Heartland Payment Systems, Inc.

Review: I never usually accept credit card merchant's pitches, there are too many phonies out there.

But the lady [redacted] from heartland seemed very good natured and not pushy.

I explained to her that due to the high cost of upgrading my Quickbooks POS, I have an older version that does not integrate electronically with heartland, so everything was going to be done manually. She understood perfectly that this was a test run, and I even explained that I was willing to purchase the card terminal as part of the test.

The service from Heartland was good, but I had to spend over 1 hour every night entering and balancing the credit card operations manually. That is a lot of extra work for some savings that I did not believe were the amounts discussed that I would be saving.

So I weighed my time vs savings and decided to go back to [redacted] which integrates seamlessly, saving me and my accountant countless hours.

Then a month later, I get the surprise that there was a $295 TERMINATION FEE!

The heartland rep either never knew about this charge or duped me, because she understood perfectly that this was a trial run, what my needs were, and that I had issues with the software.

I tried to get this removed or reduced, but was never called back either by the customer service department or the rep [redacted] No responses to calls, no responses to emails, just ignored.

I am a small business owner, and believe that this is not right. this turned out to be a large hit on my expenses, on top of the credit card terminal, and with the economy the way it is, it is hard to absorb.

Again, this was not right and the rep knew that.

Heartland needs to set this right.Desired Settlement: I would like the termination fee of $295 refunded back to us. I believe it is fair. Please remember I already paid off the credit card terminal, and I accept that as part of my cost for this trial.

Business

Response:

Please see the attached letter with screenshots included.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern:

Heartland Payment Systems has reviewed the complaint submitted by [redacted] We have reached out to our Sales Representative who stated there was nothing to indicate the merchant was processing on a trial basis, however, the merchant purchased an E3 credit card terminal from Heartland Payment Systems that is exclusive and cannot be used with any other processor. Although [redacted] did agree to our Merchant Terms and Conditions which included an Early Termination Fee of $295 as indicated below, Heartland Payment Systems has agreed in good faith to waive the Early Termination Fee and issue the merchant a refund which is currently being processed.

Thank you for bringing this complaint to our attention.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

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

Regards,

Review: I was told it would be beneficial to purchase my credit processing terminal out right and that I could leave Heartland at anytime by my sales rep. I was approached by another company that could save me $50 dollars a month. So, I switched only to be charged $295 for contract termination by Heartland. Why would I have a contract if I owned the machine out right? My salesman was not upfront about a 36 month contract and being a new business owner I was suckered into buying a machine outright and not being told upfront of a 36 month contract. Now they will not refund me for the machine or the cancellation fee I was unaware of. The sales rep even contacted me to come back and still mentioned nothing of the contract. When I contacted customer service they couldn't do anything for me. They told me a manger would contact me. A week later still no contact. I had to call again and ask for a manger. I big company like Heartland and they can't make a phone call. The Sales Rep was blamed and they wouldn't acknowledge I was misled due to my signature on the contract. You would think they would try to make it up to a small business. I take fault in not reading the fine print but they should have worked with me since I was misled.Desired Settlement: Buyback on my credit processing terminal and refund for cancelation fee

Consumer

Response:

I would like to first address how they did not respond to my actual complaint and just used the contract as a way to ignore the real issue. I already took responsibility for not reading the two pages of papers I signed that I assumed was for my bank information. Would I have read it if he told me otherwise? Of course. If their sales representative was straightforward and told me I had to be part of this company for 3 years I would have said ok then why am I paying in full for my terminal and I would have never done business with Heartland. It's sad that they can hide behind a piece of paper instead of being human and owning up to the fact that a representative of there company might of made a mistake or worse lied to make sale.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:They stand by there contract I send by moral being. Thanks for showing you're Heartless Heartland

