LEADERS

Review: Leaders has been holding all of my customers credit card transactions since 4/29/14 for an "audit" that was supposed to take "1-3 business days" Today is 5/12/14 and I have still not received any of my funds which amount to thousands of dollars in needed revenue to operate my business. I have spoken to countless "customer service" representatives and sent many emails requesting resolution and release of my funds but to no avail. Was told by one very rude and interruptive rep that the person who was supposed to be handling this audit was out sick!!! So my funds get held until that person returns?? What if they don't return soon. Is there not a process for this, unbelievable!! My funds need to be released immediately.Desired Settlement: Release my credit card transaction funds to my bank and cancel my contract waiving early termination fees.

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. 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. When the merchant called our risk department about the held funds they were told the representative who was handling their case was out sick but was advised to send all paperwork to the representative answering the phone. LEADERS released all funds on 5/12/2014 after verifying the transactions with the cardholders which can be a very lengthy process. The funds should already be in their account. 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 their business and considers this matter resolved and closed.

Review: When ordering the credit card service I was quoted 12.95 a month with nothing else a month in charges unless they process a card the a small percentage will be charges. First I have never even used the produce yet and have been charged 1st month 141.95 and the 2nd month 52.95. I was told that I could quit at ant time, no problem and now the Rep. Bo told me he is charging me $300.00 for early termination. He said its in the contract. I told him I never got a contract, Just I quote and an information page for me to fill out on the my banking.BAIT and Switch!Desired Settlement: I told Bo I do not want the to access any of my banking any longer. He told me he was sending a form for me to fill out to cancel and they would be taking $300.00 I would like the refund of all the money taken from my account. Since I have NEVER used their product and this information was never given.Not a honest company. And you rate them a A+. Shame on you Revdex.com.[redacted]###-###-####

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. If the agreement did not match what the merchant and his sales representative discussed then the merchant should not have signed the agreement. The fees paid from the merchants bank account were for his 9/2013, 10/2013, 11/2013 and 12/2013 month end fees. The merchant did not use the account but is responsible for the $12.95 monthly fees he agreed to as well as the $129 annual PCI compliance fee found in his signed merchant agreement. 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 12/2013 month end fees. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will close the merchants account and waive the$350.00 ETF per the request of this complaint. As a final good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $129 PCI compliance fee and the $40 NON-compliance fee the merchant was billed. Total refund will be $169.00 and the merchant should receive the refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Stay away! Told me there was no minimum monthly fees. Got charged $25/mo when not using it. Said they were better than Square with lower fees and same service. Taking a charge required 3 extra time consuming steps, and they took the customers email address for the use of other companies (sold to others?). In 3 months I paid them $110 over the percentage they took (which is lower than Squares). Made it difficult to cancel ("just a phone call"-BS!).

Review: I am a new hairdresser that was looking to accept credit cards as a form of payment. I told salesman m Rodriguez that I don't accept cards nos and could not guess how much I would be charging through their service. He said $1000 a month and I said under that. Apparently when he had me sign confirming my information was correct, he had signed me up for a 3 year contract with a $350 cancellation fee. I have still never seen this contract. I have never received the card reader. And they have already hit me with the first $32.95 charge for not swiping enough cards. I have attempted to speak with a manager on several occasions, but I keep being told that they aren't available and I recieve no call back.Desired Settlement: I would like my contract cancelled, and any fees attached to it waived and reimbursed. Consider us even for the month of wasted time still not being able to accept credit cards.

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 fees the merchant thought she was going to be billed did 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. These documents also include the Rates, Fees, Terms and Conditions for their Merchant Account. 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 Fee for closing the account prior to the end of his contract. The merchant should see the refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed

Review: Leaders Merchant Services lied to me about the fees they charge and are adding miscellaneous fees that I was never made aware of when I opened the account and now want to charge me $350 to close my account. When I first opened the account they asked me to put a $.01 transaction through and it ended up costing me $33.37 in charges. Never did they tell me that I would be charge such an obscene charge. I am extremely unhappy with their service.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded my closing cost of the account. It hasn't been processed yet but when it does I would like it refunded.

