In October of while trying to establish our online art gallery, we found Landmark Merchant Solutions. We were contacted by George Sinnis, sales representative and supposed Vice President, whose salespitch was aggressive to say the least. He called us daily, regaling us with the "outstanding" services provided by Landmark, including a wonderful, state of the art, FREE website.
I was cautious and somewhat skeptical because of George's high pressure sales approach, so decided to check them out through the Better Business Bureau. The BBB listed Landmark Merchant Solutions as a non-BBB member with a few complaints issued against them in a three-year reporting period.
Since it was shown that all but one of the complaints were "resolved" we decided to go ahead and give Landmark a try. They (Landmark) promised a quality website with great designers and support staff. This sounded very promising and we were excited about getting our online art gallery off and running!
It did not take us long to realize we had been sold a load of hooey! The promised website was a total joke! We had spent HOURS compiling our submissions of artwork with corresponding descriptions. I cannot imagine what the web design team was thinking when they concluded their work on our behalf was finished. They had totally rearranged (I called it "sliced and diced") the hours of hard work we had done. One painting, a portrait of a child, had a description of a weather-beaten fence and a ramshackle shed.
Huh? A painting of a historic home in Minnesota had a description of a campsite. Some of the artwork was pictured two and even three times, and I could go on and on. Apparently, Landmark's web design team is under incredible pressure with unrealistic time constraints. Alternatively, perhaps they do not understand the concept of proofreading. However, I am straying from my point.
We tried on NUMEROUS occasions to contact Landmark Merchant Solutions over the telephone to speak with a live human for corrections to our site. Repeatedly, we left voice messages, but no one called us back. One time we did receive a return call, and that is when we were told "nobody else is having this kind of trouble." When we tried contacting them via email they let us know they were finished working on the site, and any subsequent work had to be done by us.
In January, we discovered an additional charge to our account - a "maintenance fee" of $44.00. Maintenance of WHAT? Equipment that we could not use because of a trashed, useless website? In total frustration, we again tried reaching Landmark. Specifically, we were trying to contact George. If you go to Landmark's own website, you will find NO contact information UNLESS you are a prospective customer. I fired off an email pretending to be a prospective customer. GUESS WHAT? We got a telephone call within the hour!
I told the eager young salesman that we already had an account with Landmark and that I wanted to do NO MORE BUSINESS with them! I told him to STOP taking money from my bank account. He wanted to know who our sales rep was and when I told him it was George, he claimed he would be contacting George who would get back to me shortly. Well, "shortly" did not happen, so the following day we packed up their equipment and mailed it back to them.
George Sinnis contacted us at 8:00 am PST on February 24th. Remember we had talked to the young salesman in the beginning of January and this was now the end of February. This was his idea of "getting right back" to us?
George was upset that there was no way they could continue to take money from us. At first he talked to my boyfriend and their conversation escalated to a shouting match at warp speed! I could hear Mr. Sinnis screaming and I was not even the one on the telephone. He even had the nerve to state (and this is a verbatim quote) "why did you return the machine, you f#%king baby"?
At this point, I took over the "discussion" and George tried his bully tactics with me. I told him he needed to calm down so we could have a rational discussion. George kept referring to the "contract" which I had in fact signed on October 20. I told him that HE violated the contract first because we NEVER received the services stated in the contract. George told me at least three times that he would report me to collections.
I told him to go right ahead. When I told him I had discussed this with my mother's attorney and this situation sounded like consumer fraud, George sounded like he was about to implode! I again asked him to calm down so we could speak reasonably. He asked me what about the site made us so unhappy.
I told him it was total garbage and asked him why a supposedly reputable company would publish anything so useless. He tried telling me that MOST of his customers were satisfied; that there had been very few complaints - only 52 in 36 months. ONLY 52 COMPLAINTS IN 36 MONTHS! We ended our "conversation" at this point because Mr. Sinnis claimed he had a conference call and that we would speak again the following Monday (the 28th).
We did NOT get a telephone call from George on Monday, but we did receive a letter stating the following:
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Re: Cancellation of Credit Card Processing Services
Dear Merchant:
Recently, your merchant account with Landmark Merchant Solutions had been closed. This action was taken as we periodically review the portfolio. If you wish the account to be re-opened, please contact customer service at our toll free number of 1-866-606-1504 to ensure your credit standing or your ability to process credit cards in the future is not affected.
We appreciated the opportunity to serve you and wish you the best in your business goals.
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Now if any of you folks are still with me, I would like to add possible solutions to anybody else ripped off by this unscrupulous company.
Contact your bank and let them know you suspect consumer fraud. My bank representative informed me that it was illegal for Landmark to continue withdrawing money from my account after I told them to stop. I did NOT have to put it in writing a verbal statement WAS enough.
Your bank will send you complaint forms to fill out. If the bank investigators find in your favor, (that fraud did indeed take place), it is very likely that Landmark will be forced BY LAW to return your money to you.
Contact Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General to file a consumer complaint.
Www.IllinoisAttorneyGeneral. Gov
The Consumer Fraud Hotline in the Chicago area can be reached at 1-800-386-5438.
I contacted the Attorney General of Washington State and was told that the complaint must be filed through the defendant's state (Illinois).
I hope that enough of us that have by burned by the likes of Mr. George Sinnis and company will make a big enough stink to implement change. Good luck to everyone trying to start their own business, and do not forget that the BBB is only a tiny tip of the iceberg when researching a company you want to do business with.
I will post whatever OUR results are after the investigation with the bank is complete.
Thanks for listening!
Jane Marie
Yakima, Washington
U.S.A.
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