In response to the issue of recurring charges for the account, there is nothing pending as the merchant has properly canceled both the payment processing account and the hosting plan now. The merchant submitted a 30 day notice to cancel the Volusion payment processing account on 03/13/16. The cancellation was processed on 04/18/16. This merchant was charged $99 for the early termination fee for canceling before the three year term had ended on 04/22/2016. The merchant cancelled their hosting plan on 5/5/2016. The cancellation was effective based on the billing cycle’s end date of 5/18/2016. The website was stopped/shut down on 5/18/2016. No further billing will be had for the payment processing or hosting plan.
Upon reviewing the Merchant's account, theonly contact in June 2015 was to request copies of their statements for the merchant account on 06/04/15. Per the Merchant's request, we emailed the statements to her on 06/05/15. The next contact on 7/17/2015 was to downgrade from a Platinuim...
Plan to a Pro Plan. There was no reference to canceling her hosting plan. Instead, chargebacks were initiated by the Merchant in December 2015 for the fees that were assessed to their credit card for the hosting service. Anytime Volusion receives a dispute for charges, the hosting service is shut down. The proper way to cancel the hosting service is to visit [redacted]/customercare.aspx, fill out, and submit the online form. The Merchant called our Payment Processing Team on 12/10/15 to cancel their Merchant Account and we explained that we were not able to cancel services over the phone, and that if she wishes to cancel, she'll need to reply to the email that we'd send her at [redacted]. The contract she signed upon applying fora merchant account, explicitly states a written request is required to cancel service. Since we never received a reply to our email or any other written request to cancel services, the account remained open. Per the terms of the merchant account, we continued charging the minimums to cover costs for resources used. Attached is a copy of page 2 of the Merchant's contract showing her agreement to our terms. Additionally, our terms can be found at [redacted]. The merchant account was closed in May 2016 due to the Merchant's bank rejecting the debits for the monthly fees. We are unable to offer any type of refund, since the Merchant did not complete the necessary steps to cancel the service and her bank rejected the debits for the fees for the service.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I WAS NEVER, I repeat NEVER emailed nor USPS mailed ANYTHING about funds being held on my account. It was a week and a half before I realized funds were not being deposited into my account. I thought perhaps it was just a new formality not working with Volusion in this aspect before this point. When I called, I was instructed to send all products and then the funds would be distributed. Well I am sick of telling the story over and over because to Volusion in this case, even though I was lied to over and over again, the customer, me, is always wrong.Regardless...fine...hold the money for 160 days. Whatever floats your boat and your shady business ways. Say one thing and then hide behind a contract. As for the $99....I feel I should be reimbursed for this amount. As I said and have continued to make this point, the VOLUSION REP...in his own words after I let him know how I charge the cards and then send when the CUSTOM orders are complete....said that there "would be no problem". As I said before, I would have gone directly back to EVO who understands these kinds of transacations if I had know that I was going to be treated this way and that there was going to be this kind of dispute on the account.
Regards,
[redacted]
While the hosting service to build and run the online store can be purchased online with a credit card, the payment processing account has a separate process. This merchant was required to fill out and sign an application, which is a contract between themselves, Volusion, and our payment...
processor, Global Payments. The contract has a three year term and requires written request to cancel. If a merchant chooses to cancel, they can submit their written request in the form of a ticket from myVolusion or send an email to [redacted] Instructions on how to cancel the payment processing account were provided both at the URL the merchant visited to cancel the hosting service and in an email sent to them from [redacted] The instructions include advisement that no refunds will be granted in the event of failure to properly cancel. This merchant contacted Volusion by phone on 02/08/16 with request to cancel and we advised of the instructions and sent the merchant an email as a courtesy to reply to so that the cancellation could be processed. We have received the merchant’s confirmation to cancel and will process and send confirmation once canceled.
We truly apologize for any confusion regarding this merchant’s purchase.We advised the merchant that a review of the sales call was conducted, and we have reviewed the call several times since. We can confirm that the merchant specifically asked the sales representative if the starter bundle would...
be a $99 monthly fee. The sales representative then immediately replied and clarified that the $99 price would be for the first month only. She elaborated on the services included with the bundle and then advised that for the second month the customer could downgrade and choose from any of the other four plans available. It is important to note that the only forms of payment accepted for hosting are debit and credit cards, so as to allow complete transparency with regard to each month's billing. When payment is taken, the debit will show up in a merchant's bank records, and it will also show up immediately in the My Volusion area along with the invoice. This way, if there are any concerns or questions about a charge, a merchant is able to reach out to our 24/7 Support Department via call, ticket, or chat. Though we are unable to issue a full refund, we have already issued a credit for the last hosting fee ($147.90) on 6/5/2015 .
We apologize for any misunderstanding caused by the communication from our Product Specialist. The email which the Product Specialist sent was not specific to the customer's issue, but was a standard response intended to convey information and set expectations regarding the resolution...
processes and timeline. As issue resolution is prioritized according to multiple factors, including number of occurrences, number of customers experiencing the issue, and the resources available to address the issue, the Product Specialists are not able to state a specific time in which any issue is able to be resolved. The Product Specialist definitely did not intend that his communication should be interpreted to sound as if Volusion doesn't care about the customer's issue, and we apologize if that was the impression conveyed. The email did direct the customer to contact our Support Team should he wish to address any further concerns; our Support Team is available 24/7 and would be happy to provide the customer with information regarding the status of his issue.