Review: In June I contacted [redacted] at Leaders to inquire about an account. I am a one man business that process less than $500 per month. An agreement was made and fee schedules were agreed to which specified there would be NO monthly minimum discunt fees charged. I suffered a heart attack I June and was unable to conduct business until October of 2014. At this time I processed $112.00 in credit card fees. I received a statement from Leaders in which they deducted $31.98 in Minimum Discount Fees. I contacted them and they said I was notified in September that they could no longer honor the $0.00 fees. I did not receive the notice. They then informed me that since I had not processed any cards that they did not send statements out and that was why I did not receive the notice. They refuse to honor the agreed on fee structure claiming that they have the right to change those fees with a 30 day notification and me as a subscriber has no recourse except to cancel the contract at a high cancellation fee. This company is a complete ripoff and a thief to boot.Desired Settlement: Honor of original NO MINIMUM DISCOUNT FEES agreement and refund of $31.98 Minimum Discount Fees already taken out.ORComplete cancellation of contract with no cancellation fees.

Business

Response:

In LEADERS efforts to resolve the issues the merchant has had with our company, LEADERS has thoroughly reviewed our Merchant Service records and the merchant’s signed Agreement. The Agreement is formed by the 4-page Merchant Application and the Merchant Services' “Program Guide”. 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, and 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. LEADERS’ method of notifying merchants of all fee and processing cost increases is through their processing statement. LEADERS will send a statement message which is the first item on their statement at least 30 days in advance of the rate and fee increase. Since Visa/ MC had a rate and fee increase effective for October, LEADERS was forced to pass some of those increases on to our merchants. LEADERS acknowledges the merchant did not receive a processing statement 30 days prior to the rate and fee increase for his October fees so therefore we did not give him 30 days notice of the fee increase because prior to the rate and fee increase he had zero fees and he was not processing so therefore a statement for his account was not produced. Due to the increase in costs to maintain a merchant account for the merchant, LEADERS can no longer maintain an account without the monthly minimum and the regulatory fee the merchant is now being billed. As per the request of this complaint LEADERS will close the merchant’s account and will waive the Early Termination Fee. LEADERS already refunded the $31.98 in Monthly Minimum on 11/19; we will also refund the $7.95 in regulatory fees the merchant was billed in his October month end statement. LEADERS would like to wish the merchant much success in their business and future endeavors and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10310622, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. However, this should never have occured. Searching the Revdex.com database concerning Leaders and communications with Wells Fargo and research of web based complaints indicate this is a far too common expetience with Leaders. Also, my experience with their customer service is close to doing business with loan sharks. BEWARE!!!! DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE DOING BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY.

Regards,

Review: When I signed up for Leaders services, I told the sales rep that I could not afford anything more than the $7.95 per month fee that he said came with the account. He assured me that those will be my monthly charges along with the swipe rates for each transaction, which were the lowest in the industry. To date I have been charged a minimum rate fee of $15-$25 per month, plus monthly fees. Last month I was hit with a PCI compliance fee of $129, which was not disclosed in our conversation. Apparently it is part of the very small/fine print info on the contract. I called to complain and was told it was part of the contract I signed. Obviously the rep misrepresented the fee schedule on the sign up call because he knows that I will not have signed up with all those hidden fees. The rep also said that the 3 year contract will not be binding if I closed the business. I ended up having to shut down because the business was losing money. As for Leaders, I only ran $50 in transactions and have been charged over $500 in fees. Even though I was told several times that I will not be charged the early termination fee if the business was closed, I got charged a $350 early termination fee. I submitted paper work as requested by Leaders and was still charged the $350 early termination fee. This company practices a typical bait and switch on it's customers. They advertise the lowest rates because they tack on all these hidden fees that are never explained to you when you sign up. Reading several complaints, I see that this is common practice with them. Please avoid them like a plague. It is not worth the hassle, time or money.Desired Settlement: Refund of PCI compliance fee of $129 and early termination fee of $350. As the contract was misrepresented by sales rep.

