Complaint Review: Flagship Merchant Services

These guys are awful for low volumes.  I am a consultant and get paid via relatively few transactions per year.  Occasionally I've been asked if I take credit cards.  As an effort at customer service I opened this account to try it out. I ended up paying over $500 in 10 months, without a single transaction before closing the account.

To start I was approved for a relatively low max transaction value making it of limited use for my business.  The agent I spoke to was a good salesperson and convinced me to try it out any way even though I saw it of little use.  When their bills started arriving, the fisrt month was $32.95 per month but then each month the ping ponged all over the place.  A statement fee of $7.95 was added which I had not been informed of. Then came an annual compliance fee of $99.  Next a mysterious $30 **additional fee was added on. 

I had never actually logged into set up the account and decided to cancel.  When I called customer service person offered me $75 refund on the fees and a lower  monthly fee of $7.95, no statement fee.  I thought this was reasonable for a potential value to customers.

Three months later they were still charging me $37.95 a month.  I called to cancel and they claimed the $30 **additional fee was a PCI non compliance fee because I had not filled out a form on their website. I was never informed of the need for this. I asked them to suspend service immediately.

They never did stopped charging me.  When I called again they said they needed my signature first and had sent me an email requesting this.  I spoke to Brian in customer service and he told me it was reasonable for them to charge the PCI non compliance fee as I was advised monthly on my statement.

Folks - in the middle of the bill is a "Reminder" that merchants must be PCI compliant.  It does not say anywhere that my account is NOT compliant.  In the fees section it posts a $30 fee which is described as **Additional Fees. 

When I complained that this is not clear and poor practice, Brian told me I was properly charged and "declined" to offer a refund.   He said it was part of the fees for having an account.  When I asked what they do with these PCI fees he said it simply goes to them. His attitude was well, that's too bad for you, its in the fine print. They were so solicitous and helpful in the sales process and so dismissive in the customer service process.

Talk about a rip off - $7.95 for a service and $30 additional FEES per month totaling over $500 in 10 months for processing exactly 0 transactions. I'm sure this works better if you run a pizza shop or in retail, but think carefully and don't believe the sales hype.  They make it hard to cancel, keep charging you and GET YOU IN THE FEES!!! 

Oh and they are not Better Business Bureau certified, BBB rates them a C+ and there are numerous unresolved complaints.  BEWARE!