Leaders Merchant Services
Reviews and Complaints

I am Lorie Robinson the owner of Pay It Forward Inc

I keep up my compliance that Leaders Merchant Services demands be done or they charge you a fee with PCI. On the off season of tax prep they charge me $1.25 that was until Dec 2021 when they started charging me $101.15 and then again in January 2022 they charged me $101.15 again and I am not even processing credit cards. I notified my account rep Tim Bank in Dec 2021 with no response from him. I again notified Tim when this same charge showed up on my bank account for Jan 2022. This was his response :
Hi Laurie,

Not sure why you were charged but if you only operate during those months, you need to put your account on a Seasonal Hold when not in use. I will investigate and get back to you.

Thx.

Tim Banks
Payments Specialist

I was never informed of anything called a Seasonal Hold. This is NOT the agreement made when I set up with this service.

On Dec 10, 2019, I bought a used refrigerator to put into a rental house from Jasper Street Firehouse Resale, 1174 E. Locust, Decatur, Il . I paid $450, plus another $65 to have it delivered. It was delivered on Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. On Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, the tenant called me and told me that his food was spoiling. I called the seller, and talked to Tiko Smith, the owner. He told me
exactly what was wrong during that phone call, and what part it needed to repair it, and he said he'd obtain the part and have it installed. He called back later that day and informed me that the part would not be available until "after Christmas", at least 10 days. I told him that I could not have my tenant without a refrigerator for that long a time, and I wanted my, money back. He claimed that his 30 day guarantee policy was repair, or replace, if that was not possible, then he'd think about a refund. He refused to refund the money, or offer a replacement even though the day I bought this one, there was another similar refrigerator on the floor. He never has told me that the repair part was in. I filed a suit in Small Claims Court on Jan 31, 2020. The trial date was 3/2/2020. He avoided service for that trail, so I had to refile and got a court date of 8/31/20. We had the trial, m and the judge ordered him to pay me $744, within 15 days. I never heard from him. I called on Sept 12, 2020, to remind him of the judgement deadline. He never responded, nor did he pay me. I was having health problems, and didn't contact him. I spent most of January 2021, in the Cardio-Vascular ICU at St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Ill. He phoned me while I was in there, and offered to pay installments. I accepted. In early in May of 2021, I phoned him and reminded him of his offer back in January. I received a check for $144, and deposited it on May 13, 2021. I phoned him again on June 18, 2021, and reminded him that I hadn't received a payment for more than a month. He called back and accused me of harassing him, and said he was blocking my number, and calling the cops. I do not consider 4 phone calls in 19 months "harassment". I do consider jacking me around for 19 months fraud.

For me, I was told it would cost less than the one I was using. The one I was using was under 4%
I Tried Leaders for 6 months
They processed 250.
It would have cost less that 10. with the other.
In that time Leaders charged 430.
Then another 350 to cancel.
That might work for some, , , but not me. It was cost effective to pay the 350 cancellation fee to rid myself of this cancer.

This company is so fraudulent. They charge undisclosed fees (over $1000) in a year. It doesn't help to call customer service as they never refund fees, even if they were never told to you.

I cancelled account today and notified my bank.

I should have done that months ago as the bank could have blocked thier fraudulent withdrawals.

I'm waiting for the class action lawsuit.

CHARGES COMPLAIN

Merchant Name: King and Queen African Boutique
Merchant Number: [protected]
EXPLANATION:
I am very disappointed to ever contact this service. I have been charged of 400 dollars for unprovided service. After canceling, they charged for another 350 dollars. I committed a crime by adding my bank information. I did the application with the sale representative and never got the machine but th ey charging and when I cancel, they still charge me for cancelation fees. I can be reached on [protected]
Ablam Agoudavi

I was told by Josie over the phone when I signed up that if I purchased the mobile processing equipment ($91.80) I would be charged 0.19¢ per transaction and 1.5% on all transactions and all annual/monthly fees/charges would be waived. This couldn't be further from the truth. I used the service to charge only one customer for $125.01 on purpose to see what the charges would be. I received $124.82 and was also charged $10.54 and then another $2.10 for this transaction. I called to cancel (which took over 3 hours on hold) and get my money back for the equipment since I was lied to and was told "the equipment is non-refundable." I sent in the paperwork that they said I had to fill out to cancel my account and two days later my account was charged $700 by them just to cancel my account which of course no ever mentioned anything about once. They are straight crooks because their salespeople blatantly lie just to make the sale. I'm considering taking them to court.
Cliffnotes: salespeople lie, they stole about $800 from me

