Absolte Air Industries

AppStar provides a match or beat guarantee for our
merchants. We ask that Mr***
submit his November and December processing statements for review If AppStar is unable to match or beat what
his previous processor was charging him, the termination fee will be waived

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
When I called Appstar customer service, the representative himself told me that Appstar charged the for the transaction regardless if it was posted to my account or not. This is in the words of an employee of Appstar. I encourage Appstar to review the recorded conversation as everything is monitored and recorded. The actual processor (First Merchant?) that called me for the reversal stated that there will be no fees on their end because of the reversal. Being charged for a transaction that has not been completed is not a proper business practice. Analyze the situation on my end, I never received the $4,000, why would I even forward this to the Revdex.com if I had received it? I have two accounts with Appstar; *** *** *** ***is my other account where my monthly bill is always over $and not once have I made it an issue. I have other merchants calling me everyday for my business but I like to stay loyal and with one company Appstar, I am giving you a chance to resolve this issue that involves my original disputed amount. If we cannot come to a resolution I am certain that my business will be wanted elsewhere as all the other merchants are willing to forward cancellation fees. If you're looking forward to a long term relationship (as I am) then I am certain this can be resolved. It's not only the matter of the money but more of the principle behind this, as I would have still made it an issue if $was deducted unjustly
I look forward to your response
Regards,
*** ***

AppStar Financial has reviewed this complaint and spoken
with the merchant. This merchant has
boarded four businesses with AppStar since January 2013: *** *** ***,
*** ***, *** ** and a second *** *** *** which was
submitted as a change of
ownership
In February 2014, the merchant contacted us and submitted a close
letter as well as a contract addendum to close *** *** *** In April 2015, the merchant contacted us about
closing one of his accounts, but a close letter was not received by AppStar
In May 2015, the accounts for *** *** and ***
*** *** LLC closed due to ACH rejects. This triggered the accounts being referred to
the Collections group and the termination
fee being charged. At the same
time, Mr*** submitted an application for ***, the latest
account.
If the two accounts had been closed in the fashion,
the transfer to *** would have waived the termination fee on the other
two accounts as the remaining term was equivalent to the term on the new
account. The only difference would be
the termination fee
I have attached paperwork to be signed by Mr***
acknowledging that the termination fee for *** is increased to $until 2/1/16, after which
the early termination fee will be reduced to $for the term of the
agreement
Mr*** raised a second issue: he believed that his
number had been blocked by our customer service group. We contacted Mr*** and confirmed he was
contacting the general line for our corporate office and not the Customer
Service group. Regardless, at no time
has AppStar Financial blocked a merchant from call in nor would we ever do
so. We believe that this was a conflict
between Mr***’s phone provider, ***, and AppStar Financial’s provider,
Windstream. We have advised Mr***
and our IT group of this potential conflict and have provided Mr*** with alternate
lines for our corporate care (###-###-####) and customer support
groups (###-###-####)
As Mr*** verbally agreed to this resolution, a refund
is already in process. We request that
he sign the attached document and fax it to ###-###-#### to avoid any additional
confusion or charges
AppStar Financial would like to thank Mr*** for his
assistance in resolving this in a prompt manner. We understand our ability to address these
issues is dependent on the responsiveness of the merchant and cannot stress
enough how highly we value that assistance

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not
resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
I asked the company to send me an email with all the info we discussed, to date I have not received such emailI am requesting that all fees, monthly and otherwise be in black and white so there is no confusion regarding what was stated over the phoneUntil this happens, I will not accept this complaint as resolved.
Regards,
*** ***

