Leaders Merchant Services
Reviews and Complaints

I am really a bit lost as to why a lot of people have negative things to say about leaders. I have been with leaders for almost 2 years now and I honestly didn't experience the problems that you have mentioned here. I am not sure though if this is just sporadic or else, this is really alarming.. But needless to say, Leaders has really helped me and my business grow.

Ryan opened my merchant account to process credit card transactions. I was assured that there was to only be certain nominal charges for the service. Right away and every month there are bogus fees and charges added to my statement. I complain and sometimes they say the charges will be reversed, but they rarely are. I regret ever signing up with this scandalous company. Beware.

Somebody ought to go to jail for what they do. I read that Wells Farge owns them. That might explain why they get away with it.

I am kinda shocked while I read some previous complaints about LMS here. Although these reviews has been posted quite some time now, I am still really wondering if this might be some previous issue(s) that might have already been fixed by LMS already or this is still ongoing. Anyways, Leaders Merchant Services have been a great help to me. I was only in business for about a year before thinking about getting credit card services and did not know anything about them (good rates, what services included, anything) so I did some research online and after comparing prices and places I ended up with them since September of last year. And on the whole, service has been very good. I think that for small businesses, Leaders Merchant Services is a place to consider. The rates and customer service are really helpful. Honestly, I would give them two thumbs up for now as they serve me and my business pretty well!

Chris Lopez assured me the terminal they were sending would work with our wireless router. It did not. I spent 3 hours on the phone with the installation department, TIME WASTED! I was assured I would be refunded the $45 when I sent back the terminal. I have yet to receive the refund 4 months later... I cancelled my account shortly after I returned the terminal because of their unusable equipment, to find 3 months later they debited two transactions of $350 from my bank as "cancellation" fees. They owe my company a total of $745 and keep reassuring me they will be returning it, and that it was just an "accident". They are liars and thieves, do not deal with them. Chris Lopez also opened two accounts to up his sales and commission, that is why they debited from our account two cancellations.

I opened an account after speaking to Ryan at Leaders. He promised to additional fees other than what was stated. He said the account would be open if I even needed. In Dec of 2011 I stated being charged additional fees referred to as dormancy fees. I then called and poke with Chris, a supervisor and he promised to refund fees and drop the set monthly fee. May I add neither of these took place. So in February I called to cancel and sent in the required faxed form (I have a confirmation). I was charged again in March so I called again. They advised it would be taken care of and refunded. Then I get another charge in April so I refaxed with original confirmation. I was total it would be corrected and a refund issued. I was charged again in May..same thing. I just was charged 4 times the normal fee and I spoke with a customer service rep and she says the account is still open, but she says she see he cancellation that was received and the notes on the reduction and refunds as I have stated. I asked her for a spervisor 6 times, each time she replied these fees are not refundable. Then when I advised I was called the STate of Georgi she put me n hold for 16 min and the icked up the phone and hung up...RUN DON"T USE THESE PEOPLE! SCAM SCAM AND BIGGER SCAM. I HATE TO SAY THAT SINCE I WAS IN BANKING 20 YEARS. ALL OF MY DOCUMENTS STATE WHAT I WAS PROMISED BUT THEY DON'T ABIDE BY THE CONTRACTS. BEWARE!

I as well spoke to Chris Lopez when setting up the acct., i was charged several times, even though the request to cancel was put in the same day that it was started because of fees trying to be charged just minutes after getting off the phone with him after set up. Today i was charged $350.00 to my bank acct for an apparent cancellation fee that i never read about and was never told about. It makes me sick that these people are allowed to do this. Luckily my bank was able to stop it and i was able to keep the 350 but the other 90 dollars worth of fees were never refunded. I HIGHLY discourage any person from using this company.