In reviewing
this merchant’s account, we can verify that the merchant contacted Volusion on 10/14/2015 requesting to
cancel the payment processing account.
We advised the merchant at that time that an email would be sent to her from [email protected] and that a confirmation response was...
required to process the cancellation. The fees for
the payment processing account are charged in arrears, and the merchant
requested to cancel two weeks into October. While we do not prorate the payment processing account fees, as
a one-time courtesy, we offered the merchant a credit. The daily rate for the payment processing account is $2.05, and
as the merchant requested to cancel on 10/14/15, fourteen days into the month,
we offered a courtesy credit of $34.97. We advised the merchant that we had to wait
to confirm the merchant’s bank allowed the debit and hadn't rejected it. We
advised the merchant that once we had this confirmation, we would submit the refund
request to our processor, Global Payments, and then send her confirmation once
issued. A request was submitted to Global Payments to issue the credit of
$34.97 on 11/10/15, and we are currently waiting for confirmation that it has been
issued.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Hello,Here is more follow up, and we stand by our initial complaint.Oct 2-to Trisha Banks-message saying ready to go live on our website. We had issues completing our SSL prior to this date. Our big event was going to be Oct. 3 and 4, so we needed the website ready to take payments by then.Oct. 6- emailed Trisha, our account manager. We were filling out information, but received error messages for merchant account.-last step before going liveOct 8-I called [redacted], for merchant accounts. He was sending a form ASAP to us to get the merchant acct. working on Oct.9-We did not receive it.Oct. 10-waiting on [redacted] for a form to sign. We had no website in the meantime, since domain name was transferred to Volusion.Oct. 13-Emailed and complained to [redacted] about not receiving the form to get the merchant account working that he was to send on Oct. 8-no orders could be placed on the website in the meantime. Oct. 14-[redacted] said the information he gave us Oct. 8 was incorrect, and we needed to do other paperwork to get the merchant account open. That’s the form that my partner signed without thoroughly reading, which stated a monthly fee we were not told about. She quickly signed it to get our account working asap. [redacted], the sales person who originally sold us the account said there was no monthly fee, but later charged for. I called to ask him about this, but would not talk to me, as he said he was transferred to another department.Oct. 16-[redacted] emailed saying he hadn’t received our bank verification. We were waiting on our bank acct. manager who was on vacation. This should have already been taken care of if [redacted] had told us earlier about this.Oct. 18- [redacted] claimed there was a problem with our URL by Volusion underwriters. This is another problem [redacted] should have known about earlier. Oct. 19- [redacted] was supposed to send us emails to eliminate this new problem and hadn’t so I emailed him to remind him.Oct. 19-We later received the emails and approval for the merchant account. Then we were to receive more emails about how to set up the account to start selling from the website.Oct. 20-I emailed [redacted] again because of no action, and still missing sales because we can’t charge anything.Sometime during this, I was told [redacted] no longer worked at Volusion, so he could not longer help us.Nov. 12- another message saying Volusion could not debit our bank account because of some new problem, asking us to send even more information from our bank.They closed our account for non payment from the problem Volusion had with our bank account.Dec. 6- We couldn’t receive our payments from our Volusion website sales, since our merchant account was closed. We had a lengthy conversation between Volusion, my partner, and myself, and to rectify this problem we were to send our check for $1.26, they were going to open the account, transfer the money to our account, then close it. We sent this email “This is notification to reopen our store (and at no cost per phone conversation), so we can receive payment for the transactions that did not process. I am sending all information via regular mail along with the money order for $1.26.”This is the Volusion response on Dec. 7, “Thanks for your reply. You can supply the banking information via email or fax, even if you had included them with your mailed payment. Once we have received the past due balance, and the information needed to update the bank account on file, we would by able to review the account to see if it can be reopened.”Per our phone conversation between Volusion, my partner, and I, there was no question about opening the account, and we were told they would transfer the money to our bank account, then close the account. We have been charged the monthly fee for the merchant account, though we were not to be charged, and made that perfectly clear.Dec. 14-But we still had not received the payment to our bank account. Now they asked us to do the following, though they had told us the previous information we sent would take care of everything. In the meantime we still could not charge on our website, since we changed the authorize.net and payment information as they asked us to do in the following email they sent to us on Dec. 14.”Hi xxxx! Effective today, your account has been reopened and you’re now clear to process credit card transactions. We’ve also reactivated your Authorize.net gateway account. To ensure that there aren’t any issues with processing transactions, we suggest you replace the current Authorize.net API Transaction key. This can be found under Settings > Payment in your Volusion dashboard. To generate a new transaction key, you’ll need to log in to your Authorize.net account and follow this path: Account > Settings > Security Settings > General Security Settings > API Login ID and Transaction Key You'll be prompted to answer your security question. Please DO NOT select to disable any previous transaction keys. Once verified, a new transaction key will be generated. Copy the transaction key and paste it within the payment gateway section of yourVolusion dashboard and save your changes. You'll then want to place a test transaction to ensure that you’re not receiving any gateway errors. Since you attempted to capture transactions after the closure notice was sent to you on 11/20/2014, you'll need to contact Authorize.net and ask if the batch can be resubmitted so that the transactions are processed and funded. You can reach Authorize.net at [redacted]. You will need your payment gateway ID ready.”The point and problem again, is that either the Volusion staff does not know the procedures, or too busy and cannot take care of problems correctly, or they just do not care to work things out properly. Every time we completed something asked for, we were asked to do something else. We still stand with this position, and want our money returned and pay us for our sales.
