In July, a representative from Integrity of Texas called to schedule an appointment to sell merchant services to my for my travel agency. I agreed to meet the rep at KFC in Fort Worth, TX the next day. Ms. Amy??? Met me at KFC and we had a nice, long talk about the way I process online checks and credit card payments for my travel agency.
I explained in detail, that 99.9% of my business is online and through the mail. I also explained that 95% of my checks were submitted over the internet and I used software to print the checks out (from my computer) and deposited them into my business' bank account. I even showed her copies of some checks I was going to deposit that afternoon AND pulled up my website so she could see my business operations.
She advised that she had a program that would work for me, save me money, and save me trips to the bank. This service would guarantee the funds AND the funds would be automatically deposited into my checking account within 48 hours. This sounded good to me, because I had recently been through several NSF checks from customers. She worked out a special deal for me for a $100 deposit and $50 per month for the equipment lease.
After I signed the contract, she recommended that I purchase MICR ink for printing checks, so the check scan machine would be able to read the checks, and that I update my website with a disclaimer advising clients that all checks would be processed via ACH. She said that was all I needed to do in order to be up and running by the time my equipment arrived.
I received the equipment within 5 days as expected and was so excited about it because I had a big final payment that needed to be processed. So, I attempted to use it on the very 1st day of receipt and I couldn't get it to perform as the instructions had indicated.
So, after failed attempts, several calls to the tech. Support center, and more than 5 days waiting on funds to be deposited into my account that never was deposited, I finally called Integrity of Texas directly. All of the numbers and the email address Amy left for me went unanswered.
When I finally reached Integrity of Texas, I was excited because I was actually speaking to a live person. The unfortunate thing is, I was on a wild goose chase, and for over 3 weeks, I kept getting passed on to someone who was either on vacation, not in that day.
It took me more than 3 weeks of calling (because they never returned any of my calls) to find out that my service was setup as a Verification service, rather than a guarantee/direct deposit service. When I asked how much more to get the guarantee service, they told me #1) my business was a high risk business (travel agency) and wasn't allowed to get that type of service; and #2) the guarantee service only works when clients come into the place of business and swipes their DL!
Now, Ms. Amy NEVER told me this. I would have never signed the agreement had I known this. Because I already had a verification account for FREE and my credit card processing company was doing a GREAT job. So, I had not hidden motives to signing up with this company, other than to guarantee and process my checks!
After finding this out, I asked to cancel my account. While Integrity of Texas indicated that they would cancel my processing service, they would not be able to do anything about my equipment leasing agreement. They told me it was non-refundable and could not be cancelled. So, I contacted MBF Leasing, Inc back in August and explained to them the situation and that I would sold the equipment and services under false pretenses. They advised there was nothing they could do and that I had to pay for the equipment that I couldn't use.
By this time, they had already withdrawn 2 $50 payments out of my account, and was preparing to draft another, so I closed my account. It took me almost 4 month (August November) of dealing with them (their harassing letters and phone calls, and my many phone calls to them), before I was given an address to return the equipment. I received confirmation from USPS around November, that the equipment had been delivered.
I received a few more invoices from them (MBF Leasing, Inc), but I thought their system needed some time to register the returned equipment. I thought the nightmare was finally over. Then in December of I checked my credit report and saw that they had entered the charged off account on my credit report. So, when I attempted to dispute the item, not only was my dispute denied, I started receiving harassing letters and phone calls again.
This time, I called Nilsa Vidal, MBF Legal Collections Dept, and told her my story. I had to convince her to check her records to prove that I had already sent in the equipment over a year ago. After about 15 minutes, she finally decided to go and check my claim. She returned to confirm that the equipment had been received and posted on 11/9/05. So, now, all they needed was their money! She even suggested that I pay them and clear the record with them (MBF Leasing, Inc) and they would in turn remove the negative item from my credit report.
After paying them, she went on to suggest that I pursue legal action against Integrity of Texas to get my money back. I called Integrity of Texas on the same day (12/28/06) and told them about the situation. Just like July, August, September, etc of no one I needed to talk to was in, so they would have to call me back.
I have yet to hear back from them and MBF Leasing wants their money! It's a scam. Both companies appear to be scam artists.
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