LEADERS

Review: First things first.I have had only problems with this company.I asked them politely to close my account with no fee's.Since I'm on SSI and I have zero customers.But they took advantage of my weakness.I have asked customer service representative [redacted] clearly. I have made it crystal clear to him I wanted a account with a zero monthly fee.They just today charged my bank account 350 for a cancel fee.Date Type Description Debit Credit Balance Pending ACH Debit LEADERS CANCEL FEE CCD 4[redacted]15133 Link to more information in a new browser window. $350.00 They took advantage of my trust and used me.Desired Settlement: I need all the money they charged me returned.The first $25The overdraft fee $34And the $35010/03/2014 Fee RETURNED ITEM FEE FOR AN UNPAID $25.00 ITEM - DETAILS: BANKCARD MTOT DISC 4[redacted]15133 CCD ID: SM077S5378 $34.00 ($23.36)

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 he signed. 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 the $25 monthly minimum to the merchant for his September fees and will refund the $350 ETF the merchant was billed for closing his account prior to the end of his contract. Total refund will be $375.00 and the merchant should receive the refund in 7-10 business days as long as all the fees cleared his bank account. LEADERS is not responsible for any overdraft fees since the fees billed to the merchant were fees agreed upon in the signed contract. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10288364, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Also if they actually reimburse me for the additional damage that was done I would be grateful.They have caused my account to go negative for a long time!Overdraft fee's refunded would be appreciated.

Regards,

Review: I started with the leaders on December 23rd 2013. I was to use their service to process 13 monthly transactions worth $130 each for a total of $1690 monthly. I was told that there would be a monthly fee of $17 and fees of .35% for my total monthly usage in addition to a small per transaction charge of 19 cents each. After running my 1st batch of charges I was told that the money was held with risk management and they needed to provide them with more info so they could process the charges. I dealt with a risk manager Star Adams. She told me I needed to provide her with info about the issuing credit card co....name address , contact person, and phone number. I did not fully understand what she was looking for so I sent her the info I had but it wasn't what she needed. After 4 days of back and forth with no resolution I advised Star that their service was not working for me and I would just like to cancel the service. She advised me to do a refund on all the cards and the funds would be returned to the cards I had run. At this point she said nothing about any fees nor did she tell me I had to pay $350 to cancel my account. In January my bank account was charged $223.62 for the void charges. I called the leaders and asked why was I charged when they could not provide the service of me accepting payments and then in turn them depositing the money in my account. They would not give me a full refund but they did agree to refund half $110. At this point I accepted and again said I did not want their service and wanted to make sure my account was cancelled. Again I was not informed about any cancellation fee( which is $350) . 3 weeks passed and I still didn't get a refund so I called back and they said it was processed and they would call me back with a tracking number. A few days later I was charged $37.95 on feb 4th so I called them back and spoke to a supervisor named Kristin. She said I had to pay a $350 cancellation fee and would not get the $110 refundDesired Settlement: I think since they were never able to provide the service they told me they would I should get a full refund of the $223.62 and let me cancel my account with no fee charged

Business

Response:

