LEADERS

Review: I have contact Leaders several times about a change in a monthly minimum charge that was made to my account.I was not informed of this raise in charge before it was taken out of my account.I have a contract that says this charge is $10.00 month minimum discount.This charge was raised to $35.00 this month with out noticeWhen I called and asked why this was done.I was told they just decide to raise the price.When I tried to contact of my rep by email and phone message.I have receive no reply.I than called into the compliant department.Talk to Carol.She said that she saw on my contract that it is suppose to be $10.00. Was told she would get back to me.Have not received any call back,Left another message this morning and no call back.This is no way to run a business.You don't raise rates just because you decide you feel like it.When you are under a contract for a certain rate.Nor do you not call the customer back and explain why this raise was done.This is very poor business practices.I'm to the point that I would like to close the account and have nothing to do with them.I would never recommend them to anyone to use for credit card transactions.They should be rated DDesired Settlement: I would like to have the $25.00 refunded in overcharge and to have my account closed.Also in my contract,it's stated that I would not be charged any fees for closing the account at any time.I would expect this to be honored also.And that they don't make up any more charges for me to be release from .this contract

Review: Leaders just told me they will hold $1967.08 of my funds for at least 3 months without valid reason. This balance was two credit card payments of $1,500 and $467.08 customers made more than a week ago. At the beginning they just wanted proof these 2 transactions were valid. I emailed them and faxed a copy of invoices. They called the customers to confirm. The $1,500 customer confirmed and about 2 days ago Leaders rep Star Gloria Adams even confirmed with me over the phone that the customer confirmed and the transaction was ok. The other customer didn't pick up their phone. But I have proof the charge valid 100%. I delivered the goods and have the original invoice. I will contact the customer personally and he can give signed statement that the transaction is valid. Anyway, today I received a call from Star who said that they will hold all balance, even the $1,500 that is confirmed already. Both transactions are valid and supported by valid invoices and they still hold my money. Furthermore the proof I provided (original invoices) were specifically asked by Leaders as SUFFICIENT proof. I have their emails on record proving everything. They want to create problems to me, because I told them I was closing their account and was already using Square more than their services. Now they have came up with a clause that since I violated their limit of $3,000 per customer transaction they will close my account and withhold $1,967.08 of my funds. I'm more than happy to close their account, but they have NO right to withhold my funds for at least 3 months. Star told me with a bad attitude I signed somewhere to this when I first became their customer. NOBODY told me anything about this, and when that over $3,000 transaction happened nobody mentioned either. It all suddenly happened when I started using more Square and let them know. And by the way, they even made me lose that more than $3,000 transaction customer, because Leaders wouldn't release the fund and I had to refund his money after more than 2 weekDesired Settlement: They must release my funds immediately: $1,967.08. I also want the account closed and receive a shipping label to return their equipment

Business

Response:

Since 2000, Leaders Merchant Services, LLC, has upheld one of the largest Chargeback and Fraud departments in the industry. While LEADERS can appreciate all of the merchant’s frustrations, our Risk Management department followed Industry-wide standards and protocol by holding and validating the merchant’s monies and transactions in order to protect against the threat of high risk transactions and fraudulent activity. When this merchant was opening his account we could not approve the account for the amount of high ticket he wanted. We approved this account on the condition that the merchant sign a Change in Terms letter limiting his high ticket to $3000. The merchant exceeded his limits by splitting a transaction into 2 different sales. Since the merchant did not abide by the special Change in Terms letter LEADERS risk department held the 2 transactions mentioned in this complaint and asked the merchant to verify the information on the transactions due to his previous over limit activity. LEADERS risk department worked diligently with the merchant to resolve this issue but the department felt the account was too high of a risk to remain open and closed the merchant’s account. LEADERS is holding the funds to protect against chargeback activity on this account. As explained to the merchant by our risk department, LEADERS will allow the merchant to issue refunds for the transactions that are being held or allow the merchant to wait the 90 days for a review by our risk department for a possible release of held funds. It is the merchant’s choice what he would like to do. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Business

Response:

LEADERS program guide explains that split transactions are not legal whether part of the transaction is a deposit or not, it is still a total amount owed to the merchant by one customer charged on one credit card. As explained earlier LEADERS is holding the merchants funds to guard against chargebacks on the account, which is a common practice by risk departments when an account is flagged as a risk. The validity of the transactions are no longer being questioned. The merchant may issue refunds for the funds or the merchant can wait the 90 days to have the account reviewed for release of the funds. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10200569

I am rejecting this response because:

First of all, why I'm flagged as risk? Customers told you that the charges are valid and we sent you invoice. You even said here validity of transactions are not being questioned. So you flag me as risk with these premises?? What kind of merchant is risk free for you then? Someone who brings physically the customer to you and give you a notarized statement under oath the transaction is valid??

