Leaders Merchant Services
Reviews and Complaints

This company is a group of liars. They will tell you what ever you want to hear. Then just ask you to sign on the line so they can take your money. I hope that no one eles falls for their lies. I called about a compliant they told me it would be corrected. I just felt that someone was wrong I made a complaint to the BBB. Their respones was you never contacted us and you can't listen to what we say.You should only read what is in your contract. What ever happened to honest people in this world? Is every one just a crook with thier hands in our pockets.

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 also a victim...same problems...what should I do about it?
I don't have enough time to go through all the problems I have had with Merchants Leaders Bank. They are thieives!
Tell me, what is a good company to go with for accepting credit cards?
And where else can I complain.
Rose

ONE THING MOST PEOPLE DONT KNOW! If you don't accept debit by pin debit cards you need not pay for it. They have you in the wrong catagory. You can still take Visa/MC debits run as credit, AND you don't need to pay it if you use dial up instead of Internet for the authorizations.. BANKS ARE SLIME and won't tell you this. I had them remove it and refund it to me at my business from Chase Paymentech. Also, they tried to charge a relative the same way until we talked.

Frankly I have never dealt with a company that will do business like this, no wonder there is a class lawsuit against them on how they treated their own employees

http://www.wcclaw.com/CM/ClassActions/ClassActions11.asp

My experience with Leaders Merchant Services have been a nightmare, yes, they do have a persistent and crafty sales team to get you sign the contract to go with their services, but soon you will find out different kinds of fees mysteriously show up on your statement, some in the fine print of the contract and some are up to the interpretation of the customer service reps you talk to. I was obligated to stay with them for one year, or I would have to pay $250 penalty fee.

Last October, I received a letter from them saying that they would charge a one-time so-called $109 PCI Compliance fee that was not in the contract, I bit the bullet and paid the $250 cancellation fee so I didn't have to deal with them again, nonetheless, they went ahead and charged me $109 saying that they took two weeks to process my cancellation request fax, and the fee hit before they finished processing.

That wasn't over, just yesterday, 4 months after my account closure, I again saw a charge from Leaders for $69.16, a so-called pro-rated PCI Compliance fee automatically billed by their "system". I wouldn't go into all the details of each absurd conversation I have had with their call center.

I just hope you are fortunate enough to read this thread before you sign up with them, and hope all the complaints from other victims will sound an alarm for you. Good luck!

I'm having the same problem. I've called 3 times now for charges to be reversed and still nothing has been changed. Today the woman on the phone said to allow 7 business days for my return check. I'm going to give them two weeks to return my unexplained charges. If not I'm also going to have to close my account as well. It's too scary knowing they can take whatever they want out of my account and give me little to no explanation for it!

If you are looking for a company to process your credit cards PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM LEADERS MERCHANT SERVICES. Save yourself the headache!

TO :BookstoreBeenScammed:

LEADERS would like the opportunity to help this merchant with the issues they have with their account. However, this complaint does not provide us with enough account detail to properly assist the merchant. We urge this merchant to contact our Merchant Services department at [protected] (option 2) and to have bank statements and merchant ID number ready for account review.

stay away from them!

shoulda read your contract. what are you going to get from this complaint, really? Money? What satisfaction are you going ot get from wating your time like this?

I tell you what I have never been or I should say screwed over by a company I was told no monthly fees as I was complaining to the salesman about intuit charging me three different charges every month.. and oh yeah when I went to cancel they said I was on a three year contract and it would be $250 to cancel early when I know I signed a one year I'm not sure what all to say except I wish I had never used leaders merchant services the e charged me more than I've charge by far I had to close my bank account because they kept charging me under different names when I would put a block on them ...I really wish I knew a way to sue there ### outta business! I now use square for my field payments and merchant one and so far so good! Live and learn...

you would be a FOOL to sign with this company, They will promise you the world and give a a big pile of [censored]
instead STAY AWAY, STAY AWAY from leaders

They did the same thing to me < after i got so fed up and cancelled they stole 550.00 dollars from my bank account THIEVES AND LIARS to say the least
all aluminum solutions