Regards,
[redacted]
It isn't possible for us to obtain the copy of the reminder email that the customer's mail host's server may or may not have received from us because we have no access to or control over that server. This is something the customer would have to request from the mail host. And in any event, it was just a courtesy reminder of the important aspects of the terms of the Volusion Select bundle purchase. It was in no way required by our original agreement. As previously stated, the purchase from April of 2016 (order ID # 1800960) for which the customer provided an invoice is a separate purchase from the one in question that included Fraud Score, from April of 2015 (order ID # [redacted] -- invoice attached). The April 2016 purchase isn't relevant to this case. The relevant April 2015 purchase was made from this page:[redacted]Also as previously stated, we received the customer's permission for the currently-disputed charges when she agreed to the Terms of Service upon purchase in April of 2015. We stand by our original response in all respects.
First and foremost, we apologize for any frustration the Merchant has encountered. The Merchant first purchased a Premium Bundle and a Premium Template on 6/17/2016. In the second month, the Merchant downgraded effective 7/22/2016 to a Mini Plan. The Mini Plan differs in the services offered than...
those offered with the Premium Plan. After the downgrade and communication with [redacted] and Ian, our Director of Sales reached out in an effort to resolve the Merchant's issues. During that time, our Director of Sales decided to provide an Account Manager free of charge to the Merchant. The Merchant utilized his Account Manager through the month of August, but it appeared that this would not resolve the Merchant's ultimate needs. The Merchant cancelled his account on 8/29/2016.Our Director of Sales has reached out to the Merchant via phone to inform him of the refund and discuss the terms of his cancellation. Volusion will issue a refund for the Premium Template. Additionally, we will refund the Merchant for the last month of hosting. We look forward to hearing from the Merchant and we wish him the best.
Although bandwidth overages rarely occur when a store is on hold, it is still possible for data usage to accrue, and we typically do not refund for these types of overages.In reviewing the account, we are able to see that the customer contacted us in January with concerns about being billed for...
overages while his store was on hold. Our support department advised the customer that he had some images on an FTP account that was connected to his Volusion store, and those images were utilizing bandwidth, causing the overage. We advised the customer to delete the images in order to avoid bandwidth overages in the future, but as the images were not removed, the overages continued to accrue. However, we do understand the frustration this issue has caused the customer due to the fact that he was under the assumption that the store, being inaccessible while on hold, would not utilize bandwidth. The customer would have been billed $9.95 per month had the overages not occurred, and as a courtesy we have refunded the difference. In February, he was billed $77.85, and we have refunded $67.90 for this charge (difference of $9.95). In March,he was billed $54.75, and we have refunded $44.80.
In reviewing the account, we can verify that the merchant requested to cancel the Volusion payment processing account on 06/06/2015. The debit in June was for services rendered in May, so we are unable to offer a refund of that fee. We do see that our processor, Global Payments,...
attempted a debit this month for June. We have reached out to our payment processor, Global Payments, and advised that that balance will be waived, as cancellation was requested on 06/06/15.No requests to cancel any of the services were submitted in either verbal or written form prior to 06/06/2015. The hosting account, which was a separate service providing access to build and run the online store, was closed on 02/21/2014. As a request to cancel payment processing services was not submitted, the account remained open and has been billed for resources utilized. Cancellation requirements for the payment processing account may be found in the Terms and Conditions to which the merchant agreed by signing the contract for the payment processing service. The Terms can be found by visiting [redacted]
We apologize for any confusion. The hosting plan and the payment processing service are two separate services and, as such, do have different cancellation policies. There is no cancellation fee for cancelling a hosting plan; however there is a $99.00 fee for cancelling the payment processing service, if the service is canceled prior to the end of the three-year term. (The three-year term applies only to the payment processing service, not the hosting service). The payment processing cancellation policy and fee are stated in the contract which the customer signed during the application process. The hosting plan cancellation was the only policy discussed with the sales representative initially, as the customer originally stated that she would use Paypal instead of credit card processing services. The sales representative verified that Paypal would be an option, as the software does integrate with Paypal. Many customers use basic Paypal services, and for this an SSL is not necessary. Upgraded Paypal services or a payment processing account may require an SSL, but ultimately each customer would need to assess on an individual basis how he or she would like to take payment and choose the option that best fits his or her needs. In order to go live, a registered domain name is required.Regarding the SSL, as it has been installed we cannot refund the fee; however, the customer is welcome to take the SSL with her for use with another hosting provider.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I was lied to about the necessity of needing to have an SSL. Continuing to say I wanted it does not make it true. If this has been 'installed' it can get UNINSTALLED ASAP. I don't need to 'take it with me' because the other, legitimate, company, provides it for me. As I found that almost every other legitimate company does as well. So it needs to be uninstalled and refunded since I did not need it, was pressured into buying it by being told I had 'no choice', and do not need it in the future.An email they sent me stated that they would be waiving this so-called $99 cancellation fee, but there is no reference to this in this complaint answers. I would like to have this documented here as well. I do have the email regarding this so if that charge is actually made anyway, I will be adding an additional fraud charge.