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. To ensure full disclosure during the application process, LEADERS created an Online Application. During this Online Application process, on their computer screen, the merchant can clearly and easily see 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 the same e-mail address the application is sent to that will allow them to print a hard copy of the documents they signed. These documents also include the Rates, Fees, Terms and Conditions for their Merchant Account. LEADERS has all merchants sign an agreement so there is no confusion about what they are going to be billed. If the application does not reflect what the representative discussed with the merchant then the merchant should not sign the contract. All LEADERS sales representatives are trained to explain the fees a merchant will be billed, clearly there was a misunderstanding between the merchant and the signed contract and the sales representative, but all fees billed to the merchant were covered in his signed contract. There was no attempt to mislead the merchant or hide fees, just a misunderstanding. The merchants contract refers to the annual PCI compliance fee in two places, on page 2 and on page 3 of the contract the PCI compliance fee is explained, (“A $129.00 PCI Annual Compliance fee will be assessed to each merchant initially during the third month following the approval of the merchant account and thereafter will continue to be assessed Annually on the anniversary month of the merchant account approval date.” On page 3 of the signed merchant application it is also stated; “if Merchant is approved, any cancellation by You of this Agreement within three (3) years from the date of approval or is terminated by Servicers due to an Event of Default by Merchant, will be subject to the applicable early termination fees and Merchant will be charged a fee for such early termination equal to (I) $350.00 if terminated before completion of the first year of the Term: or (II) $250.00 if terminated after the completion of the first year of the Term but prior to the end of the third year of the Term (see section 22.1 of the Agreement-program guide).”According to the merchant he did not know of the PCI fees although they were in the contract he signed. LEADERS never received the proper paperwork from the merchant to prove he went out of business but as a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund both the $350.00 ETF and the $129 PCI compliance fee as requested in this complaint. The merchant should expect their refund in 7-10 days as long as all funds clear the merchants bank account. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success in the future and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10290850, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

I thank LEADERS for doing the right thing. However, I would urge LEADERS to look into their business practices as this is not an isolated issue based on other complaints. Seems like there is a deliberate attempt by the sales team to mislead potential customers about the true cost of doing business with them.

Regards,

Review: Signed a contract and was never told that it was a 3 year contract, although they say it was in the fine print on the contract (which I do not have a copy of). When I found out the next day, I called to cancel my contract. I was told by 3 people that I would not be charged a cancellation fee because I just signed up for their services. One month later, they took 350.00 dollars out of my account. When I called to inquire about this fee, I was told to make sure it cleared the account and then send a screen shot on my computer as proof that it was taken out. I did this the next day. The day after this, I called again to see what the progress was and was told that there are no refunds. I spoke with the supervisor and manager and told them that I was told by their employees that I wouldn't be charged. They said they will listen to the recorded calls (as I instructed them to do) and was called back saying no one said anything about not being charged and they are not even authorized to make this kind of decision. Obviously, they waited till the money cleared my account before they told me this.. Also, they refuse to send me the recorded calls where I was told that I wouldn't be charged a cancellation fee. This company is a complete scam and I will take further legal action if this is not fixed.Desired Settlement: Refund 350.00 dollars in full to my bank account asap.

Business

Response:

LEADERS is one of the largest merchant services processors in the country and we strive to provide superior services to our merchants, so to hear a complaint of this nature is disheartening. LEADERS billed the merchant the $350.00 Early Termination Fee per his contract if the account was closed prior to the 3 years of service. It is LEADERS policy to not refund ETF’s to merchants who have closed an account with us prior to their contract being complete. The ETF is billed to merchants even in the first month of an account being open because there is a huge expense LEADERS incurs to open merchant accounts. As a Good Faith Gesture LEADERS will refund the $350 ETF charged to the merchant. LEADERS apologizes that we cannot provide the merchant with recorded calls, they are the property of LEADERS and for the privacy of the employees cannot be shared with anyone outside the company. Random calls are recorded for quality assurance purposes only, but from the calls we have on file our representatives did not tell the merchant he would get a refund or that he would not be charged. The merchant should see his refund in 3-5 business days if not sooner and 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 9907683, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Just for the record, as far as the recorded calls are concerned, I have been a call center manager for a Fortune 500 company and we were able to send calls upon a merchant request to settle disputes. I know exactly what was told to me on the phone, and the fact that you are using a privacy excuse when I am the one who was recorded, is just that - an excuse.

That aside, thank you for making the right decision and refunding the money.

Regards,

Leaders has to be the one of the worst merchant services providers available. After switching to Leaders from Wells Fargo (to sale a little money on fees), we have a terrible experience. Funds take much longer to reach our account, sometimes up to 5-6 business days from the date of completed transaction. Their customer service is absolutely terrible. They have held over $19,000+ from reaching our business account for over 6 business days now when they told me it would 1-2 business days. If you are looking for a unprofessional and somewhat "sketchy" merchant service provider, then Leaders is for you. I will be canceling immediately following our outstanding transactions being funding into our business account. If you are reading this... DO NOT SIGN UP WITH LEADERS!

