Like Eva & Ray I too used Northern Leasing Systems in the past to lease my credit card terminal. I terminated my account with them in early so nearly a year ago. I just received an automated phone call & then a letter on 3/4 informing me that I would be automatically debitted on 3/2 in the amount of $195 due to un-paid or underpaid taxes after an audit of several accounts acquired through Northern Leasing Systems per my signed lease from Northern Leasing Systems.
This is a scam if I've ever heard of one! Unfortunately it may very well be a legal scam whether it's fair or not. I called my bank immediately & they verified that indeed the money had been taken out by sks associates 2 days prior to my receiving written notification that they were going to do so! I guess I should be happy that I even received notice!
I explained the situation to 1st a bank customer service rep, then a local branch worker & finally to my local branch supervisor & all of them were equally horrified & very eager to help me do what I could to restore my money & also stop it from happening again. I was offered a couple of options & chose to go with the stop payment as well as blocking sks associates from ever debitting my account in the future. I just had to sign a form stating I had never heard of sks associates (true) & never authorized them to withdraw funds from my account.
The supervisor told me it may very well be a perfectly legal "loophole" scam but that it's definitely a scam or wracket to make money & nothing more. She said they may or may not actually have proof of taxes owed but that they should be required to show that proof when asked. She also said that 1 of 2 things will happen now that I've disputed the charge, either I'll hear from them again (in writing or by phone) or I won't. That is how I'll know whether it was a legal scam or not.
If I legitimately owe them money then I will pay, but I do not appreciate some company I've never even heard of having access to my account & helping themselves to money they say I owe without a shred of evidence to support their so-called "audit".
I contacted Northern Leasing Systems the same day I got the very sketchy automated call from Sks & after waiting on hold for more than 30 minutes I finally spoke to a woman who seemed to know what I was talking about but said she couldn't look up the information on my account because their systems were ever so conveniently down & that I should call back tomorrow. I asked if the systems would still be "down" for me tomorrow & she said they would be working. I never called back as I'm sure that was the canned response they're supposed to give to people like us who call very angry about being ripped off this way!
In any case I didn't need to, as 2 days later I got the letter & then found out the money was already gone! I'm so mad about this I cannot truly express it in writing! I spoke with a friend's husband who works for a small local credit card processing company & he said he's heard things about Northern Leasing & that they regularly take advantage of people, kind of like those car dealers that offer a car to anyone despite bad credit, charging thousands in a long lease for a piece of equipment costing no more than $150-$200 for the average person & costing them much less than that.
I did not sign the original lease, I only took it over from the previous owner of the business I now own & operate. I wish I had told her to buy them out at that time & never put my name anywhere on it! If I had only known what would happen I wouldn't have! At this point I wouldn't be surprised if they tracked her down & tried to scam her out of $195 just to see if they can! I really think this is a ploy to see how many people just let it go & don't speak up, complain or take measures to stop payment as that's how a lot of scams like this work.
We shall see what happens...
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