First National Merchant Solutions – A Scam or a Bad Business?
UPDATE 4/8/2011: First National Merchant Solutions (FNMS now formal TSYS) was sued in court in 2010 for the same practices we’ve all described below (as you can see I’m unfortunately not the only one that got scammed by this fraudulent company) . First National Merchant Solutions are definitely scamming their clients with fake contracts, illegal overcharges and outrageous fees. This has happened to thousands of business. First National Merchant Solutions claim they are the largest payment processing bank, I should say the largest fraud makers in the US. This company needs to return each and every penny they’ve illegally taken from all their clients. To read the lawsuit follow this link.
—
In February of 2009 I was approached via phone by Jason Carpenter a sales representative for First National Merchant Solutions (FNMS) offering me what I thought was the best offer any business could possibly have, a great pocket saving, credit card processing company. The rate were great 2.16% + 0.20 cents on VISA, 2.37% + 0.20 cents on MasterCard, 3.67% + 0.20 cents on Discovery and a monthly fee of $7.50.
When I signed up I was verbally promised 1 year agreement with auto-renewal and no early termination fees if I stayed for at least a year, which sounded reasonable. He said my contract agreement would be mailed after signing the contract, which I thought unusual, but hey, its First National Bank right? they have been in business for ever. During the negotiation I mentioned to Jason I was already PCI Compliant with my website through McAffee (former Scan Alert), for which he asked what was that? Little old me had to explain one of the biggest bank institutions what PCI Compliant meant for the credit card industry and how it affected online e-commerce. He replied saying that was fine but that they were not involved with it at all. Which I thought it was quite weird since the law for merchant services and e-commerces was passed in June 2006.
I started working with them like normally, almost happy with my service as I seeing larger charges by the end of my 1 year period, but I just couldn’t close my account because I didn’t want to loose money with that ridiculously high ($250) early termination fee if I closed my account before the year ended. I started shopping for other merchant services but they were too expensive so I decided to let it go and stay with them.
I received a letter from them a few months ago which read (click image to read the letter in its entirety):
WHAT?!?! wait a minute! but you didn’t even know what PCI Compliance was when I signed up for your services! that’s not even in my contract! So I set that paper aside and placed a note in my to-do list for that week to remind myself to strengthten this matter asap. A few days later I went to check my bank account and I found a charge for $150 & change. WHAT?!?!
So I called Jason. I got on the phone with him just to find out this charge and the letter is a “mandatory” request that applies to everyone of their clients (WTF?!?!) I explained to him that when I signed up I remember telling him my website was already PCI compliant, that they had no clue what PCI compliance was, that I wasn’t going to pay for this, that it was not in my contract and that this was a service pushed down my throat without the possibility to sign out of it. He said I could sign out of paying the $119 but that I still had to pay the $30 fee + the $20 monthly fee as I was required to sign up with Trustwave, again WTF?!?!?!, I told him I wasn’t going to sign up for anything that I already had Scan Alert and that I was not going to pay 2 fees for the same service I already had. That’s when the “reader” came into place.
The “reader” was a lady (don’t remember her name unfortunately) from customer service whose only scope was to “literally” read the paper she was instructed to read every client who fought the “new ordinance” established by FNMS, which truly and honestly pissed me off BIG time as you can imagine. No matter what I would say to this lady she would read out-loud a piece of this speech, basically repeating over and over the same useless information. I kept explaining to her I already was PCI compliant, I explained to her my website was already being scanned by Scan Alert, I explained to her that it was illegal for them to make a mandatory demand without the alternative for people to sign out of it if they were not happy with the NEW demands of the organization, I told her this was not in my contract for which they are breaching my signed contract, nothing matter to her, she kept reading her script out-loud. What a shady company, what an abusive organization, what a disastrous customer service!!!