Review: They set limits on our account without letting us know what they were and then hold our money because the transaction is over the limit that they set. We contacted them once we found out what the issue was and was sent paperwork to fill out to increase our limit. We completed all necessary paperwork and returned it to them and was told that our limit would be increased but we are now finding out that it never was. The only was we found out was when we made transactions and after 3 days the money still never showed up in out account and we contacted them concerning this matter. As of today, 6 Dec 13 they are holding over $5000.00 of our money and have been for 4 days saying that the transactions are "under review" even though we have provided everything they have requested to release the funds. Because of them holding these funds I am unable to order the parts that people have already paid for and am losing customers over it. They also charged us excessive fees that we were not informed of when we opened our account with them. We had credit card transactions totaling $292.97 for the month of Oct and were charged fees totaling $41.79 which is 14% of the transaction. This is just plain robbery and should not be allowed to do this to people.Desired Settlement: I would like for them to release my money immediately so I do not have to loose any more business because of them.

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 the merchants frustrations, our Risk Management department followed Industry-wide standards and protocol by holding and validating the transaction’s for 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. It is also the merchant’s responsibility to abide by these terms in order for the terms of our business relationship to be advantageous. It is clear from this complaint that the merchant did not read and understand his entire Agreement with LEADERS prior to signing the documents. LEADERS risk department held the transactions to verify if fraud was taking place and to see the merchant had sufficient credit history to process such a large transaction. LEADERS risk Department has already worked with this merchant and we actually approved their high ticket to $1000. The merchant ran a transaction for $3153.00 and the transaction was placed on hold. The other transactions were held because they came in the same time. When we spoke with the merchant it was decided that he will be issuing a refund for $3153.00 was advised that we would release the remaining funds on hold. LEADERS wishes the merchant well with his business and considers this matter resolved and closed.

Review: Many lies by the company sales person about the contract and verbal agreement, spoke with sales personLies: 1. Rates to high promesied $2.75 got charged over $5.3 on rates2. Monthly fee nevered told3. Three year contracted and was told contract was prorated which it wasn't.4. Got charged dormency fee when account not in use $125.00/month for the past 3 monthsDesired Settlement: Refund for dormency fee due to the fact that it does not state on the contract that there is a fee for not using the account

Business

Response:

LEADERS would like to address the merchant's concerns in his complaint. This merchant has been with LEADERS since October 2010. The contract the merchant signed included all fees the merchant would be billed. Since the account was opened the merchant has had rate and fee increases which were conveyed to the merchant via his monthly statement message. The Early Termination Fee for closing the account prior to the end of the 3 year contract is prorated after the 2nd year. If the merchant closes his account between years 2 and 3 the merchant will only be billed $250 instead of the full $350.00, this is also stated in the merchants contract. Since the merchant stated he was going out of business LEADERS has already waived the Early Termination Fee in the amount of $250.00. The dormancy fee the merchant is claiming that was not in his contract can be found on his intake form which is part of his contract. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund all dormancy fees billed to the merchant in 2013. Total refund will be $36.50 for 5 months of dormancy fees at $7.30 each. The merchant should expect his refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: Hi there,

I recently joined Leaders Merchant Serives in November 2015. I was told that I would be charge very low swipe fee's and no monthly fee if I swipe more than $25 for the month! Therefor, I did not notice them charing me 12/2/15 $109.85 and 1/4/16 $201.45 and 2/2/15 $163.53. This is absolute robbery for using a credit card processing company! There should be something in place so that this doesn't happened to customers.

I have am a freelancer makeup artist. So, I am not big business. What I make is my sole source of income to feed my family. So, by them robbing me there taking food away from my kids.

I would like your help assisting me to get this corrected.

My next step is to write to the news about these companies robbing people.

Thank you, for your help with this matter.Desired Settlement: charing me 12/2/15 $109.85 and 1/4/16 $201.45 and 2/2/15 $163.53

Business

Response:

LEADERS has been serving merchants since 2000. We work hard to

resolve all complaints our merchants have as quickly and accurately as

possible. LEADERS would like to make adjustments on this merchant’s account as

well as refund the difference that would have been billed for November,

December, and January. This refund will take approximately 7-10 business days.

