Our credit card company told us we needed to be "PCI compliant" and wanted to charge us a $90/year fee for this. They made it sound mandatory but were not realoly upfront about the fact that it was not. We found we could sign a waiver, declining their PCI program.
I did a little research on PCI compliance, it seems it shouldn't really apply to us. We have no employees which could access the credit card information of our clients. We don't even save or store any credit carde information on paper, online or anywhere on our network or computers. We simply use a non-wireless credit card terminal over a phoneline and we have it setup NOT to print account numbers on receipts. (we already paid them to set it up that way)
I talked to another company that we were comparing rates to and they said they wouldn't require us to be. Is everyone here paying their fees? Is it really mandatory if you just scan their card on your phoneline terminal and don't save/store info or allow access to anyone else?
[ January 13, 2010, 12:24 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
Posted by Joy Kjer (Member # 3026) on :
They tried that on us a year or so ago. We found out that the PCI compiance did not appy to us for the same reasons as you. When we contacted the credit card company and told them we wouldn't pay it they "discovered" that it was not applicable to us. We have also renegotiated percentage fees when they tried to raise them.
Posted by Nikki Goral (Member # 7844) on :
Good to know! I received info stating that if you worked with company x, THEY required all of their clients to do it otherwise they would terminate the contract and you would be forced to pay any early termination fees.
Felt like a hostage....
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
Thanks Nikki and Joy
This is what they said......
quote:> What company told you you wouldn't be required to be compliant. Whether > you are a cab driver, a pizza house or a sign shop, as of January 1st > 2010, every single merchant in the USA will need to be PCI DDS > compliant. I'm not going to tell you something that's not true, you will > be charged a PCI compliance fee sooner or later. If you chose to not be > compliant, you will see a non compliance fee on your statement in the > future, every month. Just the way it is.
Posted by David Wright (Member # 111) on :
Get that email every week also.
Posted by Nikki Goral (Member # 7844) on :
Well, isn't that just SNOTTY!
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
aint they wonderful?????how they can make up CHARGES to add to their INCOME??? FDGL LEASING, if you have a CC MACHINE, you will know who they are. they took $20.97 outa my checking account for over 4 years to PAY FOR THE $400.00 credit card swipe/recorder. i was ok with that. BUT EVERY OCT-NOV they also took out an extra $80-90 for a b.s. SERVICES FEE. they told me it covered service on the CC machine. I NEVER NEEDED IT SERVICED........but still got charged for it. last jan feb, i called them and asked for the pay off so THEY WOULD NOT TAKE ANY MORE MONEY OUTA MY CHECKING ACCOUNT. i did a buy out of the CC MACHINE FOR BOUT $90. i asked them, "ARE WE DONE?" "I OWE YOU NOTHING ANYMORE?" they said yes.......me being the trusting person i am, left it at that. MOVE TO DEC 15, 2009...... i open my checking account online, to see how much i have to by a few xmas gifts, been a bad year, but need to get wife a couple gifts, nothing extravagant. i see a AUTOMATED WITHDRAWAL FROM FDGL LEASING.........FOR $96.87!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW IAM LIVID, bp, heart rate went Thur the roof!!!! and ia swearin like a drunkin sailor on a weekend bing, after being at sea for 4 months!!!!!!! well it was to late in the day to catch a HUMAN BEING ON THE PHONE....so i left a not so happy message, tellin them THEY STOLE MY MONEY AND WHO IN THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY ARE, withdrawning money from my account THAT HAS BEEN CLOSED SINCE JAN OF 2009!!!! gave them my cell phone, home phone and told them I WANTED MY MONEY BACK IN MY CHECKING ACCOUNT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! didnt get a cal back.....so next day i called them, after a 20 min b.s. of recordings, giving them my merchant # 5 times.....SOMEONE FINALLY ANSWERED!!!!! i went off on her, told her i want my money back that they STOLE!! she was somewhat helpful. never guess why they took my money!!!! THEIR WAS ...."GLITCH" in the computer system, that caused it. BULL...FININ SCHIT...!!!!!!! she was sorry it happened and that she would remedy the problem IMMEDIATELY!!!!! i told her i need the money back in my checking for XMAS, she said she put "the request to return funds" in the SYSTEM....i thanked her for her help. this was DEC 16. well i watched every day.........till dec 24.....NO MONEY DEPOSITED. DEC 26, 10 day after 1st call, i go thru the 30 min phone gymnastics, finally get a person, and ASKED WHERE MY MONEY WAS!!!!!! now this one tells me, the request TO REFUND was put in the DEC 17, it takes 7-8 days for MONEYS to make the PHYSICAL TRANSFER. and with HOLIDAY, it added a couple more days!!!!!! GREAT..IT TOOK YOU 5 MINUTES TO GET MY MONEY, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE, BUT WILL TAKE 10-15 DAYS TO fix it???? she said i should see it returned to my checking account DEC 28th. IT WAS DONE. i went to the bank, and told them to put a STOP PAYMENT ON ANY FURTHER ACTIVITY FROM FDGL. the bank person told me once a company has AUTOMATED WITHDRAWAL PRIVILEGES to your existing account.......they can withdraw funds AT ANY TIME, EVEN AFTER YOU HAVE NO MORE owed to them. BEST THING IS CHANGE CHECKING ACCOUNT #!!!!! anyone needa credit card machine?????? is it worth $100?
[ January 13, 2010, 06:03 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
Posted by William DeBekker (Member # 3848) on :
Wow I would look for a new Company.. I use Peak Card Now called Payment Alliance and they didn't charge me anything.. They just switched out my terminal and went along our merry way..
I only Pay $7 a month and no transaction or deposit fees and 1.9% on standard cards. P-Cards are like 2.5% and I bought my machine from a client who had extras from his hotel for $100 so I was really surprised when they just Traded me for the same machine that was updated.
[ January 14, 2010, 03:37 AM: Message edited by: William DeBekker ]
Posted by Linda Schmidt (Member # 2337) on :
I went throught the same thing- starting last May of '09. Received a letter stating I had to be compliant with PCI-DSS. I called time after time trying to get an explanation- no help. I was told I couldn't cancel may service contract until the anniversary date (Jan. '10) unless I was willing to pay a $250 fine for early cancellation. Next thing I knew- they withdrew $138 from my checking account in Aug '09 and $40/ month after that. I finally got a hold of a person with a brain who said he would cancel my contract effective immediately and refund the money. Well, even though I had the fax from him, he had $80 refunded to my account but forgot to cancel my contract. I'm still out the $138. Back to square 1- get someone else who says "sorry, human error, we'll fix it". So far I'm still out the initial $138 and now another $40 for Dec. This is the most ridiculous scam I've seen in a long time. OP is right- you can't stop them from withdrawing from you're account if you're set up that way. As of July '09, I no longer take credit cards. Here's the kicker to me: I went with First National Merchant Solutions through, none other then, the US Sign Counsel (I am no longer a member with them either). That's my 2 cents worth and I feel the agony and frustration of anyone else who has gone through this. They won't give you a clear explanation to any questions- just do as they say or you will be fined.