Regards,
[redacted]
When signing up for merchant services, the Merchant signed a Merchant Agreement and can obtain a copy of her Merchant Agreement signed by contacting our Payment Processing Team at [redacted] or at [redacted] (option 3, option 2). To access the Terms and Conditions that were agreed to, please...
refer to the following link: https://www.volusion.com/legal/merchant-services Volusion’s Terms and Condition, with specific attention to the following sections listed below, cover a Merchant’s obligations and liability, offer further information regarding why a reserve account may be established, and indicate information and steps concerning canceling merchant services: 5. PAYMENT, CHARGES AND FEES. 11. INDEMNITY. 13. TERM AND TERMINATION. 14. RETURNED ITEMS/CHARGEBACKS. 15. RESERVE ACCOUNT. 20. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION. The Merchant can contact our Risk Management Team at [redacted] to discuss the release time period for the current funds in reserve. On 10/05/2016, the Merchant submitted a request to cancel the Volusion Payments Account in writing ticket/email. The Merchant should be aware that even if she had submitted her cancellation prior to this date, she would have assessed fees in October for September due to a recent chargeback initiated by her customer. Per the sections in the Terms and Conditions referenced above, we are unable to offer a waiver or refund of any fees.
We apologize for any frustration or confusion caused by the issue of the SSL and Merchant Account fees. In reviewing the calls between the sales representative and the customer, we can verify that the sales representative did provide accurate information regarding the fee for the SSL. ...
The SSL is necessary for processing credit card payments, and the fee for a one-year SSL is a one-time charge. The fee for having a Merchant Account, which enables merchants to process credit cards, is a separate, recurring monthly fee. That is the fee to which the customer is referring. This is a different fee than that charged for the SSL (which was a one-time charge). The fees for the Merchant Account are disclosed on page two of the application which the customer signed at the time the merchant account was opened. These recurring fees are standard and applied to all merchants who open a credit card processing account. Because the fees assessed are accurate and were agreed to at the time the Merchant Account was opened, we are unable to waive or refund these fees.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Most of what was said is completely false. There was nothing discussed regarding a cancellation policy whatsoever. In fact, Volusion states there is no cancellation fee right on their own site. Second, I did in fact say I was testing out the site but wanted to insure customers could use the site FULLY with the mini plan. INCLUDING payment through Paypal. I made it very very clear in that first phone call I did not want to spend a lot of money initially until I knew this was right for me. I was assured repeatedly that this was all I needed and could upgrade the plan at a later date if I chose to. It was AFTER I purchased the plan that I was called and told I could NOT fully use the site without buying an SSL. I was absolutely strong-armed into that.Then I was told I had to have a domain name in order to fully utilize the site. I paid for both. At no time whatsoever was I told my domain name would be held hostage for any period of time. In fact, from the first moment I called, it was made clear I was testing this company. They know this is true since they just told you that was exactly what I was doing when I first signed up. Obviously it would have given me pause if I HAD been told I could not move my domain name for two months!!While I apparently am prohibited from calling for support from this company, they had no problem making numerous calls to me for yet more 'add-on' features or products to try to sell to me. I did send MANY emails to several different people asking questions and requesting a response, and only after I contacted the Revdex.com did I get ANY response at all.Finally, after I contacted the Revdex.com, I suddenly get an email from them to 'expect a $99 cancellation charge' apparently from the SSL that I never wanted, used, asked for, and was assured by Volusion I did NOT NEED.I am amending this complaint to include the reversal of this 'cancellation fee', and again state I want a refund of the SSL certificate. As far as I am concerned, Volusion was wrong in first telling me I did not need it, then only after signing onto the plan, telling me I had no choice but to have it. Therefore Volusion can cover the cost of the SSL and the so-called 'cancellation fee'. I am contacting my bank as well to let them know of the fraudulent charge of $99 that may try to come through.
Regards,
[redacted]
To apply for a payment processing account, a merchant is required to read, fill out, and sign an application that advises it’s a contract for service. While this merchant may have chosen not to read the contract they electronically signed on 10/06/15, it’s binding and the merchant is held to...
the terms they agreed if and once they’re approved. There are several items a merchant must complete before the account can be approved and a merchant can take their store live. This merchant was provided a list of the items they had yet to complete on 10/07/15 including providing a bank document showing their account number, approving the SSL so their customers’ credit cards are kept secure, and adding contact information, as well as, their refund policy on their website. This merchant completed everything and provided bank documentation on 10/19/15 and her account was setup and approved that day. On 11/12/15, we sent notification to this merchant that our processor was unable to debit processing fees from their bank account with the reason of invalid account number. We explained to the merchant that the bank document she sent to us during the application process didn’t list a routing number and that we needed a voided check or bank letter that lists this information and asked that she sign the direct deposit change request form we sent her. This didn’t interrupt the merchant’s ability to accept orders. In fact, if the merchant had processed orders in the meantime, the funds from their sales would have covered the balance and the account would’ve remained open. However, the merchant didn’t send the documents and didn’t capture any sales between 10/19/15 and 11/20/15 and the payment processing account was closed on 11/20/15 due to the past due balance. Once a payment processing account is closed, we require payment to be mailed in the form of a cashier’s check or money order so that we have the payment immediately since a debit via electronic funds transfer takes at least 10 business days to clear. Notification was sent to this merchant via email that the payment processing account was canceled on 11/20/15 due to a past due balance. Since we made this merchant aware that the account was closed and they chose to attempt to process credit card orders when there was no longer service, funds were never moved from customers’ credit cards to fund to the merchant. No funds are owed to this merchant since they chose not to provide the necessary documents to update the bank account before the payment processing account was closed.
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.
But to be noted their response is incorrect. I did sign up for the trial and it asked for my credit card with a statement stating "Don't worry your card will not be processed until after the trial period" Very deceiving.