At one point I felt my blood boiling! who wouldn’t!? I’m being robbed by a bank, they had tapped into my account without my permission and ripped me off $150 + change, they broke my contract! so my last words to the “reader” were I’ll close my account then, right? WRONG!!! she went on to say I had to pay $250 for early termination fee, AGAIN! WTFridge?!?!? (and you thought I was saying something else with those initials huh?) I signed up a contract for 1 year with auto renewal, I’m way over the 1 year, I don”t have to pay Early Termination Fees! are you kidding me? — were my words — and she went again with the second part of her speech, I was almost gaging at this point and infuriated by the terrible customer service, the lack of willingness to fix my problem, shady practices and by the fact I wasn’t going to get through these dense criminals! so I told the “reader” if they charge me for anything I would sue them and file a complaint with the FTC and I hung up the phone.
I called my bank and explained the situation, the account manager on the other side said to me what FNMS did was absolutely illegal (no kidding! really?) but that I had the option to file a complaint for fraud with my bank for illegal charges to my checking account, which I did. To prevent these criminals to keep charging my bank account I closed my old account and opened a new one. You think this is the end of the story and that I’m going to just tell you avoid working with these criminals? wrong! there is more!
This past weekend as I’m checking again my online banking I find out my old account is still active (weird! I remember closing it!) when I clicked on it I found the $250 early termination fee charged to my account. Man these people are worse than leaches! they don’t get it do they?! I went to the bank this past Monday and I was told the account is pending for closing but since these people keep charging my account the system keeps rebooting itself making it impossible to close the account. I was told to go to the bank today to fix this issue.
Yesterday I got the mail back from my PO Box to find out a collection letter from (you guessed it right!) FNMS saying now I owe them $250 for early termination fees. Ha! this company’s service is priceless!!
I called this morning to the phone on the letter and spoke with Rolinda Hollie, an extremely rude woman who hang up the phone on me TWICE. This bank is stealing from me in my face and they have the NERVE to treat me like crap! WOW! I just need to be beaten up by their security guard to make it an official robbery!
I explained to this rude woman that they breached my contract, that I’ve been with them for more than a year and that I didn’t have to pay early termination fees on nothing. She went on to say they policy is a 3 years agreement, I keep telling her my contract says nothing of that sort and that I was awarded a 1 year contract and auto renewal due to the nature of my business, that she could send me all the collection letters she wanted that I wasn’t going to pay a dime, that instead they should start by reviewing the charges they did because they overcharged me credit card fees and I’m entitled to a refund of $48 + change which I had already informed Jason Carpenter for which of course I haven’t heard a word since all this mess started. On top of everything they hide from their clients, very mature, adult and professional! bravo! She then decided to say “I’m no longer talking to you” and hang up on me! I called back just to let her know I was informing of this to my lawyer, file a complaint with the FTC and possibly file a lawsuit against them. She hang up again. Bravo Mrs Rolinda Hollie! you were just awarded Crappy Customer Service of the year!!
I’m determined to fight for my rights and won’t let First National Merchant Solutions, a First National Bank of Omaha branch to take from me one dime. What FNMS has done is illegal and I can see a bank in Venezuela, or any other poor unregulated country doing it but here, in the USA? it would mean the end of a good country, or is it that this country is going south and I’m not aware of?
If you’re a business in the same predicament as I am contact me, I’m willing to file a class action lawsuit against FNMS, for scam, illegal charges and bait and switch, and I will personally file a formal complaint against Jason Carpenter and Rollinda Hollie, for being horrible at their jobs, for their bad manners, providing false information to get potential clients to sign up for their services (bait and switch) and for their horrendous customer service.
To the Presidents and Vicepresident of FNMS you need to get your business straighten up and stop taking advantage of your customers (do a search on google, you’ll find hundred of customers really frustrated for your policies) and PLEASE! pay for a good customer service course or workshop, all your people would truly benefit from it. Your customer service is at the level of the worse institutions of poor underdeveloped countries, not the image you want to portray of your bank institution.
A really pissed off – ex-customer – former victim of banking abuse and robbery.
