Cornerstone Processing Solutions, Inc

Review: Cornerstone Processing began to take much more money out of my account than what I agreed to in our terms. I expected them to take $40/month, but they have been taking $140/month. At one point it was higher. It took several phone calls to understand why my account was being charged excessively each month. Cornerstone was very vague about what the problem was and after several calls they claimed my information on my account didn't "match up" with what was on record. After being shuffled through departments and unreturned phone calls, it was disclosed to me that the business name itself was incorrectly entered into my account. (I submitted the original paperwork to show them I listed my business name correctly on my application.) Based on this "mismatch" they have been fining my account since August 2014. Because I have three devices that process cards, they claim I have three accounts and will have to pay $750 to get out of a three-year contract. In the beginning, they acted as if this could be cleared up quickly if I just got them the proper information. However, they rejected the two documents I submitted and asked for the a third saying quote "it should work." They have violated the terms of our agreement, withdrawn money that was not agreed upon and have not shown reasonable due diligence to resolve this punitive fee. I have tried desperately to get them to lower my fees, but it's beginning to look like their business is set-up to intentionally skim enough money that a lawyer is not feasible and the locked in contract makes it difficult for an honest person to part ways with an unsavory business relationship. I have lost all confidence in this company and do not believe I should be forced to allow them unlimited access to my earnings any longer. In addition, I suspect Capital Card (apparently the company behind Cornerstone-may use various vendor names to hide behind to retain their ranking and lure in customers who think they have a good Revdex.com rating.Desired Settlement: 1.) I would like a refund for all "fine" fees approximately $750.2.) I want out of the contract without penalty due to their dishonest business dealings.3.) I want Revdex.com to look into the business practices of Cornerstone and its relationship with Capital Card to determine how many other people have had the same run around experience with excessive fees and no reasonable resolution to the problem.4.) Please note, at times, Cornerstone withdrew more in fees than I earned in the month.

Business

Response:

We

apologize for the delay in responding to Complaint # [redacted]. We were not aware of this complaint until a

hard copy was received on Saturday, April 25.

We have taken steps to ensure that this communication is received to

ensure timely responses in the future.We

have attempted to address all of the points raised in this complaint. Cornerstone

Processing Solutions, Inc.Cornerstone

Processing Solutions, Inc. offers a wide spectrum of customer payment

processing products for merchants, including Point of Sale (POS) systems,

Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), credit card, gift card and check processing

equipment and service. To enable us to

offer a wide range of products and services to meet our customers’ needs, we

operate as a distributor and work with multiple vendors. When a payment processing account is

initiated, we serve as the vendor for the processor – the actual business that moves the money through the required systems. This sometimes creates confusion for the

customer because they do not understand that we are the sales organization that coordinates the equipment purchase,

installation and initiation of the processing account – all of which involve

different entities. The processing

agreement, or contract, that is signed by the customer always reflects the

processor, or vendor, through whom the individual’s funds will be collected and

paid. We

understand that this is confusing at times for the merchants, but we are

transparent in these relationships and fully disclose this information to the

extent that the customer is interested in the distinction. Often at the time of the sale, the customer

is more focused on initiating the account than on the details, but the contract

also serves as written disclosure of the relationships with the processor and

outlines expectations. The customer must

sign the contract prior to having a processing account approved, and always

receives a copy of the agreement for reference. Customer

Relationship[redacted] of Apron Elegance, opened two credit card processing accounts in

July 2015 through Cornerstone Processing Solutions, Inc. One of these accounts was a retail – physical

– account with a credit card machine to process in person transactions – and

one of these accounts was an internet account, through which customers could

enter their payments online through her website. These accounts were approved by the processor

on July 25, 2014 and August 7, 2015, respectively. ProcessorThe

processor (the entity responsible for moving the credit card transaction funds)

for these accounts was Capital Bankcard.

