Choice Merchant Solutions, Inc.

Merchant was signed up with Choice that is an ISO of *** through one of our outside agents on 3/7/Merchant signed application, w-9, Choice Acknowledgement and *** formOr *** *** *** Allows the merchant to receive a free terminal and pin pad at no cost to use during their
duration with usThe *** states that while receiving the free equipment it places the merchant in a year renewable contractAlso states that a merchant must sign a cancellation form days prior to their renewal date to avoid the renewal and would at that time waive any cancellation fees they would accrue from cancelling.The agent that originally signed the merchant up was no longer with the company when the merchant contacting us in July The agent signed the merchant with another companyAt this time the merchant decided to stay with our company and continue to processThe merchant had contacted *** throughout the year of 2013-At no time did the merchant request the cancellation form, which would have cancelled his account on March 7th, Merchant again continued to call *** and again did not request to cancel there account until Finally July over a year past his renewal dateMerchant has not proceeded a credit card through the terminal since April of Merchant was contacted 7/8/from a customer service advisor here at Choice Merchant Solutions regarding a ticket and complaint from EMSWe went over the tickets/notes in the system and conversation the merchant had with *** Merchant was told we would allow him to cancel no cancellation feeAlso that if he had contacted us directly we would have had this taken care of months priorMerchants cancellation fee is waived and account will be cancelledmerchant was told any equipment must returned to avoid the terminal fees he signed and agreed too

My complaint has been resolvedI have been released from my contract without penaltyThank you
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Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
I sincerely hope that this company will be more honest with future customers about rates and fees
Sincerely,
*** ***

This complaint should be closed out. The customers account was closed out and the customer has already received a refund for the $95 account setup fee. I have attached notes from our CRM that indicate the refund and the date the account was closed. Please feel free to contact me with any questions...

or concerns.
Fahid Anwar
###-###-####

All Choice...

Merchant Solutions Merchant Processing Agreements contain a clause providing for automatic renewal. Given the nature of our industry such a practice is standard and very much necessary. It would be extremely inconvenient if processing companies were to simply “shut off” our customers’ processing accounts the day their contract expired.
Because our contract has this clause we understand how unreasonable it would be to simply lock a customer into an agreement eternally.  The contract which this customer signed contains a clause by which 90 days prior to the renewal date; they may contact us to terminate their merchant account free of penalty. When such requests are made, a cancellation form is sent out to the customer and once signed and returned the auto renewal is deactivated and the account is scheduled for termination on the anniversary date.
If a merchant wishes to process credit card transactions after their 36 month anniversary date, the only feasible way to make this happen is to auto renew their agreement. All of these things are set forth in the agreement which the customer signed.
The facts of this case in particular are that this customer was “boarded” with Choice on the 15th of September, 2011. That puts their 36 month anniversary date at the 15th of September, 2014. In order to cancel their account without penalty they would have needed to notify us on or about August of 2014.
According to the complaint, the customer’s business was sold in April of 2015. Our systems confirm that their last day of use of the service was on the 30th of April, 2015. To this date no contact was made to inquire about cancellation.
On May 15th 2015, the customer called in to our help desk to get assistance on processing an offline sale, typically something that is done when you do not have access to a live phone connection for your machine.
After that call there was no contact from the customer until on June 17, 2015, (seven full months after contract was renewed) the customer called to cancel services. We have a process we follow for all cancellations; all cancellation inquiries are forwarded to our Merchant Retention department, an inquiry is made to assess the reason for cancellation in an effort to maximize customer satisfaction and maintain a happy customer base. If no issue exists that can be resolved, the cancellation process is explained and a form is sent by a method of the customers choosing to be signed and returned.
A that time all retention representatives were assisting other customers, so a ticket was created and forwarded to that department for resolution.
As promised we called the customer back promptly the following day. Several attempts were also made in the days and weeks thereafter. This calls resulted in countless unreturned voicemails. The next step was to send what we call a No Response Letter on August 4, 2015. This is simply a letter reminding our customer that we have an open ticket with them, the nature of the pending issue, and a phone number and Case ID to reference for immediate assistance.
Finally on August 24, 2015 the customer called back inquiring about cancellation and equipment fees. Our contracts have an early termination fee and our “Free Terminals” are on loan; as spelled out by an entirely optional TERMINAL PLACEMENT AGREEMENT whereby Choice Merchant Solutions provides for our customers, free of a charge, a credit card processing terminal pre-programmed and ready for use upon delivery. Within the terms of this placement agreement include provisions that ask and require the merchant to accept liability, in writing for the terminal should they find themselves unable to return it to us in good working condition upon termination of our service.
The customer told our Retention Representative that he had lost the terminal we had given them. As such he is liable for the cost of said terminal.
The customer also failed to cancel their account in a timely manner and in fact continued to use it well after it had been renewed. For this reason a cancellation at this point in time would warrant an early termination as is laid out in our contract.
There is a real cost associated with early terminations and loss of equipment that we cannot simply absorb because the party responsible does not want to fulfill their obligation.
Should the customer happen to rediscover the location of the missing machine and return it to us, we will happily wave the terminal replacement fee immediately.
To help mitigate some of the cost associated with early termination we can offer the following remedy:
If the customer can return the machine, or pay the replacement fee, we can apply their auto renewal on the non-terminal placement terms of 18 months auto renewal. This would change the current anniversary date to Mar 15th 2015. With this anniversary date, the customer would send notice December 2015 to put in for cancellation. We could process that request today, and offer the opportunity to simply pay of their monthly fees from now until March ( $50.00/month account maintenance fees x 7 months which would equal $350.00).
Again this offer is contingent upon resolving the matter of our missing machine.
Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact me directly.
Julie E[redacted]
Choice Merchant Solutions
[redacted]