LEADERS requests that the merchant contact our Customer Service Department

should she have any questions or if she hasn’t received the refund within the

approximate time frame.

Review: CC: Licensing at the department of Business oversight, Revdex.comThis letter is in regards to my merchant account with Leaders Merchant Services. I am having buyers remorse in a very real way, I wish to end my contract obligation with Leaders Merchant Services as of today because I believe they have breached our contract and excessively profited from my account. I was sold on their services by their salesperson because I was blatantly uninformed of the truth, the whole truth behind their fees and add ons that were either never discussed, or were purposefully withheld and misrepresented in order to convince me to use their Merchant services over their competitors services. My account was officially opened just two days ago on Feb 3, 2015. (Please see account information) I understand that I have processed numerous transactions since December 2014, through your Merchant Account, but having discovered the high costs and fees and add ons they have leveled on me so far, I cant justify staying with Leaders Merchant Services for three more long years, when I have so many issues with your company right off the bat! I quickly realized, after getting my first accounting statement from Leaders Merchant Services, that I was being charged many more items than were brought to my attention by their salesperson or clarified upfront prior to participating in Leaders Merchant Services. I was pressured to sign the agreement, even with my trepidations posed to the salesperson about the validity of Electronically signing a document he was waiting for me to send back to him. #1. If there were any other fees or upcharges of any kind that would be levied against me, outside of the .99% fees from all of my direct sales, and he repeatedly said that there were no others. Their salesperson not only lied to me but also systematically neglected to mention all of the other things like;Desired Settlement: I want out of this contract without being hit on my credit report.

Business

Response:

LEADERS strives to provide the highest quality merchant services in the nation. We regret that this merchant is having buyers remorse because he claims he did not understand what he signed, but the merchant agreement governs the relationship between the merchant and LEADERS. All fees billed to the merchant were disclosed to the merchant via the signed merchant agreement. The merchant received a link to download his signed merchant agreement once he submitted it to LEADERS. The link was sent to the same e-mail the merchant used at the time of application. If the merchant found the information confusing or did not understand the information in his contract he should not have signed the contract. This merchant’s account was opened on 11/24/2014, and the merchant has processed transactions every month since the account was opened. LEADERS had some trouble with the original bank account information provided by the merchant and that issue was not resolved until 1/27/2015. Funds on hold were released at that time. The merchant’s account was closed on 2/26/2015 due to fees being rejected by his bank as unauthorized. The merchant was billed the $350 Early Termination Fee because his account was closed prior to the end of his contract with LEADERS. If the merchant pays the fees owed to LEADERS in the amount of $520.72 there will be no negative reporting on his credit. The merchant can contact customer service at ###-###-#### to discuss payment on his account. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10545148

I am rejecting this response because: The final bank transaction that completed my full enrollment in the contract did not happen on 1-27-15, it happened on 2-3-15 when Leaders was finally able to begin taking charges from my account. At that time, when I saw with my own eyes, the enormous add ons and hidden charges and one time annual fees and the like, as they mounted and chipped away at the meager monies I had taken in to that date, the eye popping gouging of Leaders taking this money from me, immediately prompted my reality that I had been swindled and manipulated and gouged by their falsely worded and misleading salesmanship that came from their 48 pages of highly Legalized wording written in tiny font and hidden through that horrid document they call a contract. Once I realized my worst nightmare about Leaders Merchant Services, I IMMEDIATELY SENT THEM A LETTER DATED 2-4-15, and immediately went to my band and asked them to stop Leaders from continuing to ransack my money from my account. ONE DAY after we became finalized was when I had discovered who Leaders really was. Look at their response and the greed that caused my reaction to this three year contract I found myself chained to...they want me to now pay them over $500.00 to get out of their fraudulent and blatantly misleading contract. They will face legal challenges for years if they really ruin my recently upgraded credit. I suggest that Leaders step off this defiant position they have initially taken and release me immediately from their grasp...without any damage to me or my credit, and to return the gross overcharges they instituted in that fraudulent document.

