Legal Question in Business Law in California

Merchant account continuing to re-bill my bank account

1. I had a merchant account under First Data since July 2009. It was closed in January, but I noticed I was continuing to be debited from First Data. At this point I found out that the rep erronously opened 2 accounts under 2 separate merchant IDs (for the same business)

The rep told me that I would need to send a fax stating what happened and request the account be closed and duplicate charges reversed.

1. I sent this fax and followed up in a week. The acocunt was still open and they said they didn't get the fax.

2. I sent another fax and followed up again about a week later. Once again, they said they didn't receive the fax.

3. Now I was concerned, so I sent a 3rd fax as well as a letter by mail. This fax was sent to the CSR that I spoke to on the 2nd call (she said she would give it directly to her boss who would forwrd it to the right place) When I followed up, the notes confirmed that the CSR requested this fax, but she did not receive it. They also did not receive my letter.

4. On my 4th call I was trying to contain my anger. I spoke with a supervisor who was very apologetic and gave me another different number to send her a fax. After sending this fax twice, I received errors both times saying the number was not a fax line. Additionally, I resent a letter and this time I sent it certified mail for proof of delivery.

5. I was waiting another week to follow up when I checked my statement and found that they have billed me once again. So I am certain that they still have not closed the account.

If this was a small company i would have thought they were engaging in fraud, but this is First Data, the largest merchant account provider. I just don't know how to proceed at this point.

I have 3 fax receipt showing the faxes were delivered.

I now also have a certified mail receipt showing the mail was also delivered.

What should I do at this point? I just want this account closed and the erronous fees returned to me.

Thank you for any guidance.


Asked on 3/06/10, 2:22 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John R. Browning, Esq. [email protected] (949 234-6266)

I have a client that had an issue that we resolved successfully with a company that claimed they were affiliated with First Data, when if fact they were not. They had also signed a four year lease for merchant processing equipment with A-1 Leasing, and the lease rate turned out to be much higher than they had believed when they signed the contract. In those instances, we were able to resolve the situation with strongly worded letters and using the threat of lawsuit as leverage. I was also to obtain a cash payment for my client, which more than covered the fees they incurred getting the situation resolved.

The point of all this is that some times, you need a letter from a lawyer to get someone's attention.

Good luck.

Check out my blawg at http://JohnBrowningEsq.blogspot.com/

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Answered on 3/11/10, 4:10 pm


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