been with this company almost 6 years. rarley do I have to wait for answers. They have always helped me, and have great customer service

Review: I started using Choice Merchant Solutions since 2011 and I sold the business in the month of April 2015. When I called them to cancel my account as I sold the business they said my contract was automatically renewed for 3 more years, so I have to pay early termination free of $595.00. When I signed up contract the agent never told me that there is early termination fee or automatic renewal. And agent told me that equipment is free and no need to any pay anything. Now Choice Merchant Solutions is asking for $795 for equipment also. Please help me pass this expensive hurdle.Desired Settlement: As a layman in credit card processing business, please settle the matter for some reasonable amount.

Business

Response:

All Choice Merchant Solutions Merchant Processing Agreements contain a clause providing for automatic renewal. Given the nature of our industry such a practice is standard and very much necessary. It would be extremely inconvenient if processing companies were to simply “shut off” our customers’ processing accounts the day their contract expired. Because our contract has this clause we understand how unreasonable it would be to simply lock a customer into an agreement eternally. The contract which this customer signed contains a clause by which 90 days prior to the renewal date; they may contact us to terminate their merchant account free of penalty. When such requests are made, a cancellation form is sent out to the customer and once signed and returned the auto renewal is deactivated and the account is scheduled for termination on the anniversary date.If a merchant wishes to process credit card transactions after their 36 month anniversary date, the only feasible way to make this happen is to auto renew their agreement. All of these things are set forth in the agreement which the customer signed. The facts of this case in particular are that this customer was “boarded” with Choice on the 15th of September, 2011. That puts their 36 month anniversary date at the 15th of September, 2014. In order to cancel their account without penalty they would have needed to notify us on or about August of 2014.According to the complaint, the customer’s business was sold in April of 2015. Our systems confirm that their last day of use of the service was on the 30th of April, 2015. To this date no contact was made to inquire about cancellation.On May 15th 2015, the customer called in to our help desk to get assistance on processing an offline sale, typically something that is done when you do not have access to a live phone connection for your machine. After that call there was no contact from the customer until on June 17, 2015, (seven full months after contract was renewed) the customer called to cancel services. We have a process we follow for all cancellations; all cancellation inquiries are forwarded to our Merchant Retention department, an inquiry is made to assess the reason for cancellation in an effort to maximize customer satisfaction and maintain a happy customer base. If no issue exists that can be resolved, the cancellation process is explained and a form is sent by a method of the customers choosing to be signed and returned.A that time all retention representatives were assisting other customers, so a ticket was created and forwarded to that department for resolution.As promised we called the customer back promptly the following day. Several attempts were also made in the days and weeks thereafter. This calls resulted in countless unreturned voicemails. The next step was to send what we call a No Response Letter on August 4, 2015. This is simply a letter reminding our customer that we have an open ticket with them, the nature of the pending issue, and a phone number and Case ID to reference for immediate assistance.Finally on August 24, 2015 the customer called back inquiring about cancellation and equipment fees. Our contracts have an early termination fee and our “Free Terminals” are on loan; as spelled out by an entirely optional TERMINAL PLACEMENT AGREEMENT whereby Choice Merchant Solutions provides for our customers, free of a charge, a credit card processing terminal pre-programmed and ready for use upon delivery. Within the terms of this placement agreement include provisions that ask and require the merchant to accept liability, in writing for the terminal should they find themselves unable to return it to us in good working condition upon termination of our service.The customer told our Retention Representative that he had lost the terminal we had given them. As such he is liable for the cost of said terminal.The customer also failed to cancel their account in a timely manner and in fact continued to use it well after it had been renewed. For this reason a cancellation at this point in time would warrant an early termination as is laid out in our contract.There is a real cost associated with early terminations and loss of equipment that we cannot simply absorb because the party responsible does not want to fulfill their obligation.Should the customer happen to rediscover the location of the missing machine and return it to us, we will happily wave the terminal replacement fee immediately.To help mitigate some of the cost associated with early termination we can offer the following remedy:If the customer can return the machine, or pay the replacement fee, we can apply their auto renewal on the non-terminal placement terms of 18 months auto renewal. This would change the current anniversary date to Mar 15th 2015. With this anniversary date, the customer would send notice December 2015 to put in for cancellation. We could process that request today, and offer the opportunity to simply pay of their monthly fees from now until March ( $50.00/month account maintenance fees x 7 months which would equal $350.00).Again this offer is contingent upon resolving the matter of our missing machine.Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact me directly.Julie E[redacted]Choice Merchant Solutions[redacted]