Regards,

Review: I am a student at Mount Holyoke College, one of the schools that uses the OneCard system. I have always had issues with the website. It is always such an issue to add value to my OneCard using their online form. I avoid using the OneCard whenever possible, but some services on campus (such as laundry) require the use of the OneCard. Today, I attempted to load money onto my OneCard from my debit card. The first attempt was for $28 ($30.50 after the fee) and the transaction did not go through because of an error with WebConnect. The second attempt was for $10 ($12.50 after the fee) which also did not go through for the same error. The site said that the transaction did not go through, so no money should have been taken from my bank account. I called OneCard contact number after the transactions failed and I was told that a system error prevented the transaction from going through. So, I found a machine that took cash and added $20 to my OneCard. Later in the day, my debit card to pay my bills was declined. When I checked my account, I found that One Card Gives Back (Jeffersonville, IN) had actually attempted to take $30.50 and $12.50 from my account. However, this money was never added to my OneCard account. The system in place for processing card value is clearly problematic. If a transaction fails, the request should NEVER have been made to my bank. While the transactions are still PROCESSING, I cannot access this money in my account because of OneCard's faulty online system. I had called all day attempting to get rid of this problem, so that I don't have to pay my bills late, but have yet to be given a solution. I kept calling and was told that a supervisor would contact me. I was told that I may not get access to my money until Monday, which is INCREDIBLY problematic. I am extremely upset because I will not be able to pay my bills on time because of OneCard's online system. I am also upset at how hard it is to get help with this issue.Desired Settlement: I want the money ($43 total) that was requested from my bank account to be available by TOMORROW MORNING. If I do not get a call from a supervisor who is able to make this happen, I will use my position on my school's Student Government Board to do everything I can to switch over to a new system that WORKS PROPERLY. There have already been many complaints made against OneCards amongst the student population, so I am confident that we will be able to get rid of OneCard. Especially for a college population, of which many students don't have a lot of money, this kind of systematic error on OneCard's online system can really hurt students.

Business

Response:

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, the student is correct. There were multiple requests within seconds of each other to charge her VISA card. That can be caused by the user pressing the Submit button more than once and has the effect of our system receiving only the last request’s response – which is a Duplicate Transaction Decline. This VISA card was debited for $30.50 and $12.50 on 11/9 and the system did not place $28.00 and $10.00 respectively onto her MHC Pioneer OneCard as it should have. To alleviate this, we have added $43.00 to her MHC Pioneer OneCard balance which represents the money she should have received plus a waiver of the $2.50 cardholder load fees she was charged on each load.

Review: DON'T EVER USE THIS COMPANY! They are frauds!

Peter [redacted] sold me the system telling me how bad my previous company was. What a liar. He told me I wouldn't pay a fee for the machine, I would not pay monthly payment, I would pay Credit, Debit, the same price and nothing was true. They charged me whatever they wanted for monthly payments; for credit and debit they charged me for everything. I've been in business for 40 years and I've never been lied to so blatantly. I called the company at least 24 times and they refused to call me back or do anything about my payments. Ridiulous service. It costed me more than my previous company. Terrible service.Desired Settlement: For the company to be honest with future customers.

Business

Response:

Thank you for brining this matter to our attention. We take a complaint of this nature very seriously and want to get to the bottom of the events which have led up to this incident. Heartland is diliegently researching this matter but due to the holiday scheduling would like to request and extension for our formal response to ensure we have been able to reach all aplicable parties involved before responding. Thank you for your pateince.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern,On September 25, 2012, [redacted] entered into a contractual agreement with Heartland Payment Systems (HPS). The contract pricing structure indicated within the merchant application is called Cost Plus and is transparent. HPS has assessed the agreed upon fees and fee structure as indicated and agreed upon in writing and as signed by the owner. Our Sales Representative, Mr. [redacted] gave (2) wireless processing terminals and (3) IP processing terminals, to Ms. [redacted] for signing with HPS at no cost to their business and at his own expense. However, the Merchant was billed, as in accordance to HPS’ standard processes, $180 for a repair replacement terminal and $59 for our Like for Like terminal program which the Merchant verbally agreed to as per our call logs. When it was brought to our attention at the service center that Ms. [redacted] no longer wanted to work with Mr. [redacted], the Division Manager (DM) of Sales for the Sarasota area contacted Ms. [redacted] to address her concerns in hopes of working towards a satisfactory resolution. The communication sent on February 27th 2013, inquired upon the following: · Confirm Mr. [redacted] provided (5) pieces of equipment to Ms. [redacted]· Confirm if the terminals were working properly. If not, HPS could troubleshoot.· Confirm if Ms. [redacted] understood the pricing.· Confirm if Ms. [redacted] was open to meeting with Mr. [redacted]. If not, the DM inquired if she would she be open to working with another representative and/or himself to resolve her concerns. The Division Manager did not receive a response to this outreach attempt. At this time, Ms. [redacted]’s accounts with HPS are still in an installed status; however, she has ceased processing on the accounts. HPS values each of our customers and would like to work closely with Ms. [redacted] to resolve this matter as suggested above by having a new representative assigned to meet with her and review her accounts. However, if she wishes to proceed with cancelling her accounts, Ms. [redacted] will need to provide written notification, as in accordance with her Merchant Processing Agreement, to HPS at which time we will wave all Early Termination Fees to assist in resolving this matter. Thank You