Rip off and I contacting a attorney. They stole money out of my bank account numerous times. I'm in the process of getting all my bank statements. But now they closed 2 accounts I had. Why did I have 2 accounts I only ever used 1 clover. So they stole $350.00 x 2 so $700 out my account and then $799 they said the $799 was for the equipment. I sent the equipment back to the Camarillo address it was returned. I call to speak with them they refuse to give me a address to send it back. I'm calling a attorney someone help

I found all these names are the same company: Flagship, Merchants, iaccess, ipayment, and I'm sure they have more. These thieves stole $350 from my checking account without telling/asking me.
I have a very small business selling art. I have sold ONE art since I opened and I couldn't get a business checking account there fore I did NOT MEET THEIR REQUIREMENTS and should have been summarily dismissed from their collection b.s. But instead they chose to charge me $350 just for filling out their application and talking to a con man on the phone.

This is fraud. This is not a real business, they charge fees whenever they choose. DO NOT USE THEM.

I was told over the phone by the sales representative when I signed up that there would no contract for my account. After seeing the high charges for my monthly statements I wanted to cancel and go with someone else. They told me they did not say there was no contract, and charged me 350.00 for early termination fee. Very dishonest, I had a hard time getting anyone to get back in touch with me about this issue. Of course, it goes into the next month and I get charged another monthly fee. I paid all the fees just to get them out of my life.

Do Not use these people.. The will Rip you off. I have had the service for 3 to 4 months now. Since these months are my slow months, I have processed maybe 2000 worth of sales in credit cards. My fees since then have been . 60.00 85.00, , 120, 00, , 40.00, , , , 85.00, , , for a grand total of 390.00 And that is only 4 months 20% is what they are getting.. And now they tell me if I cancel it will cost me 340.00 .. Do Not Use these people., . Warning!

I was supposed to be paying 2.5% to process credit cards but after all the fees it comes out to at least triple that amount. For example the last month I was with them I processed around $3200 of sales and paid $219 in fees. On my Square terminal that I have now the fees are $87 for the same amount of sales! That's it! No other fees! Also the Leaders salesman flat out lied to me. Before I signed up I asked about pci compliance fees and he told me everything was done in house and there were no fees. Well I noticed a mystery fee for $129 on my statements so I called them and they tell me it was for not being pci compliant. Then they charged me another $99 fee to get compliant! With my Square account there is no pci compliance fee. Then I was charged $350 cancellation fee.

I have been being charged all types of bogus charges that have never been discussed in a contract or anything and they will not refund any of this. I have no contract with them. They had me do an electronic signature to start doing business with them a while back and i found out they have been charging all types of fees and will not refund the money. I want to cancel and they are trying to charge me to do that saying im in a contract that i never agreed to. Extremely shady company. Be careful people. You have been warned. They have stolen hundreds of dollars from me already and im not sure how much more they will take from me until im done with this mess. I hope there is a class action lawsuit i can take part in.

They sent bad equipment that didn't work with my phone. Then gave me a list of phone equipment that would work with the reader, but after wasting half a day, money in gas and time, and being laughed at by AT&T, WalMart, Best Buy, Staples, etc., NOT ONE of the phones on their outdated list were even being sold any more. All of their promises were NOT kept. What they say on the phone is not what is on the contract. Once I realized that the contract said they were going to charge me a monthly fee (even though they told me that I would only be charged a fee when the credit card was being used), I cancelled verbally on the phone (they never cancelled me), and that they would send me a prepaid postage envelope to return their $5 equipment. I told them that it was THEIR fault that they sent me bad equipment, so I'm not paying for anything. Now I find out they've been charging me $25 a month for three months ($75) for NOTHING - rotten service, no service, bad equipment, and lies. They actually owe ME money for my gas and half a day's time running from store to store to get a phone from their list that no one sells any more. They are a bunch of liars, scam artists and idiots!

I signed up to have them process our credit card transactions, took forever to get a reader in the mail. Two days after the reader arrived I noticed a $25.00 debit on my account, it is from Leaders. I call them and they tell me it is because there were no transactions in the prior month. I explain to them that I basically just got my reader from them two days ago, they pretty much laughed at me and copped an attitude.

When I told them that I was not told about the monthly fee of $25.00 dollars they again laughed and the gal said "It is HIDDEN in the fine print, you should have read it." Then I told her I did not want to do business with anyone as shady as them and that I would cancel the contract. Again, laughter and sarcasm... "Well it will cost you $350.00." At that point I asked "For what?" "There is a cancellation clause in the contract" they said. Look, I asked the ** guy who talked into this all the pertinent questions about the very same crap they have now charged me for, his answer was always "no no such fees or termination fees". Look, these company is NOT good. Do not do business with them, read the reviews about them. What little you stand to save in transaction fees does not cover the problems and the amounts they will rip you off for. STAY AWAY!