Review: A representative from Choice Merchant Solutions contacted me regarding credit card processing for my small business. I indicated that I was using [redacted] and quite happy but if they could save me money and have it be a seamless transition I was interested.

I specifically asked when the representative was there: would it cost me more money? The answer was NO

I specifically asked if I was not happy could I cancel the service: The answer was yes. Needless to say this seemed like the prudent thing to do. The presentation was done using an [redacted] and the agreement was explained to me rather than being presented in paper form. Call me naive, yes, probably was. I received my welcome letter from Choice Merchant Solutions on February 4, 2013. By February 6, 2013, it was clear this was not going as had been sold. I am also filing this same complaint against Choice Merchants. However, [redacted], was made aware, by me, within one week of signing up, that I was unhappy and this was not going the way I had been told.

I have been trying since then to get out of the service with little luck other than being told that I will be charged for breaking a contract for a service that I have not used since 3/6 2013. I have been charged to remain [redacted] complaiant as well as rental fees for the equipment. I am exhausted from trying to get a straight answer. I have a lengthy email trail from [redacted] and Choice Merchants. I just want out.Desired Settlement: I just want out of my contracts. I want to return the equipment with no penalty and I want nothing further to do with either company ever.

Business

Response:

waiting to hear back from EMS on a resolution to this complaint. I know we had it opened but it was closed before I was able to obtain the info to respond.

Review: A salesperson from Choice Merchant Services came to me and reviewed my existing credit card company and came back with a report saying they would save me $64 in savings per month by using them. In addition they would waive a bunch of fees including start up fee and annual service fee. I did an Internet Check on them and found very few negative comments and so decided to go with them.When the salesperson came with the contract I noticed many of the things that they promised were not indicated so I had him alter the contract to include those promised it[redacted] i.e. No Start Up Fees; No Annual Fees etc. The first bill came and based upon the same amount of sales it actually cost me $20 more. In addition they charged me a $95 set up fee. I called on April 3, 2014 and was told that the set up fee would be refunded in the next statement--IT WAS NOT! I was also told that I could always cancel if not happy.On May 5 I received a notice that deposits to my account were being frozen because I included the website on my invoice along with the approved indication of "GB" as approved by the credit card company. I then called the actual company processing the fees ([redacted]) and they told me all of the annual fees etc were NOT being waived. [redacted] also told me that they had not refunded the set up fee of $95. [redacted] had me fax the contract and documents to him with a guarantee that he would get back to me the next day (May 6, 2014). I did not hear from him. On May 6 I also called Choice Merchant Services and spoke to [redacted] who asked me to fax him the contact also and guaranteed me that he would get back to me by the end of the day. He also did not call back as promised.I had just received my latest statement and realized that it was $20-30 over what I would have paid at my former company. Looking at the statement I noticed a page of extra fees that were added that was the cause of the costs being $20-30 over. They had verbally told me that there would be no cancellation fee but now [redacted] states there would be a $595 cancellation fee or that I would need to fulfill my 36 month contract even though the contract states 24 months. Both the parent company [redacted] (###-###-####) and the front company - Choice Merchant Services, 1010 Wethersfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06114 (###-###-####) should be considered unethical, dishonest businesses and that promised rates and fees and then ignores them.Desired Settlement: Terminate my contract without penalty or costs--release of my funds to me--Refund of $95 set up fee that they indicated I would not be charged

Business

Response:

This complaint should be closed out. The customers account was closed out and the customer has already received a refund for the $95 account setup fee. I have attached notes from our CRM that indicate the refund and the date the account was closed. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Fahid Anwar

###-###-####

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.

I sincerely hope that this company will be more honest with future customers about rates and fees.

