If anyone has any law experience I would greatly appreciate it. I signed up for a merchant services / credit card processing machine for my business. I am a busy physician in a smaller practice with 1 employee, my wife. I was sold one service but the actual service I received was far different. I was told about $2.50 monthly service fees and 2% fees on each transaction. What I got was something totally different. I was immediately charged a $400 yearly fee, $90 per terminal, and $25 monthly fees. I argues the matter and in the first 3 months I was billed every month and eventually refunded the money. After 3 month I decided to cancel the machine as it was a much bigger headache than anticipated. Of course there is a $495 cancellation fee (which was in the contract and I don't dispute). I sent a letter to the company in Feb 2014 stating that I wanted to cancel. I Sent it via fax with transmission report showing it was sent and received. My wife handles the banking and I see the patients so I don't follow the bank accounts daily. I recently learned from my wife that we were billed each month for the remainder of 2014. When I contacted the company they stated that they did not receive the fax and therefore they are not refunding the money for 2014 monthly fees (approximately $300) or putting it towards the $495 cancellation fee.
The balance only $610 but I feel like I am being strong-armed by this company and the online reviews say the other customers had to pay additional fees, over and over again, after they closed the account. The customer service agent (thug) said they did not receive the fax and that is not their fault even though I have fax receipts. He stated that is was my responsibility to make sure they received it, not their responsibility to get it. Recently we were notified by our bank of odd action on our business account. it seems this company is charging a cancellation fee but under a different company name than the monthly fees. We put a stop payment on it until we could identify the company. A few days later there was another higher charge from yet another company that we never did business with. We stopped that one as well. The card processing company is the culprit using multiple companies in attempt to collect money. With each "hold" on payment we were charges $30 by the credit card processing company.
My main question is what can I do to fight it? I have no problem paying the $495 cancellation fee, but the (still ongoing $25 monthly fees) and the "returned" fees on the stopped payments seem excessive without knowing who was sending the request. Can I file with the Small Claims Courts locally to dispute the charges and what if they don't show up to defend it ( they are in Texas)? I can show the judge the fax with the transmission report and my phone bill. I sent it, what they did with the fax is their problem, right? Can I request a payment plan of $5 per month? How can I avoid these thugs sending me to a collection company and hurting my credit? I feel BULLIED by a predatory company.
ANY LEGAL EXPERTS OUT THERE WHO CAN ADVISE?
The balance only $610 but I feel like I am being strong-armed by this company and the online reviews say the other customers had to pay additional fees, over and over again, after they closed the account. The customer service agent (thug) said they did not receive the fax and that is not their fault even though I have fax receipts. He stated that is was my responsibility to make sure they received it, not their responsibility to get it. Recently we were notified by our bank of odd action on our business account. it seems this company is charging a cancellation fee but under a different company name than the monthly fees. We put a stop payment on it until we could identify the company. A few days later there was another higher charge from yet another company that we never did business with. We stopped that one as well. The card processing company is the culprit using multiple companies in attempt to collect money. With each "hold" on payment we were charges $30 by the credit card processing company.
My main question is what can I do to fight it? I have no problem paying the $495 cancellation fee, but the (still ongoing $25 monthly fees) and the "returned" fees on the stopped payments seem excessive without knowing who was sending the request. Can I file with the Small Claims Courts locally to dispute the charges and what if they don't show up to defend it ( they are in Texas)? I can show the judge the fax with the transmission report and my phone bill. I sent it, what they did with the fax is their problem, right? Can I request a payment plan of $5 per month? How can I avoid these thugs sending me to a collection company and hurting my credit? I feel BULLIED by a predatory company.
ANY LEGAL EXPERTS OUT THERE WHO CAN ADVISE?