The Sales rep's for Leaders lie to sign you up. They tell you it's "NO CONTRACT" you can go month to month. Then they falsify a contract with a "electronic" signature and never send it to you or tell you about it until you want to CANCEL the account. Then they tell you if you cancel, you own them $350 for release the "3" year contact you signed. It took 6 phone calls just to see a "CONTRACT" I never signed or saw or did ever appear in my email. The company sub contracts everything out, so to get any answers on anything is impossible. Every invoice had charges that were different from the month before. They deactivate your account saying it's inactivity. Too bad if you ran a charge card before you saw that notice... your money is now tied up until you sort it out. TOO MANY HIDDEN FEE'S, RULES, AND CONTRACTS. Leader's Merchant Services is nothing but a "Bait and Switch". Leader's, the SMALL BUSINESS people of this world DO read the small print on contracts if they are ever presented to them. Especially if it involves giving you access to their BANK ACCOUNTS. They are giving Wells Fargo a bad name!

Got sold a terminal with a fee of $ 100.00 for activation and told that monthly fee would be $ 15 plus transaction fee of 3%, after first month the fee was $ 69, then $ 129.00 and more. I canceled by certified letter, my terminal and asked to have my money back because it was not what was spoken with sales person, now they remove from my account on regular basis arbitrary fees in amount of $ 130.00 and today twice $ 350.00. I have a stop payment from my bank. I send a certified letter on October 13 and never got response, called on few occasion and the service is closed or the person is not there. I am fed up with this scam, don't fall for it, this is a scam. JL Denis owner Blue Moon fishing charters

This company started my new business with the "square" and within a few months they changed my contract without my authorization along with increasing my fees. They lied then refused to cancel my account for two months. I tried cancelling my service several times and they refused to call me back and they have been sending me bills every month that are outrageous. This company needs to be dismantled by our so called "representatives!"

In June I contacted Jeffery Swepp at Leaders to inquire about an account. I am a one man business that process less than $500 per month. An agreement was made and fee schedules were agreed to which specified there would be NO monthly minimum discunt fees charged. I suffered a heart attack I June and was unable to conduct business until October of 2014. At this time I processed $112.00 in credit card fees. I received a statement from Leaders in which they deducted $31.98 in Minimum Discount Fees. I contacted them and they said I was notified in September that they could no longer honor the $0.00 fees. I did not receive the notice. They then informed me that since I had not processed any cards that they did not send statements out and that was why I did not receive the notice. They refuse to honor the agreed on fee structure claiming that they have the right to change those fees with a 30 day notification and me as a subscriber has no recourse except to cancel the contract at a high cancellation fee. This company is a complete ripoff and a thief to boot.

I signed up with Leaders Merchant Services believing that I was signing up with the Square. Confusion from the beginning. Trouble with the software and the last issue resulted in issues with a customer. A couple times I asked to cancel my account. The first time I accepted their word that the problem was fixed. This second time with the customer almost getting charged a thousand dollars plus for a $200 item was the final issue. I canceled on 10/27/14. They send me the form, which I filled out and emailed back to them. When I checked my bank account, there was a withdrawal of $350 early termination fee on 10/31/14 I was told from the beginning that I could cancel at any time. No mention of an early termination fee. Hidden fees of $106 annual fee, monthly fee whether you use the device or not as well as transaction fees. I filed a complaint filed with the BBB who informed me that Leaders agreed to refund the $350 as long as my bank account was still open. No refund has been issued; however, Leaders withdrew another $26.77 from my bank account on 11/03/14. Leaders withdraws from your bank account and then you MIGHT get an invoice. I have not received an invoice from them for any of the withdrawals since I cancelled and those listed above are not the only withdrawals they have made since closing the account.

People be very aware when you sign up with leaders merchant services company. This company never tell new customers when they open new account, that they have a cancellation fee. Leaders told me over the phone, that the cancellation fee is in writting paper work... But if you don't have time to read the paper work, they don't tell you either. This is a very important information they hide from you.
All the sudden when you realize that your bank account is overdraw $ 350 dollars and in top of that the bank had charged you $33.00 for non suficient funds (nsf). What a headache leaders caused to me.
They are refunding my monies, but guess what? I have to wait 5 (five) more days to access my money and pay my bills, perhaps by this time all bills are late, and fullfiled with interest charges. One more thing... I still didn't find in leaders contract this ridiculous cancellation fee.

E. J former business owner