Complaint Review: Flagship Merchant Services/Linkpoint Central

We recently signed up with Flagship Merchant Services so that our company could receive credit and debit card payments from our customers. During the initial sign up consultation it was agreed that we would be collecting large sums of money (upwards of $30,000 per transaction) from our customers. Our sales representative said that since we take deposits we should put our limit between $2,000-$15,000, and if we had any transactions of a larger amount that we would simply have to call loss prevention to notify them. It sounded great that they wanted to protect our customers. We signed a service agreement for 1 year. The service agreement state that we would be charged at a rate of 2.2% per transaction, to be taken out of the transaction before being put into our account.

So late last week we took in a payment for $16,500 and we called the Loss Prevention department to notify them. They contacted our customer and proceeded to take the said funds from their credit card. Days pass and the funds have yet to be put into our account. We contact Flagship Merchant Services, and get redirected to several different phone numbers, some of which had Indian representatives who had no answers either. Finally we get in contact with Loss Prevention again and the let us know that they canceled the transaction because we do not have matching funds in our account.

We were never made aware that they could go into our account to see the available funds. What difference does it make if we have a matching amount today, when it could be gone tomorrow anyway? We have a landscaping company and most of the money we collect goes to supplies and labor, and it goes fast. So obviously our account will fluctuate.

We tried to find out if there was anything we could do to just collect the $16,500 to get the project started and then they notify us that it was in the contract. And indeed it was in very fine print mixed in with a bunch of legal jargon. Yes, we take responsibility for not knowing in advance that we should have matching funds, but we slipped up and it won't happen again.

Okay so can you please refund our customer? Their response was that it would take at least three business days. On top of that they went into our bank account and took $674.85 a charge for the $16,500 they collected from the customer. Originally we were told that we would be charged 2.2% for each transaction and that it would be removed from the total charge before reaching our account. Plus $674.85 is more than 2.2%. And why are they taking anything out of our account anyway? That was never agreed upon.

We have been going in circles for the past two days, we have yet to speak to a manager because they are always in a meeting, or because they are a sales only department. Where are all the managers? The last thing the account rep said to us was that our money would be refunded to us when the customers money was refunded to them, in about three business days.

I have since learned that it is illegal for them to take any money from our account unauthorized. This mess has put us behind on a very large job, and has put our good name and reputation on the line. We are absolutely dissatisfied with Flagship Merchant Services and Linkpoint Central.

Lizeth
Morgantown, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.