Argus Merchant Processing

Review: I was deceived in to using the service.Sale Rep insisting me to sign up with the company for my business merchant account.He told that there were no contracts, no annual fee,no early termination fee and he will help me cancel my merchant service account with the other company I was using at the time. After using the service for two months I realized they charge the rate higher than they were told. I decided to cancel the account on January of 2013. I emailed the manager, he told me that he will handle the cancellation of my account with Argus. He sent me cancellation forms for me to fill out. I submitted the forms back through email on January **2014. He told me that the process will take 2 to 3 weeks, and I wont be charged for early termination fees. After I submitted the cancellation form I sent the Terminal back to Argus.On February [redacted] there was a fee charged in the amount of 349.07 from Argus Merchant Processing that was unclear. I tried to reach the manager and the sale Rep. on many attempted phone calls, but there weren't any reply. I tried the email but there was no reply either. I finally call the main number customer service personnel connected me with another person to handle the case. She promising to help me resolve the case with very vague explanations. She ask me to submit a copy of the receipt when I returned the terminal and then disappears for weeks regardless how many phone call I have attempted to reach her in desperation for an answer. after a whole month waiting on March **2014 Argus Merchant process making another debit in the amount of 107.00. One more time I tried to reach her but there were no answers nor the problem has resolved.Then around the third week of March she finally picked up the phone call I made and told me that her company will refund the amount of the money that they had took from me on early April.On April **they took out another 107 dollars out of my account as of today the total amount is 563.07. I got charged for the service I did not use in 3 monthsDesired Settlement: Refund the Total amount that the company has taken from me in the amount of 563.07

Business

Response:

Please see attached for the contracts 1. The sales rep never forces anyone to sign up any contracts. 2. we (argus merchant services) never charged any annual fee or early termination fee. 3. When [redacted] signed up with us, the [redacted] clearly stated that he didn’t have to pay Early termination fee to his old processer, thus we promised him lowered rates. Later he found that his old company charged him $500 for Early termination fee, and he wanted us to pay for him. Obviously this is impossible, we told him it’s up to him if he wants to stop processing with us. 4. We CANNOT close accounts, unless we have received the terminal. The terminal was received at the beginning of march, and we closed the account on march [redacted], 2014. So we still charged him the monthly fee for march, this charge appears on his april bank statement. 5. As long as the account remains open, we charge him a minimum fee, to cover the cost. It is his fault that he didn’t return the terminal in time. And it’s his own decision to leave the account open for a few months. [redacted]

I was start to use This company 2 month ago, after 1 month I want to cancel it because pricing issue, but they told I have $495 ETF, but sales told me no contract, no cancellation fee. also sales write down everything on the paper, I call customer service, ask my contract, after I see contract, I feel so bad because they hide one page in my contract which is ETF page. They said no contract but charge ETF, what a bad company in the world, do not use this company.

Review: Argus Merchant Services sales persons (a group of 3 girls) came to our [redacted] around September [redacted] to convince us to switch from our current credit card processor company to Argus Merchant Services. They asked us to provide our bills from previous months with our other Credit Card Processor. After inspecting our bill they promised that our monthly credit card processing fees will be lower by $15-$20 with them. They also promised that they have one month risk-free trial period during which we can cancel service for free so we don't have anything to fear.

However, their service turned out to be $70 per month more expensive than with our previous credit card processor company. Basically sales person was misleading us. Note that the amount of money we made from August to December was same.

Since their advertised product did not live up to their promises we decided to terminate the service by calling them and writing official termination latter within this month period. However, one day we noticed that they had charged us $840. After calling them they informed us that this is Early Termination Fee. Again this is complete opposite to what their sales representative promised to us at the time we signed up for the service.

We have done research on Internet and it seems that we are not the only ones who have encountered exactly the same problem with this company where it misadvertises its service and promises free trial, then underdelivers and makes its potential customers want to switch back to the old provider; and then they make money by collecting really harsh early termination fees that they charge without getting proper authorization. Here are few places we have found bad reviews that exactly match our case:

1)[redacted])Other review on Revdex.com

Also, when calling their customer service they verbally admitted that, there is a free trial period. However, for them to be able to waive the ETF that they have already charged we would need to remain their customer for 2 extra months. Since we found these terms unreasonable we asked them to send us a copy of documents signed by us that would require us to extend the service term. Then sales person abruptly hanged up the phone. After calling back again they told us that there is nothing they can do now because we don't agree to extend service for 2 extra months.Desired Settlement: refund to us $840 ETF

Business

Response:

Hi [redacted],I am sorry for the inconvenience you have experienced. If you were to give us another opportunity we would most certainly make sure that the pricing is cheaper then our competitors and work out all the details. Of course that would mean waiving the fees (cancellation fee and terminal fee as well). Also I would like to thank you for bringing bad customer experience that you had, as we will take disciplinary actions. We would be able to reopen your account which will take 24-48 hours. I believe you still have the terminal that you can still use and the pricing will be dropped to match what you have been promised. If you are still not happy we would cancel the account without any questions and no Cancellation Fees. In regards of the Early termination fee of $840. I am attaching the statement to show you that the cancellation is only $495.00 and $295.00 is the fee for the terminal. If the terminal is returned this price will also be waived. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me at ###-###-#### Ext [redacted] so we could work it out.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.