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Business Advisory: Card Service International

Business Advisory: Card Service International

I’m warning anyone who needs merchants accounts to process credit cards NOT to use Card Service International, which I once was very high on. One of their terminals broke and they sent me a new one. The new one, after weeks of attempted programming, was finally found to be defective. They sent me another. This one worked.

However, they never acknowledged my return of the defective terminal and proceeded to charge me for two terminals. The customer service people (who were habitually awful when there were technical problems, hence, the poor programming) refused to listen, and three certified letters to the president failed to draw a response. The only way to stop them from double charging was to change my credit card processor altogether, which I did, and found even better rates at my commercial bank.

Credit Card International now duns me for payment of $95 (!) and will not listen to reason or respond to any communications. They claim I possessed and was using two terminals!

Anyone can make a mistake, but companies that refuse to listen and treat their customers like criminals don’t deserve anyone’s business. I strongly recommend that you don’t go near these people and, if you have an account with them, go elsewhere. You’ll probably find better rates and avoid future unpleasantness.

Written by

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and author of over 60 books. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients from over 500 leading organizations around the world.

Comments: 1

  • Joe Weber

    December 4, 2007

    I am in agreement with your assessment of Card Services International. We had a problem with one of their agents, and we sent them the email below. They apparently made some sort of attempt to get to the bottom of this. But they basically said there is nothing they can do about it. It was OUR problem that their agent took money out of our account improperly.
    ____________________________________

    We relocated from Massachusetts to Florida in April 2006. We discontinued product sales via credit card, and we returned the rental machine on March 28th 2006 to:

    James Greenbaum
    First Data Card Services
    44 Beach Drive
    Little Compton RI 02837

    Phone: 401-635-4435

    However, we noted in June 2007 that Mr. Greenbaum had continued to take $35 per month out of our bank account. In order to stop this, we had to close our account. We were finally able to get in phone contact with Mr. Greenbaum. He said that he did receive the machine, and it was a mistake that those charges were levied over those 15 months. He said he would send us a refund. When we didn’t get the refund after a couple of weeks, we contacted him again. He said he was tied up but would definitely call us the next day. But he didn’t. When we were eventually able to reach him again, in the evening, he said to please call his cell phone the next day. We did, but he didn’t answer. We’ve left countless messages, since he no longer answers our calls.

    We’re not sure if Mr. Greenbaum is an agent or an employee of Card Services International. But he certainly does not represent the company in a positive light. His inappropriate charges, deceptive communications, and questionable integrity are all very disturbing. We would appreciate it if Card Services International would convince him to behave in the manner we’re sure you expect from people in this position. We would also appreciate it if someone at CSI would call me to explain why this has happened and how we can best get it resolved.

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