Regards,

Business

Response:

According to our records at LEADERS the merchant processed transactions in November using the merchant account that he signed up for on 11/24/2014. He also used the account in December, January and February. LEADERS mailed the merchant a statement each month showing the activity and the fees he was responsible for at the end of each month. The merchant had a copy of the agreement he signed for this entire time, but he never once contacted LEADERS with any questions or concerns about the contract or his statements. The day the account was approved was the day the contract became effective, not the day we finally got the correct account information. The merchant gave LEADERS incorrect banking information and it took the merchant until January 27,2015 to give us all the correct signed forms and documentation so that we could update the information in our system. In an effort to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible and as a good faith gesture LEADERS will waive the $520.72 the merchant owes LEADERS. Please allow 7-14 days for the balance to be removed from our systems. LEADERS has advised the merchant via phone that we are clearing the balance owed and we consider this complaint resolved and closed.

I have been with Leaders for almost a year. They always have very long hold times with customer service and technical support. I have had to let several customers leave without paying because of this issue. Recently they have went up on my fees as they have in the past. They like to slide hidden fee increases on you. When you contact them about the issue they previous account executive or manager is no longer with the company. When you finally get to talk to someone, they quickly transfer you to customer service. They are all incompetent and unable to help you. Once you start processing with them you will notice the processing amount not increasing but the fees are. Total Scammers.

What can I say. I had a very negative experience with that company. I was lured into that company by one of the Leaders Rep. . The Rep clearly told me that I won't have any fees if I don't buy from them the swiping merchant machine (whatever it's called), I relied on his words and I just clicked through every step throughout the process as instructed by the rep. The rep re'assured throughout every step that there's no fees whatsoever involved expect for every credit card swipe, I will be charged a fee as verbally agreed.

After singing up, I started being charged all kinds of unknown fees that are directly withdrawn from my checking account. And then, all the excuses comes in...

I was reassured that all fees will be reimbursed after confronting the rep with those stealing practices, but that off course never happened. I called them up so many times, but nothing... Very dissapointing. This company is extremely not honest and they have no problem to lie straight out.

Make yourself a favor and stay away of them!

Review: I was told I would be able to accept tips, then I was told that I couldn't have a tip option, that I would just have to add that to the total. I also made sure my phone would work with their equipment and services before I signed up and before I got my phone, they said it would, and after I signed up, they said my reader would be "hit or miss" if it worked or not. I spent a lot of time on hold trying to get problems resolved, being transferred multiple times, waiting for call backs longer than I should have, and nothing was resolved. When I received my statement, I noticed charges for the "practice swipes" that they said I would not be charged for-I even asked before swiping if I would be charged for the "practice swipe" and they said I wouldn't be charged unless the transaction went through. I had one out of 12 or more swipes actually work, and I've currently been billed for 7 swipes-then I find out they are charging me each time I attempt to use the card reader, even if it doesn't work or even if it is canceled before submitted. They can't keep their story straight about resolving the problem, and always blame something else for the issues. They also said they wouldn't bill me until 30 days of use, and took money out of my bank account after telling me I had 30 days from when I signed up. I have lost money from not being able to accept cards and from time spent on the phone with them trying to resolve issues. Signing up, none of the hidden fees were explained.Desired Settlement: I want to cancel, which I am working on, but strangely it takes more to cancel than it did to sign up. I want the transactions that did not go through to not be charged to me. I don't ever want them dipping into my bank account again. I have had problems with their advertising lies, their services, their ability to resolve issues, hidden fees, taking money from my account when stated they wouldn't, earlier than they said they would, and everything about their services.

Business

Response:

Leaders Merchant Services LLC is an industry leader in providing merchant services to business owners all over the United States. LEADERS takes all complaints very seriously. This merchant set up an account with LEADERS through Payware which is a third party provider that allows a merchant to process credit cards with a swiper using their cell phone. Unfortunately LEADERS had difficulty setting this merchant up with the cell phone she was using. The phone was on our approved list but we later discovered that Payware did not support her phone. LEADERS has closed the merchant's account with no Cancellation fees and we will refund all fees billed to the merchant in the amount of .$79 for her test transactions. The merchant has processed 2 transactions in the month of April totaling $95 and the merchant will be billed for the processing fees for those charges but we can assure the merchant that LEADERS will not bill her any further fees after these transactions are paid for at the end of the month. LEADERS considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: Pn 3-2-15 I filled out an online APPLICATION with Leaders since I am President of a non-profit animal rescue group and we decided to take credit cards. I told salesperson I was considering several companies. A few days later I got an email saying I was "approved" I emailed back saying still haven't decided on company for service. I then started looking deeper into the companies and found that many had complaints about hidden fees so I called Leaders and asked more questions. When talking to customer service I discovered some annual fees and monthly fees the salesperson had not mentioned. In fact the salesperson said some fees would be waved since we were a501c3 non-profit organization, another lie. The form I completed has the words "merchant application" on the top of each page (I have a copy). It does NOT SAY "contract". They had not sent me any equipment, when they had called to arrange delivery I said I hadn't decided on a company yet and NOT to send anything. I decided to go with a different company and told them that I would not use their service. When they contacted me again I told them I didn't want to use them and they said I would have to complete a "close merchant account" form. I asked why since I never opened an account. They said an approved application was a "contract". I complete the form and emailed it to them on 3/11/15. The initial sales person was Jeff. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY EQUIPMENT FROM THEM, I sent back a "return to sender" an envelope with a CD in it, never used. I NEVER had service with this company. My complaint really covers deceptive sales practices, billing issues and contracts.Desired Settlement: I want a refund of the $350.00 Leaders Cancellation fee and a refund of the $33 insufficient fee charged by my bank because of this charge for a total of $383.00.I wish I could charge for my time in all the hassle this company has caused me.

