Choice Merchant Solutions

All Choice Merchant Solutions Merchant Processing Agreements contain a clause providing for automatic renewalGiven the nature of our industry such a practice is standard and very much necessaryIt would be extremely inconvenient if processing companies were to simply “shut off” our customers’ processing accounts the day their contract expiredBecause 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 days prior to the renewal date; they may contact us to terminate their merchant account free of penaltyWhen 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 month anniversary date, the only feasible way to make this happen is to auto renew their agreementAll of these things are set forth in the agreement which the customer signedThe facts of this case in particular are that this customer was “boarded” with Choice on the 15th of September, That puts their month anniversary date at the 15th of September, 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 Our systems confirm that their last day of use of the service was on the 30th of April, 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 machineAfter 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 servicesWe 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 baseIf 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 daySeveral attempts were also made in the days and weeks thereafterThis calls resulted in countless unreturned voicemailsThe next step was to send what we call a No Response Letter on August 4, 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, the customer called back inquiring about cancellation and equipment feesOur 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 deliveryWithin 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 themAs 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 renewedFor 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 months auto renewalThis would change the current anniversary date to Mar 15th With this anniversary date, the customer would send notice December to put in for cancellationWe 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 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***Choice Merchant Solutions [redacted]

My complaint has been resolvedI have been released from my contract without penaltyThank you [redacted] [redacted]

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Sincerely, [redacted] ***

All Choice Merchant Solutions Merchant Processing Agreements contain a clause providing for automatic renewalGiven the nature of our industry such a practice is standard and very much necessaryIt 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 days prior to the renewal date; they may contact us to terminate their merchant account free of penaltyWhen 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 dateIf a merchant wishes to process credit card transactions after their month anniversary date, the only feasible way to make this happen is to auto renew their agreementAll 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, That puts their month anniversary date at the 15th of September, In order to cancel their account without penalty they would have needed to notify us on or about August of According to the complaint, the customer’s business was sold in April of Our systems confirm that their last day of use of the service was on the 30th of April, To this date no contact was made to inquire about cancellationOn 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 servicesWe 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 baseIf 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 returnedA that time all retention representatives were assisting other customers, so a ticket was created and forwarded to that department for resolutionAs promised we called the customer back promptly the following daySeveral attempts were also made in the days and weeks thereafterThis calls resulted in countless unreturned voicemailsThe next step was to send what we call a No Response Letter on August 4, 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 assistanceFinally on August 24, the customer called back inquiring about cancellation and equipment feesOur 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 deliveryWithin 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 serviceThe customer told our Retention Representative that he had lost the terminal we had given themAs such he is liable for the cost of said terminalThe customer also failed to cancel their account in a timely manner and in fact continued to use it well after it had been renewedFor this reason a cancellation at this point in time would warrant an early termination as is laid out in our contractThere 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 obligationShould the customer happen to rediscover the location of the missing machine and return it to us, we will happily wave the terminal replacement fee immediatelyTo 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 months auto renewalThis would change the current anniversary date to Mar 15th With this anniversary date, the customer would send notice December to put in for cancellationWe 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 months which would equal $350.00)Again this offer is contingent upon resolving the matter of our missing machineShould you have any further questions please feel free to contact me directlyJulie E [redacted] Choice Merchant Solutions [redacted]

been with this company almost yearsrarley do I have to wait for answersThey have always helped me, and have great customer service

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

The merchant T[redacted] submitted an application with us in Dec 2013. Due to ou[redacted] Relationship with [redacted] which is the direct processor for our merchant, they conduct all the underwriting process approving any application. The agent was originally were asking for a lower rate for [redacted] but due...

to business type and not long processing history underwriting required the rate to be increased to a 6.95% in order to be approved with a 10% reserve and $50,000 a month volume cap. On January 21st 2014 The merchant signed the rolling reserve and it was processed with [redacted] which made the account active. The merchant began processing credit cards from January 2014 - June 14th  with no issues or discussions of rate or fees. The merchant at this time was paying the 6.95% and .15 cents and $20 a month in fees with a separate gateway fee of $15. On June 16th 2014 the merchant contacted [redacted] regarding the rates. The merchant did state he felt the rates should be 3%. [redacted] did place a ticket into the system and the agent filled out a agent rate review request. However the merchant at this time was already going over the chargeback ratio due to this, The merchant was shut off on 6/23/2014 due to having a very high chargeback ratio. At this time the only money that was pending deposit was the money held in the reserve which was signed and states they can hold it up to 210 days after a merchant is terminated. The merchant's reserve was deposited back into his account in 2015  Due to the merchant being shut off ,the rate request to lower the merchants rates was never processed or approved so the merchant never processed with the changed rate. Due to an overlook in the gateway system the merchant is being refunded from Aug 2014 to Sept 2016 for the total amount of $375. We have done all all we can in regards to getting the merchant approved with a desired rate of 3%, Unfortunately underwriting requires certain rates and fees when they do there approval processing. this is all based on processing history, business type, business and person credit.  Due to his business type being high risk and only providing processing statements from [redacted] there was a required rate that needs to be set, that is out of our control. At this time due to the discussion and investigation with [redacted] we are refunding the merchant the amount for the gateway fee that was mistakenly charged.,

