North American Bancard Consumer Reviews - Page 4

I just bought a business from a couple that retired and moved to another country. I called NAB to tell them to discontinue service for them. The business name remained the same but all other aspects were new. I was told that they could not talk to me as I was not authorized (valid). I tracked down the former owners and had them call NAB. The old owners told me that all was settled and account was canceled as soon as I filled out some information that was to be faxed.

The paper that was faxed said they would cancel service and for me to just sign and fax back. Very small print at the bottom revealed that the old contract would be canceled and a new contract would begin upon receipt of fax. I did not sign or fax back as there was only a year left in old contract. I called the old owners and they said there was a buyout of $375.00. But when I called (I now had authorization to access the account), I was told a buyout amount of $470.00. I tried several avenues to terminate old contract, each met with a higher buyout amount and the customer service person stating they "couldn't find" the notes about lower buyout amounts.

I gave up and figured $30.00 a month for the next year would be the best way to leave it. They just took $129.00 out of my account due to a yearly fee. As the original contract is written I am not sure we can ever get out of the arrangement. I was honest and upfront with the company and each time that information was used to make my amount higher. I found NAB to be very unethical and fear the worst. I did not sign anything with this service but am made to suffer indefinitely. I hate to call to talk to anyone as I fear another penalty amount. I apologize for not giving any details but I think it's to safeguard me.

TROY, MICHIGAN -- This company is worst and most dishonest company I ever used in my business life. The salesperson who was Mark ** came in my restaurant and ate a lot of foods and ask to show credit card processing statement. I showed him statement and he told me that he could make lower these fees. Of course, I didn't trust this guy, so I checked a first month statement and found out this company charged 1% more money than my previous company. I had a credit card sales of $60,000 this month, so this company overcharged $600 more than my previous company. I told Mark that I would change back to previous company, then he told me he will fix these high rate to low rate.

It was mistake. I checked next month statement and I found out this company even charged more than last month. I was really upset and I called this company directly and talk about this high rate fee. The person name Chris was taken care of my account and he told me that he will fix these high rate fee to low rate. I checked next month statement and find out this company even charge more money than last month, so I tried to cancel this account and found out that he set me up for over $1000 cancellation fee for my account.

Usually, cancellation fee for credit card processing fee is $250-$350. I have never seen this high cancellation fee for my lifetime, so I talked with Mark about lower my processing fee again and he charged more and more every month. I tried to save some money for credit card processing fee and lost more than $3000-$4000 for only 4 months using this company. I hope nobody get some stupid ripoff what I got.

The people running this company are thieves. Their support for merchants is a scam! Their sales reps are uninformed and come and go faster than used car salesman. We signed a contract a year ago for 2 locations, after a couple of months one location had to close so we called our sales representative who said he would close the one account and pass the machine at the closed location on to the new business that was moving in. After filling out all the paperwork we left their representative telling us all was finalized.

A few months later we were wondering why we were getting charged so much and found out that the one account had never been closed. After many, many emails and conversations we expected a refund for the months the salesman had "forgotten" to send in the paperwork. THIS never and still has not happened. THEN yesterday, eight months later, at 9.00am $500.00 was taken out of our bank account. After several talks with various phone reps and many hours on the phone we find out that their sales representative never did transfer or turn in the machine and the company is claiming us responsible for it. Why not they already have our money!

They claim this is on our agreement which we do not question. However they have emails and notes in their computer system that clearly state that the sales representative was given the machine and they even admit that. So how is it that their sales representative whom they trained to sell their product is not liable and we are? I am sure that given the amount of evidence there is to prove that the sales representative became responsible for the machine any court of law would tell NA Bancard to give us back our money, but they maintain that until they receive the machine they will keep our money!

They probably play this game with everyone and we are offended and shocked. Not to mention that we have bills to pay that we cannot pay them now... They stole our money out of our account! I have read countless complaints about this company in the last 24hrs and it would seem that we have been scammed, our rates continue to increase, our fees continue to rise and NOW they have jeopardized our very ability to open the doors!

Take some responsibility Corporate cash cow! We owe you nothing, your salesperson owes you a machine and you know it, give us back our money, it is the right and honest thing to do. A warning to all NEVER NEVER sign up for service from this greedy lying business, your days will be filled with headaches and your pocketbook will be emptied! - Coconut Cafe (a mom and pop operation in Oregon).

ROBBINSDALE, MINNESOTA -- Attempted to switch my services to another processor. Called the first time to cancel was sent to voicemail and was told a "senior rep" was going to call me back - 1 week later no phone call. Called them back again, spent about 10 minutes on hold to talk to the first person - then while on hold heard a message regarding "mybiz perks" and calling to opt out - found out the last year I have been with them I had been automatically enrolled in this program for the low low price of 9.95 a month!