Business

Response:

LEADERS takes all complaints seriously. We regret the merchant felt she had to contact the Revdex.com to resolve her issues with our company. LEADERS has carefully reviewed the complaint from the merchant and the signed merchant application. In fact the merchant signed a merchant application with LEADERS and in doing so opened a merchant account with LEADERS. The merchant application the merchant signed states on page 2 “c.) the undersigned have the authority to bind Merchant such that, upon acceptance of this Agreement, it becomes a legally binding contract enforceable against Merchant and, with respect to certain provisions, the individual(s)executing this Agreement on behalf of Merchant who is/are making certain representations and promises in his, her or their personal capacity.” When the account was approved the merchant had a binding contract with LEADERS. As a good faith gesture LEADERS will refund the $350 ETF the merchant was billed when she closed her account prior to the end of her contract. LEADERS is not responsible for any insufficient fund fees the merchant may have been billed by her bank. The merchant should see the refund in 7-10 business days. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success and considers this complaint closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10545146, and find that this resolution is partially satisfactory to me but I doubt if you can get them to do anything more, there for I reluctantly accept their offer. The refund of $350 got to my bank today but they did not refund any of the Bank fees I was charged as a result of them taking $350 out of my checking account with no advance notification, nor valid reason to do so. My bank ended up charging me $186.00 in over-draft/returned checks fees and continued over-draft fees.

I believe Leaders Merchant Services should pay at least half of those late fees if not all of them since they caused them.At the very least I believe you should lower their Revdex.com rating to a "C" or "D" for their underhanded sales techniques. I am a pretty savvy shopper since I have managed billing operations with over 800 employees for a major US company yet I did not know they had tricked me into signing a "contract" under the guise of an application. They do NOT deserve an "A" rathing from the Revdex.com even if they pay back fees after a complain is filed.

Regards,

Review: When shopping for a credit card processing company for my seasonal home-based business in October, I compared all fees and charges of each provider to select the best provider for my business that has very limited credit card processing. I asked tons of questions of Jake Downes, the Key Accounts Executive that I was assigned, specifically if there were any additional monthly or annual fees, contract term (length of contract), fees for inactivity, etc. and was told NO fees other than those submitted in his emails (which I have copies of). Then in early January a fee of $89 was submitted to the business checking account linked to the Leader's account. The charge was rejected by my bank due to insufficient funds and I was charged $25 NSF fees. After all, this account is inactive with a low balance until my next event in May 2014 and I did not anticipate ANY charges or fees would be charged against it. When I called customer service, they handed me off to "Bo", a Customer Relations Specialist. He explained it was a PCI compliance fee that will be accessed annually and apologized for it not being explained by Jake Downes...said they would be sure Jake received proper training in the future to avoid this problem again. So....I told Bo I wanted to cancel the account altogether and would not be using it again. Bo notified me that I would be accessed an early cancellation fee of $350. These were the specific questions I asked Jake Downes, and was told there were no additional fees. Such deception.....Desired Settlement: I request cancellation of my account with Leader's Merchant Services and full WAIVER of the early cancellation fee of $350. I request no additional fees be accessed. I request no further action or damages be accessed by Leaders, including any consequences to my credit. And finally, I request refund of the $25 NSF fee I incurred due to the charge submitted by Leader's Merchant Services.