P.S. If you are just thinking about signing up for FNMS think again, and then don’t do it unless you want to live a similar nightmare. I instead found a better solution for my credit card processing needs, which is safe for my clients (my number one priority always!), transparent, clear, cheaper and with TRUE no early termination fees, no hidden fees and with much, MUCH better customer service.
Related Posts...
Arabian Nights - Art Friday
Art Special of the Week14 Comments
My partner and I had an almost duplicate experience with these scam artists, and would be interested in talking to you.
THANKS!
October 18, 2010
Wow! There are stories like this with a lot of processors. That is why I work for AGMS we do not charge extra for PCI compliance.
October 18, 2010
As an independent representative of a small credit card processor, I try my hardest to inform every merchant of mine about PCI compliance. All they are trying to do is collect money in case there is a breach. Paying those charges does NOT ensure your compliance most of the time. If they have 50000 merchants that do not receive the letter or does nothing they charge $20. THAT’S 1 MILLION DOLLARS FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! If one of those merchants do become victims of a breach they are left, for lack of better term, “holding the bag” or owing the fees which are “not widely publicized but can be catastrophic to a business”. As a merchant service provider rep, I am ashamed we are even legally allowed to do business in this manner. Thank you for posting this information. I will continue to send traffic to your website just for this.
November 8, 2010
NCP have stolen my hard earned cash
I own a gas station and they conned their way in with low rates while I was ill and my wife was running the bussness.
They or their appoinnted representive downloaded the wrong software at the very beging in to our POS System causing us to lose so much money in un-paid or dispreate card transaction over 5 months,we may be forced to close.
They are a mickly mouse con operation just like the goverment
January 6, 2011
I was with FNMS for more than 4 yrs – though not always happy with additional fees, poor customer service, and PCI crap, I hung in there – and then when I sold my business I was informed of a $250 cancellation fee. First of all I didn’t know there was an automatic renewal after my initial 3 yr contract (and my rep NEVER helped me with anything after she got me signed up), secondly, I’m leaving because I sold the business and they wouldn’t let me roll the account from myself to the new owner (not just because I decided to leave) and thirdly, even if I had known of the first two issues, I couldn’t have controled the timing of my selling the business within the 30 day window that they said I had to close the account without the fee. After all of the BS I put up with them as a horrible company over the past 4 yrs, they’re screwing me to the end. Another example of a small business who struggled to keep my head above water and am again being taken advantage of by big business. They seem to be able to change their contract (ie add new fees) anytime they want, but you can’t have any flexibility in yours. I find it ironic the word “solutions” is in the name since there never seemed to be any solution, just another fee. If you are a new business reading this, I STRONGLY ADVISE AVOIDING THIS COMPANY based on not only their bad track record on a monthly basis but their continuing to basically take advantage and steal from the small business owner to their very last cent. If you are the original post, I would be interested in talking if I can afford to as FNMS literally took every last cent left in my business account.
January 7, 2011
@pbpftfadia FNMS was already sued for this illegal practice of them by businesses in San Francisco, California on June 2010. People are popping all over the US with thousands of complaints about the illegal practices of this company and they all agree this is a scam of incredible proportions. I already spoke with a lawyer but unless we are all united like the people in California were, to open another class action law suit against these scammers I’m afraid our only resource is small claims. The case # is 10-cv-01993-CW. I’m sure there are more lawsuits, I just haven’t found them yet. Another option I’m considering is to go to national tv to report this scam. Meanwhile the only option for me at the moment is small claims court, and that’s what I’m planning on doing.