After closing my account in February of 2012 i was still getting billed and funds removed(stolen) from my bank account. I had to send a second request to close the account. But when i tried to get my money back for the 3 months they had billed me with not a single transaction gone through them, all they said was the account was not closed and the fees will stand.
How can you bill for services not provided? As leaders they know how its done.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!
1) For a first time user in search of a merchant company, I was completely taken advantage of by the original sales rep who first signed me up (with her lack of explanation to how the charges work on the credit cards). Basically, the percent they advertise is completely inaccurate, but they can get away with it b/c of the way they word it! Afterwards, when I tried calling her and emailing her a few times she refused to return my inquires.
2) We tried to run a credit card which they refused to process b/c of the amount (although we provided them with all the required documentation), then they still charged us for the fees it cost to run it & refund it. When I called to complain they said they would have to submit a refund request that could take up to 30 days to process - still waiting on that...
3) I was so fed up with this, that I submitted a request to cancel the form on 2/6/12, and again, they stated it could take up to 30 days to process...O.K. - fine, but they still charged me a bunch of b.s. fees from 2/6/12 - 3/6/12.

Leaders Merchant Services is horrible. I was roped into signing a contract with this company. Right away I started noticing these crazy fees being billed to my account which did not mirror my contract. These are in addition to the percentage rates taken from each sales charge and the fees that the credit card processing company was charging me. I am a small, one employee business. I cannot afford this amount of money going out the door for credit card processing. I have not closed the account because there is a whopping $350 cancellation fee that will be billed to my checking account. I don’t have that kind of money in my checking, so it would cause me to have insufficient funds and then be charged fees from my bank. Now I have this invalid TIN fee. No can seem to explain to me how to resolve this issue so that I can avoid this fee. Some of the fees aren’t even listed on the monthly statements that they send to me.

The customer service dept is very rude. I have not been able to get them to credit any of these fees. They have also refused to continue billing my checking account even though I have no longer authorized them to use that account. I want them to refund these fees and close my account. Bottom line is that I am paying all these fees every month for an account that I am not using. I’m trying to best figure out how to cut my losses and get out. I’m afraid that even if I close the account, they will continue to bill my checking account. This company is a rip off and a scam. My merchant ID: [protected].

02/16/2011 $25.00 Corporate ACH Nbcapf Lead Merch Srvc X4449
03/02/2011 $16.20 Corporate ACH Billing Authnet Gateway XXXX2307
03/03/2011 $21.79 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
04/04/2011 $8.35 Corporate ACH Billing Authnet Gateway XXXX1094
04/04/2011 $60.94 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
05/03/2011 $0.50 Corporate ACH Billing Authnet Gateway XXXX5961
05/03/2011 $87.83 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
06/21/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Lead Merch Srvc X4449
06/03/2011 $69.00 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
07/22/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Lead Merch Srvc X4449
08/23/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Lead Merch Srvc X4449
09/06/2011 $4.95 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
09/21/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Lead Merch Srvc X4449
10/03/2011 $4.95 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
10/21/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Lead Merch Srvc X4449
11/07/2011 $12.90 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
11/22/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Leaders X4449
12/05/2011 $19.90 Corporate ACH Mtot Disc Bankcard XXXXXXXXXXX5997
12/21/2011 $7.30 Corporate ACH Dormancy Leaders X4449
01/03/2012 $19.90CORPORATE ACH [protected] BANKCARD MTOT DISC

I opened this account 3 years ago. It took forever to get it opened. I opened it with the promise of lower rates and fees. The total opposite has been true. They have so many hidden fees that I had to go over my statement each month and call them to see what the fees were for. Web fees that I needed to opt out of, (I never opted in, its automatic! You need opt out if you don't want to be charged). I was told there would be no annual fee. I got charged $99.00 and had to ask for it back! It took about 3 months to get it back! Meanwhile, I'm sure they got interest on that money, not just mine, but everyone else! It's funny how all my charges were non-qualified. I deal with individuals, not businesses. I did have a few Govt cards, but not ALL of my transactions were not-qualed. However, my statements showed that most were? With my new account, same customer base, I get qualified rates, as promised. Leaders also charged my account for a monthly fee during the 30 days it takes to cancel the account. During that time my annual fee was also charged! Come on, I cancelled the account!I had the account for 8 days in November, didn't use it, and was charged $35.00 in monthly fees! I got the annual fee back, but they will not refund the monthly fee for the 8 days in November and I'll have to be careful of any additional fees for December! This company is all about how much money they can get from you! You have to read, and re-read the contract! Ask questions and get everything in writing and faxed or e-mailed to you! Or better yet, find another Merchant. There are so many to choose from. Do not get lead by false promises with Leaders!