Sincerely,

Review: I have had Choice Merchant Solutions and a payment gateway for our online store([redacted]) and mobile credit card payments since mid August 2013. During that time my sales rep [redacted]. handled my account but with little to none customer service to me so I had a supervisor by the name of [redacted]. take it over. While our account was in [redacted]s hands we have experienced lots of grief. 1# It took about two weeks to have our bank account switched over from [redacted] to [redacted] with lots of phone calls made as follow up to find out why it was never done, so I took that matter into my own hands and called EMS the main handler of our accounts change it since the CMS rep failed to do so in a timely matter.2# Whenever we have a question big or small it usually takes 2 days to three weeks to be able to reach the rep [redacted] and even then the resolution is never reached. example: We have been battling to get our mobile credit card swiping system back to operational due to software/hardware compatibility.We know how fast technology is constantly changing but receive generic responses from [redacted].We have contacted the vendor [redacted] about the situation and they are aware of the incompatibility and multiple times I have informed mark that we are unable to use the service paid for by us. I have forwarded emails from [redacted] to [redacted] letting him know that the card reader is not compatible with the device but they fail to realize it and the typical response is I will order you a new card reader which we still haven't seen any arrive to us.3# We were told by the reps at CMS when asked about the 10% reserve account that will hold funds from sales that will last 90 days then be released to us. After calling EMS I found out that its for the full contract terms and not 90 days.4# Our gateway fees were supposed to be and listed on the contract at $5.00 a month which in fact false and at $9.80 a month.5# Each month we have new fees added to the cost of service. 6# Still waiting for cancellations to return call.Desired Settlement: Termination of accounts feeless and release of reserve account funds to be deposited into my [redacted] bank account on file.

Business

Response:

From: [redacted] [mailto:[redacted]]

Sent: Friday, February 14, 2014 2:15 PM

To: [redacted]

Cc: [redacted]

Subject: FW: You have a New Message from Revdex.com Serving Connecticut Regarding Complaint #[redacted]

Hi [redacted],

I apologize for the delay as I also just received your letter via mail this week. I had to do quite the research on this and speak to several different people who were more familiar with it. This merchant/consumer purchased credit card processing through our high risk department due to the nature of his business. I have researched every ticket that was open at our Customer Service dept in [redacted] who supplies our equipment such as credit card mobile audio jack swipers and terminals to swipe a customer’s credit card through. They do our billing and programming as well. The sales is done in our office here in [redacted] CT.

After gathering all the information it comes down to that he actually went “direct” to our supplier’s website and entered in his mobile smart phone details and was sent an audio jack swiper to attach to it. (see attached details).

I have attached and addressed all of his issues in an organized fashion for your review.

I know we pride ourselves in providing excellent communication and service here at this office. We have really come a long way in streamlining our business and have helped many merchants with their concerns. I know because I am the merchant relations manager here; I do customer support as well and over see our different departments and quality control.

His desired settlement can be met if he so wishes and we can terminate his account. Unfortunately because he is a high risk account, he will have challenges in the future trying to get another credit card deal at a decent rate that was given to him if approved at all.

I hope this helps and please feel free to reach out to me at any given time.

Kind regards,

Review: I own a retail store in Alabama and in September of 2013 a sales person named [redacted]. representing Choice Merchant Solutions entered my store soliciting merchant processing services. He asked if I would allow him to view a monthly statement from my current provider at that time. Upon seeing this statement he proceeded to highlight several ways he could save me money. I then told him that I was happy with my current provider. Upon hearing this, he told me that if I was not happy with the service I could cancel within 90 days. This was, of course, a blatant lie but I unknowingly accepted his verbal offer. After receiving my first statement, I immediately noticed that not only was I not saving money, the rates were actually worse than with my other provider.

Unsatisfied, in October of 2013 I contacted customer service to terminate the arrangement. I was put in touch with [redacted] at the main office in Connecticut. He informed me that I was in a binding 18 month contract that would also automatically renew for another 18 months unless written notice to terminate was given 90 days prior to the expiration, as clearly stated in the 9th section on the back side of the 3rd page I had signed toward the bottom in the fine print. Though I don't believe this qualifies as being stated in "clear and conspicuous" terms as required by Connecticut state law, I reluctantly backed down and agreed to fulfill my 18 month obligation.

It is now 90 days from the conclusion of my original contract which I believed to be in March, 2015. I called customer service today to ask what I need to provide and where I need to send my equipment and notice of termination. Immediately I was transferred to [redacted] to speak with again. This time he informed me that the equipment rental contract I also signed contains a clause that extends my obligation to 36 months in exchange for waiving the equipment fee as well as a fee of $595 for early termination.

In my experience their sales representative was intentionally misleading and their practices as a company are deceitful and unreasonable. Tricking customers into signing contracts and then forcing them to jump through hoops to discontinue use of a sub-par service is an outrage. They have hi-jacked my merchant processing for the last 15 months and intend to continue for another 21 months.Desired Settlement: I simply want to return this equipment and be released from this contract without penalty. Nothing more.

Consumer

Response:

My complaint has been resolved. I have been released from my contract without penalty. Thank you. [redacted]