April 8, 2011
First National Merchant Solutions is now TSYS Merchant Solutions. This company is a rip off !!! Unlike many of the unfortunate posts on here I was able to beat them with their scam of trying to get the $250 cancelation fee. In my case I had been with them for over 6 years and wanted to switch to a company with better rates. They gave me the same old tired bs that they tell anyone who wants to cancel their crappy service. Things like you owe $250 because you agreed to it (which I did not) and you arent cancelling in that 1 month per year blah blah. I asked them not to charge my card any more but in the meantime I went to my bank and put a stop payment for the $250 and also revoked any future rights that they had to my bank account. They for sure tried to draft the $250 but my bank blocked them. I then wrote their con artist president who gave me a bunch of jibberish reasons hiding behind codes and contractese that I did not find in my paperwork. I told them I wanted proof of me agreeing to the $250 and in the mean time I contacted the BBB (Better Business Bureau) in Omaha. BTW their contact info is: BBB Headquarters
11811 P Street
Omaha, NE 68137
Phone: 402-391-7612
Fax: 402-391-7535
info@bbbnebraska.org
They told me that they had over 300 complaints about First National Merchant Solutions (Now called TSYS Merchant Solutions). They sent my complaint to the Comptroller of the Currency (part of the federal government). The CotC did not open up an investigation. In the mean time the First National Merchant con artists sent me a copy of a contract with my signature and the $250 on it but the date on the contract was 2006. I signed up with them in 2004!!! They stuffed the envelope with bogus information mixed with my signature trying to get me to pay. They also started harassing my snail mail saying that they were going to turn me into collections. I sent the false contract to the BBB and they again submitted it to the CotC. This time the CotC opened an investigation and the threat mails stopped. This was 6 months ago. I had also told the CotC of the number of complaints against this ‘company’. They do not realize how bad they make themselves look and the money that they actually miss out on as more and more people hear of their dishonest and corrupt tactics. Stay away from TSYS Merchant Solutions!! Hope this helps someone out there.
June 14, 2011
So what credit card company did you go with?
June 18, 2011
Hi Gil. I ended up going with squareup.com no monthly fees, no penalties, super awesome iPhone and iPad app which allows me to travel wherever I want and still accept credit cards anywhere, and incredible customer service.
September 26, 2011
I started up a company with FNMS/TSYS 10/2006. I tried hard to cancel from 2008 on. There was this window of time to cancel which I found incredibly odd for a business in the US to try to get away with. Free Enterprise and capitilism encourages competition. Now days there is this bs of 2-year contracts/agreement that “big” corps try to enforce which I feel is monopolizing in some other way. Monopoly was illegal I thought.
Anyway, I would be interested in bringing TSYS down if anyone is interested please email me at chrish1957@gmail.com.
October 11, 2011
This company has been blatetly stealing from people for years. A class action lawsuit must be filed! A federal agency must also get invoved in bringing leagal charges against this company.
We should all work together to bring this company down, get our stolen money back and jail time for the people responsible. It is possible.
October 11, 2011
I agree with you! let’s get together all of us and start acting. They got sued in California for the same practices, so there is a record of wrong doings. If we can get the news on tv nationwide about what these guys are doing, we might bring them down.
December 7, 2011
First National Merchant Solutions is ripping off its clients with PCI compliance violations that did not exist when those clients signed up.
They wanted $20,000 but stole $7,000 from our company for supposedly not being PCI compliant because they said we did not disclose our parent company name on the checkout page of our e-commerce site. They notified us and the same day we complied and placed it in (3) separate locations. The fraud department claimed that it was too late and we owed $20,000 after 10 years of being with them. 10 years.
We contacted our attorney that got a letter stating that we would be personally sued by FNMS we did not pay. We contacted the attorney general in Connecticut and they were useless because FNMS was to large to fight. Connecticut frowns upon e-commerce sites operating in CT that sells to 50 states.
I wonder how many businesses needlessly went out of business because of these FNMS scammers.
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!
I can explain further about the scam performed on our company to anyone who wants to hear about it.
January 23, 2012
James, this is outrageous!! They don’t have the authority to fine any merchant ever, much less for those ridiculous amounts!! chances are they were fined for not being compliant and are passing the fees to their clients. What they’ve done to all of us is 100% illegal! I just can’t understand how on earth are they still in business! We need to do something, go on national TV and exploit their scam, make this public and go for a class action lawsuit not only to recover our money stolen but to sue them for anything and everything else. We need to put this company on the floor asap!!
Leave a comment
Links
Books
October 14, 2010