Review: When I talked to this company before deciding to do business with them, I was told by the salesperson that there was no early-termination fee, there was no monthly minimum and he promised low rates for certain types of cards. However, the rates they started charging were much higher than promised. When I called to question, they said the higher rate was on the agreement I signed. But the signature they have on the agreement on file is not my signature. Not even close. When I asked about closing the account was the first mention of an early-termination fee. When I told them the salesperson said there was no such fee, they said they were sorry, but the agreement, which they claim I signed, states there is a fee. Then they charged me a minimum monthly fee as well. And they refused to reimburse any of the fees that were in excess of what I was promised. When I told them the signature they had on the agreement wasn't mine, they told me to talk to the police and there was nothing they were willing to do.Desired Settlement: Because the agreement they have on file is not signed by me, I would like the early termination fee waived and the excess charges refunded.

Business

Response:

LEADERS is one of the largest Credit Card processing companies in the country. We stand behind our promises to our customers. LEADERS has reviewed the merchants complaint as well as the phone calls between the sales representative who opened his account and the merchant. We would first like to state that the original representative that quoted rates to the merchant is not the same representative who set up his account. The representative who set up this merchants account did tell the merchant that he would honor the rates and fees the first representative gave him when we were running a promotion in November. Unfortunately those rates and fees were never put into the system as quoted so the representative who sent the merchant his application assumed the rates and fees that were in the system under the merchants information were what he was quoted. An electronic application was sent to the merchant via a secure link and the merchant signed the application electronically. His signature on the application will not look like his actual signature since it is an electronic signature. LEADERS takes pride in the security of our online application and if the merchant feels someone has fraudulently signed his name to the application then he would have been instructed to file a police report. LEADERS would like to state that the merchant did use the account and claims he did want to open an account with LEADERS he just feels the signature on the application is not his. LEADERS is liable to the merchant for a refund of all customer service fees, monthly minimums and regulatory fees as well as the difference in the rates he was charged versus what he was promised since the application was filled out incorrectly. Since nothing was mentioned about the Early Termination Fee in the phone calls between the representative who opened his account and the merchant LEADERS will also in good faith refund the $350.00 ETF. The merchant should expect a total refund of $762.98 in 7-10 business days. Refund may be received in more than one deposit so please wait the full 7-10 business days for all of the refund. LEADERS would like to wish this merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9773584, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. This is exactly what I requested when I spoke to the company on several occasions.

Regards,

Review: This company is our credit card processor. We were notified several days ago that they had put a hold on releasing our funds because of a risk issue. We have made several sales to the same customer within a month which were paid for by credit card. The processor has determined that they are at risk if the card holder disputes the amounts. They requested copies of the actual invoices, which were provided. We provided them with personal contact information for the card holder. The processing company contacted the card holder and he verified that they were legitimate charges well within his credit limit. The processor still refuses to release our funds. Additionally, the processor will not provide us with any time line for releasing our funds. Those funds are critical to our daily operation. The customer has the merchandise and we now need to pay our suppliers. The processor's actions are crippling our business.Desired Settlement: We want our funds released immediately.

Business

Response:

Since 2000, Leaders Merchant Services, LLC, has upheld one of the largest Chargeback and Fraud departments in the industry. While LEADERS can appreciate all of the merchant’s frustrations, our Risk Management department followed Industry-wide standards and protocol by holding and validating the merchant’s monies and transactions in order to protect against the threat of high risk transactions and fraudulent activity. This merchant was approved for a high ticket of $7000. The merchant exceeded his limits by splitting a transaction over a few days. LEADERS risk department held the funds and asked the merchant to verify the information on the transactions. LEADERS risk department worked diligently with the merchant to release the funds as quickly as possible. An agreement was made with the merchant and LEADERS risk department that once a transaction cleared their bank account LEADERS would release the funds on hold. The transaction did not clear the merchants bank account. The merchant processed a refund for the transactions on hold to clear out the balance. LEADERS no longer has any funds on hold for this merchant. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Business

Response:

LEADERS would like to apologize if there was some misunderstanding of why the merchants funds were held. Our risk department initially held the funds because of multiple charges run on the same card, within days of each other all of them very close to the processing limit for this merchant. All new accounts that start off with transactions close to or exceeding the processing limit will be held to ensure there is no fraud taking place. Once the funds are held a very detailed verification process takes place to ensure the merchant is processing transactions that adhere to the account limitations. LEADERS is no longer holding the merchants funds and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 9927645

I am rejecting this response because:

Nowhere in any documentation that we were provided, in emails from the account representative or verbally were we ever informed that funds would automatically be held for a new account. No business would ever sign up for a service if they were told up front that their funds would be held for days just because they came close to a limit. As we said earlier, nowhere can you find anything in their documentation that indicates the limit is anything other than a daily processing limit. By definition, if you do not go over a limit, nothing should happen. This company needs to either change their practices or change their application to completely explain their rules.

Regards, [redacted]

this's scam company .

first charged $96.98.

second charged $208.78

and finally charged cancellation fee : $350

very disappointing with this company. stay away .

