We own a luxury retail showroom located at 1401 S Robertson Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90035. We started using First Data Merchant Service as our credit card processing on 3/10/09. Our transactions with this processor have increased slowly at first. On 08/19/09 one of our clients purchased chandeliers (which were subsequently delivered and installed) and paid using a visa card for the amounts of $10,000.00 and $6,000.00 in total.
We received a call on or about September 20th from Frank Davenport (one of First Data's Risk Management representatives) requesting supporting sales documents for the very same previously mentioned transaction on 08/19.09. We promptly provided all requested materials in timely manner. Mr. Davenport acknowledged receiving and was satisfied with all the supporting documents that were provided to him. However to our surprise we received a letter dated 09/29/09 from First Data informing us that our merchant account has been closed and the amount of $15,850.64 which was remaining in our account was placed on hold. We contacted Mr. Frank Davenport and he stated the hold is for a future charge back possibility and we should call him back in 30 days, as he needed time to release the funds.
We never had any charge backs affecting our account. We never had a fraudulent card processed through our terminal and for the past five years we have not even had a charge back inquiry. We contacted the first data at the end of October and were informed that they reserve the right to hold on to the funds for up to 18 months and that I should call back in 60 days for release of fund. Now that we have contact them in 60 days we have been given the same story repeated over and over again followed by a demand of returned phone call, this time in 90 days. We called 12/29.09 and 12/31/09 talked to him and his co-worker and they told us same thing that they have right to hold our badly needed fund with out any reason for up to 18 months. We don't have any charge back inquiry in our account. The time frame for the client to request a reasonable charge back request has already elapsed. The products were delivered to the client’s home and installed as permanent fixtures inside their resident over four months ago; therefore there are not any logical or justifiable explanations of why the merchant processing center is holding to our funds.
We are asking for the funds to be released into our account.
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