Warning: discover merchants & customers
This page is merely for your information. As consumers & merchants, we make our choices based off of knowledge & facts.
All of us would like to believe that our Credit Card companies will stand by us & protect us. Visa & Mastercard have done so and continue to do so. Is there a reason why most Merchants only accept Visa & Mastercard? Maybe it's the cost? or maybe, unsafe practices of other credit card companies?
In the case of ExpressCreations, it is the latter not the former. We applied to become a Discover Merchant because some customers wanted to take advantage of the cash back bonuses that Discover offers. But up until an incident happened to our company, Discover could not provide any procedures to protect us, the merchant. Below is the events as they had unfolded along with a copy the correspondence between Discover & ourselves.
- 01/2003 - I was contacted by Jody regarding the "Visibility online service" of Website Pros, Inc. They were offering a "special price" to Discover Merchants @ $34.95/month with a free trial of 30 days. There was no mention of which account (credit card or checking account) was to be debited for this service nor did I agree to paying for a 1-yr service for a discounted price. Since I was not advised that my Merchant account was going to be charged, I let the 30 days pass.
- 04/30/03 - I noticed that I was short on funds & on 5/06/03, why my bank statement arrived, I realized that Website Pros, Inc. had charged my Merchant account for $335.50, 1years worth of service.
- 5/06/03 - I called Website Pros, Inc. to complain that they were not authorized to charge any of my accounts for any monies. They said that when "Jody" had spoken to me that she should have mentioned it. I also complained that I never agreed to paying for a full year of service. I was advised by their customer service representative, Ashley, to fax them a formal letter & a copy of my bank statement showing the charge. They said that a refund would take at least 3 days.
- 6/02/03 - I called them today because I didn't notice any refunds come in. I spoke to "Ashley" again today & she claims that a letter was sent to me asking for more information. I told her that I have not had any correspondence from them since I had last spoken to her. She claims that the "claims department" rejected my claim because they wanted to see the full statement. The copy of the statement sent to them was the current statement for the month of April showing the charge. I had erased amounts of other transactions that were not related to their transaction.
- 06/03/03 - Becky Carl of Discover Services Called
I expressed my dissatisfaction w/ Discover Merchant Services regarding safety of my checking account for releasing funds without proper authorization from me. According to Becky the company that they are dealing with and the company that charged my Merchant account is SWITCHBOARD from MA. However, the company I am dealing with is "Website Pros, Inc." from Florida. Website Pros, Inc approached me regarding the service but it was SWITCHBOARD that billed my Discover Merchant account. In viewing both websites, neither site imply that they are related companies, Becky confirms same information. However, Website Pros only connection to SWITCHBOARD is that they will submit their customer's web information to SWITCHBOARD and no other mention of affiliations. Becky found another website under this address, http://www.websitepros.com/jhtmlhome/publicpages/index.jhtml. Logos of both sites are the same, hence can only assume that Website Pros is in fact in FL. Unknown if SF & FL offices are related. Becky is not sure why it was SWITCHBOARD who billed us but the company in question is Website Pros, Inc. I emailed her a copy of my fax message & confirms that the statement & letter I sent Website Pros, Inc should have sufficed. She was going to see what she could do to settle the matter. I also informed her that I have already file fraudulent claims against Website Pros, Inc. as it seems like the manner in which they attain their business is similar to the phone companies who would resort to SLAMMING. Phone number for Becky Carl is 800-347-3069 & email address is becky.carl@discoverfinancial.com, fax#: 614-283-4649.
Switchboard Information:
120 Flanders Road
Westboro, MA
508-898-8000
http://www.switchboard.com/Website Pros, Inc.
12735 Gran Bay Parkway West
Building 200
Jacksonville, FL 32258
Phone: 904-680-6600
Fax: 904-880-0350
E-mail: info@websitepros.com
http://www.websitepros.com/jhtmlhome/publicpages/index.jhtml06/26/03
--Original Message--
Merchant Comments
Subject: Merchant Settlement
Message:Thank you for working w/ us regarding getting our refund back from Switchboard. However, we have not heard back from you or anyone from Discover on why the charge was through Switchboard & not through Website Pros or what the connection was with these two companies. Unfortunately, this is where money isn't everything... I may have gotten my refund but I surely DO NOT feel secure having a Merchant Account with Discover, given the fact that my company's monies in the bank can be freely taken by Discover without proper authorization.