Review: This is not the first complaint that I have had against Leaders. After doing research online there are many other people complaining about this company. After Revdex.com resolved my issues with this company about a year and a half ago someone from Leaders called. I considered everything resolved. Every few months they continue to raise my fees. I keep calling over and over again. They keep promising to keep fees the same but keep raising my fees. My monthly fees are now up to almost $60 per month between Bankcard fee and my Gateway service fee. That has more than doubled from the agreement we made through the Revdex.com resolution from last time. Over the past year I have called at least 50 times trying to resolve these outrageous charges. This company is very deceiving how they bill, how there contract is set up and the fact that they change terms of there own resolution. I asked them to look up all the times I called and the new terms of my contract. All I get is rude customer service and they tell me they have no record of what I told them.Sometimes they'll make 5-$10 adjustments but that doesn't add up to what they agreed to. I am frustrated and I don't want to do business with lEADERS anymore.They should be ashamed of there dishonestly and taking advantage of small businesses who are trying to make a living! PLEASE HELP!!Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded for the months I was charged in excess over the past 18 months which total $310. I would also like my monthly fees down to what I paid before. Around $25 a month. If they cant do that I would like to terminate my contract which would be my first option since they will continue to raise my fees even after making an agreement.

Business

Response:

LEADERS regrets that the merchant feels they must contact the Revdex.com when they are not satisfied with the fees on their account. Periodically Visa/Mastercard have rate and fee increases which will cause LEADERS to raise the Rates and Fees on our merchants’ accounts. Per the signed agreement, The Agreement, formed by the 4-page Merchant Application, and Merchant Services' “Program Guide”, LEADERS notified the merchant of all fee or processing cost increases at least 30 days in advance via his merchant processing statement. Pursuant to sections 17.5 and 22.3 of the Merchant Service’ “Program Guide” LEADERS may adjust processing rates or fees provided that the merchant is provided 30 days notice. The latest rate and fee increase was effective for Oct 1, 2013.LEADERS conveys all rate and fee increases via the merchants’ monthly statement. LEADERS has already offered to lower the rates but since our costs have gone up we cannot lower his fees to what they were before. To resolve this dispute LEADERS will terminate this merchants contract per the request of this complaint. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: I completely quit using Leaders merchant services and unplugged the machine May 10th, 2013 and contacted them by phone in early June and requested my account be closed. I was told that I needed also to provide the request in writing and complied, notifying them in writing on June 15th to cancel my account. Luckily I actually saved my fax confirmation along with the written request because they debited my checking account in the amount of $138.00 in June (which I must admit I probably owed a portion of this amount) and then again debited my bank account in July in the amount of $122.95 (I owed them none of this amount). When I called and questioned them about these debits when my account was supposed to be closed, they said they never received my written request and they would only consider any refund if I could prove that I had sent the request. So I provided the original written request and the fax confirmation. At this point they again told me they had closed my account and my request for refund would be sent to the appropriate department and that someone would be getting in touch with me about my refund request. This was on July 9th. On July 22nd, having not heard from anyone at Leaders, I again contacted them. At this point I was told there would be no refund issued because it takes 30 days to close out an account and in their opinion all the fees I was charged were correct and would stand. Now I admit there may have SOME residual fees from May that were legit in the June debit as I processed a total of 3 transactions, the last being approximately May 7th, 2013. However, there is no way that I owed any fees that were deducted in July ($122.95) as I had unplugged the machine sometime in Mid May. These people definitely take advantage of their customers, and there seems to be no recourse other than public reviews and complaints.Desired Settlement: Refund the full amount debited from my bank account in July 2013 ($122.95) and refund a fair and equitable amount of the June 2013 debit as I did not use their services for the full month as indicated by a $20.00 fee for failing to meet the minimum credit card usage, and pay a $29.00 overdraft fee that the July debit (which was completely unexpected) created.

Business

Response:

A complaint of this nature is taken very seriously by LEADERS. As stated in the program guide the merchant received when the account was open, a closure can take up to 30 days due to settlements and chargebacks. During that time, the merchant is still responsible for all fees on the account. Since the merchant did not send in the closure form until

early June, the merchant is responsible for all fees incurred on the account for the month of May and June. The $138.42 are the fees for May which included

the card processing fees, monthly minimum, customer service fee, the regulatory fee, PCI fee and PCI non action fee, which is charged when the merchant fails to take

the questionnaire for the PCI program. The $122.95 are the fees for the month of June, the description of fees are the same. As a good faith gesture, Leaders will refund the

fees for May and June for a total of $261.37. Unfortunately, per the contract, LEADERS is not responsible for any Non-Sufficient Fee charges. The Merchant

