Strip club scam

Burnz0

Should I be speaking to my bank about the merchant's card acquirer issue yet or is that backup? I say that as im disputing the amount that was put through and so its almost irrelevant at the moment and I wouldn't want the bank to try and palm me off

Cortinaa_GTR

planteria wrote: »

thanks Parnott. great, i get all that. the only query i have is what the benefits of keeping things 'in house' are? i have a bank and card processor in mind...and they're from different stables...but will, of course, be looking at the terms available.

So many variances but generally.


When the funds are credited into your account from the acquirer you 'can' incur settlement charges (unless you have a period of free banking) from your own bank but these 'can' be removed by using your own banks acquiring partner.


Using your own banks acquirer 'can' speed up the settlement time frames by a day or two depending upon the banking window you set up (This is when you stop trading each day) so that can assist with cashflow.


Other points to note depend on whether you intend to trade under a Ltd co or sole trader/partnership. The rules for hiring card terminals are different and contract lengths can vary. Some acquirers will set up your account for free but levy punitive charges if/when you try and leave in the future. If you were dealing with your day to day banking acquirer these types of conversations can be easier as well.


There is a cost to the facility so price has to be a consideration but also look at the opening times of any helpdesk(especially for technical queries) and is it UK based? What are the acquirers timescales for dispatching replacement terminals? How do they deal with PCI-DSS? (I'll let you google that). Make sure you understand all transaction charges, authorisation fees and surcharges that maybe applicable to the way you intend to process.
There is also an impending change to interchange (the fees Visa & MasterCard charge the banks) for debit cards in the next three months that will impact most merchants going forward so make sure the acquirer at least acknowledges this is on their radar.


Happy to advise on any queries. :-)

bluelass

Burnz0 wrote: »

if you'd actually read what I said you will see I never said that happened, simply that the club should be able to provide evidence and in this case they can't.
if the times on the cctv camera don't tally up then that leaves it open that someone else could have used my card? i'm not saying that's what's happened but my bank and cc company owe me a duty of care to investigate don't they and so as soon as the club can't provide the cctv evidence they drop themselves in it don't they?
It's quite possible, I keyed in my pin for an amount (maybe not on the actual pin entering screen), the barman saw the pin on screen, redid the transaction for a different amount etc etc - hence the reason the times on the cctv don't line up with the transaction. Again, im not saying that happened but that is reason enough to dispute the transaction at which point the club have to prove it was genuine


And with regards to: the venue would still have been happy to charge a little less if it meant getting some of your money.
The words of the manager "As far as the difference in charges we are not privy your negotiations with the dancers, the dancers advise the bar person of the the price you agreed the dancers then withdraw so you can conclude the transaction "
Therefore, the venue have no right to charge me a "little less" unless it has been agreed with the dancer, which given the 1 minute gap between transactions and the fact that the dancer has withdrawn seems unlikely doesn't it?
I completely appreciate you saying that if I entered it, take responsibility for not checking etc etc but my point is that once I go down the route of disputing (whether you agree with that or not) it the bank owes me a duty of care to investigate. The email from the manager and the cctv times are then surely sufficient to raise enough doubt about the situation for the bank to claim my money back. The fact that the club probably shouldn't even be accepting payments on behalf of the dancers as it probably violates their agreement with visa and mastercard should also help me

If what you say about the clubs CCTV is true;) then you should be considering giving your local trading standards a call. Don't the police think its dodgy too?

Burnz0

Both the police and trading standards have agreed it sounds dodgy but their automatic response seems to be get your bank to resolve it in the first instance.
Its quite likely that the cctv time is just out of synch but when the club are simply saying they have no involvement in the transaction other than it goes through their card machine (dodgy in itself) then one would think they'd take simple precautions to cover themselves like making sure the time is correct.
Irrespective of the outcome I willbe pursuing this as im sure minimal digging will show they're breaching some kind of licensing term plus their card merchant terms...But for now my focus is on my money

kriss_boy

we got the impression that the club scanned my mates CC then just kept charging it all night. My mate wasn't too drunk believe it or not but he ended up facing a bill of about 3k.

With hindsight, he should have reported it stolen and got a crime reference number for the CC company.

If you google this scam you'll see it's quite common.

planteria

fd1972uk wrote: »

It's on a card, so how would anyone know what he's spending?

anyone who looks like spending will get the attention of those looking to part them with their money, and they work together to help to do so. in this case, apparently involving dancers, barstaff & bouncers.

planteria

Burnz0 wrote: »

Should I be speaking to my bank about the merchant's card acquirer issue yet or is that backup? I say that as im disputing the amount that was put through and so its almost irrelevant at the moment and I wouldn't want the bank to try and palm me off

i wouldn't. i would purely stick to 'i've been scammed' and tell them what you did agree to, and what you didn't. and if in doubt, have no doubt: decide, and stick to it.

planteria

Parnott wrote: »

So many variances but generally...

thanks again Parnott. all useful stuff.. it will be a new limited company, taking over a sole trader's business, as it happens. i will look into it carefully in the next couple of weeks, if things progress as planned this week. appreciate your help. and sorry for taking the thread off-track.

Burnz0

I received this response from the manager when I queried why the cctv image times are so out of synch with the times the transactions went through:
"There is always a discrepancy as we do not control the times on the credit card machines nor the time they take to respond once a transaction has been authorized by the card holder.
Transaction are not entered into our till until payment has been authorized"
Does this sound plausible? We're talking about a 9 minute lag? And surely the receipt comes from the card machine normally doesn't it?

planteria

it doesn't sound right, but i'm not sure it's that important....you were scammed. stick to that. accuse the barman of taking your money, supported by the other staff.