LEADERS would like to take this opportunity to address the concerns this merchant has had with our company. We would like to state that we at LEADERS, take pride in providing all of our merchants with superior customer service and we take immediate action if this has not been the case for any of our merchants.
We have carefully reviewed the merchant’s account in correspondence to the complaint and it is unclear as to why the merchant believes that we have mischarged their account. Per the last 6 months of the merchant’s monthly statements, the merchant’s processing account was charged directly in accordance with the contract terms. Since we never received a signed seasonal hold form from the merchant, this merchant’s account was never placed on a seasonal hold and there is documentation indicating that the merchant has been processing credit cards as late as November 2009. As for the $99.00 annual fee the merchant says was never refunded, we have full documentation of this being issued on October 13, 2009. If for some reason, the merchant still cannot find the monetary deposit, we ask the merchant to please contact our Customer Service department and be prepared to send in bank statements for refund review. In addition to the above, LEADERS, as a good faith gesture, has gladly agreed to refund this merchant the following: 2 months of $10.95 iAccess (which has been cancelled, per the merchant’s request), one Monthly Minimum of $25.00, and one month of Security fees at $3.00. The total refund will be in the amount of$47.90. LEADERS has also placed the merchant’s account on seasonal hold and in the month of December, the merchant will only be responsible for the $11.00 account hold and the remainder of the PCI compliance fee.
We would like to thank this merchant for coming forward and bringing this to our attention. LEADERS would like to also like to wish the merchant well in the future and thank them for their continued patronage with our company.

hateleadermerchant
Leaders is a LIE! A SCAM! STAY AWAY!
Terrible terrible company. I am finally getting out of my 2 year contract. I shouldve gotten out sooner. They charged me unexplainable fee's too.
With all those fee's it probably wouldve been better to leave the first year.
Service is unbelievably terrible.
Never go with them EVER! They steal your money away. Worst people to work with.
All very non-educated. All they know are about the additional fees they keep popping out at you for NO REASON!
STAY AWAY FROM THEM!
I will do everything I can in my power to have no-one, NO ONE go with them!

Run from these people do not give them your bank account number if you do close the bank account do not let them in !

Leaders Merchant Account are the biggest crooks I have ever dealt with They start you at a low rate and then hit you with all kinds of fees dormancy, maintenance, monthly, annually and you have to notify them and Wells Fargo in writing 60 days prior to end of contract that you will not be renewing and then guess what a year later we get a annual fee $99 withdrawn from our account which they say since or contract terminated in Jan that was all they needed for a whole year of fees They said there is no prorating of rates whether its a day or a full year

DONT SIGN WITH THEM, THE WORST COMPANY IVE EVER DEALT WITH
they will screw you royaly, they will make them selves at home with youre bank account .
They care only about stealing money, You would be a FOOL if you trust them
ALL Aluminum Solutions
west palm beach, florida

The merchant’s account was closed due to an excessive number of cardholder disputes. LEADERS did not cause the cardholder disputes and has worked with the merchant for several months to try and correct or alleviate the issue. Processed funds were held on the merchant’s account to secure against future losses, as LEADERS hold the liability of any loss associated with the merchant’s account. LEADERS has been more than cooperative with the merchant in explaining the loss and providing a detail of the amount due. The merchant is more than welcome to contact our Merchant Support and Risk Department for an additional accounting detail of any funds due. To reiterate, the amount due was caused by the merchant’s clients disputing items and not by any action taken by LEADERS.

I'm so fed up with with the pathetic "Leaders Merchant Services". They have cost our company $4000 in the month of June. When you first sign up they treat you like royalty. When you get charged up the butt and you ask them nicely they are very pushy and rude on the phone. When I called to ask a simple question about our funds being released, a lady said she will have to transfer us to voicemail...and before I could say anything she quickly did it and I never got called back.

If you value your company, and you are small business trying to grow your business in this recession, stay away from Leaders Merchant Services as they will destroy your company. With all of these complaints all over the internet, you would think they would practice some customer service...company is a joke.

I agree with every word! sales lady is the sweetest in the world, saying no hidden charges and no extra fees beyond 3% $0.75 per trx. You start with no setup fee and a promise of flat fee, with commitment for 1yr. 3 months later $99 fee, and 7.30 'dormancy fee' - their rude rep can only say - its in the contract. hidden, well hidden in tiny letters in sections you would not expect anything about fees. what to get out? ha - you'll have to pay $350 for that 'service' and it turns out the contract is 3yrs long! they are rude on the phone and the web is full of complaints about them. I wish I had checked BEFORE signing up. now I need to watch my account on a daily basis for unauthorized charges. I might cancel and cut my losses with these crooks.
ah, and its just pathetic to see their standard response on this site. "would like to apologize etc etc."
STAY AWAY! WARNING! THIEVES!