should see this refund in approximately 2-3 business days. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: I signed up for Leaders services via phone after discussing with their rep. my very minimal needs, which included that I might go months without ever processing a credit card transaction and did not want a monthly fee. Their rep., C[redacted], told me they would waive my monthly fee, and rushed me through an online process during which I'm now told, I signed a 3 year contract with a $350 early termination fee. I asked what the small print said and Cortney said just the details we had discussed. I was not told in any manner there was a 3 year contract and early term. fee, or monthly minimums for processing, or I would never have signed with them. They used a very deceptive sales tactic of non-disclosure and omission of information. I have never even processed a transaction, received a fee of $25 for not meeting the monthly minimum I was not told of, and now they want the early termination fee as well, which they feel they've done me the favor of reducing to $250. They reviewed sales call and said I should have asked more questions.Desired Settlement: I have had to place a stop payment on my business account (cost $25) against this company, and now may need to close the account. I would like the assurance that they will never electronically debit my account for any money at all, and will consider my (2 week old, never used account) permanently closed.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services LLC., has been a leader in the merchant services industry since 2000 and we strive to provide the highest quality processing and customer service in the industry. We endeavor to assist all questions or concerns as quickly andaccurately as possible and are disappointed to receive a complaint such as this. In an effort to resolve this complaint LEADERS has reviewed this merchants’ records and signed merchant processing agreement. The signed agreement contains all fees the merchant was billed including the $350 Early Termination Fee. The application is sent to the merchant and the merchant has the opportunity to review the application prior to signing and submitting. As a good faith gesture leaders will close the account and waive the $350 Early Termination fee agreed upon in the signed merchant agreement. LEADERS would like to wish the merchant much success with their business and considers this matter resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10654914, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. However I would like to correct their statement that they send the contract with all terms prior to encouraging a merchant to sign. I was encouraged to sign the form online and when I asked what was in the small print the salesperson (who has since been terminated) stated it was just the things we had already discussed. In fact, I never received a copy of the contract until I asked for it, which was just a few days ago, not when I had actually opened the account. I do appreciate their quick resolution to this matter.

Regards,

S[redacted]

Review: Leaders quoated me merchant services for our infrequentcredit card transactions at a cost of 2.1 percent of each credit card payment for our software, plus 7$ per month. Upon beginning with them, I completed one transaction for a purchase from the US Army Aberdeen proving grounds.They charged 6.3 percent, not 2.1 percent. Then they automatically took 32.95 from our bank account, followed the next month by 161.95. I tried to contact them, and having failed, I found a large number of Yelp reviews reporting other such egregious acts by this fraudulant company.I immediately went to my bank and they blocked ACH transfers for this company; I then emailed an cancellation noticeto them. They used another corporate name to withdraw $350 as a "cancellation fee". They are organized to "scam' their customers; no doubt,they had me click some "contract" as part of signing up for their "service", but it was designed to be not understood, and there was certsinly no "meeting of minds". This comany is fraudulant and needs to forced to restitute their fradulant fees to their customers, and be forced to cease their bad practices.Desired Settlement: I request a refund of all charges beyond 2.1 percent for oursingle transaction, and I also request that they be required to stop their deceptive practices.

Business

Response:

LEADERS has been serving merchants since 2000. We work hard to resolve all complaintsour merchants have as quickly and accurately as possible. In our efforts to resolvethis merchant’s issues, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our Merchant Servicerecords, which include the Merchant’s signed Agreement. The Agreements, formedby the 4-page Merchant Application, and Merchant Services' “Program Guide”,clearly indicate that the Merchant has, in fact, been billed correctlyaccording to the documents they signed. These documents also include the Rates,Fees, Terms and Conditions for their Merchant Account. The contract allmerchants are required to sign ensures all parties involved understand therates and fees that are going to be billed to the merchant. All rates and feeshave been clearly indicated in the contract for the merchant to see prior tosigning. This merchant’s signed agreement acknowledges they read the agreementand agreed to all rates and fees. As a good faith gesture, LEADERS will refundthe Early Termination Fee of $350. LEADERS wishes the merchant good luck and considers this complaintresolved and closed.

Review: Leaders Merchant Services discloses none of their fees to you. On August 11, 2015 I called to cancel my account due to disuse. They informed me this would be no problem, and provided a account closure form. Today, September 4, 2015 they charged my account for a $250 "cancellation fee". No mention of this fee was made on during the phone call, nor was it disclosed on the form. In addition to the cancellation fee they charged a $87.95 monthly use fee. So in summary, I was charged a cancellation fee that was never disclosed to me, AND a fee to continue to use their services. This is the latest in a long series of charges from this company.In addition to this Leaders was never used by my company. There was a one time charge made in 2012, we paid for that service. Atlas Overhead Doors has not used their services since, and they've continued to take monthly fees. We have paid for services that were never rendered.Desired Settlement: Refund the $169 charge made July 31, 2015 for the use of their service for the August 2015 to August 2016 business year, refund the cancellation charge of $250 made September 2, 2015, refund the $87.95 charge made on September 2, 2015 for the August account fees, and refund the overdraft fees of $34 (the bank charges $17 per overdraft, each September 2nd charge created an overdraft) for a total of $540.95.

