Last fall, I was contacted by a representative of Landmark Merchant Solutions. For $49.99 a month, plus $10.00 dollars a month I was offered a system for processing credit cards for the home business I was trying to start.
I first explained to the salesman that I was going to discontinue using the website that I had been using and was going to look into having a custom website built, and didn't have a need at the time for the service.
He them went into this speel about his company would built my website, saying "We have a crew of computer geeks whose only function is to built websites", and it would be easy to change the company name once the account was set-up; that using the name of my present website I was renting would simply be used to set-up the account.
Sounded good, so I told him that I would be strictly an internet business and required a system that would allow a customer to purchase on-line using his/her credit card as I had no storefront/place of business. He said it would work for that.
To get to the point; Landmark will NOT built your website-they will only "assist and make recommendations". The credit card processing system cannot be set-up to automatically take a customers credit card on line-you must manually enter the information yourself. I started trying to get the company name changed in November. No luck. I finally gave up trying to straighten out the mess 2 weeks ago when the monthly fees increased to $127.05 per month due to "insurance, supply and warranty, etc" and some charges I've yet to figure out.
Talking to their customer support has been futile; the main tactic seems to be plausible deniabilty, i.E. "I just can't believe the salesman said that", "Are you sure you did what you were supposed to do to change your company name", "Don't forget, we have a 4 year contract", etc.
I am in the process of sending their useless equipment back to them after changing my checking account to prevent these people from taking any more money from me for services not rendered. I would rather have a bad mark on my credit report for breaking a contract than continue to pay this kind of money every month for a service and equipment I cannot even use.
Finally, be warned! Yes, I did check with the BBB on this company; All complaints were shown to be resolved. Had I found this website sooner, I would have known that means nothing except that the company did what they had to do keep complaints from surfacing and maintain their "Satisfactory Rating". I also would have found out where the BBB gets their funding and that they are a joke as far as protecting the consumer.
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