Since 2000, Leaders Merchant Services, LLC, has upheld one of the largest Risk, Chargeback and Fraud departments in the industry. In our efforts to resolve the issues stated in this complaint, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed the merchants signed Agreement (formed by the 4-page Merchant Application, and the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”). LEADERS would like to refer the merchant to the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”, page 20, section 12 “Association Compliance”: ‘MasterCard, Visa and Discover have established guidelines, merchant monitoring programs and reports to track merchant activity such as, but not limited to excessive Credits and Chargebacks, and increased deposit activity. In the event you exceed the guidelines or submit suspicious Transactions as identified by an Association or any related program or reports, you may be subject to: (i) operating procedure requirement modifications; (ii) incremental Chargebacks and/or fees; (iii) settlement delay or withholding; (iv) termination of your Agreement; or (v) audit and imposition of fines.’ It is the merchant’s responsibility to know and to understand the terms of the signed Agreement prior to processing credit cards. The transactions that the merchant processed were flagged by our risk department as suspicious and had to be verified. The merchant was not able to provide the information required to release the funds immediately and opted to refund the transactions and close his account. The risk department should have advised the merchant to contact customer service for closing procedures and for that we apologize. Since the transactions were processed and refunded there is a cost for the processing of both the transaction and the refund by the Association. LEADERS did offer to cover the cost of the refund for the merchant in the amount of $110.12, so we will in good faith go ahead and issue that refund. We will also close the account with no ETF per this complaint request. The merchant should expect his refund in 7-10 working days. All other fees are the responsibility of the merchant. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9916672, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: When I originally signed up with Leaders Merchant I was pleased with their low per transaction fees and felt confident that I could carry out bank charges with their services. Right off the bat, I had problems swiping cards. I then spent hours with their technical staff who originally said I had the wrong card swiping unit for my phone. They said their would send a replacement. Never got it. But was able to swipe cards after rebooting the system numerous times. Then I didn't use for awhile and they without telling me, shut down my service. Had to call again to get it re-inactivated. I was able to do some transactions during the time I had their service but still had problems one of which was totally embarrassing in front a client, was it would not accept their card or any card for that matter. Basically Leaders Merchant is a very over priced, poor customer service and you had sign a very lengthy contract (42 pages) of which hidden is a the early cancellation fee (was not told about that) and was not told about the monthly fees or PCI compliance fees (the highest out of merchant card services).Desired Settlement: I would like a refund of my early cancellation fee in the fact that did not satisfy their end of the contract and that was to provide a service for for my business. I held my end and paid all of those fees that were not explained to me (except the $5.00 customer service fees). I should have the option to get out of a contract if they did not provide the service that they promised without a penalty.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services LLC has a reputation of being one of the most user friendly and supportive merchant services companies in the industry. LEADERS apologizes to the merchant for any struggles they may have had with using the card swiper sent to them. In an effort to resolve this dispute as quickly and accurately as possible LEADERS has performed a thorough review of the merchant’s account including the merchants signed contract and all call notes on the account. The contract that governs the relationship with the merchant clearly states all fees billed to the merchant as well as the Early Termination Fee if the merchant chooses to close the account prior to the end of the 3 year contract were correct. After careful review of the account notes we do see the merchant called in to customer service with processing issues and was offered different equipment but the merchant declined. The merchant was advised to contact her sales representative if she wanted to change her account to a wireless account. The merchant did not utilize the mobile phone application for her merchant account for a period of more than 30 days. To ensure the account maintained it’s security LEADERS closes the gateway until the merchant contacts us to re-activate it. An e-mail is sent to the merchant to advise them the gateway has been closed and to contact LEADERS when they are ready to reactivate it. When the merchant contacted LEADERS to reactivate the gateway it was activated immediately. LEADERS understands the merchant had issues with the card swiper but the merchant had other options for processing available to them, the merchant just chose not to utilize the other options (i.e. keying in the transactions on their phone or utilizing a computer to process the transactions). As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $250 ETF although the merchant is completely responsible for the fee. The merchant should see the refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: When we first signed up with Leaders I was told the customer service fee would be $5 per month, our rates would be 0.35% for swiped debit cards and 1.55% for swiped credit cards, transaction fees would be $0.18 per transaction, and that there would be no monthly fee for the terminal.What we were actually charged is $12.95 per month for customer service fee, our rate for swiped cards was 5.89% for all types of transactions, and we were charged $15.00 each month for the terminal. When I wanted to cancel they told me I signed a three year contract and that we would be charged $350 for early cancellation. I did not sign a contract. When I asked for the copy they presented this contract with a signature that is not my signature. When I questioned them about this they said I signed it electronically, which I did not.We blocked them from having access to our bank account and we cancelled our contract as per their instructions. They then changed the account number and deducted from our account the $350.00 plus an additional $15.00 for the terminal.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund of the $350 cancellation fee, a refund of some of the transaction fees we were charged, and a refund of $10 per month for the terminal fee.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services, LLC, endeavors to provide superior merchant processing services. 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. To ensure full disclosure during the application process, LEADERS created an Online Application. If the information the sales representative gave the merchant did not match what was on the application then the merchant should have not signed the application. In addition, once the merchant completes the Online Application by signing electronically, they are sent a link via the same email address the application was sent to that will allow them to print a hard copy of the documents they signed. Once they downloaded and printed a copy for their records they could have reviewed the documents and if there were any discrepancies they could have called in immediately to correct or cancel the account. The signatures on these electronically signed documents do not look anything like what a merchant’s signature would look like since they are using their mouse or other means to sign the documents electronically. These documents also include the Rates, Fees, Terms and Conditions for their Merchant Account. LEADERS takes pride in the security measures that have been installed on our online application process to ensure a situation such as we are being accused of does not take place. It is the merchant’s responsibility to print out the full merchant application if they want a copy of what they agreed to and signed electronically from the link provided. LEADERS customer service has provided the merchant with a copy of the contract for their convenience. The Early Termination Fee and the fee for the Merchants terminal come from different accounting lines and therefore have different names when they go to the merchants bank. The merchant was not billed any fees that were not in her contract so therefore is not due any refunds, but as a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $350 ETF for closing the account prior to the end of her contract. The merchant should see the refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Thank You,

