Global Check Services allows a merchant to enter their customer's checking account information to produce an e-check that is presented to the account. Although most companies will electronically deposit the funds into your account, GCS prints paper checks and mails them to your bank to be deposited, which is less efficient, but I knew that going in.
Their system allows for inputting recurring transactions such as monthly or bi-weekly payments. As I had customers whose payments were coming due, I carefully entered the recurring payments on the exact date that I needed it to be, either on a specific day of the month for monthly, or every other Friday, for bi-weekly.
I didn't notice initially, but everytime I entered a recurring payment, their system would send a phantom debit to the customer's account the very next day. Since I wasn't looking for any additional money to be deposited, I didn't notice this glitch right away, especially since there was a few days' lag time for the paper check to be mailed to my bank.
I became aware of the first instance on a bi-weekly check when my customer called me to say that he had been double billed and he had bounced checks as a result. I called Global Check to make sure I hadn't done anything wrong. They told me it was user error and they weren't responsible. I had to make my customer whole and was on the hook for $140 in NSF charges to him.
The next glitches happened when I entered recurring monthly payments, and the same scenario happened: additional phantom charges for the same amount would go through the next day, but only that initial time when the information was first entered. It wouldn't happen when the next re-billing cycle would occur. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out the pattern. When I saw the re-billings, I called Global Check again, but it was so hard to get through to anyone who knew anything. Apparently, only one person oversaw their ACH department, a lady named Mary. She keep parrotting the same old 'user error' line without offering any further insight.
Once I discovered what was going on, which came with the added pleasure of having to pay out hundreds of dollars to my customers for NSF fees, both because the extra check cleared and didn't clear, I had zero confidence in Global Check's system. I couldn't risk further glitches putting me on the hook for potentially thousands of dollars. I had originally signed a contract with them for 12 months, which was cancellable, but by only paying the minimum monthly charge of $25 times the remaining months left.
I drafted a letter to them expressing my concerns and requesting to cancel the agreement for cause due to the phantom debits being put through to my customer's accounts. I faxed the letter to them, and they cancelled the account immediatly. The next day, they sent through a debit to MY checking account for the balance of the contract. I called up Mary in ACH to protest their decision, but she referred me to her boss, someone named Stuart. She said to allow a week or so to contact him.
When I got ahold of this Stuart, I again pleaded my case and asked for them to refund the charges. Stuart, who had me on speaker phone the whole time, callously said "that ain't gonna happen" and referring to the glitches I had encountered said, "that was user error. I knew immediatly what kind of company I was dealing with.
I think they know that their system has problems, but they don't really care, especially when they don't have to make good on making people whole after it happens and they have access to THEIR customer's checking accounts. Do not use this company. There are many players in the check processing game for all you merchants out there and I wish I had done some more research before signing up to do business with this sham organization.
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