Misleading offer from Express Merchant Processing Solutions

[Cécile]

Just got this promotional email through WebProWorld promising a "Special Offer for WebProNews customers".

Their promised rates in the email are:

75% off Application fee
Monthly Service Fee: Waived
Monthly Internet Fee: Waived

After signing up however, these are the actual rates:

Application fee: $99 instead of $132
Monthly Service Fee: 35$
Monthly Minimum Processing Fee (in addition to Service Fee): $35

I contacted the Online Support and pointed this out to them. Their explanation was that there was a spelling error. The Application fee is 75% of original $132 and not 75% off original $132 (which would be $33).

I guess the "Monthly Service Fee: Waived" and "Monthly Internet Fee: Waived" were also "spelling mistakes"?

Here is the script of the online chat for those of you who are interested:

** You are now speaking with Hai Henry Huang, FDMS Sales. **
Hai Henry Huang : good afternoon How are you Mark??
mark : Hi. I got a promotional email promising free monthly service fee and 75% off signup fee
mark : but during signup process it shows 99$ for signup and 35$ monthly
mark : also. what is "MINIMUM PROCESSING FEE" of 35$?
Hai Henry Huang : just a second
Hai Henry Huang : let me check for you
Hai Henry Huang : Ok... I just check the special pricing promotions
Hai Henry Huang : that is correct
mark : which one is?
Hai Henry Huang : the $99 set up is for the merchant account and payment gateway at the same time
Hai Henry Huang : The $35 is the monthly minimum
Hai Henry Huang : Do you know what does the $35 monthly minimum mean??
Hai Henry Huang : the $35 monthly minimum only means you need to do roughly $1500 a month to meet the monthly minimum requirement
mark : i pay at least 35$ in accumulated processing fees a month?
Hai Henry Huang : that is correct
Hai Henry Huang : let's say you do about $1500 a month
Hai Henry Huang : the the calculation will be $1500 x 2.19% = 32.85
mark : so what is my signup fee for an ecommerce shop?
Hai Henry Huang : let's say you have 15 transactions
Hai Henry Huang : so it's 15 x 0.29 =4.35
Hai Henry Huang : so 32.85 + 4.35 = 37.2
Hai Henry Huang : so you are exceeding the minimum processing already
Hai Henry Huang : when you say the e-commerce shop what does that mean??
Hai Henry Huang : We are not hosting company
Hai Henry Huang : we are not shopping cart provider
mark : online shop
mark : i have the shop, but i want a cc processor
mark : we are using 2checkout.com now, but we are not happy and want to change
Hai Henry Huang : if that's the case you are perfect then

Hai Henry Huang : if that's the case you are perfect then
mark : so what is my signup fee for an ecommerce shop?
Hai Henry Huang : Oh.. let me check for you
Hai Henry Huang : 2 check out is the mechant account provider
Hai Henry Huang : Do you use their payment gateway as well??
Hai Henry Huang : There is no sign up fee e-commerce shop
Hai Henry Huang : we are a CC processor
Hai Henry Huang : that's all
Hai Henry Huang : I am a little confused
mark : me too
Hai Henry Huang : would you please provide me with a phone # so I can touch base with you??
mark : im currently in europe
Hai Henry Huang : are you a US merchant??
mark : yes
Hai Henry Huang : Ok... this is what happens with the e-commerce
Hai Henry Huang : there are four elements of the e-commerce
Hai Henry Huang : Hosting Company - Shopping cart ( these are the elements of the e-commerce shop )
Hai Henry Huang : then
Hai Henry Huang : Payment Gateway - Merchant account ( these are what we provide to the merchants )
Hai Henry Huang : Depends on how you have been set up
Hai Henry Huang : if you have already had a shop then we just provide you with the merchant accounts and payment gateway
mark : in what way are your services different from 2CO?
Hai Henry Huang : Lower processing rate
Hai Henry Huang : better sevice
Hai Henry Huang : if you are currently using 2co's payment gateway
Hai Henry Huang : then all we do is to provide the merchant service
Hai Henry Huang : which is the merchant account
mark : ok. so I would like to get rid of 2CO and use you instead. is that possible? and if so, what are the signup fees?
Hai Henry Huang : Yes... that is possible
Hai Henry Huang : $99
Hai Henry Huang : that's what that $99 for
mark : your email states 75% off signup fee, but you dont say how much the signup fee is. On your signup page there is a 99$ signup fee. My question is now: is the 99$ already including the 75% discount or not? Or is it free as you said before?
Hai Henry Huang : the $99 is already including the discount
mark : so your standard rate is 400$?
mark : it also says on your signup page: monthly fee 35$. your email says monthly fee is waived.
Hai Henry Huang : original set up pricing $132
mark : 132$ less 75% = 33$... this is either entirely misleading or just too confusing
Hai Henry Huang : With 75% off $99
Hai Henry Huang : $132 original pricing
Hai Henry Huang : now the set up pricing is $99
Hai Henry Huang : which is the 75% of the original pricing
Hai Henry Huang : Sir.. like I have said before..
Hai Henry Huang : the Monthly service fee is waived
mark : well henry... your email states 75% off, not 75% of original price!!
Hai Henry Huang : but that does not mean there is no monthly minimum requirment
Hai Henry Huang : like I have calculated for you
Hai Henry Huang : if you do $1500 then it does not apply to you any more
Hai Henry Huang : Sorry for the misleading of the marketing department
mark : you obviously have no clue what your signup page states nor what your company's promotional emails promise...
mark : again... the signup page states 35$ minimum monthly processing fee (I understand that point) PLUS 35$ monthly fee
Hai Henry Huang : Sir.. I am just the online operater.. I do not make the marketing e-mail neither I had any decision making power of how they should be worded
Hai Henry Huang : Therefore, as you have already discoverd the rates on the rates page
mark : I know. But you are the representative of your company and therefore in charge
Hai Henry Huang : That is not correct
Hai Henry Huang : Because I am just an employee for a fortune 230 company
Hai Henry Huang : we have 30,000 employee world wide, many of them are far above me
Hai Henry Huang : sorry that if you have been mislead to believe in what pricing you should be getting
Hai Henry Huang : but I have no decision making power to choose the world
Hai Henry Huang : word
Hai Henry Huang : I wish it can be better
Hai Henry Huang : but obviously you are not happy with the wording
Hai Henry Huang : I will notify the manager to choose a better wording
Hai Henry Huang : but that will be the best I can do at this moment
mark : I understand that it is not your fault henry. But it is your companys fault and you are the representative of your company. If you cannot understand the clearly misleading character of this email, could you pass me on to your supervisor who can?
Hai Henry Huang : Is there anything else I can help you??
Hai Henry Huang : Please feel free to contact our corporate director
Hai Henry Huang : the website address is www.empsebiz.com
Hai Henry Huang : Thank you for visiting our site, you have a great day...
mark : its not poor wording henry. it is clear misleading of the customer. there is nothing that could be misunderstood or be misinterpreted. The email is clear. but once you are in the signup process the customer realizes that the fees are much higher. this is cleraly misleading of customers and has to be reported to the forums and boards
mark : can u give me his number or email?
Your party has left this session.

