When I first opened for business I was bombarded by credit card processing agents. One particular agent had a different approach. He claimed that the cheap little machine I'd purchased off eBay was non-compliant and that I could be fined thousands of dollars for processing with it, that's why it was so cheap off eBay.
Then he told me that he'd see to it that instead of a processing company charging me fees to process cards, Northern Leasing would lease me a machine and give me credits depending on processing volume, that would offset the leasing fee. My processing would then be free. The exact volume of charges was never mentioned but I was assured that it would always cover the leasing fee.
He claimed that he did not represent a credit card processor and that Northern Leasing was directly connected with Visa/Master Card/Discover and AMEX and that they paid them commissions which was why they'd not collect a lease fee for the machine.
I should have known better, that if it sounded too good to be true, it wouldn't be. None of it was. I started getting settlement statements from a company called Merchant Services Incorporated (MSI) with all the normal fees and charges. Then my account started being ravaged by Northern Leasing with fees all over the place in numbers so I couldn't tell what they were for.
I called Northern Leasing and asked what the hell was going on and they told me, "Read your contract." What contract? I didn't know I had one. I was busy working when the rep 'signed' me up for their now realized bogus program and never got a copy of the contract. So they kindly mailed me one.
The contract that I signed had been filled in after I signed it. He had cleverly folded it just to where I needed to sign because I was busy. I questioned why he'd left lots of spaces blank and he said it was stuff that didn't apply since I wasn't using a regular processor. He also said his commission on this deal was a one time fee from Northern Leasing.
Finally when the light had dawned that I had been scammed, I packed up Northern Leasing's equipment, went with a new processing company that was happy to use my eBay machine and sent the NL machine back to them certified mail. I also wrote MSI and notified them to stay out of my account. They did try to charge me a $250 cancellation fee which I reversed out, but other than than, no one has contacted me and they've crawled under a rock somewhere.
Northern Leasing's response to my complaints is that they did not pay a commission to the lying snake rep that signed me up; I should have read the fine print; it's my own fault and that the man that cheated me was not affiliated with their company in any way; tough luck.
Northern Leasing however, has a collections department that says I owe them $4000. They call me no less than 20 times daily. At first I answered their first call in the morning and politely explained to their collection agent the whole scenario. When they asked if I would pay, I said no. Then they hung up on me. But then they'd continue to call and when I answered, immediately hang up.
Today I faxed and mailed them a Cease and Desist letter. But I know that I am not done with them. They have also reported to credit bureaus and trashed my credit - which I don't care much about because I don't believe in using credit - but I worry that it might compromise my business somehow. If it ever does, I'll take Northern Leasing to court.
I hope that my posting this will alert others BEFORE they get ripped by this company, but more than likely you're reading this because they've scammed you too. Please accept my condolences.
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