The merchant signed up with our independent sales office (ISO) agents, with the processing company [redacted] In April Of 2010. The merchant signed an application agreeing to the term and conditions of the application that are set by [redacted] and also received a free terminal and signed the terminal placement...

form which states the merchant is in a 36 month renewal agreement with [redacted] and must give 90 days prior to ETF Date if the merchant would not like to renew.  The merchant called into [redacted] 5 times throughout the 7 years of processing Feb 2012 she called in regarding a deleted batch which was fixed. Aug 2014 regarding that she placed the paper in the terminal wrong and wasn't printing right, this was fixed. Merchant called in again March 2015 regarding a refund she needed to do on a batch which was completed. Another call came in on July 2015 regarding needing to request Credit card information issue was resolved. On April of 2017 merchant called [redacted] saying she had a better rate and wanted cancel. When speaking to [redacted] she was notified she was in a 36 month renewable contract and her contract would renew and she would be able to cancel with no ETF on 4/1/2019. She was then told that there was a ETF Fee of $595 which is stated in the application she signed in April of 2010. Merchant never called Choice Merchant Solutions about any issues with her account. She never called [redacted] complaining about rates. Her most recent rate was 3.59% not 6.5%. If the merchant had called and informed us that another company was offering a lower rate [redacted] and Choice have a match or beat policy. This policy states if we can cannot match or beat this rate then [redacted] will waive the cancellation fee. The merchant over 7 years of processing never called to complain about the rate or ask them to be adjusted or reviewed. [redacted] are always having rate changes yearly. Choice Merchant solutions Tried to contact the merchant numerous times when we first had knowledge there was any issue. We only got someone else taking a message or a machine with no return calls. We strive on trying to make a merchant satisfied, fix any issues or concerns, make understanding in any situation. Due to use not knowing and the merchant not contacting choice merchant solutions every in 7 years and Also not informing [redacted] that there was concern with her rates, No one was able to assist with this unknown situation. Merchant processed credit cards with us until April 0f 2017 with no complaints. All Processing companies if there is a merchant signed contract they are required to be a renewable contract. May 1st 2017 after numerous attempt to speak to the merchant [redacted] was notified and due to them being the processing company it needed to be approved they are waiving the cancellation fee of $595 and ending the relationship with this merchant. The merchant is required to return the equipment that was given to her within the time frame that is stated in the signed terminal placement form that she signed and acknowledged.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

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]

Merchant was signed up with Choice that is an ISO of [redacted] through one of our outside agents on 3/7/2012. Merchant signed application, w-9, Choice Acknowledgement and [redacted] form. Or [redacted] Allows the merchant to receive a free terminal and pin pad at no cost to use during their duration...

with us. The [redacted] states that while receiving the free equipment it places the merchant in a 3 year renewable contract. Also states that a merchant must sign a cancellation form 90 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 2013. The agent signed the merchant with another company. At this time the merchant decided to stay with our company and continue to process.The merchant had contacted [redacted] throughout the year of 2013-2014. At no time did the merchant request the cancellation form, which would have cancelled his account on March 7th, 2015.Merchant again continued to call [redacted] and again did not request to cancel there account until Finally July 2016 over a year past his renewal date. Merchant has not proceeded a credit card through the terminal since April of 2015.Merchant was contacted 7/8/16 from a customer service advisor here at Choice Merchant Solutions regarding a ticket and complaint from EMS. We went over the tickets/notes  in the system and conversation the merchant had with [redacted] Merchant was told we would allow him to cancel no cancellation fee. Also that if he had contacted us directly we would have had this taken care of months prior. Merchants cancellation fee is waived and account will be cancelled. merchant was told any equipment must returned to avoid the terminal fees he signed and agreed too

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