My company used Teledraft, Inc. For ACH processing services in 2009. Then in March, we found out that Teledraft were involved in questionable activities with telemarketers and was being investigated by government agencies. My company decided to cancel their services and was told by a representative of Teledraft via email "... Due to risk exposure, Teledraft deemed it necessary to hold funds upon deactivation. Per the terms of the agreement... A schedule for release of the funds will be communicate on 5/12,60 days beyond the last day of merchant activity...".
On May 10, we received a response from Teledraft's Risk Mitigation Manager Michael Urlich that their Board has authorized the release $26,000.00 of the $52,629.40 from one of our settlement account balances and that the funds should be disbursed by May 21st and they will review further distribution of our settlement account in mid-June.
To my disappointment, Teledraft never sent the $26,000.00 as promised. After many phone calls for status updates, they referred us to the Sr. VP of Teledraft, Inc. Don Charles.
Mr. Don Charles responded in part "... Teledraft, in accordance with its rights under the applicable ACH Processing Agreement, is currently, temporarily holding funds from your firm... Although we had communicated and intended to accelerate the disposition of these funds, recent events have forced us to delay this and continue to maintain these deposits until such time as we are assured that no further regulatory and resluting financial exposure is present...". He went on to quote some more regulatory responsibilities and promised that he will review the status of my accounts each calendar quarter.
After 3 months, I contacted for updates and received a response from Don Charles on September 7 "In June email (see below) I sent to you an explanation of the status of your suspended account. However, there have been several attempts by you to call or email me on any status updates. At this point, I have no addional information to provide to you. Again, as soon as we hav any status change, you will be contacted. Any addional calls or emails will not accelerate the process for releasing any funds. Thank you."
This response from Don Charles is unacceptable. I attempted to get the other owner, Al Slaten but was given the same phone number as Mr. Don Charles. The email communication from Don Charles was the last response I received from him. After a year of calling and leaving hundreds of phone messages with different employees from Teledraft, giving me run arounds, etc... And finally yesterday, March 28, a female employee from Teledraft told me Don Charles and Al Slaten has sold the company and all the names I had spoken to before were no longer with the company. She told me that the new Teledraft, Inc. Is not responsible for my account and that I would need to deal with Mr. Don Charles and or Al Slaten because "they have your file". She provided me with the phone number and but when I called, I could not get through.
Upon researching the internet, I found this post and wanted to warn other customers of my situation as well. I hope others would come forward to get the new owner of Teledraft to service the current customers, not just new ones. They can't wash themselves of issues. Although Don Charles and Al Slaten sold the company, Teledraft is as equally responsible for their customers once they bought the business. They can't give us the same run around hand have us scrambling to find Don Charles or Al Slaten for the refunds our money. This is irresponsible of Teledraft.
If you are considering using Teledraft, Inc. Please be very careful.
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