Regards,
[redacted]
In response to the issue of recurring charges for the account, there is nothing pending as the merchant has properly canceled both the payment processing account and the hosting plan now. The merchant submitted a 30 day notice to cancel the Volusion payment processing account on 03/13/16. The cancellation was processed on 04/18/16. This merchant was charged $99 for the early termination fee for canceling before the three year term had ended on 04/22/2016. The merchant cancelled their hosting plan on 5/5/2016. The cancellation was effective based on the billing cycle’s end date of 5/18/2016. The website was stopped/shut down on 5/18/2016. No further billing will be had for the payment processing or hosting plan.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:The amount offered doesn't cover a fraction of what we lost!
Regards,
[redacted]
Upon reviewing the Merchant's account, theonly contact in June 2015 was to request copies of their statements for the merchant account on 06/04/15. Per the Merchant's request, we emailed the statements to her on 06/05/15. The next contact on 7/17/2015 was to downgrade from a Platinuim...
Plan to a Pro Plan. There was no reference to canceling her hosting plan. Instead, chargebacks were initiated by the Merchant in December 2015 for the fees that were assessed to their credit card for the hosting service. Anytime Volusion receives a dispute for charges, the hosting service is shut down. The proper way to cancel the hosting service is to visit [redacted]/customercare.aspx, fill out, and submit the online form. The Merchant called our Payment Processing Team on 12/10/15 to cancel their Merchant Account and we explained that we were not able to cancel services over the phone, and that if she wishes to cancel, she'll need to reply to the email that we'd send her at [redacted]. The contract she signed upon applying fora merchant account, explicitly states a written request is required to cancel service. Since we never received a reply to our email or any other written request to cancel services, the account remained open. Per the terms of the merchant account, we continued charging the minimums to cover costs for resources used. Attached is a copy of page 2 of the Merchant's contract showing her agreement to our terms. Additionally, our terms can be found at [redacted]. The merchant account was closed in May 2016 due to the Merchant's bank rejecting the debits for the monthly fees. We are unable to offer any type of refund, since the Merchant did not complete the necessary steps to cancel the service and her bank rejected the debits for the fees for the service.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I WAS NEVER, I repeat NEVER emailed nor USPS mailed ANYTHING about funds being held on my account. It was a week and a half before I realized funds were not being deposited into my account. I thought perhaps it was just a new formality not working with Volusion in this aspect before this point. When I called, I was instructed to send all products and then the funds would be distributed. Well I am sick of telling the story over and over because to Volusion in this case, even though I was lied to over and over again, the customer, me, is always wrong.Regardless...fine...hold the money for 160 days. Whatever floats your boat and your shady business ways. Say one thing and then hide behind a contract. As for the $99....I feel I should be reimbursed for this amount. As I said and have continued to make this point, the VOLUSION REP...in his own words after I let him know how I charge the cards and then send when the CUSTOM orders are complete....said that there "would be no problem". As I said before, I would have gone directly back to EVO who understands these kinds of transacations if I had know that I was going to be treated this way and that there was going to be this kind of dispute on the account.
Regards,
[redacted]
While the hosting service to build and run the online store can be purchased online with a credit card, the payment processing account has a separate process. This merchant was required to fill out and sign an application, which is a contract between themselves, Volusion, and our payment...
processor, Global Payments. The contract has a three year term and requires written request to cancel. If a merchant chooses to cancel, they can submit their written request in the form of a ticket from myVolusion or send an email to [redacted] Instructions on how to cancel the payment processing account were provided both at the URL the merchant visited to cancel the hosting service and in an email sent to them from [redacted] The instructions include advisement that no refunds will be granted in the event of failure to properly cancel. This merchant contacted Volusion by phone on 02/08/16 with request to cancel and we advised of the instructions and sent the merchant an email as a courtesy to reply to so that the cancellation could be processed. We have received the merchant’s confirmation to cancel and will process and send confirmation once canceled.
We truly apologize for any confusion regarding this merchant’s purchase.We advised the merchant that a review of the sales call was conducted, and we have reviewed the call several times since. We can confirm that the merchant specifically asked the sales representative if the starter bundle would...
be a $99 monthly fee. The sales representative then immediately replied and clarified that the $99 price would be for the first month only. She elaborated on the services included with the bundle and then advised that for the second month the customer could downgrade and choose from any of the other four plans available. It is important to note that the only forms of payment accepted for hosting are debit and credit cards, so as to allow complete transparency with regard to each month's billing. When payment is taken, the debit will show up in a merchant's bank records, and it will also show up immediately in the My Volusion area along with the invoice. This way, if there are any concerns or questions about a charge, a merchant is able to reach out to our 24/7 Support Department via call, ticket, or chat. Though we are unable to issue a full refund, we have already issued a credit for the last hosting fee ($147.90) on 6/5/2015 .
We apologize for any misunderstanding caused by the communication from our Product Specialist. The email which the Product Specialist sent was not specific to the customer's issue, but was a standard response intended to convey information and set expectations regarding the resolution...
processes and timeline. As issue resolution is prioritized according to multiple factors, including number of occurrences, number of customers experiencing the issue, and the resources available to address the issue, the Product Specialists are not able to state a specific time in which any issue is able to be resolved. The Product Specialist definitely did not intend that his communication should be interpreted to sound as if Volusion doesn't care about the customer's issue, and we apologize if that was the impression conveyed. The email did direct the customer to contact our Support Team should he wish to address any further concerns; our Support Team is available 24/7 and would be happy to provide the customer with information regarding the status of his issue.