These people lured me in by telling me you only get charged a small $12.95 a month fee if you dont use the unit then charged me additional $41.46 for other charges. This company is a hack. Contacted my bank and they told me only way to keep them from charging again is to close the account and reopen with a new account number since they cant stop payments on a company only the fee inwhich they charge differant fees every month. Then when I call and close my merchant account they come out with a $350.00 early cancelation fee (good luck trying to get that) which the sales guy told me I could cancel anytime with no early cancel fees because its on a month to month and not a contract which was a lie. They pulled the special deal and must act right away to be locked into the special to get the one time $85 card swiper and setup fee. I bought into it hope no one else does.

Leaders changed my rates on a monthly basis. Lied to me when I called. When I canceld the contract they charged me a $250 fee even though the reason I canceled was due to the contract change. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY. I am taking them to small claims court. They have a reputation for doing this.
We need to work together against this company. They make a habit of doing this and we need to work together and get a class action lawsuit to punish them.

This company accepted my application, but when I tried to run transactions, they refused to deliver services. However, they did pull hundreds of dollars out of my bank account, expecting me to pay the percentage transaction fee for the hypothetical charge they refused to process. They were able to take this money directly because I provided them with my account and routing numbers in the application process.

I had the bank return the stolen money to my account, but 3 weeks later this company pulled the money out of my bank account again. I had to actually claim fraud against this company and get the bank to issue me a new account number and debit card so that Leaders cannot continue to pull money out of my account weeks after we have discontinued service.

Based on my experience, I would have to say that Leaders Merchant Services is nothing more than a scam company-- I doubt if they are even set up to process any credit card transactions. The banker even told me there are plenty of businesses who operate this way, never actually delivering services, instead profiting off of any and all victims who don't fight to get their money back.

I signed up in March, they said no fee's- and now a few months later and I'm being charged all sorts of fee's. I'm going to notify the BBB about this. I hope every single person who has been wronged by this company do the same.

Here is the company name: Leaders Merchant Services My account specialists name Chris Lopez
His email is : [protected]@lms-corp.com
I'm so upset with this company, when I get off work today, I'm going to call them again, and again and again if I have too!

I too have been scammed by this company. They called us offering their services, great rates, etc. Once we started doing business with this, which was only for two months, they started adding on fees which were not disclosed in the original contract. We sent them a letter stating that we no longer wanted to do business with them.

That is when the fun started. Every month they were pulling unauthorized fees from our account ranging from $11 to $99. When we called them they stated that this was disclosed to us in the contract we signed. It Was Not. I contacted our financial institution which put a block on our account so that they could no longer withdraw fees from our account.

The funny thing about Leaders is that each time they withdraw money they change their name. From Leaders to Lead Merch Services to Leaders Merchant and so on. We have not done business with them since December, 2008. I checked my business account today, 12/30/09 and guess what they pulled $99 in “annual fees” from our account.

I contacted them and they told me that it was a non-refundable annual fee and that we had never sent them a letter terminating our business dealings with them. Incorrect – we did. I asked to speak to a supervisor – his name is supposedly Ben – and I was told each of the five times I have called that he is either not there or on the phone.

I have now put a freeze on our business account with our bank and will file the necessary affidavits to try to collect the money from them. Do not do business with this company. They are unprofessional and scam artists.

