Element Payment Services, Inc.

Review: Early 2012 I called Elements to start the application process of using their merchant services. [redacted], the representative I spoke to, said that this is a contract. I told her I will absolutely NOT sign a contract with a service when I'm not even sure if our company will be in business by the next year (as we were just about to begin our business venture). As it was well over 1 year ago, I'm not sure her words, but we came to a verbal agreement that we wouldn't have to sign a contract. Otherwise I would have hung up the phone and found another merchant company. Shortly after our conversation, she emailed me the application. My husband, also an owner, signed the application she emailed over. I did not take a look at it as I was under the distinct impression that it was not a contract we were signing. My husband also asked me before signing, "is this a contract?". I told him it was not, because I trusted [redacted]. We were on a time crunch so he hurried and signed the "application" and faxed it back over to [redacted].

Now over 1 year later, I called to cancel our service because we had to recently change our software company, and the new software we are using requires that you use their merchant company, [redacted] (which btw does not require a contract!). When I told them I'd like to cancel as of September 1, 2013 the man told me I would have to pay "an early termination fee of $425". I told him I would absolutely not pay a cancellation fee when I didn't even sign a contract. He then said that it was my husband that signed the 3 year agreement. I asked him if they keep phone calls on record, he said he was pretty sure they do, I then told him that [redacted] and I verbally agreed that I wouldn't have to. He then transferred me to her line and got her voicemail. I left her a voicemail, and haven't yet heard back.

Although (apparently) my husband did sign some sort of agreement, [redacted] and I had a verbal agreement that we wouldn't have to sign a contract. I hope they have the record of our phone call, otherwise it's her word against mine. It's incredibly unethical for an Elements' representative to have my husband sign a contract when I clearly expressed my concerns of not wanting to sign a contract via phone and she verbally agreed. I do not feel responsible for paying any sort of cancellation fee.Desired Settlement: I do not feel responsible for paying anything when I was given a verbal assurance that I would not be signing a contract. My husband, only being told by me (because I trusted [redacted]), that he was safe to sign, unknowingly signed a contract. I still cannot see anywhere on the "application" where it states the length of the contract. [redacted] (another rep at Elements) told me it was a 3 year contact.

Business

Response:

Attention Revdex.com,

The Element application clearly indicates on page 2 that if the Initial Term is not fulfilled then a $425 early termination fee will be applied. The application also references the Terms & Conditions document that specifically outlines where to find the 3 year agreement and early termination language. Additionally, the application that the merchant signed on page 2 includes the acknowledgement that the merchant has downloaded or received a copy of the Terms & Conditions document and accepts the agreement. Although we regret any confusion that may have occurred from this particular situation, the application along with the Terms & Conditions clearly outlines our policy on early terminations of the agreement.

Regards,

Element Payment Services

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I am not satisfied with the response. We clearly did not realize we were signing a contract, as I've specifically stated in my initial complaint. The saleswoman was dishonest and Elements is not waiving the cancellation fee as a result. It's highly unethical! On a side note, the $425 fee is higher than the cost of our monthly fee of $16.50 (which they raised without notifying us) multiplied by the approximated months left on this "contract". How do they justify charging this fee?? I demand to be released from this contract without a fee. It is the only ethical thing for them to do. Otherwise Elements Services should have their rating with the Revdex.com docked.

Regards,

Review: I have been using Element Payment Services (EPS) for my credit card processing since 2006. I was contacted in March 2011 by EPS that my company needed to be updated as a corporation in their system and that I was required to fill out a new merchant application. After complying with their request I was unaware that they issued me a new merchant number and I continued to receive monthly statements with automatic debits from both the old merchant number account and the new one. For 3 years they have been automatically deducting fees from my business checking account under my old merchant number that was supposed to be closed. An average of 60.00 per month. I finally caught on to what they were doing and they refused to refund any more than 3 months worth stating that is their policy. I told them I would have to pursue legal action and file a complaint with the Revdex.com so this is why I am contacting you. I hope that you may be able to help me resolve this matter some how. Thank you.Desired Settlement: I would like the money that was unjustifiably debited from my account refunded to me and note of this incident made public so that others are aware of their shady business practices.