In reviewing
this merchant’s account, we can verify that the merchant contacted Volusion on 10/14/2015 requesting to
cancel the payment processing account.
We advised the merchant at that time that an email would be sent to her from [email protected] and that a confirmation response was...
required to process the cancellation. The fees for
the payment processing account are charged in arrears, and the merchant
requested to cancel two weeks into October. While we do not prorate the payment processing account fees, as
a one-time courtesy, we offered the merchant a credit. The daily rate for the payment processing account is $2.05, and
as the merchant requested to cancel on 10/14/15, fourteen days into the month,
we offered a courtesy credit of $34.97. We advised the merchant that we had to wait
to confirm the merchant’s bank allowed the debit and hadn't rejected it. We
advised the merchant that once we had this confirmation, we would submit the refund
request to our processor, Global Payments, and then send her confirmation once
issued. A request was submitted to Global Payments to issue the credit of
$34.97 on 11/10/15, and we are currently waiting for confirmation that it has been
issued.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Hello,Here is more follow up, and we stand by our initial complaint.Oct 2-to Trisha Banks-message saying ready to go live on our website. We had issues completing our SSL prior to this date. Our big event was going to be Oct. 3 and 4, so we needed the website ready to take payments by then.Oct. 6- emailed Trisha, our account manager. We were filling out information, but received error messages for merchant account.-last step before going liveOct 8-I called [redacted], for merchant accounts. He was sending a form ASAP to us to get the merchant acct. working on Oct.9-We did not receive it.Oct. 10-waiting on [redacted] for a form to sign. We had no website in the meantime, since domain name was transferred to Volusion.Oct. 13-Emailed and complained to [redacted] about not receiving the form to get the merchant account working that he was to send on Oct. 8-no orders could be placed on the website in the meantime. Oct. 14-[redacted] said the information he gave us Oct. 8 was incorrect, and we needed to do other paperwork to get the merchant account open. That’s the form that my partner signed without thoroughly reading, which stated a monthly fee we were not told about. She quickly signed it to get our account working asap. [redacted], the sales person who originally sold us the account said there was no monthly fee, but later charged for. I called to ask him about this, but would not talk to me, as he said he was transferred to another department.Oct. 16-[redacted] emailed saying he hadn’t received our bank verification. We were waiting on our bank acct. manager who was on vacation. This should have already been taken care of if [redacted] had told us earlier about this.Oct. 18- [redacted] claimed there was a problem with our URL by Volusion underwriters. This is another problem [redacted] should have known about earlier. Oct. 19- [redacted] was supposed to send us emails to eliminate this new problem and hadn’t so I emailed him to remind him.Oct. 19-We later received the emails and approval for the merchant account. Then we were to receive more emails about how to set up the account to start selling from the website.Oct. 20-I emailed [redacted] again because of no action, and still missing sales because we can’t charge anything.Sometime during this, I was told [redacted] no longer worked at Volusion, so he could not longer help us.Nov. 12- another message saying Volusion could not debit our bank account because of some new problem, asking us to send even more information from our bank.They closed our account for non payment from the problem Volusion had with our bank account.Dec. 6- We couldn’t receive our payments from our Volusion website sales, since our merchant account was closed. We had a lengthy conversation between Volusion, my partner, and myself, and to rectify this problem we were to send our check for $1.26, they were going to open the account, transfer the money to our account, then close it. We sent this email “This is notification to reopen our store (and at no cost per phone conversation), so we can receive payment for the transactions that did not process. I am sending all information via regular mail along with the money order for $1.26.”This is the Volusion response on Dec. 7, “Thanks for your reply. You can supply the banking information via email or fax, even if you had included them with your mailed payment. Once we have received the past due balance, and the information needed to update the bank account on file, we would by able to review the account to see if it can be reopened.”Per our phone conversation between Volusion, my partner, and I, there was no question about opening the account, and we were told they would transfer the money to our bank account, then close the account. We have been charged the monthly fee for the merchant account, though we were not to be charged, and made that perfectly clear.Dec. 14-But we still had not received the payment to our bank account. Now they asked us to do the following, though they had told us the previous information we sent would take care of everything. In the meantime we still could not charge on our website, since we changed the authorize.net and payment information as they asked us to do in the following email they sent to us on Dec. 14.”Hi xxxx! Effective today, your account has been reopened and you’re now clear to process credit card transactions. We’ve also reactivated your Authorize.net gateway account. To ensure that there aren’t any issues with processing transactions, we suggest you replace the current Authorize.net API Transaction key. This can be found under Settings > Payment in your Volusion dashboard. To generate a new transaction key, you’ll need to log in to your Authorize.net account and follow this path: Account > Settings > Security Settings > General Security Settings > API Login ID and Transaction Key You'll be prompted to answer your security question. Please DO NOT select to disable any previous transaction keys. Once verified, a new transaction key will be generated. Copy the transaction key and paste it within the payment gateway section of yourVolusion dashboard and save your changes. You'll then want to place a test transaction to ensure that you’re not receiving any gateway errors. Since you attempted to capture transactions after the closure notice was sent to you on 11/20/2014, you'll need to contact Authorize.net and ask if the batch can be resubmitted so that the transactions are processed and funded. You can reach Authorize.net at [redacted]. You will need your payment gateway ID ready.”The point and problem again, is that either the Volusion staff does not know the procedures, or too busy and cannot take care of problems correctly, or they just do not care to work things out properly. Every time we completed something asked for, we were asked to do something else. We still stand with this position, and want our money returned and pay us for our sales.
