EPS contacted me about merchant services when I first opened my business. I had been contacted by some other companies as well, but EPS was very aggressive. Their rate was competitive but not the lowest. I was sold primarily by the fact that there wasn't a long-term commitment, according to the agent who sold me on their service. He called me shortly after lunchtime (Pacific time), but I didn't pay much attention to the time of day at first.
I didn't make a decision right away, so he said he would call me back in a couple of days. He called me again the following day. I had already been contemplating accepting credit cards and was comparing their rates to others. Again, it was shortly after lunch. He faxed my contract.
When I was in the middle of reading it, he called me. He "remembered" that the equipment leasing office was closing in ten minutes, so I had to hurry. This is the point at which I should have stopped the transaction, because I hadn't had an opportunity to read through everything. I had skimmed, but I missed the $85 annual fee. I did question if I had everything pertaining to our agreement, and he assured me that I did.
I also questioned him again about long-term commitments. He again reiterated that I could "cancel at any time." That is a direct quote. That was on July 28.
Today, on June 21, I tried calling him. The phone is disconnected. His office was in Tempe, AZ. I called the Englewood, CO, office. They told me that I am required, per the terms of my agreement, that I am required to give 90 days' notice or renew for another year commitment. That is not what my agreement says. The agreement I signed says, "This authority is to remain in full force and effect until (a) Bank has received written notification from Merchant of its termination, in such a manner as to afford Bank reasonable opportunity to act on it and (b) all obligations of Merchant to Bank that have arisen under this Agreement have been paid in full." Their argument is that my signature on page 2 of the agreement says that I agree to all terms of the contract - that I never saw. Their agent willfully withheld the terms from me, even after I asked him if I had all the terms.
The Englewood agent today asked if I would like for her to fax those terms to me. I declined, because if she now faxes them to me, I will have seen them retroactively. Clever. Except I'm not stupid. I'm not falling for it. They tell me I have no option except to renew (automatically and without recourse) for another year, since I have missed the ninety-day window of opportunity. Willful deceit might play here. There were at least two addenda to that contract I signed, and the agent did say those were the only ones.
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