At this point, what we need from Discover is to know what procedures have been put in place to prevent these incidents from happening again. If we cannot be given any kind of reassurance from Discover that this will not happen again, we will be forced to advise our visitors that we will be discontinuing accepting Discover Cards and we will disclose the reasons as well.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
Cristina Yake
ExpressCreations
www.express-creations.com
(415)334-4245-----Original Message-----
From: merchantservice@discoverbiz.com [mailto:merchantservice@discoverbiz.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 5:27 PM
To: Cristina D. Yake
Subject: RE: Merchant Settlement [#178756]Dear Valued Merchant:
Thank you for your message. We appreciate hearing your comments and concerns.
Discover Card and Switchboard are Sales Initiative Partners. We provide billing service for them.
We did not enroll you in the program. You would have had to initiate the enrollment in their services as well as supplied them with specific information. This program is a website advertising program that offers assistance to merchants by advertising their business online through a yellow pages program.
If you have questions or concerns on your enrollment, you will need to contact Switchboard at 1-877-339-1919.
We value the opinion of our Merchants and would encourage you to continue writing us with any questions or concerns you may have. Feel free to contact us at Discoverbiz.com if you need further assistance.
Thank You, Discover Business Services 1-800-347-3069
-----Original Message-----
From: Cristina D. Yake
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 5:41 PM
To: 'merchantservice@discoverbiz.com'
Subject: RE: Merchant Settlement [#178756]I surely hope that this is not your best answer to the situation. I DO NOT have a Discover card, nor have I ever spoken to Switchboard to enroll in their program. Before you start rattling off autoresponses w/ no name to refer to, at that, look into your records & you will find that Website Pros is not a division of Switchboard and that Becky Carl, the person I spoke with could not explain the connection either.
SO EITHER YOU RESEARCH INTO YOUR "PARNTERS", AS YOU CALL IT, SO AS TO PROTECT YOUR MERCHANTS!!!!!! If that last email is the best you can do, let me know so that I know which way to protect my customers too. If you cannot protect your customers, at least I know tthat I CAN.
Tina Yake
ExpressCreations
www.express-creations.com
(415)334-4245-----Original Message-----
From: merchantservice@discoverbiz.com
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 6:09 PM
To: Cristina D. Yake
Subject: RE: Merchant Settlement [#178756]Dear Valued Merchant:
Thank you for your message. We appreciate hearing your comments and concerns.
We did not refer to you as having a Discover Card. We are Discover Card. We offer Merchant Services as well as issuer of the Discover Card.
WebPros or Website Pros is a division of Switchboard. And again, we did not initiate your enrollment in their program. This would have been an agreement between your company and them.
We value the opinion of our Merchants and would encourage you to continue writing us with any questions or concerns you may have. Feel free to contact us at Discoverbiz.com if you need further assistance.
Thank You,
Discover Business Services
1-800-347-3069-----Original Message-----
From: Cristina D. Yake
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 7:03 PM
To: 'merchantservice@discoverbiz.com'
Subject: RE: Merchant Settlement [#178756]Dear Mr. or Ms. NO NAME:
For starters, no where have I mentioned in any correspondence with you or anyone in your company that Discover Card ever enrolled me in that program. Before you start speaking out of your HAT, Becky Carl & I looked at both Switchboard & Website Pros' company sites and NO WHERE does it stipulate that either one is a division of each other.
But now that we know where Discover Card stands (i.e. NO PROTECTIVE PROCEDURES FOR THEIR MERCHANTS), EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, we will no longer be accepting Discover Card payments & wish to no longer be a Merchant of Discover. Per my previous email, we have all intentions of protecting our customers.
It's a shame that you cannot even divulge your name in your correspondences & hide behind a company name & phone number.
Cristina Yake
ExpressCreations
www.express-creations.com
(415)334-4245-----Original Message-----
From: merchantservice@discoverbiz.com [mailto:merchantservice@discoverbiz.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 7:09 PM
To: Cristina D. Yake
Subject: RE: Merchant Settlement [#178756]Dear Valued Merchant:
Thank you for your message. We appreciate hearing your comments and concerns.
We value the opinion of our Merchants and would encourage you to continue writing us with any questions or concerns you may have. Feel free to contact us at Discoverbiz.com if you need further assistance.
Thank You,
Discover Business Services
1-800-347-3069Other Complaints about Discover Card:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/credit_cards/discover.html
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