Leaders Merchant Services, LLC

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9667059, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I started a small design business a couple of years ago and "thought" I would need a way to handle credit card sales. The salesman at Leaders could not have been nicer, even when I asked him about what would happen if my business did not take off & I did not need their services. I was told that if it really did not take off, then they would of course cancel my account & wave any cancellation fees. This has not turned out to be true. I never "actived" the account or used it, my business did not take off, and when I called to cancel the account I was told that there would be a $500+ cancellation fee. After arguing for some time about this, I decided to just pay the fees for a few months before deciding what to do. This month I received a bill for $211.95, $169.00 of which listed as "ADDITIONAL FEES" including an "annual" fee that I never agreed to or was asked about? I can't believe that I have paid this company so much money for a service that I never used!Desired Settlement: I would like at a minimum for the Additional fees for February be removed from my account and for any cancellation fees to be waved as was originally promised.

Business

Response:

As one of the largest merchant services providers in the country LEADERS works diligently to resolve any all disputes with our merchants as quickly as possible. After careful review of the merchants account it is clear the merchant never used the account. LEADERS does not have nor have we ever had a $500+ cancellation fee so it is unclear why the merchant is stating we told him that when he tried to cancel his account. The merchant signed a contract for a 3 year commitment to LEADERS. For merchants that have gone out of business, LEADERS will waive the cancellation fee if the merchant shows proof in writing that they have gone out of business. This merchant did not provide this proof to LEADERS therefore we could not waive the ETF. In the merchants’ signed contract the annual PCI compliance fee is explained. Annually the merchant will be billed $129.00 for this fee. The merchant is required to take a yearly PCI compliance survey and is reminded to take the survey on every merchant statement sent to them. If the survey is not taken within 3 months of the required timeframe a $40.00 non-compliance fee is assessed to the merchant monthly until the survey is completed. Once the survey is completed the $40 can be refunded to the merchant. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $129.00 PCI compliance fee and the $40.00 non-compliance fee assessed to the merchant in his February month end fees. Total refund to the merchant will be $169.00. Since the merchant has already closed his account, as a good faith gesture LEADERS is attempting to stop the Early Termination Fee that was assessed to the merchant, if the fee cannot be stopped LEADERS will refund the fee once it has cleared our reject report in about 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: This company has forged my signature on a contract and has deducted $250 from my company account for a cancellation fee that I was never aware of after having this account for over one year and when I called to cancel, they never informed me there was a $250 cancellation fee and they deducted it from my account without my knowledge and provided me with a contract they said I entered into that clearly was forged, nothing like my signature on each and every page of said contract.Desired Settlement: I want the $250 fee credited back to my account that they illegally withdrew it from as well as expenses for my time spent in resolving this matter.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services, LLC, endeavors to provide superior merchant processing services. In our efforts to resolve this merchants’ issues, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our records and the merchant’s signed Agreement. The Agreement was sent to the merchant via a secure link, the merchant then signed the application with their mouse so the signature is not always identical to their actual signature. It is not possible for anyone other than the person on the other end of the e-mail given at the time of the application to sign the agreement. This account was opened on 7/16/ 2012. On 8/7/2013 LEADERS asked the merchant to file a police report if they felt the account was opened fraudulently under their name, the merchant has not faxed a police report to us since they were advised that would be the only way LEADERS could open a fraudulent account investigation. The merchant advised LEADERS the reason for closing the account was they were not using it very much. If the merchant feels the agreement was signed fraudulently LEADERS encourages the merchant to file a police report and provide LEADERS with that information so it can be investigated further, although the merchant does admit opening and using the account. LEADERS is not responsible for a refund to this merchant since all fees billed to the merchant were in his signed contract. LEADERS would like to wish this merchant much success with his business and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

I really appreciate my Account executive contacting my business to share your services with me. You explained everything to me, and I believe this new tool for our business will enhance our services to our clients.

Review: I see now from reading other complaints that this is undoubtedly part of their standard business practices. I am complaining about the $350 fee that they are attempting to charge me for closing the account. What is amazing (and really angers me) is that they denied the only transaction I tried to put through. I originally signed up with them prior to starting my business. I did not utilize them for several months, all the while paying monthly fees (which were not properly explained by their phone operators, but that was small potatoes compared to the closing acct fee). When I finally tried to process my first transaction, it was denied, but not without subtracting the money from the credit card account, and not having the amount being credited back for 2 weeks. I was charged some fee at the time for this transaction, even though Leaders ultimately DID NOT process the transaction. I spent several phone calls explaining to them that since I was not going to be able to use them (as they couldn't process my transactions), I was cancelling their service. I was told several times that there would not be any additional fees, but lo and behold, a month later, a $350 cancellation fee shows up in my bank acct. I of course called them to tell them that I was assured there would not be any additional fees on top of what I already paid (and again, even though they never actually processed anything for me). They told me "it's in the contract", and I had no recourse. It certainly appears that their main business is not actually processing credit card transactions, but keeping the float on the transactions that they deny for as long as they legally(?) can, and charging exorbitant fees for closing accounts, and given that their Revdex.com rating doesn't seem to be suffering, I think that's a pretty smart and profitable business model. Here is a link to other customers who seem to have the exact same type of complaints about them:http://www.yelp.com/biz/leaders-merchant-services-los-angDesired Settlement: I would like a refund on all of their hidden fees that they don't tell you about, but to charge a fee for closing an account that I have not used, and cannot use, is absurd, if not criminal.