Business

Response:

LEADERS has been proudly serving our merchants for the last 15 years. LEADERS strivesto resolve all complaints our merchants have as quickly and accurately aspossible. In our efforts to resolve this merchant’s issues, LEADERS hasthoroughly reviewed our Merchant Service records, which include the Merchant’ssigned Agreement. All rates and fees have been clearly indicated in thecontract for the merchant to see prior to signing. If for some reason the salesrepresentative failed to go over any fees the merchant will be charged, thecontracts detail the fees so the merchant can clearly see them before signing.This merchant’s signed agreement acknowledges they read the agreement andagreed to all rates and fees. As a good faith gesture, LEADERS has already refundedthe $250 Early Termination Fee and refunded the $129 annual PCI fee. Themerchant should see this refund in approximately 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant good luck andconsiders this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: Service fees are different for each type of credit card. It was explained that I would be charged 0.35% on debit cards, 1.29% on credit cards (Visa, Master card and Discover). They charged me 6.5% on a single transaction with a Visa credit card. They claimed it was because the credit card was from a business, not personal. This information was undisclosed until after I signed a three year contract. Early termination fee from the contract is $350.00.Desired Settlement: I want out of my three year contract with no further charges, and a refund of $100.00

Business

Response:

LEADERS is a one of the largest processors in the country and to hear a complaint of this nature is disheartening. After review of the merchants signed contract and the phone calls between the Sales Representative and the merchant, LEADERS has discovered that the merchant has been billed correctly according to what he agreed to. The sales representative told the merchant that his normal consumer credit cards would fall into the 1.29% rate. The representative did not tell the merchant all cards would fall into that rate. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will waive the $350 ETF and close the merchants account per the request of this complaint. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Business

Response:

Although the merchant was billed $129.66 for the month of November not all of what he was billed was for the processing rate LEADERS charged for his transaction. The merchant was billed $3.46 for dues and assessments from Visa/Mastercard. The dues and assessments are pass-through fees and LEADERS has no control over those fees. The Merchant was also billed $7.95 for his regulatory fee. All fees billed to the merchant were in his signed agreement. In an effort to resolve the dispute once and for all LEADERS will issue a final good faith gesture refund in the amount of $8. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9826377, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I signed up over the phone with Leaders to handle our credit card processing for our business. I was just starting out accepting credit cards and was not sure how much or often I would use them. I explained this to my sales rep who assured me that is not a problem and I could cancel anytime without cost. I was also told that they could send me a portable credit card processing machine free of charge, when I received it there was a $30 fee for shipping the machine. I used Leaders for one month and have been trying to cancel ever since. I am told there is a $350 fee for early termination. I would NEVER agreed to any type of contract not knowing how many credit cards our company would even take. I have spoken to several people who were "supposedly" checking the recorded conversations of the salesperson but never hear anything. I would like to warn others about this company, they are very shady. Now I am stuck paying a monthly fee for a service I do not use!Desired Settlement: I would like my monthly fees to stop as I am not using this service just as I was promised when signing up to use it. I would like a refund for all the $25.00 monthly fees that have been taken out of my account since February 2014 and would not want to hear or deal with Leaders Merchant Services EVER again.Thank you for your help,Delbert L. Olesen