Finally got a representative who asked me what they could to put me on hold to "research my account" for about 5 minutes then told me he couldn't close it and would transfer me to "senior rep" at extension 1400. Extension rang and rang until I got voicemail again. I refused to leave a message and went back to the main menu. This got me to escalations who then did the same process and told me again she had to transfer me to a senior representative I refused and demanded that someone resolve this issue and close the account. I was again told, "yes sir, please hold," then disconnected.

Called back again, this time about 1 hour and 20 minutes later now currently on hold after explaining to the "customer service rep" that if this couldn't be resolved after this phone call I would contact my bank and have all transactions from NAB refused, forward the matter to my attorney and report them to the attorney general and the FTC. Currently have been on hold for an additional 19:20. Rep came back on the line and has now informed me that we signed a 3-year contract allegedly. When we signed up the representative said there was no contract. Claim to cancel now is $820. Matter is being referred to our attorney.

After reviewing many merchant companies, I decided to go with North American Bancard. I signed up for an account. The sales guy (Bennie **) was VERY helpful with the initial step and got me both an online and offline (wireless) account. Great service so far, calling back almost instantly and emailing back within the hour.

They shipped the machine rapidly, awesome! However when I tried using the machine, it didn't work - said the account was invalid. I called Bennie ** for help. He checked and told me the account was valid and active, no problems. I tried again, still not working. I called Bennie ** back, this time left a voice mail. Didn't hear back for over a day, so I sent an email. This was also ignored. I was under time pressure because 3 days later I was going to a trade show.

Eventually I got him on the phone. He said he checked again and the account is in order, but if I was having problems, I should contact customer service. After calling customer service and speaking with 3 different people over a 2.5 hour period, I was finally informed that my account was closed (AFTER THE FACT). She said I would need to send the machine back, on my own cost. I inquired if there was anyone I could speak with to resolve this issue. The answer: no.

I called Bennie ** asking about the actual situation, why was this chaos going on and how could we resolve this. No reply. I sent 3 emails, both to him and then to customer service. No reply. Yesterday I got back to the US (having been in Europe on a business trip) to find a letter stating that if I don't return the machine by Nov 11 they would charge my account $895.

I shipped the machine yesterday with FedEx ground. Today my account was charged $895. I just called and left another message inquiring about this situation. So far I don't feel they care about small businesses, I've gotten nothing but a brush off attitude. Too bad, because they seemed incredible at the start.

A few months ago, I changed from First Data to North American Bankcard to provide credit card processing for my small in home business, I process relatively few charges per month, usually less than a dozen, and my total credit card sales monthly is probably less than $2000. I'm very careful about what fees I pay and from my previous experience at First Data knew they had tried to charge me a PCI fee, but once I proved I was compliant by my own self-assessment test First Data waved the fee.

I made certain to ask my sales representative when I signed up with NAB if I'd have to pay a PCI fee and was told no at the time, after only 3 months, I received a notice on this month's statement that next month I would be charged a $79 PCI compliance fee. I've gone round the bend with the few CS representatives I can find to speak to about the issue, and they tell me I must pay, but if I must pay, I will be looking for a new service provider and a lawyer who is willing to investigate this for a potential class action suit, I'm almost certain this would be a great cause of action, with a large class that yields large dollars for some law firm.

Any lawyers looking for a case, feel free to contact me, and any business people looking at NAB steer clear... UPDATED 11/9/2010 - Today I was contacted by Diana at NAB and promised a refund of 79.00 would be sent to my account, I trust that will happen in the next few days.

I believe the way NAB is handling this fee is a deceptive and unfair trade practice still, and I believe until they are more forthcoming about this fee in advance and more plainly state the intention to charge it in the Merchant Agreement they will be liable for damages as a result of this policy. I am STILL going to have to fight with NAB each year over this fee. According to Diana the policy won't change, and I am still consulting legal advisers and considering further action in this matter.

ATHENS, OHIO -- After 9 years with NAB with very little problems I decided to switch processing companies to throw some business to my bro-in-law. This company became immediately hostile and deceptive in order to squeeze as much money out of me as possible. I asked for a copy of my contract and was mailed an illegible version. The writing was obscured and tiny. Asked for a legible version and they sent the same version. I figured I would ask the customer service reps any questions I had regarding contractual issues with closing the account. BIG MISTAKE. The reps are intentionally deceptive and lull you into thinking you are on the right track and then debit your account later.

I was told to fax my request to close, which I did... three times. Each time they claimed they never received the fax. After the third time I asked to have immediate confirmation the fax was received which was met with hostility as though I was the one being unreasonable.