I spoke with one of their representatives who told me a specific amounts that I would be charged every month. The first month it was exactly like he said. The second month I started getting charges that I didn't even know about. They take your money before they even give you a statement so you can see what charges are going to come out. They also charge you for things that the rep said you would not be charged for such as a PCI security charge. I was told by my rep that that would be waived. Of course it wasn't. They also charge you twice for the same transaction. A coming and going fee. This company is a huge rip off and I warn everybody not too do business with them. I almost referred someone to them. I am so glad I didn't because then they would be getting ripped off too.

I am a small contractor. I told the saleslady that I did not need to charge but a few times a year. I agreed to a call in plan at 3% and monthly fees of $5, nothing else. After 3 months, they began drafting additional fees for NOT charging, NOT taking their security course ( though it says in their notes, once a year) . Then there was the #10 fee, they took off after I called. The annual fee, ect.
Sent them a cancellation notice per their instructions, HMMM they couldnt find it, while they continued to charge fees.
Even after I took the security course, they charged me. Now, 3 months later, there is a concelation fee of $350..
These people are crooks, just plain evil. DO NOT do bussiness with them, and if you have, change your bank account so they cannot draft anything.

From personal experience would advise staying away from this company. Too much of a headache and yes they "stole" money in excess of $99 to $350 out of my account recently.

Back in late August of 2010 I signed with Leaders after the new merchants account CSR, Brody contacted my company about providing credit card processing services. After hashing out details Brody presented me with a reasonable contract. The contract stated as follows: 1.69% transaction fee on Master Card and Visa transactions, no batch or header fee, no monthly charge fee, no annual fee, free terminal setup, and no cancellation fee. I had my own terminal so no need to rent or buy another one. There was a dormant fee of $7.85 I would have to pay if account was inactive of course. I asked the CSR if there were going to be anymore fees related to this account the rep said no. I read the fine print and sent it over to my attorney for review. I thought this would be a good company to work with for credit card transaction. Well I thought wrong. That From day one I have had problems with Leaders. 1. Lost revenue in tip money transactions. 2. Every time I called in with a problem about my terminal the CSR told me my terminal was not PCI compliant that I would need to buy a new one. My machine at the time was less than two years old. If I needed a new machine the rep that I signed up with would had told me. If the machine was not PCI compliant I would not have joined Leaders nor could they be able to program the terminal. 3. Ridiculous $149 "PCI" compliance fee. If you refused to pay the fee Leaders would bill you $30 for not being compliant. My last transaction company only charged $29 annual PCI fee due tot he fact that I was a small business. Also the huge compliance fee and their so called standards were left out of the contract. The PCI fee is for those that have credit card information on file and my business does not keep that information on file. 4. Poor customer service. Representatives were not knowledgeable about transactions problems (either reading from a manual or being transferred to another CSR for assistance) and/or tried to get me to buy another terminal. 5. 11-15-10 After a month of being dormant and realizing the service was not for me I decided to cancel. I also found out the PCI fee was $149 and would start to be taken out in three easy installments in November 2010. If not, I would be charged an additional $30 for being non compliant. I did not agree to these fees. Upon the information I received and decided to cancel. I was transferred to Leaders cancellation department and spoke to Edwin a "supervisor". See, most companies try to keep your business when you threaten to close your account, this one doesn't. Total red flag. Edwin was extremely rude over the phone when I tried to cancel my account. He stated he would go ahead and send me a cancellation form by fax and he needed it by the close of the business day. He also told me there would be additional fees and penalties for closing my account. I told him that he needed to review my contract because the contract stated no additional fees would be charged apart from transactions fees that were processed for that month. He said that I would be charged additional fees upon the review of my contract. That those fees were unpreventable. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he refused to allow me to speak to someone higher up to resolve being charged "additional fees". I told him I needed to speak to his manager. Edwin, said he was the highest that I could go and I would have to deal with him. I told him he was not and he said yes he was and that he was correcting me. After getting no where with Edwin I hung up and called Leaders again to lodge a formal complaint against Edwin. The second CSR was rude as well so to no avail I gave up. I contacted Brody my original merchant representative. Brody said Edwin misinformed me and that he would have the manager of the cancellation department contact me. Brody pulled my contract stating that there should be no additional fees taken out period. I canceled my account on 11-15-10. December 1, 2010 a transaction fee of $99 "other fees" hit my bank account. I contacted my bank stating that the fee was fraudulent and my bank did a stop pay on the fee. For six months the stop pay would be effective. A representative from my bank told me that if a debit came through leaders it would not go through my bank for that period of time.
On 12-1-10 I called Brody from leaders asking him what the deal was with the "other fee". He assured me that it was a error and that the fee would be removed. Two weeks later I received a threatening letter from Leaders informing me if I did not pay the $99 other fee charge they would turn me into a collection agency. I called Brody again asking him if he rectified the $99 and I asked him again to have it removed. I received another statement/letter in the mail the first of January 2011 demanding the fee. On 1-10-11 I called Brody again to make sure he was working on getting the fee cleared up and he said that it was.
February 2, 2011 Leaders charged my bank account with a $350 cancellation fee. I called my bank yet again to do a stop pay. Since it was after 2 PM I would have to dispute the fee. My bank was generous enough to credit the $350 fee and the over draft fee until I could get this resolved with Leaders. I asked my bank why did this transaction fee go through and the rep stated that Leaders used a different name for the fee. (Right there that is fraudulent. They used another name to attempt to obtain more funds.) That day I called Brody at Leaders again informing him what happened.
Feb 3, 2011 Brody called back stating again he pulled my contract. He wanted to make sure that I was not suppose to be charged the $350. He assured me that this is was a computer error. The question is if my account was closed they should had removed my account information from their system. Brody stated he would put in a request to have the fee refunded back to my bank. If it was not credited back to my bank by 2-8-11 call him back immediately .
2-9-11 I called my bank to verify if funds were return, they were not.
2-9-11 called Brody to inform him funds were not returned. I told him to please contact accounting to get a ETA of when funds would be returned to my account. From there on I asked him to for now on contact me my EMAIL so that I would have it in writing.
2-9-11 Brody wrote in a email "According to accounting, your refund will be issued this Friday and you should see it about this time next week."