Regards,
[redacted]
It isn't possible for us to obtain the copy of the reminder email that the customer's mail host's server may or may not have received from us because we have no access to or control over that server. This is something the customer would have to request from the mail host. And in any event, it was just a courtesy reminder of the important aspects of the terms of the Volusion Select bundle purchase. It was in no way required by our original agreement. As previously stated, the purchase from April of 2016 (order ID # 1800960) for which the customer provided an invoice is a separate purchase from the one in question that included Fraud Score, from April of 2015 (order ID # [redacted] -- invoice attached). The April 2016 purchase isn't relevant to this case. The relevant April 2015 purchase was made from this page:[redacted]Also as previously stated, we received the customer's permission for the currently-disputed charges when she agreed to the Terms of Service upon purchase in April of 2015. We stand by our original response in all respects.
First and foremost, we apologize for any frustration the Merchant has encountered. The Merchant first purchased a Premium Bundle and a Premium Template on 6/17/2016. In the second month, the Merchant downgraded effective 7/22/2016 to a Mini Plan. The Mini Plan differs in the services offered than...
those offered with the Premium Plan. After the downgrade and communication with [redacted] and Ian, our Director of Sales reached out in an effort to resolve the Merchant's issues. During that time, our Director of Sales decided to provide an Account Manager free of charge to the Merchant. The Merchant utilized his Account Manager through the month of August, but it appeared that this would not resolve the Merchant's ultimate needs. The Merchant cancelled his account on 8/29/2016.Our Director of Sales has reached out to the Merchant via phone to inform him of the refund and discuss the terms of his cancellation. Volusion will issue a refund for the Premium Template. Additionally, we will refund the Merchant for the last month of hosting. We look forward to hearing from the Merchant and we wish him the best.
Although bandwidth overages rarely occur when a store is on hold, it is still possible for data usage to accrue, and we typically do not refund for these types of overages.In reviewing the account, we are able to see that the customer contacted us in January with concerns about being billed for...
overages while his store was on hold. Our support department advised the customer that he had some images on an FTP account that was connected to his Volusion store, and those images were utilizing bandwidth, causing the overage. We advised the customer to delete the images in order to avoid bandwidth overages in the future, but as the images were not removed, the overages continued to accrue. However, we do understand the frustration this issue has caused the customer due to the fact that he was under the assumption that the store, being inaccessible while on hold, would not utilize bandwidth. The customer would have been billed $9.95 per month had the overages not occurred, and as a courtesy we have refunded the difference. In February, he was billed $77.85, and we have refunded $67.90 for this charge (difference of $9.95). In March,he was billed $54.75, and we have refunded $44.80.
In reviewing the account, we can verify that the merchant requested to cancel the Volusion payment processing account on 06/06/2015. The debit in June was for services rendered in May, so we are unable to offer a refund of that fee. We do see that our processor, Global Payments,...
attempted a debit this month for June. We have reached out to our payment processor, Global Payments, and advised that that balance will be waived, as cancellation was requested on 06/06/15.No requests to cancel any of the services were submitted in either verbal or written form prior to 06/06/2015. The hosting account, which was a separate service providing access to build and run the online store, was closed on 02/21/2014. As a request to cancel payment processing services was not submitted, the account remained open and has been billed for resources utilized. Cancellation requirements for the payment processing account may be found in the Terms and Conditions to which the merchant agreed by signing the contract for the payment processing service. The Terms can be found by visiting [redacted]
We apologize for any confusion. The hosting plan and the payment processing service are two separate services and, as such, do have different cancellation policies. There is no cancellation fee for cancelling a hosting plan; however there is a $99.00 fee for cancelling the payment processing service, if the service is canceled prior to the end of the three-year term. (The three-year term applies only to the payment processing service, not the hosting service). The payment processing cancellation policy and fee are stated in the contract which the customer signed during the application process. The hosting plan cancellation was the only policy discussed with the sales representative initially, as the customer originally stated that she would use Paypal instead of credit card processing services. The sales representative verified that Paypal would be an option, as the software does integrate with Paypal. Many customers use basic Paypal services, and for this an SSL is not necessary. Upgraded Paypal services or a payment processing account may require an SSL, but ultimately each customer would need to assess on an individual basis how he or she would like to take payment and choose the option that best fits his or her needs. In order to go live, a registered domain name is required.Regarding the SSL, as it has been installed we cannot refund the fee; however, the customer is welcome to take the SSL with her for use with another hosting provider.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I was lied to about the necessity of needing to have an SSL. Continuing to say I wanted it does not make it true. If this has been 'installed' it can get UNINSTALLED ASAP. I don't need to 'take it with me' because the other, legitimate, company, provides it for me. As I found that almost every other legitimate company does as well. So it needs to be uninstalled and refunded since I did not need it, was pressured into buying it by being told I had 'no choice', and do not need it in the future.An email they sent me stated that they would be waiving this so-called $99 cancellation fee, but there is no reference to this in this complaint answers. I would like to have this documented here as well. I do have the email regarding this so if that charge is actually made anyway, I will be adding an additional fraud charge.