Explained on 3 separate occasions over the phone that I wanted my account closed in Feb. so I would not have to pay processing fees for March. Suggested Feb. 28th and was told that would be "fine". Of course I got processing fees for March.

Was also told that I did not have to return my machine. I HAVE WRITTEN PROOF IN AN EMAIL of the conversation where the representative said not to return it. Just got a letter stating that if the machine is not returned 10 days after the letter is dated (three days from now) I'll get a $500 fee.

The letter is postmarked two days after the letter is dated. I would have been HAPPY to return their old and outdated machine. They intentionally told me not to return it in hopes that they could get another $500 out of me after it was not returned on time. I would applaud a class action suit against this crooked company. I'm sure NAB will respond with their usual automated rebuttal about how they "strive" to meet customer's needs. What a load of crap.

TROY, MICHIGAN -- I appreciate that North American Bancard tries to divert complaints from the site by requesting that potential complaints be addressed by them first, but failing the threat of posting another negative review of their "services" on this site they were not particularly helpful.

Given the canned company response that North American representative has pasted into nearly every complaint here, I guess I should not have expected much. Despite paying their monthly fees for almost a full year for services we no longer receive from North American Bancard, they remain unwilling to terminate our Merchant Account without penalties of $295.00! Continuing to pay their fees until the original Merchant Agreement terminates would only amount to $200.

I have reviewed our copy of the original contract we signed with North American Bancard and the page addressing "termination fees" is conveniently missing. It is unfortunate that businesses like North American Bancard would take advantage of small, family-owned businesses like ours by not only charging excessive processing fees, but also a bear-trap cancellation clause that guarantees they make money without consideration of our own economic situation given the current downturn.

Sadly, it was only until getting into the same situation as many other businesses who have submitted complaints here that we discovered how truly unsavory North American Bancard can be. If there is a lesson to be taken from this, it is to thoroughly review your credit card processing service providers and their “agreements” before signing anything they send you.

In the grand scheme the $200 we will end up paying, or even the $295 early termination fee do not amount to much, but it simply reveals the lack of principle or integrity of North American Bancard to write such penalties into a contract if they were truly confident their services were competitive.

TROY, MICHIGAN -- I have recently taken over the position as office manager at a real estate appraisal firm and was told by the person who had the position before me that the account with North American Bancard had been cancelled. Well, we are still being billed with the amounts being auto-debited from the company account. I have spoken with several people, including the original representative that helped to set up the account and they magically cannot find the cancellation information. I of course am unable to find our copies in the office as of today when I spent more than an hour on the phone, most of that time on hold, with NABC.

Per the previous office manager, the account had been cancelled with no fees due to all the problems with not receiving payments for transactions, the fees being much higher than promised by the rep, etc. Now they seem to think that $980 is due from our office to cancel the account. I have called the number given on this site by NABC to speak with someone and gotten voicemail. When speaking with the original account representative earlier I asked for a supervisor and was transferred directly to voicemail, and of course the voicemail for the "Sales Manager" only states that it is the desk of the sales manager and doesn't give a name.

If someone in a position of authority at NABC reads this, feel free to contact our office to help me resolve this, since I am unable to reach anyone directly by calling NABC. For reference, the last 6 of our merchant # is **. Otherwise, I am in the process of checking with our state resources regarding such shady practices and the resolution options available to our company. If anyone out there is considering NABC I would highly recommend that you stay local, maybe with your own bank if possible. That's what our office has done and that has been the best option.

TROY, MICHIGAN -- Company is deceitful! Free credit card processing terminal is not free. This company has made several unauthorized transactions from my account and if you check the web you will see that I am not the only one. I cancelled my application several months ago and they still tried to deduct $700 from my account. Thank goodness I didn't have the money so the bank returned it NSF. I had to incur several NSF fees though. I put a block on my account with my bank but they got around it by trying to withdraw the money under a different name.

They are thieves and they need to be stopped. They have not processed one single credit card transaction and they have already charged me to date $830.00. Enough is enough! There are fees on the contract that the first thing they tell you is that don't worry about these fees they will not apply to you and there are also several hidden fees in their contract which is 10 pages long and you will need to hire a lawyer to decipher it when other merchant service providers contracts are only 3 or 4 pages.

They are so smooth and tell you it is because they are a full disclosure company (they have an answer for everything). They have a 45 day cancellation clause that they will used to lure you in but they don't tell you about the cancellation fees you will incur. They have numerous complaints on the BBB website and they will tell you it is because they service so many merchants that the complaints are less than 1 percent of their business.

Small business owners are getting ripped off, meanwhile if you google North American Bancard there are numerous pat-on-your back articles about the president of the company Marc Gardner. His employees are now filing complaints. I have gone to the media and my next step is going to the attorney general's office.