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. In our further efforts to resolve the issues stated in this complaint, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our copy of the merchant’s signed Agreement (formed by the 4-page Merchant Application, the Intake form and the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”). LEADERS would like to refer the merchant to the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”, page 20, section 12 “Association Compliance”: ‘MasterCard, Visa and Discover have established guidelines, merchant monitoring programs and reports to track merchant activity such as, but not limited to excessive Credits and Chargebacks, and increased deposit activity. In the event you exceed the guidelines or submit suspicious Transactions as identified by an Association or any related program or reports, you may be subject to: (i) operating procedure requirement modifications; (ii) incremental Chargebacks and/or fees; (iii) settlement delay or withholding; (iv) termination of your Agreement; or (v) audit and imposition of fines.’ It is the merchant’s responsibility to know and to understand the terms of the signed Agreement prior to processing credit cards. It is also the merchant’s responsibility to abide by these terms in order for the terms of our business relationship to be advantageous. LEADERS would like to point out that we did in fact process the two transactions that were run on the merchant account, however, these funds were held by LEADERS risk department due to the fact they were over the merchants limits on the account. Due to this, the transactions had to be refunded back to the customers. This is why the merchant may feel like there were no transactions processed. The merchant closed their account in February, 2013. At that time we offered to waive the ETF that would have been billed because the merchant had not used the account. The merchant requested the account be re-opened in June, 2013. LEADERS re-opened the account for the merchant with the same contract they had originally signed, which included a $350.00 Early Termination Fee. Since the merchant used the account the offer to waive the termination fee was null and void and the fee applied when the account was closed the second time. We are not sure where the merchant got the idea that there were no other fees on the account, as there are notes that the merchant spoke to someone who then waived the fee on more than one occasion. As a good faith gesture, and since the merchant states they were told there would be no more fees, LEADERS will refund the $350 ETF to the merchant once it has cleared our reject report. The refund will take about 7-14 business days to process. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: In March I spoke w/ a rep from this company because of an ap I found in the I-Store. I asked about the rates and fees associated w/ being able to run credit cards using this app. I explained to the rep that I rarely take credit cards and havent taken a credit card in about a year. I had cancelled my previous account because of how infrequently I now get asked to take a credit card. He explained to me that the rates are better than PayPal and if I dont use it or run any cards then there wouldnt be any fees, just like PayPal. So I agreed to give it a shot since it wouldnt cost me anything to get started and wouldnt cost me anything if I didnt run any cards. Well, that couldnt be any further from the truth. 6/3/13 my account was debited $169.90 and today (7/2/13) debited another $80.90. I have not run any credit or debit cards at all and certainly havent used this service in any way. This company straight up lied to me.Desired Settlement: I want my money refunded in full immediately as well as my account closed and deactivated.

Business

Response:

A complaint against our company is taken very seriously at LEADERS. Our goal is to provide the best merchant services and customer service possible, and when we receive a complaint such as this it is taken seriously. All of our Sales Representatives are trained in depth on the application process developed by LEADERS. The sales representatives are trained on the fees the merchant’s will be charged and how merchant services work. The miscommunication between this merchant and his sales representative is very confusing since all fees are clearly stated in the merchant’s simple 4 page signed contract under his schedule of fees and within the contract. LEADERS recognizes the account has not been used and does not want to cause the merchant a financial hardship so in good faith we will refund all fees billed to the merchant. We will close the account with no Early Termination Fee saving the merchant $350.00. The merchant will receive 2 different refunds. The first refund in the amount of $169.00 for the PCI annual fee and one $40.00 non-compliance fee. The merchant should receive the first refund in 3-5 business days. The merchant will receive a second refund in the amount of $122.70 for all of his regular monthly fees from the day he opened his account. This refund will be processed in 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success with his business and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Thank You,

Leaders Merchant Services, LLC

Review: My problem is that I feel that I was sold a bill of goods and taken advantage of. During the admission process application, I was told there are no charges at all. When I called back to say that I saw a $5.00 customer service fee, the intake person, Morgan told me that would be taken off and to disregard that. I have not only been charged the $5 fee, but 25.00 Min Discount fee, a 7.95 regulatory fee and 129.00 for additional fees.