Regards,
[redacted]
When signing up for merchant services, the Merchant signed a Merchant Agreement and can obtain a copy of her Merchant Agreement signed by contacting our Payment Processing Team at [redacted] or at [redacted] (option 3, option 2). To access the Terms and Conditions that were agreed to, please...
refer to the following link: https://www.volusion.com/legal/merchant-services Volusion’s Terms and Condition, with specific attention to the following sections listed below, cover a Merchant’s obligations and liability, offer further information regarding why a reserve account may be established, and indicate information and steps concerning canceling merchant services: 5. PAYMENT, CHARGES AND FEES. 11. INDEMNITY. 13. TERM AND TERMINATION. 14. RETURNED ITEMS/CHARGEBACKS. 15. RESERVE ACCOUNT. 20. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION. The Merchant can contact our Risk Management Team at [redacted] to discuss the release time period for the current funds in reserve. On 10/05/2016, the Merchant submitted a request to cancel the Volusion Payments Account in writing ticket/email. The Merchant should be aware that even if she had submitted her cancellation prior to this date, she would have assessed fees in October for September due to a recent chargeback initiated by her customer. Per the sections in the Terms and Conditions referenced above, we are unable to offer a waiver or refund of any fees.
We apologize for any frustration or confusion caused by the issue of the SSL and Merchant Account fees. In reviewing the calls between the sales representative and the customer, we can verify that the sales representative did provide accurate information regarding the fee for the SSL. ...
The SSL is necessary for processing credit card payments, and the fee for a one-year SSL is a one-time charge. The fee for having a Merchant Account, which enables merchants to process credit cards, is a separate, recurring monthly fee. That is the fee to which the customer is referring. This is a different fee than that charged for the SSL (which was a one-time charge). The fees for the Merchant Account are disclosed on page two of the application which the customer signed at the time the merchant account was opened. These recurring fees are standard and applied to all merchants who open a credit card processing account. Because the fees assessed are accurate and were agreed to at the time the Merchant Account was opened, we are unable to waive or refund these fees.
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Most of what was said is completely false. There was nothing discussed regarding a cancellation policy whatsoever. In fact, Volusion states there is no cancellation fee right on their own site. Second, I did in fact say I was testing out the site but wanted to insure customers could use the site FULLY with the mini plan. INCLUDING payment through Paypal. I made it very very clear in that first phone call I did not want to spend a lot of money initially until I knew this was right for me. I was assured repeatedly that this was all I needed and could upgrade the plan at a later date if I chose to. It was AFTER I purchased the plan that I was called and told I could NOT fully use the site without buying an SSL. I was absolutely strong-armed into that.Then I was told I had to have a domain name in order to fully utilize the site. I paid for both. At no time whatsoever was I told my domain name would be held hostage for any period of time. In fact, from the first moment I called, it was made clear I was testing this company. They know this is true since they just told you that was exactly what I was doing when I first signed up. Obviously it would have given me pause if I HAD been told I could not move my domain name for two months!!While I apparently am prohibited from calling for support from this company, they had no problem making numerous calls to me for yet more 'add-on' features or products to try to sell to me. I did send MANY emails to several different people asking questions and requesting a response, and only after I contacted the Revdex.com did I get ANY response at all.Finally, after I contacted the Revdex.com, I suddenly get an email from them to 'expect a $99 cancellation charge' apparently from the SSL that I never wanted, used, asked for, and was assured by Volusion I did NOT NEED.I am amending this complaint to include the reversal of this 'cancellation fee', and again state I want a refund of the SSL certificate. As far as I am concerned, Volusion was wrong in first telling me I did not need it, then only after signing onto the plan, telling me I had no choice but to have it. Therefore Volusion can cover the cost of the SSL and the so-called 'cancellation fee'. I am contacting my bank as well to let them know of the fraudulent charge of $99 that may try to come through.
Regards,
[redacted]
To apply for a payment processing account, a merchant is required to read, fill out, and sign an application that advises it’s a contract for service. While this merchant may have chosen not to read the contract they electronically signed on 10/06/15, it’s binding and the merchant is held to...
the terms they agreed if and once they’re approved. There are several items a merchant must complete before the account can be approved and a merchant can take their store live. This merchant was provided a list of the items they had yet to complete on 10/07/15 including providing a bank document showing their account number, approving the SSL so their customers’ credit cards are kept secure, and adding contact information, as well as, their refund policy on their website. This merchant completed everything and provided bank documentation on 10/19/15 and her account was setup and approved that day. On 11/12/15, we sent notification to this merchant that our processor was unable to debit processing fees from their bank account with the reason of invalid account number. We explained to the merchant that the bank document she sent to us during the application process didn’t list a routing number and that we needed a voided check or bank letter that lists this information and asked that she sign the direct deposit change request form we sent her. This didn’t interrupt the merchant’s ability to accept orders. In fact, if the merchant had processed orders in the meantime, the funds from their sales would have covered the balance and the account would’ve remained open. However, the merchant didn’t send the documents and didn’t capture any sales between 10/19/15 and 11/20/15 and the payment processing account was closed on 11/20/15 due to the past due balance. Once a payment processing account is closed, we require payment to be mailed in the form of a cashier’s check or money order so that we have the payment immediately since a debit via electronic funds transfer takes at least 10 business days to clear. Notification was sent to this merchant via email that the payment processing account was canceled on 11/20/15 due to a past due balance. Since we made this merchant aware that the account was closed and they chose to attempt to process credit card orders when there was no longer service, funds were never moved from customers’ credit cards to fund to the merchant. No funds are owed to this merchant since they chose not to provide the necessary documents to update the bank account before the payment processing account was closed.
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.
But to be noted their response is incorrect. I did sign up for the trial and it asked for my credit card with a statement stating "Don't worry your card will not be processed until after the trial period" Very deceiving.
Regards,
[redacted]