Based on his complaint and conversations with *** ***, we reviewed all calls between the merchant and the corporate rep who set up the account. *** *** believed that there had been a conversation regarding the termination fee as well as a call back in which he was asked to review the
account and commit verbally to it. The second point is typical of lease verification callsAs *** *** did not have a lease with AppStar Financial or Merimac Capital, the leasing company we use, this would not have taken place
Regarding the fees and *** *** belief that the rep misrepresented them: AppStar Financial has intentionally grouped all fees on page of the Merchant Application and Agreement. This is different than most other processors and was done with the specific intent to make our application easy to read. The only fee for credit card processing not listed on this page is the termination fee, which is square off, bolded and set apart on the signature page so as to draw the signor’s attention
In reviewing the conversation, the rep was very clear as to what markup the merchant would see on his transactions and even advised the merchant on how to get a comparative quite from his bank to ensure he was getting the best possible rate. Over multiple follow up calls with the merchant, nine in total, there was no further questions regarding the rates and fees. The merchant did inquire as to how quickly after submitting the paperwork he could begin running transactions. The calls took place over a twenty day period from October 1, through October 22nd
Regarding the final billing, we have reviewed with *** *** that that was billing for his final month and could not be billed until the month had closed.
In reviewing the calls with *** ***, it appears he may have mixed up conversations he had with AppStar Financial with those he had with other companies. Barring any additional information provided by *** ***, the fees will stand as charged as there was no misrepresentation we could find. We have scheduled a follow up call with *** *** for October 3rd, so that he can review the calls as well

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not
resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
I asked the company to send me an email with all the info we discussed, to date I have not received such emailI am requesting that all fees, monthly and otherwise be in black and white so there is no confusion regarding what was stated over the phoneUntil this happens, I will not accept this complaint as resolved.
Regards,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Appstar was contacted in early and several times since, with detailed issues of how their changed terms were no longer a good fit for our company and notification was given that we would not be continuing to auto renew the contract This was done in clear terms and no chance that it was not understood They refuse to accept that They clearly have a "Fatal Attraction" personality when it comes to termination of business relationships They also misrepresented the personal sig/ guarantee when originally requiring it on a year contract they we fulfilled with zero issues These same complaints are not the first time they have been called to task for this bad behavior Many complaints are public with similar complaints against them Having the Revdex.com not represent this issue with them is clearly a lack of responsible oversight for bad business practices ]
Regards,
*** ***

We contacted Mr*** regarding his complaint. He stated that he felt we should waive the termination fee as he was no longer processing with AppStar Financial(“ I was hoping that because I have opted to partner with another company that they will not make us pay for services that they are
no longer providing“) We explained to him that the account had renewed and that his not processing increased rather than decreased our out of pocket costsWe also advised him to contact his current processor to see if they would cover it as that has become the norm in the industryIn his previous calls, Mr*** did not ask for closing instructionsHe told us on September 20th, that he was looking for the best rates and meeting with other companies. We conducted a rate review for him, which he needed to sign to accept. We followed up multiple times over the phone and via email on October 11th and 20thSent: Friday, October 20, 7:AM To: '***[email protected]' Subject: FW: *** (*** Mortuary) Mr***, I have not heard back from you and wanted to follon your account. Please let me know if you have any questions. As I have mentioned in the past, should you have an offer, I will gladly review it and make sure we match/beat any other written offer I look forward from hearing from you soon If Mr*** had responded to those contacts and told us he was switching, we would have reviewed the termination process with himAs he was non-responsive, we were unable to do so. It should be noted that the termination process is listed in detail in the Terms & Conditions of his original agreementWe offered to match/beat his current processors rates and cover four hundred ninety five dollars of closing costs with his current processor if Mr*** signed a new agreement. He declined this offer. In the event that he changes his mind regarding this, he can contact us at 858-712-ext *** or via email at [email protected] and we will be happy to assist him

These accounts have been submitted for closure and the applicable fees will be applied As before, AppStar is willing to review any mutually beneficial solutions the merchant may propose as well as standing by our earlier offers