When I called to complain, I was told those are the fees according to the contract. I never agreed to pay those fees, nor did I give permission for those fees to be taken directly out of my bank account. Now I have to close my account because they keep charging me without my permission. I was told that I would be reimbursed for charges on 3/12/13 and today is 4/8/13 and the reimbursement is still pending.Desired Settlement: I would like to be credited the $166.95 charge for March and the $28.76 charge from February. I closed my account t 2/28/13 and was sent a bill for $166.95 for March. Customer service told me the charge was for 2012 membership fee even though I joined in Jan. 2013.

I already sent a closure form yet technical support has no record of my closing the account. I was kept waiting for 40 minutes each time I called. I was told I would be credited for Feb. on 3/12/13. It is still pending.

Business

Response:

A complaint of this nature is taken very seriously by LEADERS. We have tried to review the phone conversations between the merchant and the sales representative to see what exactly was said during the application process as we do not want to receive any further complaints of this nature. Unfortunately we were unable to locate the sales call for this account. LEADERS does have a signed application on file from the merchant with all fees she has been billed clearly stated on the application. On February 28,2013 LEADERS received a closure letter from the merchant. She was advised it can take up to 30 days to close her account due to settlements and chargebacks. The merchant called on 3/11 upset about the fees she was billed for February. As a one time courtesy LEADERS refunded the merchant $28.76, for the month end fees she states she never agreed to in her contract. The refund was processed on 3/12 and should have hit the merchant’s bank within 1-2 business days. This refund has already been processed and should already be in the merchants bank account. The merchant called back on 4/8/2013 about her March month end fees. Included in those fees was her annual PCI compliance fee for the year 2013 not 2012. Since the merchant was already given a one-time courtesy refund the refund she requested for the March fees on 4/8 required a higher level of approval. The refund was approved and processed in 4/12/2013. The Merchant should see this refund for her March month end fees in the amount of $166.95 hit her bank account in 2-3 business days. LEADERS has agreed to refund all month end fees assessed to this merchant for March as a good faith gesture and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Don't do business with this merchant company. I'm taken back over the amount of complaints and should have done my homework. Believing they're a merchant company, I trusted adequate boundaries being this is banking. They're likened to a kid on drugs that goes gangbusters with a parent's bank account. You get quite a surprise at every turn. They need to be held responsible. They pull money without your consent or knowledge.

Review: SCAM ARTISTS!!! stay away from these people! Told me there would be no monthly fees for my merchant account and there were. I then tried to cancel my account on feb 6th and they assured me my account had been canceled, and then I got charged $75 for a monthly fee just this past Monday (March 3rd). I called a little while ago, and they told me that I never canceled. I tried to resolve this matter with them only to get the run around and to be told that I should have read a booklet, that I never received, instead of taking their word for it. I've never left a bad review about anyone or any company in my life, but I feel that strong about these guys: STAY AWAY FROM THESE GUYS FOR SURE!Desired Settlement: It would be nice to get all of the hidden fees I was charged back, but at the very least The $75 I have been charged for the month of Feb 2014. I am a small business owner and I feel as if this company is set up to rip small businesses off. Based on their reviews on yelp and even some on here in the past, I can see that I'm not the only one to think so.

Business

Response:

LEADERS is one of the top Merchant Services Providers in the country, and to receive a complaint such as this is disheartening. We have reviewed all account records including the signed merchant contract, the account notes and any recorded calls that we had between the merchant and LEADERS. According to our records all fees billed to the merchant were included in his signed contract. We are not sure where the merchant got the idea that he would not pay any monthly fees above his processing fees. If the contract did not match with what the merchant thought he was agreeing to the merchant should not have signed the contract. The merchant had the ability to download and/or print the contract and the merchant services program guide(booklet) immediately after signing it. The merchant services program guide was/is also available on our website to review prior to signing a contract with LEADERS. The merchant did call in on 2/6/2014 to close his account. He spoke to our retention department and LEADERS agreed to refund the $129.00 annual PCI compliance fee if the merchant would keep his account open. LEADERS did not receive a signed closure letter from the merchant at that time. The merchant called back on 3/6/2014 when he was billed for his February month end fees and claimed he did not want to keep his account open when he spoke to us on 2/6/2014. LEADERS informed the merchant he could close his account but we would need a signed closure letter, the merchant signed the closure letter and sent it back to us, we closed his account on 3/7/2014. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $75.90 that was billed to the merchant for his February month end fees once the fees clear our reject report in 7-10 business days. The merchant was also billed a $350 Early Termination Fee due to the fact his account was closed prior to the end of his 3 year contract. The $350 ETF the merchant was billed was rejected by his bank so LEADERS will waive this portion of the fees owed to us. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed