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services strives to provide every merchant with the highest quality merchant services possible, and to receive a complaint such as this is disheartening. As a result of this complaint LEADERS has investigated what the merchant has been billed versus what was in their contract. All rates and fees billed to the merchant were part of their signed contract. LEADERS ensures each merchant has a copy of their signed contract e-mailed to them immediately after they sign and submit the contract. If the information in the signed contract did not reflect what the merchant and the sales representative discussed then the merchant should not have signed the contract. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will close the merchants’ account per the request in this complaint and waive the $350 ETF. LEADERS will also refund 6 months of the $25 monthly minimum for the time the merchant did not use the account, and one month of the $40 non-pci compliance fees the merchant was billed. The merchant should see their refund of $190.00 in 7-10 business days. LEADERS will close the merchants account as soon as possible but it may not close before he is billed for his October month end fees, if we are unsuccessful we will refund the October month end fees 10-14 days after they are billed to ensure they clear our reject report. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: I spoke with leaders today about cancelling my account with them because I no longer needed it. They told me it would be a 250.00 cancellation fee because I agreed to a three years contract. This three year contract I had no idea about. When I signed up with leaders I specifically asked if there were any hidden fees that they were not telling me about. They assured me it was just card transaction fees. The first issue came when they deducted funds from my account for not running a credit card at all, then for yearly compliance fees that they say is mandatory, then for not being in compliance when I was. It just one thing after another. This company is about tricking and being deceptive. Now there is a 250.00 charge for closing my account. This is not fair!Desired Settlement: I want to close my account immediately without being held to a 250.00 cancellation fee that I knew nothing about.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services strives to provide every merchant with the highest quality merchant services possible, and to receive a complaint such as this is disheartening. As a result of this complaint LEADERS has investigated what the merchant has been billed versus what was in their contract. All rates and fees billed to the merchant were part of their signed contract. LEADERS did have an issue with the merchants PCI compliance but we have refunded the merchant for the non-compliance fees he was billed in error. The merchants’ account was also affected by the rate increase in October from Visa/MasterCard. The merchant contacted our customer care department in November and the monthly minimum was lowered to help accommodate their low volume of processing. LEADERS has done nothing deceptive or tricky, but as a good faith gesture LEADERS will close the merchants’ account per his request in this complaint and waive the $250 ETF. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: In 01/13 I was considering accepting credit cards as payment for my small handyman contracting business. I would get maybe one or two customers a month asking if I accepted credit cards. I talked to a phone center rep from Leaders and he offered a plan that had a slightly higher pertage-of-sale fee and a minor monthly adder of $5.00- $14.00. He told me that this monthly adder fee was essentially the "cost to talk to a real human being if I ever had to make inquiries". The percentage of sale fee was still very low if I used the smart phone card reader, which they stated WOULD WORK. This is important because if I had to manually submitt credit card payments it would be 1% higher. He assured me there was no other fees. This was crucially important because I would rarely need to use this service. AFTER RECIEVING THE CARD READER, IT DID NOT WORK WITH MY CELL PHONE. I CALLED INTO THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE WHICH A TECHNICIAN COMPLACENTLY SAID " I GUESS IT WON'T WORK WITH YOUR MODEL PHONE. I WASNT HAPPY, BUT IF I DIDN'T HAVE TO USE IT ONLY BUT 1-2 A MONTH, OK I GUESS. THEN IN MARCH I GET A BILL FOR $144. I NEVER USED THIS SERVICE AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I AM RECIEVING A HUGE BILL! I AGAIN CALLED THE CUST SERV LINE AND THEY SAID "THATS JUST OUR FEE, EVERYONE PAYS IT". I SAID NOT ME! THATS NOT WAY THE AGREEMENT WAS REPRESENTED BY THE TELESALES DEPT. "I WANT TO CANCEL AND GET MY MONEY BACK". THEY SAID THEY WOULD CANCEL THE SERVICE AND ONLY REFUND HALF THE AMOUNT. I WAS BITTER AND THOUGHT "COUNT IT AS A HARD LESSON LEARNED" FOR AN AGREEMENT MADE BY PHONE. FAST FORWARD TO NOVEMBER (7 MONTHS) I NOTICE WHAT LOOKS LIKE A BILL FROM LEADERS IN THE MAIL. IT WAS AN BILL FOR $87.95. TURNS OUT THEY HAD BEEN BILLING ME EVERY MONTH, FOR DIFFERENT AMOUNTS UNDER "MTOT BANKCARD". CALLED AGAIN IN NOV. THEY SAID "WE ONLY CANCEL ACCOUNTS IN WRITING, NOT BY PHONE". SINCE IT WAS AUTOMATICALLY DEDUCTED FROM A BANKCARD THEY TOOK APROX $1000. WHICH THEY REFUSED TO REFUND. I NEVER ONCE USED THEIR SERVICE-EVER!Desired Settlement: Refund every month since I called in and canceled- which they have record of the call. I never once used their service, never once submitted a credit card payment. Its more than obvious I never used, nor tried, nor intended on using Leaders after calling to cancel services. It literally was a breach of contract since they day I recieved their smart phone card reader. If their billing showed up as "Leaders", I would have acted sooner. I thought "MTOT" might have been something else

Business

Response:

LEADERS strives to resolve any merchant issues as quickly and efficiently as possible. LEADERS would like to apologize to this merchant if he was given incorrect information from our customer service department. The closing procedures per the merchants signed contact include that LEADERS must receive a signed letter from the merchant for us to close the account on the merchants behalf. LEADERS cannot verify if that information was given to this merchant when he called in on April 23.2013. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund all fees billed to the merchant since his April 2013. The merchants’ refund for month end fees is $633.60 and should be received within 7-10 business days. When the merchant closed his account he incurred a $350.00 Early Termination Fee per his signed agreement for closing his account prior to the end of his 3 year contract. LEADERS is working to refund this fee to the merchant as a final good faith gesture. The merchant will be issued a refund of the $350.00 after the fee has cleared the banking system in 5-7 business days. The $350.00 refund will be received by the merchant in 10-14 business days if it clears the banking system. LEADERS would like to wish the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: As a new small business owner I thought I had really researched three different swipe card companies. After being assured that Leaders is number one with an A rating, and after several conversations with Micky the sales rep, I proceeded with the arrangement. I wrote down many details of my conversation with him and their fees were the lowest. I was assured multiple times that the $5.00 fee was the only one unless charges were made and it would be .35% or 1.55% for credit and 18 cents a swipe. When I wouldn't do a three year contract, Micky said he had the authority to do a one year contract and that if I didn't like it that I would only be out 60.00 for the year so it would not be that financially impactful. When I started using it my fees were like 10%, that was when I learned I was being charged 5.89% bc it was a "reward" card. This was never explained to me. They transferred me to a service person who reduced it to 4.3 which is still too high. Then there are all of these "extra" fees that I was told I would not be charged. Today we got our bill in which we took in $90 in credit cards and were charged $170.00. Now they are telling me about $129 pci fee. When I called them today I also learned about another $25 a month fee if we don't have enough sales and they are going to charge me $250 to cancel. I feel like I selected them in good faith after doing research and I can promise you that I was assured numerous times that they were the lowest in the industry and there were no other fees. I even asked how they can afford to charge lower fees and was told it was due to their size that they could negotiate with the credit card companies to give us the lowest rate. I was on the phone with Micky when he had me sign the contract and I was actually trying to read it and he would answer questions. He kept telling me there were no more fees. I cannot afford to keep them, I am losing money now whether I accept a card or not.Desired Settlement: Please help me to terminate my contract without penalty and remove the pci and other hidden fees that were not, despite direct questions answered honestly.

