I signed up for their merchant account so I could accept credit cards and checks. I was told my gateway and ternimal accounts would be drafted from my account 30 days after I initiated the account. I went to my bank about 20 days after to make the 1st deposit. It was $35.00 for the terminal and another $35.00 for the gateway (internet) account = $70.00. To my dismay, the account was already -120.00.
HMS (Humboldt Merchant Services) drafted my account 2-4 times a day for several weeks afterwards which put my account -771.00 through Bank of America. I called and talked to the CS Manager Leslie Martinez and she had advised me that she would have to look into the matter and call me back. As expected, no one returned the call. 3 days later, I called her back and she said she would remove all back fees and penalties since the account was technically never used.
This took place on 10-8-08. On 10-20-08 I recieved a notice from my bank that HMS was STILL trying to draft the account. On 10-15-08 HMS drafted my account 4 times in the same day. I called Leslie back. She said I need to talk to the Manager Barry. Barry gets on the phone and I explained to him that Ms. Martinez said she would close the account on 10-8-08 penalty-free, why are you still trying to draft my account? Barry said they were trying to recover the late fees.
I advised Barry, Ms. Martinez said the fees were removed, so what is there to collect? Barry then began to yell and never answered the question and proceeded to hang up on me. I called back and talked to Leslie and said it was unfair for them to draft my account w/o even sending me a bill or statement. She said we dont send bills, I asked why not, i get a bill for everything else... Car, house, insurance, utilities etc., why wouldnt i get a bill from my merchant? She refused to answer the question. I advised her she needs to call my bank and take care of those overdraft fees, she blew it off and hung up.
I had to go to the extent of hiring an attorney to resolve the issue. My attorney advised me that the contract from HMS is FULL of "bad language" due to the repeated use of the word "irrevocable" and advised me to never do biz with these people EVER! My attorney said he gets a bill every month from his merchant and found the entire scenario humorous yet disgusting at the same time.
In short - I feel that I was mislead and "blindfolded" to be bent over for 771.00. These people accept no responsibility for their actions and think its ok to do what they want and point the finger at their broker, which is MERCHANTS MADE EASY, which had nothing to do with this exept point me in their direction. My attorney is in the process of sueing these people for unfair business practice. I will also be filing a report to the BBB. I hope HMS enjoys the process, maybe they'll wake up... Not likely.
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