Review: When we opened the account the name on our paperwork stated Mediation Plus of Oklahoma, there paperwork showing the name of the company is Meditation Plus of Oklahoma. That was our mistake also, not Jakes. The Service regarding closing of our account with them they stated that we would not be charged if we closed the business and then charged us after they could not tell us what documents where need to prove that we where no longer doing business and had not run any credit cards through the account in over 7 months an could prove that we had not done any work in that field. when I asked the account specialist he could not tell me what forms where needed. The month amount they charged was increased by 50 percent and was not told to us why until they had received a complainant about the service. Then I was told that they had been charging those fees for almost a 9 months an would only refund them for the past three months. They told Us we where advised by email and I asked how we could be charged for something we didn't know about he said we should have check our account and seen the amount was increased. NO email was received and they could not show proof that it was received. I am amazed at the lack of training of the staff and to refuse to give the names of the supervisors to paying customers. I have never been treated with such disrespect, from a company that makes it living through customer service or lack there of.Desired Settlement: refund of 350 early termination feesrefund of additional charges with out approval. Written apology letter regarding the sales practices of the man maned Jake when asked a direct question about the product and requirements to close the account.to be able to talk to someone who can answer questions about there products and services.Have allot more to say and will when I cool off. Thank you for your help.

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 and any recorded phone calls. The Agreement, formed by the 4-page Merchant Application and the Merchant Services' “Program Guide”, clearly indicate that the Merchant has, in fact, been billed correctly according to the documents they signed. The merchant states that their fees increased, LEADERS notified the merchant of a fee and processing cost increase at least 30 days in advance via the merchant’s August 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 merchant signed and accepted the Agreement in June 2014, in doing so, the merchant acknowledged that they read, reviewed and agreed to the terms of Agreement now being disputed in this complaint. Per the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”, the merchant has 30 days to dispute or close their account upon receiving notice of a rate or fee increase. Since the merchant did not send in a written notice of intent to close the account, the LEADERS rate and fee increase went into effect for the merchant’s October Processing. Per our records the merchant never called in about the rate and fee increase until February 2015 when they called to cancel their account. LEADERS sales support representative advised the merchant about the $350 ETF to close the account. The merchant stated they were told there was no ETF. The call was reviewed and the merchant was advised the call states there will be no ETF if they went out of business. The merchant then advised they would close their business because they could not afford the monthly fees and or the $350 ETF. The merchant was told they need to provide documentation from the state or county that they had gone out of business. Each state and county have different forms but each one will give a business owner proof that the business is closed once the owner has went through the proper channels to close the business through one of these offices. The merchant was e-mailed a cancellation form on 2/16/2015. If the merchant did not receive the form they should have called LEADERS and advised so another could have been sent to them. On 3/10/2015 the merchant called again wondering why they were still being billed and were advised they never sent in the signed cancellation from. The representative re-sent the cancellation form to the merchant on 3/10/2015. LEADERS received a signed cancellation form on 3/10/2015, but no documentation that the business had gone out of business. LEADERS billed the merchant the $350 ETF the merchant agreed to when they signed their merchant agreement. On 3/13/2015 LEADERS received a call from the merchant very upset that they had been billed the $350 ETF. The call was given to the manager of the department due to the nature of how the merchant was treating the representative. The manager of the department agreed to refund the $350 as a good faith gesture although the merchant has never sent in proof that the business was closed. The merchant should receive their refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success with all their future endeavors and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: Leaders called me for weeks attempting to get me to give them a try. I already had a credit card processing company in place but after much convincing and after being told that the PCI Annual Fee and any early term fees would be waived, I agreed to use their services.The first month there were additional fees in rates added on top of the rates that I had been given. The second month I was charged an $89 fee on top of the rates given!! The charge was for the PCI annual fee that was promised to be waived on my account. In the end, I believe this company is out to scam small business' out of money wherever they can. I have sent in my cancel fax and will sticking with ProPay as my trusted provider of credit card processing. I am only hoping that my cancellation is taken care of without extra fees!!!!-Very disgruntled customerDesired Settlement: $89 Refund!!!!! And account closed immediately with no further charges.