[/quote]

[jestep]

I contacted the Online Support and pointed this out to them. Their explanation was that there was a spelling error. The Application fee is 75% of original $132 and not 75% off original $132 (which would be $33).

Its pretty sad that they held on to this fee for dear life. Even if it were a spelling mistake, which I also agree with you it was an intentional attempt to deceive the viewer, they should have lowered their price to what was printed. Just because an error was made, doesn't justify them not living up to the ad. It's their mistake, so they should have to pay for it.

we have 30,000 employee world wide, many of them are far above me

I also found this interesting that they are claiming to be FDMS, and not a service provider for them. FDMS has this many employees. Express Merchant Processing Solutions has far fewer. From looking at their website, they are breaking FDMS copyright as well as the FDMS Trademark and Visa and MasterCard regulations.

[jestep]

On a second note:
They do not have a satisfactory rating with the BBB nor are they even a member. They are not listed in Hoovers or the D&B database. They have no contact address on their website, although I was able to find where they are located.

Honestly, this is a company I would stay away from.

[StevenAllen]

Are you in the US?

[Cécile]

I'm a US merchant, but currently travelling in Europe. Why?

[ADAM Web Design]

That definitely seems misleading, but there's some information that is missing in the whole thing and it is possible that there's a misunderstanding.

I don't know this company or anything about them, nor do I know you or anything about you, so that at least allows me to be objective.

First point:
75% off Application fee

They should have actually put in the regular and sale prices just to avoid confusion, and they did not. Mind you, because they didn't, it is possible that this is a typographical error. The possibility is increased when you read the Triple H (Hai Henry Huang) portions of the transcript. English is clearly not Triple H's mother tongue, and there may well be others in the company, including those who wrote the marketing literature, that are in the same boat.

At the very least, this is poorly worded and a mistake on their part.

Point 2:
Monthly Service Fee: Waived

There's no possibility for confusion here. They messed up.

Point 3:
Monthly Internet Fee: Waived

This one may be explainable as well. I don't know of anyone else, but I personally haven't heard of an "Internet Fee" before. I've heard of a minimum processing fee once or twice, but not an Internet Fee. So I'm not even sure what they're referring to there.

Mind you, they really shouldn't be establishing a "minimum processing fee" in addition to a service fee. My own interpretation of what Triple H said is that the processing fee is simply (monthly sales) x (merchant discount rate). There really isn't a minimum on this very often.

Having said all of that, I'd stay away from the company too. Not because they misled you (because I really don't know one way or the other) but just because the ass doesn't know what the head is doing.

[JMuncy]

Hello all,

I would like to just take a moment to let you know that Express Merchant Solutions have been contacted. The WebProNews offer, 75% off of the application fee, still stands. Apparently the person who responded to your questions was misinformed.

[UPDATE] Express Merchant Solutions has just contacted us with a new offer, No Application Fee whatsoever. [UPDATE]

If you have any further questions feel free to contact Susan at 859.514.2720

[finnstyle]

On a second note:
They do not have a satisfactory rating with the BBB nor are they even a member. They are not listed in Hoovers or the D&B database. They have no contact address on their website, although I was able to find where they are located.

Honestly, this is a company I would stay away from.

jestep-

How do you look up BBB ratings?

[jestep]

Go to: http://search.bbb.org/search.html

Do a search for the company name and state if you know it. You should get a listing of all the businesses with that name that you entered that have a history with the BBB.