Business

Response:

We have reviewed the issue and concluded that the account was not closed according to our stated process. Therefore, we will refund the monthly statement fees incurred from the time the cancellation request was received to the time the account was closed. The amount refunded will be, $1,809. Please have the merchant contact Element to confirm how they wish to receive payment. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Regards,[redacted]

Review: My wife and I used Element Payment Systems for credit card processing. We used their services in our gift store we had. A new owner took over the gift store in May of 2013. In may of 2013 my wife called and informed Element that there was a change on ownership and that we needed to switch our account to the new owner. I received a call from Element on June 7th, 2013 concerning obtaining the information for the new owner. I told them that we need to close our account and switch their services to the new owner. That was the last time I talked to Element. My wife informed me today that we had received a second letter from a collection company called "[redacted]". As my wife called this collection company 3 times trying to find out what this bill is for. They never returned our call. I called [redacted] again today two more times until I got a hold of someone. They stated that the bill was from Element. I called Element and talked to someone concerning this bill. The Lady I talked to from Element stated that because we had not sent them a cancellation form, (which no one from Element told us we needed!),that our charges continued. She also stated that Element had called me 2 times in May 2013 concerning this form. I informed her I did not receive a call from Element in May concerning this form. I have a copy of all my voice mails and I do not show any voice mails in May. Element continued to charge both myself and the new owner in June & July even after we requested our account be switched to the new owner. They charged charged me $25.37 in June 2013 & $28.67 in July 2013. Element also charged the new owner $84.24 in June 2013 & $349.18 in July at the same time they charged us. I am not disputing the charges in June & July, although I should! I am disputing the collection charge of $74.42! This is completely ridiculous! If I needed to sign and send them a cancellation form I certainly would have if I was told they needed it! I did receive a call from Element on June 7th, 2013 concerning obtaining some information about the new owner. They never mentioned needing a cancellation form at that time either. We never received any bill from Element stating that we owed $74.42, instead they sent it straight to collections! This is simply bad business practices! Element made money from us using there services and we referred the new owner to them. Is this how you treat your customers? Believe me the new gift shop owner is aware of this problem. I will not recommend Element to anyone if this matter is not resolved.Desired Settlement: I am asking that Element withdraws this charge of $74.42 from collections and declares our bill paid in full.

Business

Response:

Attn Revdex.com,

We have reviewed the complaint and purpose the following path of resolution. We will waive the $74.42 collection fee and the merchant will report this issue resolved to the Revdex.com. If this is an acceptable course of action please acknowledge and we will proceed.

Regards,

Element Payment Services

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

I will never use or recommend Element Payment Services again. Constant increases in discount rates, transaction fees and service fees. In addition, an annual service and maintenance fee get tagged on as well of $199. A small business just can't survive with this service.

Review: Company has charged my account $ 208.50 without proper notification or reason. I have checked my online statements and it states nowhere that the account will be charged any such amount. I am also being held to a three year contract that they have failed to provide for me after I asked for it several times. I do have the documents that I signed and agreed to and nowhere does it state any contractual agreement of any kind, only rates.Desired Settlement: I would like my account to be refunded and I want no further dealings with the company

Business

Response:

Please close complaint #[redacted] as resolved. We have satisfied the request of the customer by sending the Merchant Agreement and T&C’s that show the ETF policy. We have a certified receipt confirmation that the customer signed showing proof of documentation delivered. Regards, [redacted]VP OperationsDirect Number: ([redacted]

Review: We have left them messages and emailed them and have yet to receive a call. We're trying to set up a merchant but have no luck getting in touch with this company.Desired Settlement: Call us back at [redacted]. No one in their company has returned any of our calls, voicemails or emails.

Business

Response:

Attn. Revdex.com,We have processed the request internally to contact the merchant.Regards,Element Payment Services

Review: I run a Chiropractic Clinic and we ended our agreement with Element Payment Services by notification on 9/26/2014 because we recieved a statement from them they were going to begin charging a monthly fee beginning October 1, 2014. On 10/07/2014 they removed $199.00 from our bank account and they did it rolled into the September transaction fee charges for the final 3 weeks we used their services. I believe they did it in hopes we would not notice the additional fees. My office manager called Element on 10/13/2014 and spoke with [redacted] who confirmed our fax notice to end our agreement due to their fee increase was recorded on their system on 9/26/2014. [redacted] stated the $199.00 fee was for September but their notification said it would begin October 1, 2014, which is why we cancelled before October 1, 2014. My bank statement shows they removed the unauthorized money on October 7, 2014, 12 days after we stopped our association with them. We were told the money will be put back into our account but to date it has not been.Desired Settlement: We need a refund of the $199.00 immediately and a letter stating our contract has ended and they need to say they will no longer remove funds from our account.

Business

Response:

Element has processed a credit to the merchant for $199 that satisfies the resolution request. Regards,Element Payment Services

I started an account with them 18 months ago while using Service CEO software. In that time, we have not used their service once. We have not processed one card. We attempted to close our account with them based on our non use. They told us we would have to pay $425 to cancel our 3 year contract. I have sifted through the fine print and have yet to find a definition of what they refer to as the "term". At no time did the salesman that sold us this service tell us that we were committing to using this for a set amount of time, certainly not 3 years!! Now, in order to cancel, I have to wait until we are within 30 days of the end of the contract (18 months from now) in order to cancel or I'm assuming the 3 year contract will renew. What a trashy, shady way to do business.