Cancellation of Credit card machine contract, hefty charges HELP!

EVERYLITTLEHELPS

My sister was doing party plan and signed up to have a credit card machine so she could offer this method of payment to customers. She asked the rep if there was a cancellation fee and he said NO. She then stopped doing the parties and hence cancelled the machine only to be told there was a huge £170 charge and that it was in the contract she had signed. This was true, only she had take the rep's word for it. She now has a letter threatening legal action if she doesn't pay. What should she do?

Any help gratefully passed on!

Thanks.

EVERYLITTLEHELPS

bumping...

natweststaffmember

I think put it in writing to the bank and ask for a final response letter and take it to the FOS on that basis.

bengal-stripe

EVERYLITTLEHELPS wrote: »

........there was a huge £170 charge and that it was in the contract she had signed. This was true, only she had take the rep's word for it.

Maybe the rep was dishonest und told your sister the wrong thing, just to get her to sign on the dotted line; maybe he didn’t and your sister misunderstood him.

Your sister signed a contract, that counts. Any verbal assurances, which may or may not have been given, have no bearing on the contract. Any alterations to a printed contract should have been added before the contract gets signed by both parties.

The contract might even have had a cooling-off period (particular if the rep had visited her at home). Your sister failed to read the contract, before she signed and afterwards within the cooling-off period) and unless she can prove in writing or has the rep as a witness (pretty unlikely) that she had agreed different terms with the rep, she has no chance at all. She’d better pay it if she does not want her credit rating thrashed or have a CCJ against her name.

Yes, there are dishonest reps out there. So much more important for the consumer to check carefully for themselves. Hopefully your sister has learned her lesson: that she is not cut-out to go into business on her own.

natweststaffmember wrote: »

I think put it in writing to the bank and ask for a final response letter and take it to the FOS on that basis.

Complain to the FOS about what???

property.advert

Complain to anyone because you are talking about bad publicity and most likely, the amount claimed is connected to the commission the person who misled her was paid to get her to sign up for the machine.

Credit card merchant accounts have clawbacks, I guess the agent's contract also has some clawback clause.

She may not win 100% but I would not give in just yet. I think they are attempting to steamroller her and expect her to capitulate. She should have done more to protect herself but she did enter into pre contractual negotiations as she specifically asked about any cancellation charges. My contract law is a little rusty but I seem to remember from uni that pre contractual negotiations can form part of the wider contract. I am willing to stand corrected but that sticks in my mind.

natweststaffmember

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Maybe the rep was dishonest und told your sister the wrong thing, just to get her to sign on the dotted line; maybe he didn’t and your sister misunderstood him.

Your sister signed a contract, that counts. Any verbal assurances, which may or may not have been given, have no bearing on the contract. Any alterations to a printed contract should have been added before the contract gets signed by both parties.

The contract might even have had a cooling-off period (particular if the rep had visited her at home). Your sister failed to read the contract, before she signed and afterwards within the cooling-off period) and unless she can prove in writing or has the rep as a witness (pretty unlikely) that she had agreed different terms with the rep, she has no chance at all. She’d better pay it if she does not want her credit rating thrashed or have a CCJ against her name.

Yes, there are dishonest reps out there. So much more important for the consumer to check carefully for themselves. Hopefully your sister has learned her lesson: that she is not cut-out to go into business on her own.



Complain to the FOS about what???

To answer the obvious question, for someone independent of the bank or the OP to mediate on the question.

bengal-stripe

natweststaffmember wrote: »

To answer the obvious question, for someone independent of the bank or the OP to mediate on the question.

How can anyone, short of being a clairvoyant, establish what was, or what was not said between the rep and the customer?

property.advert

bengal-stripe wrote: »

How can anyone, short of being a clairvoyant, establish what was, or what was not said between the rep and the customer?

If you have two people telling different stories then any arbiter will decide on the balance of probabilities, largely on the individuals' characters when there is no evidence. In this case, you have a near penniless housewife who seeks to augment her meagre income with a round or two of entrepreneurial selling in her own home and on the other side you have the Machiavellian agent, thrusting a complicated device and contract of unfair terms onto the poor uneducated housewife, who even so, seeks to protect herself from the clutches of the agent's future greed but still finds herself hunted down by the lies and commissions emanating from the ruthless agent's overwhelming gluttony.

Dramatised for show but people have an affinity for the weak especially when faced with such an imbalance of power. No-one knows whether this agent did indeed lie and so, someone who is impartial will have to review the case if the company does not back down.

EVERYLITTLEHELPS

Thanks for your help which i will pass on.
I guess my sister was naive but the rep should have been up front when asked the question.
My sister's friend was also sold this credit card machine by the same rep and he also did not tell her when asked about any cancellation fees so he is obviously doing this all the time.
My sister even confronted the rep about this and he just said, "oh well they never chase you for the money". Disgraceful.

givemestrength_2

I too have a similar problem, although, agreed, fault is mine for not reading contract before signing. CPS, Card Processing Systems rep tide me into a 3 year contract. I was told the machine rental was £17 and other cost was just 1.9% for certain cards and .25p for others AND NO OTHER COST. I was happy with that. Have been in contract for 1year and suddenly discovered that the machine hire company is American BUT that in addition to the £20 for hire I am paying £20 for using it BECAUSE if we do not have enough cards going through THE MINIMUM COST IS £20!!...I have a very small business (really could have done without a machine BUT was sold this by saying it would greatly increase my potential) and for about £150 worth of card sales I am paying £40 each month!!....I thought there would be a cancellation fee which it states is £170 but IN ADDITION I ALSO HAVE TO PAY £20 FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TERM IE 2 YEARS WHICH AMOUNTS TO £480 SO IN TOTAL I AM BEING ASKED TO PAY £650!!!! I really would like to know if i have ANY recourse...I would really appreciate if Martin could help me here

b4abu

I know this reply is somewhat 6 years on! But I'm in a similar situation to givemestrength.

We are a private hire company and all of our cars have a credit card machine. We also were tied into a 3 years contract. Only to discover the 'hidden' fees & charges a few months later. We are also paying around £15 + VAT with a further (£12.99 inc + £5 maintenance) per machine. We have 14 terminals.

We have to do more than £1000 of sales per machine to avoid the £12.99 charge. At best our drivers do £400-£500.

We have another 2 years to go too. Is there any way to cancel this contract? Can any lawyer help us? It's eating into our profit.

Much appreciated.