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. All fees billed to the merchant were in here signed agreement. If the agreement did match what was discussed between the merchant and her sales representative then the merchant should not have signed the agreement. We do not have a copy of the e-mails the merchant has stated that she received from her representative but we will in good faith allow the merchant to close her account with no Early Termination Fee saving the merchant $350.00. The $89 PCI compliance fee was in the merchant’s signed contract so therefore LEADERS does not owe the merchant for any NSF fees she has incurred. As a final good faith gesture LEADERS will waive the $89.13 collection balance owed for the December month end fees which include the $89 PCI compliance fee. LEADERS wishes the merchant much success in her business and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9875907, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Thank you Revdex.com of the Tri-Counties for your assistance in resolving this issue that LEADERS would not resolve prior to you guys getting involved on my behalf.

Regards,

Review: I signed up for a Leaders Merchant Account on January 15th, 2015. I spoke on the phone with [redacted] regarding the fees I would pay per month using Leaders Merchant and was told that I would pay .015% on all debit transactions and 1.25% on credit card purchases. When I asked if there were any other monthly fees or additional charges I was told no. I have spoke with Leaders merchant once again and they informed me of additional charges that I am required to pay and they also informed me that I signed off on these which I did not. The only fees listed on the contract that I signed were regarding cancellation fees. I have now been charged more than $70 in 2 months. When I called to dispute the charges and discuss the sum of the charges I was told I have to pay them $300 to cancel my account. I believe that is fraud. I did not sign off on any document stating that they could even debit my account. I was told all fees would come straigt off the top of each purchase made through my Leaders Merchant Device.Desired Settlement: I want my Leaders Merchant account terminated at no charge and them to discontiue debits from my account.

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. Since the merchants account is closed and the merchant has not yet processed in the month of March, the merchant should not receive any further debits from her bank account. LEADERS would like to wish the merchant much success and considers this complaint resolved and closed.

Review: I contacted Leaders with respect to potentially using their company to process credit card orders for my company(Old Dominion Cleaners,LLC). The company obtained information from me for an application to open an account. After procuring the information, they continued with their process of verification and gave me a rate comparison and reason why I should leave my current processor. Leaders then sent me an email disclosing rules and regulation for doing business with their company. In this rules and regulations packet is stated a cancellation fee if your account was closed. It also stated that to be considered an open account you had to receive further correspondence from them by mail. When I read over the disclosures, I contacted my representative to express my concerns over a cancellation fee If I desired to cancel their services and expressed how this would impact my decision to do business with them. The representative sent me more paperwork to further my application process and I declined to complete it. I also never activated the authorize.net product they offered or never processed one credit card through them. After telling the agent that I was not going to go through with it, he notified me that my account was approved. He continued to encourage me to complete the process and I declined. They asked to complete a cancellation form for the part of the account that was open and assured me that my total account wasn't complete to be considered a client and that I wouldn't be charged any fees associated with this process. That wasn't true because after checking my account, Leaders charged me a cancellation fee of $350.00. Leaders has no valid reason why I should owe them $350.00 for simple fact that they did not extend any services to me. Their process is fraudulent and should be exposed. No one who considers themselves a leader in any industry should practice doing business this way. I am absolutely appalled that a company charged me for something and did nothing to deserve a payment.Desired Settlement: Above a refund, Leaders owes me an apology.

Business

Response:

LEADERS would like to apologize to this merchant for any misunderstandings he may have had with opening his merchant account with LEADERS. Once the online application has been electronically signed it is sent directly to our new accounts department to be reviewed and approved. This process can take as little as 2-3 hours if everything has been filled out correctly. We received the merchants signed application on Friday 7/12/2013 and the account was approved and opened on Monday 7/15/2013. We were made aware the merchant was not comfortable with the account on 7/15/2013 and sent the merchant a closure request on 7/15/2013. We received the signed closure request back on 7/17/2013. Since the merchant closed his account in the first 30 days and did not activate his Auth.net account or process any transactions we normally would not charge the $350.00 ETF. When the merchant’s account was closed per his signed request the representative who processed the closure did not waive his ETF so he was inadvertently charged the $350.00 ETF. LEADERS has already refunded the merchant his $350 ETF per his conversation with our supervisor on 7/25/2013. The merchant should see refund in his account within 2-3 business days. LEADERS would like to wish this merchant much success with his business and 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 9634035, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.