LEADERS would like to apologize to this merchant for the experience he had with our company. We at LEADERS pride ourselves in providing our merchants with excellent customer service and to hear a complaint such as this is truly disheartening.

LEADERS has reviewed this merchant’s two accounts. In accordance with the merchant’s signed contracts, Schedule of Fees, page 2 of 4, all fees are clearly stated. In addition to this, all rate increases are clearly stated on the merchant processing statements 30 days in advance, if a rate increase occurs at all. All charges incurred by the merchant were for the processing services and PCI-DSS services rendered through the merchant’s two separately signed contracts with LEADERS.

LEADERS regrets that the merchant feels our services were unsatisfactory and we apologize to the merchant for the misunderstandings he had with our company, LEADERS would like to wish the merchant well in all future endeavors.

The merchant’s account was closed due to an excessive number of cardholder disputes. LEADERS did not cause the cardholder disputes and has worked with the merchant for several months to try and correct or alleviate the issue. Processed funds were held on the merchant’s account to secure against future losses, as LEADERS hold the liability of any loss associated with the merchant’s account. LEADERS has been more than cooperative with the merchant in explaining the loss and providing a detail of the amount due. The merchant is more than welcome to contact our Merchant Support and Risk Department for an additional accounting detail of any funds due. To reiterate, the amount due was caused by the merchant’s clients disputing items and not by any action taken by LEADERS.

Sure is funny how big of a scam Leaders Merchant Services are. There are hundreds of scam/[redacted]s about their business and all they do is say "sorry" and do nothing more. Good luck trying to review your account with them as they suggest, they will just be rude to you a belittle you and then finally pass you on to a voice mail of some unknown employee who will never call you back.

This company has so many ongoing problems and issues with current/past merchants, be best not to do business with them.

LEADERS would like to apologize to this merchant for the experience he has had with our company. We at Leaders Merchant Services pride ourselves in providing our merchant’s with superior customer service and to hear a complaint such as this is truly disheartening.

LEADERS has reviewed this merchant’s two separate accounts. Per our internal system records and our Risk Management department, LEADERS has found that both of the merchant’s accounts were closed due to excessive chargebacks, cardholder complaints and security risks. There were, in fact, funds held and placed on reserve as a result of the merchant’s risky processing. These funds will be reviewed for release in October, 2009. Risk is a very serious concern in this industry. All processes regarding high-risk transactions and chargebacks are clearly outlined in the Merchant Processing Guide, page 15, section 10.1, “Chargebacks and Other Debits”. It is the merchant’s responsibility to follow the parameters in this guide in order to limit the risk of chargebacks, losses and further damages. If, for some reason, the merchant did not retain his original copy of the Merchant Processing Guide, he can locate a free, downloadable version at: www.leadersmerchantservices.com/merchant-services-help-center.htm

We, at LEADERS, regret that the merchant feels that our services were less than satisfactory. Under the circumstances, we followed standard industry practices. Once again, LEADERS would like to apologize to this merchant for the misunderstanding and we would like to wish him well in all future endeavors.

100% correct > DONT SIGN WITH THIS COMPANY they will steal your money, Every night you will have to check your bank accout because you never know what they are going to steal from you today.Only used there services a hand full of times but some how my fee's are more than i take in.They will use youre bank account at there leisure. If you go with this company youre a FOOL.
BY FAR THE WORST COMPANY EVER. "Scam Artist who no the legal services "

The merchant’s account was closed due to an excessive number of cardholder disputes. LEADERS did not cause the cardholder disputes and has worked with the merchant for several months to try and correct or alleviate the issue. Processed funds were held on the merchant’s account to secure against future losses, as LEADERS hold the liability of any loss associated with the merchant’s account. LEADERS has been more than cooperative with the merchant in explaining the loss and providing a detail of the amount due. The merchant is more than welcome to contact our Merchant Support and Risk Department for an additional accounting detail of any funds due. To reiterate, the amount due was caused by the merchant’s clients disputing items and not by any action taken by LEADERS.

Agreed, they nickel and dime you to death. If you are a small business you must not go with Leaders Merchant Services. They will take everything you make and speak very rudely to you on the phone.

LEADERS Merchant Services would like to apologize to this merchant for the experience she had with our company. LEADERS would be more than happy to review this merchant’s account and address his concerns with our company; however, this complaint does not provide LEADERS with enough information to locate this merchant’s account.

LEADERS invites the merchant to please call our Complaint Resolutions Specialist, Cindy Schwerdtfeger, at [protected] extension 137 in order to begin the merchant account review process.