Issues regarding payment transactions and fees are regulated and

addressed through this vendor. We can

assist and educate the customer to the degree possible as the sales agency and

representative but often it is most efficient for the customer to communicate

directly with the processor on these issues. IRS

Mismatch FeeThough

the accounts were approved by the processor in July and August, there was an

issue that needed to be reconciled. The

application that [redacted] submitted was identified as not matching the

Internal Revenue Service records relating to her Tax Identification Number

(TIN) and her legal business name. The

Federal Housing and Recovery Act of 2008 included Amendment 6050W, Merchant Tax

Reporting to encourage accurate tax reporting.

This Amendment requires all merchant service providers to collect and

verify Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN).

For merchants who have not provided a valid Taxpayer Identification

Number (TIN), address and name match to their merchant service providers, a

backup withholding will be imposed upon their merchant account which can be

substantial amount from the merchant account deposits. To

bring this matter to the merchant’s attention and to encourage resolution – and

also to have funds available in the event of a federally imposed withholding if

this issue is unresolved, the processor withholds a fee of $50 per month. If the merchant is able to reconcile this

mismatch in a timely manner, the processor may be able to refund the fees,

which occurred in this case. Below

is an excerpt from the page 2 of the contract signed by Ms. [redacted], which

identifies this fee requirement. According

to the processor, Ms. [redacted] was asked to submit the following to reconcile this

discrepancy:Capital Bankcard Legal Business, IRS Name Change and/or IRS Taxpayer ID Change Request FormMost recent letter from the IRS containing TIN Number 2nd Piece Of Supporting Information (as identified on Change Request Form) We were not notified that there was a problem until December 15, 2014. At that time, we researched and reiterated

the information above to Ms. [redacted]. Ms.

[redacted] was charged $50 per month on her retail account September – January ($250

total) and $50 per month on her internet account October through January ($200

total), for a total sum of $450.The

Federal Tax Identification Number was not reconciled until March 2, 2015 when

Ms [redacted] provided her 2nd document of supporting information. Though

the reconciliation of this issue had to be completed with the processor, we

assisted to the degree possible upon contact from Ms. [redacted]. However, resolving the situation was

dependent upon documentation supplied by the customer. The processor has since agreed to refund

the customer full amount of the mismatch fees deducted. Account

ClosureBoth

of the Apron Elegance contracts (retail and internet) stipulated three (3) year

processing agreements. Account closure

prior to this three (3) year period results in an Early Termination Fee (ETF)

of $250 per account (total $500). This

fact was reiterated to Ms. [redacted] upon her request to close her account, which

was received on April 6, 2015. Her

accounts have since been closed. She

will be billed for the $500 ETF Fee.

This fee is also identified in the contract signed by Ms. [redacted] and is

standard in many credit card processing contracts. There is a significant investment on behalf

of the processors to set up a processing account due to the required security

measures and administrative work involved, and for this reason, processors

require a minimum processing period to provide for the ability to recover the

cost of initiating these accounts. This

Early Termination Fee is collected by the processor. ConclusionWe

apologize for any inconvenience and confusion this issue may have caused. We can certainly understand the frustration

these types of technicalities and withheld funding can create. We appreciate Ms. [redacted]’s business, and we

hope that we can assist her in understanding what has transpired and ensure

that she is familiar with these processes for the future.Please

let us know if there is anything further we can do to assist in resolving this

issue, or provide additional information. Sincerely,[redacted]Cornerstone Processing Solutions, Inc.

We are having an issue with Cornerstone Processing Solutions, Inc. After 3 years of doing business with them we have found another company that will save us money. The Cornerstoner website advertises no long term contracts yet we just finished a 3 year contract with them in January. They have a clause that we weren't aware of that says there is an automatic 2 year renewal if there is no cancellation. Their website also says no cancellation fees but they wanted $425 for a cancellation fee. We were able to get them to reduce that by $75 since we just paid our yearly $75 membership fee in January. The prices they quote us per transaction have been misleading. It turns out we were charged an additional fee on each transaction over and above what was quoted to us. We feel that was unethical and should be enough to void any kind of contract we have with them. They have told us that we are getting their lowest possible rate yet we have a quote from another company that is much better. They have always been good to work up until now. We have always been a good customer for them. We feel that the only choices we have are to continue to pay them much higher rates or pay an unreasonable cancellation fee. Their website claim is very misleading to say the least.