Business

Response:

LEADERS strives to provide the highest quality merchant services in the country. We regret that a merchant has had to complain to the Revdex.com to get the assistance needed and strive to make sure this does not happen in the future. LEADERS has carefully reviewed the complaint and the merchant’s records and all fees charged to the merchant were in the simple 4 page contract she signed. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $129.00 annual pci compliance fee charged to the merchant. The merchant should see this refund in 5-7 business days. Also as a final good faith gesture LEADERS will close the merchant’s account per the request of this complaint and waive the $250 ETF owed to LEADERS for closing the account prior to the end of the contract. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success in her business and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Thank You,

Leaders Merchant Services, LLC

Review: When working with the representative, M[redacted] at Leaders, he was very misleading on the fees the company charges with their services. I have a small handmade craft business that does three craft shows in the fall so I would only be using their credit card reader that attaches to my cell phone for two months out of the year. He assured me that there would be no monthly service fees charged to my account, only the processing fee for the credit card sales. I received my first statment the first of December and there was a $9.99 charge for an enhanced security fee. I called the company and they said this was a new monthly charge for securit purposes. I said this was not disclosed to me and asked to have the charge removed. They refused. When asked how to cancel my account they informed me there was a $350 cancellation fee! None of these hidden fees were disclosed to me and I find them to be a very dishonest company. They are the ones that have breached their contract by not disclosing all fees and explaining the 3 yr. contract penalty fee for closing an account early.Desired Settlement: I desire/demand that my account be closed immediately with no early cancellation fee of $350 be charged.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services strives to provide every merchant with

the highest quality merchant services possible. In our efforts to resolve this

merchant’s issue, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our Merchant Service records,

which include the Merchant’s signed Agreement. The merchant was notified in the

memos section of the October statement that the Enhanced Security Package was

being added. The Early Termination Fee was listed on page 3 of the signed

application that was submitted. As a gesture of good faith, LEADERS will refund

the $9.99 Enhanced Security Package that was billed for November and well as

close the merchant account with no Early Termination Fee. The refund will take

approximately 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant good luck and

considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10994429, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

S[redacted]

Review: When shopping for a credit card processing company for my home-based business, I compared all fees and charges for each provider to select the best provider for my business that has very limited credit card processing. I chose Leaders because they seemed to have the lowest cost. I then saw a fee of $32 on my account. I called them to ask about the fee and found out that they charge an minimum fee if no credit cards are processed. Since I do not process very many credit cards, I asked to cancel my account. They told me there would be a 350.00 cancellation fee because I agreed to a three year contract. I don't know where that came from. I do not remember seeing it any where in the sign up process. I believe this company is being deceptive about their fees and contracts.Desired Settlement: I want to close my account immediately without being charged the cancellation fee that I didn't know about.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services strives to provide every merchant with the highest quality merchant services possible, and to receive a complaint such as this is disheartening. As a result of this complaint LEADERS has investigated what the merchant has been billed versus what was in their contract. All rates and fees billed to the merchant were part of their signed contract. LEADERS ensures each merchant has a copy of their signed contract e-mailed to them immediately after they sign and submit the contract. If the information in the signed contract did not reflect what the merchant and the sales representative discussed then the merchant should not have signed the contract. LEADERS has done nothing deceptive, but as a good faith gesture LEADERS will close the merchants’ account per the request in this complaint and waive the $350 ETF. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9918787, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I was contracted to work for the USPS and they wanted to pay me in the form of credit cards. So, in order to accept their payment method, I chose Leader Merchant Services to assist me in being able to do so. When I called them to request their services, I was never told about a three year contract, nor was I ever sent any information about being in a three year contract. I was also told that my monthly payment would be $8, but it was $87.00 instead. I no longer have the job with USPS, so I cancelled my account with this company (They were continuing to charge me $87.00 a month, even after not being used. ) They told me that it would be fine, and all I had to do was fill out a form and fax it to them. So I did, and next thing I know, $350.00 comes out of my banking account, pushing me into the negatives because I was no aware of it. I called as soon as I noticed, and it was only today that I learned I was under a three year contract and that there was a cancellation fee for leaving early. I feel that this company has decepted me and does not deserve my $350.00.Desired Settlement: I would love to have my $350, because the business they conducted with me was crooked. I was never, ever informed about a contract or a termination fee. I'm currently broke because of their greedy deception.