AppStar Financial would like to thank the merchant for her assistance in this matter. Based on the information in her response, we were able to pull an independent coverage map for ***(attached), which shows that *** has weak 3G signal in her area. In the past, we have advised merchants experiencing this to contact their provider, in this case ***, and request a signal booster, which should fix her connectivity issues. To clarify, the application has no effect on the merchant’s connectivity that is handled completely by her carrier. The only action that the application takes is to direct the phone to connect over either WiFi or 3GRegarding the statement, we would need to see the August statement from her previous processor as that was the last full month she processed with them. If that is not available we could look at a July statement assuming the volume was approximately the same. A later statement would not assist us as it would show either the cost for a partial month or a month where she was inactive with the previous processor. This can be emailed to [email protected]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
This is not a business number*** *** *** cannot do anything as this is not my businessCustomer has violated Federal Do Not Call regulations and attempts to put the blame on me- a residential client for someone else's business listing mistake when legally it is the BUSINESS CALLING - in this case THEM - to check DoNotCall lists and to ensure they are calling the correct numberThey failed to check the DoNotCall list as required and have made ZERO efforts to correct that mistakeUnacceptable and illegalThis business should receive an 'F' rating for the Revdex.com for participating in unlawful activities
Regards,
*** ***

AppStar Financial regrets the service issues Ms*** has
experienced using the mobile terminal. This
terminal uses the merchant’s internet access to process transactions. As such connectivity is based on the merchant’s
carrier’s coverage
Regarding the other matters in the
complaint, as we have
been unable to reach Ms*** due to conflicting schedules we ask that she
reply with the following information:
1.
Make and Model of her cell phone
2.
Her carrier
3.
A copy of her August processing statement from
her previous processor
This will helps us identify and address the connectivity issue
she is experiencing as well as address the cost issues
The PCI fee mentioned in the complaint pays for the Self-Assessment
Questionnaire (SAQ), which identifies and attempts to correct potential areas
where a merchant may be exposing card holder data. This fee is referenced in the Other Fees
section on page of the Merchant Application and Agreement. “See Paragraphs and in the Merchant
Credit Card Processing Terms & Conditions for information relating to these
and other fees including but not limited to ***/*** Network and PCI
fees.” As this fee is a negotiated fee
and does not originate with AppStar Financial, we are unable to guarantee it
will not change. For low volume
merchants, AppStar Financial offers financial assistance to cover this
cost. This assistance is based on the
merchant completing the SAQ and implementing any suggested changes and is a
reimbursement

In regards to complaint # ***: AppStar Financial is in the business of
selling credit card and other electronic processing services to businesses who
accept cards as a form of payment from their customersFor this reason we are
only interested in calling businesses and
purchase our leads of business-only
telephone numbers from a *** * *** vendorWe were provided with *** ***‘s number ###-###-#### as being owned by a business by the name of ***
*** ***, which is why we called it
AppStar Financial offers
merchant’s multiple ways to be removed from our call list including but not
limited to: verbal requests to the agent during the call, email requests,
requests through a third party such as a Consumer Affairs agency as well as by
calling ###-###-####. A merchant calling
that number is directed to enter their ten digit phone number followed by the #
sign. This automatically removes them
from our callable database
*** ***’s number was
removed from our database as a result of a request by his office.
We hope this adequately addresses
yours and *** ***’s concerns

AppStar Financial has contacted
this merchant to review this matter. This
merchant purchased *** ***, a proprietary system which requires that the
merchant process credit cards through a sales office for FirstData. As the system is proprietary and the merchant
is unable to use a
standalone credit card terminal, we have agreed to waive the
termination fee upon receipt of a signed closed letter. This may be faxed to ***. The merchant will need to ship the terminals
he received to AppStar Financial to avoid being charged non-returned equipment
fees. These can be sent to
AppStar Financial
Viewridge
Avenue
Suite C
San Diego, CA
Attn: MID
We’d like to thank the merchant for
his assistance in addressing this issue

