we earned in sales that we rightfully, legally and contractually processed. We have to hurry and find another processor, without any previous notice, so we can continue sales and make money to support our company and families.
We put the future of our new business in the hands of Suntrust Bank, and we have been devastated by the results. Our business is in jeopardy as a result of our relationship with Suntrust. I have called Suntrust, and they say they can do nothing. They say they are powerless. This is gross misrepresentation and has to be illegal. I have never even heard of anything so ridiculous. We will be pursuing legal action against Suntrust and First Data. I suggest you stay away from both of them.
Thank you for your attention.
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