Business

Response:

LEADERS has been serving our merchants since 2000. We strive to resolve all complaints our merchants have as quickly and accurately as possible. In our efforts to resolve this merchant’s issues, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our Merchant Service records, which include the Merchant’s signed Agreement. The Agreements, formed by the 4-page Merchant Application, and Merchant Services' “Program Guide”, clearly indicate that the Merchant has, in fact, been billed correctly according to the documents they signed. These documents also include the Rates, Fees, Terms and Conditions for their Merchant Account. The contract all merchants are required to sign ensures all parties involved understand the rates and fees that are going to be billed to the merchant. All rates and fees have been clearly indicated in the contract for the merchant to see prior to signing. If for some reason the sales representative failed to go over any fees the merchant will be charged, the contracts detail the fees sothe merchant can clearly see them before signing. This merchant’s signed agreement acknowledges they read the agreement and agreed to all rates and fees. Prior to this complaint, the merchant had already closed her merchantaccount and received a waiver of the $350 Early Termination Fee through LEADERS Customer Service. LEADERS wishes the merchant good luck and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: My complaint involve hidden fees that never was mention in the agreement. funds was token out of my business account with out me being aware because I never used the service. I try to talk to someone in customer service by phone but was not successful they left me on hold. When I try to stop the service they gave me the run around by telling me to call other numbers or e-mail other departments wish I was not successful of doing. Now merchant trying to take PCl Non-action fees because I know longer need their serviceDesired Settlement: $ 90 that was token out and the service was never used

Business

Response:

As a leader in the merchant services industry, Leaders Merchant Services, LLC, endeavors to provide superior merchant processing services to all of our merchants. In our efforts to resolve this merchants issues, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our Merchant Service records, which include the Merchant’s signed Agreement. The Signed Agreement, clearly indicates that the Merchant has, in fact, been billed correctly according to the documents they signed. The fees paid from the merchants bank account were for his 9/2013, 10/2013, and 11/2013 month end fees. The merchant was sent a welcome packet explaining that he needed to take a PCI compliance survey to ensure his processing was PCI compliant. The merchant was also sent an e-mail to the same e-mail he sent email to LEADERS to explain he needed to take the survey or he would be billed a $40 NON-compliance fee. Every statement the merchant received also stated the merchant needed to ensure he had taken the yearly PCI compliance survey. The merchant never took the compliance survey in the allotted time so he was billed a $40 non-compliance fee with his November 2013 month end fees. Once the merchant completes the survey he can contact customer service to request a courtesy refund. The merchant did not use the account but is responsible for the $25 monthly minimum each month that he agreed to when he signed his agreement. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund 2 months worth of monthly minimum to the merchant for his September and October fees. Total refund will be $50.00 and the merchant should receive the refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9842170, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

I accept the business response but the September and Oct fees refund that was tooken out of my account would have to be mail to my home address.

My business account is no longer in used. 1820 w wells Milwaukee Wi 53233

Thank you

Eugene G Sanders

Review: I thoroughly researched several merchant service companies before choosing Leaders Merchant Services because of their low rates as advertised on their website and quoted to me by [redacted]. Nowhere on their website or their emails from their representative did they mention a $129 annual fee. If I had known about this fee, I would not have signed up for their services since other companies do not charge an annual fee.Desired Settlement: Refund the annual fee.

Business

Response:

LEADERS is a leader in the Merchant Services Industry. We stand behind our services 100%. The fees involved in providing our services are minimal to our merchants. The $129 annual PCI compliance fee charged to merchants in their third month of processing is to cover the cost incurred to ensure the merchant is PCI complaint and ensure the merchant does not have issues with fraud or stolen credit card information through their terminal. As the credit card industry moves further into the technological world there is more risk of the information sent to the processors being hacked and used fraudulently. The Credit Card industry has set new standards to ensure the cardholders information does not get broken into and compromised, with that is a substantial cost. To keep processing costs down LEADERS bills merchants a $129.00 PCI fee once a year to cover the cost of keeping their merchant account safe from outside invasion and possible costly fraud situations. The PCI compliance fee is clearly stated in each merchan'ts contract on page 3. We apologize if the sales representative did not explain this fee to the merchant and as a good faith gesture we will refund the $129.00 that was received from the merchant to cover this fee. The merchant should see their refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success with their business and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9511505, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,