AppStar Financial would like to extend our condolences to Mr*** over the passing of Mr***. In reviewing the case, we have been able to determine that the business closed as a result of Mr***’s passing and is no longer operating as a paint store. As such, AppStar
Financial has waived the termination fee for this accountMr*** will need to return the terminal and pinpad that was lent to Mr*** to avoid billing for non-returned equipment. In consideration of the number of items which need to be addressed in these cases, we have extend the return date to August 1, The equipment should be sent to: AppStar Financial Attn: *** Viewridge Avenue Suiite C San Diego, CA We’d like to thank Mr*** for his assistance in resolving this matter

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Appstar was contacted in early and several times since, with detailed issues of how their changed terms were no longer a good fit for our company and notification was given that we would not be continuing to auto renew the contract This was done in clear terms and no chance that it was not understood They refuse to accept that They clearly have a "Fatal Attraction" personality when it comes to termination of business relationships They also misrepresented the personal sig/ guarantee when originally requiring it on a year contract they we fulfilled with zero issues These same complaints are not the first time they have been called to task for this bad behavior Many complaints are public with similar complaints against them Having the Revdex.com not represent this issue with them is clearly a lack of responsible oversight for bad business practices ]
Regards,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
The company called me and left a message and I called the contact number give only to get a busy signal time in a two day periodI also had been on the phone with them about my iPad and or iPhone which are very new and up to date also on wifi and g I had found some solutions but I need to configure the phone or iPad sometime multiple times in day It is very unexceptable for my business .Last week it lost a sale by not processing and freezing in the processing mode I work very hard and need to be released so I can go back to square , I never had these problemsAlso these monthly charges are double what they are suppose to be The so called yearly charge is three times what other providers charge for the same compliance fee This company is stealing from me and I need to have a formal releaseDue to its inablity to preform its job and it's over charging me and also loosing some payments for my business.
Regards,
*** ***

We are in
receipt of the complaint from your office from the above merchant dated December
10, Prior to being contacted by your office, AppStar Financial had reviewed
this matter at length with the merchant.
On November
18, Ms*** as well as the other independent
stylists at Devine
Designs met with *** ***, an Independent Sales Consultant, and signed
a Merchant Application and Agreement for credit card and gift card processing
with AppStar Financial. As part of this
Agreement Ms*** et al signed that they had received and reviewed the
Agreement. They also affirmed that no
verbal commitments had been made.
Without these signed affirmations, AppStar Financial would have rejected
the Agreements. The accounts were
approved on November 24, with the exception of the Agreement signed by Ms
***, which was pended for additional documentation regarding her FTIN
number
On December
7, Ms*** contacted AppStar Financial and requested to close the
accounts. During this call, the merchant
stated she had not reviewed the Agreement at the time she met with the
consultant, but had relied on verbal statements from the consultant
In her
complaint, Ms*** states she was told certain fees would not apply. It should be noted that AppStar Financial clearly
groups our fees on the Rates page for readability, specifically to avoid these
issuesAll fees questioned by Ms*** were clearly listed on page of the
Merchant Application and AgreementAdditionally, changes were made to the
Agreement by the consultant and Ms*** altering the Discount Rates, Breach
Protection Program, Monthly Minimum and Monthly Maintenance Fee demonstrating that
the fees had been reviewed and agreed upon
However, after
further review, the Merchants’ accounts have been closed and all fees have been
refunded to the Merchants in accordance with the Merchants’ request
Ms*** has
been contacted and apprised of this decision. ***
*** ***Director of
Operations
AppStar
Financial

AppStar would like to apologize for the delay in this reimbursement being issued. The paperwork was sent to the independent sales consultant and not received in our office until February 6, 2017. The payment was requested that same day and issued February 17, 2017. We have
confirmed with Ms***-***that she has received the depositWe’d like to thank Ms***-***for her assistance in resolving this matter as well as the additional information she provided during our call

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
The terminal we have is a virtual terminal so it doesn't need the same connections that the other terminals need. It is simply an online website. Again we are not set up to use the terminals and it should have been caught when the representative from Appstar was in the clinic the first time, instead of rushing me to sign a contract
Regards,
*** ***