I will write back to give all an update if this gets resolved or not. Hopefully in a week it will and I can start the process of closing out my bank account. A total pain in the neck but no telling what they will charge the next time.

Here's some words of advice:

1. If you do business with Leaders and decide to cancel your account with them: Close out your bank account and have your banks reissue a new account. Tell your bank that you might be dealing with a fraudulent company and fees might be taken out. Most banks will understand. Any legitimate fees you owe them can be hashed out and paid with a cashiers check. This will save you the hassle of being charged fraudulent fees. If necessary get your attorney involved in the matter.
2. File a report with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) if they are taking out fees without your permission or what was not agreed in the contract. Enough people complain about their fraudulent practices the government will step in.
3. Get everything that you do with this company in writing. Keep a detailed record of whom you spoke with, etc. This covers your butt.
4. If funds have been taken out of your account demand your banks do a stop pay or a dispute. For the dispute: Gather your documents for the bank. Also kindly ask the bank to credit the funds until you can get the issue resolved. You will have to get in touch with a supervisor to do this. I am very fortunate to bank with Frost Bank in Texas. I have always found my bank to be very accommodating.

You wait for Leaders to refund the money it might takes weeks or they might not refund your money at all.

Frankly, if I went on line to research this company I would have never been in this mess. Hopefully this might help someone out there to keep them from making the same mistake likes myself and others made.

I am a small business and only do business in November and December. After having First Data as my credit card company, I decided to switch my credit card processing to Leaders. I spoke to a Chris Lopez extensivly before signing up. I asked on several occasions what fees there were since there was no Application Fees, monthly statement fees, settlement fees etc. I was given a rate and when I received the contract I looked over it carefully. I received my first statement and wow the non-disclosed fees amounted to almost 5% of my sales. I phoned customer service, looked at the contract and my statement asked more questions and then was told they don't have to disclose all the fees, and then hung up on. Whatever you do, DON'T do business with this company because the will bleed you dry!