Business

Response:

LEADERS takes all complaints very seriously. We have reviewed this merchants signed agreement and the phone calls the merchant had with several of our sales representatives. The signed agreement clearly has all the fees billed to the merchant in it. The merchant is stating that we agreed to waive the PCI fees and Early Termination Fees on his account. The account was set up with one representative who did not state that he would waive these items. There may have been confusion with what the other representatives promised the merchant and what the sales rep who opened the account promised. As a Good Faith Gesture LEADERS will refund the $89 annual PCI compliance fee and close the merchants account with no Early Termination Fee saving the merchant $350.00. The merchant should expect to see their 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 9824679, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I expect there will be no new charges on my account going forward, including any PCI fees of any amount.

Regards,

Review: I asked the sales representative what the fees were before the figure skating club signed up. They did a bait and switch. We need to have credit card sevices for the Christmas program and they charged us a $129.00 annual fee after the fact.Desired Settlement: We would like a refund of the $129.00 fee. I told the representative that we only wanted to use their service for the Christmas Show.

Business

Response:

As a one of the fastest growing merchant service providers in the nation LEADERS takes pride in resolving any issues a merchant may have with LEADERS as quickly as possible. LEADERS has reviewed the merchants’ complaint and pulled the signed contract. To ensure full disclosure during the application process, LEADERS created an Online Application. During this Online Application process, a merchant can clearly and easily see on their computer screen, each and every rate and fee as well as the complete terms and conditions applicable to the Merchant Account they will be opening with us. In addition, once the merchant completes the Online Application, they are sent a link via email that will allow them to print a hard copy of the documents they signed. These documents also include the Rates, Fees and Terms and Conditions for their Merchant Account. If the rates and fees did not match what the merchant and the sales representative discussed then the merchant should not have signed the contract. As a good faith gesture, LEADERS will waive the balance owed of $136.95 for the February month end fees the merchants bank returned as unauthorized. This amount includes the $129 annual PCI compliance fee that was clearly stated in the merchants signed contract. LEADERS would like to wish the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Leaders have significant holds on m funds without even a suggestion as to when they will be released.

Review: Leaders Merchant Service is withholding $3,540 from me and failing to respond after multiple weeks. When opening the account a daily spending limit of $4,000 was set by the sales representative who had informed me that the process was as simple as swiping the credit cards through the provided reader and mobile application, and staying below the daily limit and/or calling for an increase if high volume was expected. The service was used on 12/15/2013 for a charity auction event at which the items were received by donors on premises. The following day I received an email from the Risk Management department of Leaders Merchant Services stating that I need to provide the following information : First and Last Name, Business Name, Person in Charge, Billing Address, Phone Number, and Detailed Description of Services. Being that I was instructed that I only needed to swipe and stay under my limit, I did not collect this information from each customer at the event. Finally, after multiple tries calling and getting transferred and hung up on by multiple different customer service representatives, I was able to get ahold of the representative in the Risk Management department who informed me that I would need to send over bank statements if I wanted my money released. I sent over the bank statement (which had enough money to cover the charges) and was then informed that this was not enough to have the money released. They now requested that I send over a detailed description of each item sold as well as the event itself. At this point I informed them that this was not part of the agreement my company entered into, and the process was extremely frustrating for a business owner. Beyond this issue, the sales department pulls a bait and switch with the rates. They inform you that most cards swiped will fall under the low-level category ( less than 1%), however in reality most of swipes fall in the highest category which amounts to (~6%).Desired Settlement: I would like for the money I earned to be released, and any contract with this company to be nullified.

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 has followed Industry-wide standards and protocol by holding and validating the merchants monies and transactions in order to protect against the threat of high risk transactions and fraudulent activity. In our efforts to resolve the issues stated in this complaint, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our copy of the merchant’s signed Agreement (formed by the 4-page Merchant Application, and the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”). LEADERS would like to refer the merchant to the Merchant Services’ “Program Guide”, page 20, section 12 “Association Compliance”: ‘MasterCard, Visa and Discover have established guidelines, merchant monitoring programs and reports to track merchant activity such as, but not limited to excessive Credits and Chargebacks, and increased deposit activity. In the event you exceed the guidelines or submit suspicious Transactions as identified by an Association or any related program or reports, you may be subject to: (i) operating procedure requirement modifications; (ii) incremental Chargebacks and/or fees; (iii) settlement delay or withholding; (iv) termination of your Agreement; or (v) audit and imposition of fines.’ It is the merchant’s responsibility to know and to understand the terms of the signed Agreement prior to processing credit cards regardless of the overview of how it would work given by his sales representative. It is also the merchant’s responsibility to abide by these terms in order for the terms of our business relationship to be advantageous. LEADERS risk department flagged and held the merchants’ transactions to verify the suspicious transactions that were brought to the attention of our risk department. At the time the risk department spoke with the merchant it was discovered that the merchant was not utilizing his account for marketing and consulting as he was approved, but the merchant held a silent auction. Due to V/MC regulations a merchant can only utilize their merchant account for the activities they have been approved for and how the account is coded by V/MC. LEADERS has requested bank statements from the merchant and also a list of all items sold and the cardholders information who purchased items at the auction via credit cards in order for LEADERS to work on getting the merchants’ funds released. Until the merchant complies with what is needed the funds will be held. As per the merchants request in this complaint, LEADERS has closed the merchants account with no Early Termination Fee. LEADERS wishes the merchant well with his business and considers this matter resolved and closed.