Review: Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has made an error in calculating deposits into my bank account. They claim an adjustment (a debit from my account for an entire settlement batch) was required due to them making a duplicate deposit. My records from their company and my bank account prove that no such duplicate deposit was made; the amount in question (batch #[redacted] in the amount of $50.09, settled on 5/6/14) was only deposited once on 5/7/14 combined with two other settlements, when it was scheduled to do so, and then the same amount ($50.09) was debited by Heartland on 5/12/14 (which is shown as 5/10/14 on the Heartland statement) . When I contacted them to resolve the issue, they didn't want to receive copies of my bank statements, review my account activity line-by-line to double check deposits, or really provide any other explanation or assistance. They just repeated what was printed on my bill, "an adjustment was made", and told me I wouldn't be getting that money back, that they combined that $50.09 with a different deposit. Their printed policy on my statement says to call them when I find errors, so that these types of issues/errors can be resolved. I am very disappointed with the company's avoidance to help me resolve this, when a simple review of the addition and batches settled proves they made an error. We've used their service for 7 years, but we cancelled with them immediately when they refused to fix this problem.Desired Settlement: I would like Heartland Payment Systems Inc. to return my $50.09 from batch settlement #258. I'd also like any other so-called "adjustments" they discover are also in error (after their cancellation of account review) to be returned to me. I'm self-employed and I deserve every penny I make, that's kind of the point in having a Merchant Service-they're supposed to get as much dollars to you as possible, not take it and say sorry I can't help you.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

The company took an extra 50 dollars from my bank account and I have statements to prove it. This is not acceptable.

Regards,

Review: I CALLED IN THE END OF AUGUST OR BEGINNING OF SEPTEMBER TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY TERMINATION FEES AND WAS TOLD THAT WE WERE WITH HEARTLAND FOR OVER 3 YEARS AND THERE ARE NO FEES. ON 9/17/14 I CALLED AGAIN TO CANCEL THE SERVICES AND AGAIN I WASN'T TOLD THAT THERE ARE ANY FEES. OUR SERVICE WAS CANCELED ON 10/01/14 AND ON 10/06/14 WE WERE CHARGED $295.00 TERMINATION FEE. I CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE AND GOT A LOT OF APOLOGIES BUT NO REFUND. IT IS A DECEPTIVE PRACTICE AND ENTRAPMENT. IF I KNEW THAT IT WILL COST ME $295.00 I WOULDN'T CANCEL THEIR SERVICES.Desired Settlement: WE JUST WANT TO GET OUR MONEY BACK

Business

Response:

Please refer to the attached word document for Heartland Payment System's response to the complaint.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

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

Regards,

Review: FALSE PROMISES BY SALES REP

JAN 2013 I WAS APPROACHED BY HEARTLAND TO USE THEIR SERVICES. I TOLD THE REP I DID NOT WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN A LONG TERM LEASE, BECAUSE OF MY AGE. I WAS TOLD VERBALLY "ANYTIME I NEEDED OUT IT WAS DONE ALL THE TIME" NO PENALTY, SO I SIGNED THE 3 YEAR LEASE. I CHANGED PROCESSORS ~1 MAY 2014 I RECEIVED A LETTER THAT THEY WERE DRAWING $295 EARLY CANCELLATION FEE FROM MY CHECKING ACCOUNT WHICH I DID NOT AUTHORIZE, AND WOULD DECLINE TO PAY !

I WANT MY MONEY RETURNED, I WORKED FOR THAT YOU DID NOTHING. NEXT STEP SMALL CLAIMS COURT WITH THE SALES REP.Desired Settlement: I WANT MY MONEY BACK!