Review: This message is to notify and file a complaint in regards to leaders. After signing on with them I then canceled my account. They mentioned that there would be no fees if I were to cancel. I canceled and they charged me $350 cancelation fee that was never mentioned.

In addition, when I call to get reimbursed the rep put me on continuous hold and then they kept bouncing me off to different reps to talk to. I had to repeat myself over and over on the same issue. Finally spoke to one rep that said she would have to talk to her manager that was not there at the moment to look into this issue and they would call me back. This is terrible customer service and bad way to conduct business.Desired Settlement: Cancel and refund $350

Business

Response:

LEADERS has been serving our merchants since 2000.We strive to resolve all complaints our merchants have as quickly andaccurately as possible. In our efforts to resolve this merchant’s issues,LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our Merchant Service records, which include theMerchant’s signed Agreement. All rates and fees have been clearly indicated inthe contract for the merchant to see prior to signing. If for some reason thesales representative failed to go over any fees the merchant will be charged,the contracts detail the fees so the merchant can clearly see them beforesigning. This merchant’s signed agreement acknowledges they read the agreementand agreed to all rates and fees. As a good faith gesture, LEADERS will refundthe $350 Early Termination Fee. The merchant should see this refund inapproximately 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant good luck andconsiders this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

Thanks.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10726314, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

A[redacted]

Review: I wish I had read these complaints before signing up. Leaders pulls a typical bait and switch, I was promised no contract and no cancellation fees. Lo and behold, the contract I signed contains stipulations for both a three-year contract and a $350 cancellation fee. I asked them to review the calls in which I was guranteed this and the representatives said that they reviewed them and that there was no such promise made. Why then did I call the person who signed me up, David Gallant, who assured me that the contract was incorrect and that he would make the changes so that the contract reflected what I was promised? STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!Desired Settlement: I would like the $350 early termination fee waived.

Business

Response:

LEADERS is one of the fastest growing merchant services providers in the country, we are accomplishing that by our superior customer service and low rates. LEADERS has reviewed the merchants’ complaint and our call records. LEADERS would like to apologize to the merchant if they did not understand what they were signing up for but LEADERS has billed the merchant according to the signed contract. The contract is what governs our relationship with the merchant. The Early Termination Fee was in the merchants signed agreement and after listening to the phone calls between the merchant and the sales representative it was discovered that the representative never told the merchant there would be no contract term or early termination fee. LEADERS had already agreed to waive the ETF prior to receiving this complaint as a good faith gesture. LEADERS will close the merchants account per this complaint and the merchant will not be billed an ETF. LEADERS wishes the 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 10434028, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: Every business should be aware about this company and their practices. I feel it's unjust to close an account with them for a reason that is not fault of our business. I started a Leaders Merchant Service account in March 2014. My account number is 4[redacted]138596. My business is an online business that sells electronics and niche gadgets. This week, I called the company because I had a customer who couldn't use their credit card on my Web site to make a purchase. When I called about this issue, I was told my account closed by the risk management because a credit card batch that was coming in had excessive authorization declines. There were customers who attempted to use multiple credit cards on our web site either fraudulently or legitimately just until they use the one with a sufficient balance to make a purchase. That is the general nature of a business online. I think it is unfair that not only they closed my account but charged me a early termination fee for an issue that wasn't under my control.Desired Settlement: I'd appreciate a refund of my early termination fee that was charged to my bank account. It is unfair for my account to be closed because of excessive declines when that's part of holding a business online. There are customers who'll use different credit cards, some of them declining until they use the one with a sufficient balance.

Business

Response:

LEADERS has one of the largest chargeback and fraud departments in the merchant services industry. We take pride in protecting our merchants from illegal and fraudulent activity on their accounts. We certainly understand the merchant’s frustration about his account being closed due to excessive declines on his customers credit cards. However, LEADERS simply followed standard industry practice to close the account after seeing excessive declines. This subject is addressed in the merchant services program guide that LEADERS provided the merchant during the application process. The program guide and the merchant agreement govern our relationship. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $350 ETF to the merchant once it clears our reject report in 7-14 business days. LEADERS wishes the 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 10011614, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,