ComplaintsforMerchants Acceptance Corp

• Initial Complaint

  04/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Illegally reporting a closed account on my credit with a higher balance account has never been paid set up illegally while soliciting in my neighborhood where HOA banned them from entering. *** disputed this several times with no success and the company will not acknowledge where and how they are reporting this balance. Scam

  Business response

  04/04/2024

  Merchants Acceptance Corp. has investigated this consumer complaint and have determined there is no basis for deletion/removal from credit.  The attached contract was entered into and executed by the consumer for financing of their purchase of a ***** home cleaning system.  The terms of this financing were also verified telephonically with the consumer by Merchants Acceptance Corp. at the time the contract was entered into.  The consumer did not exercise their right to cancel the contract and defaulted on their loan, Merchants then proceeded with legal action.  The legal action case is still open and pending, see attached document.  The debt is valid and owed by the consumer.    

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Purchased a Nano2 Aqua System on 2/7/2023 from ***************** via a salesman (*******************) from Breath Easy LLC for $3995.00 less $669.50 discounts and $500.00 down. Financed $2825.50 from Merchants Acceptance Corp. Paid 6 payments of $150.77 by autopay through my bank, and then paid off balance of $2244.26, per the salesman to Breath Easy LLC by debit card on 10/5/2023. I had attempted to contact Merchants Acceptance to pay this off but could not get anyone to answer the phone. This payment to Breath Easy cleared the bank on 11/1/2023. I continued to be billed by Merchants Acceptance corp for 4 months. I contacted the salesman in November after October and November payments continued to be deducted from my bank. He sent me a check from his Breath Easy LLC account for those two months. I contacted him again in January 2024 when I noticed Dec and Jan payments continued to be deducted from my account. At this time he enlisted his supervisors (*************************, ************) assistance, and I placed a stop payment to Merchants Acceptance Corp with my bank. The supervisor of ***************** has assured me he has talked to the manager of Merchants Acceptance Corp and has taken care of this, but now I am getting past due letters from Merchants Acceptance with NSF and late fees. I have attempted to discuss this with representatives from Merchants Acceptance but they do not understand. I have now paid $3148.88 plus 4 additional payments of $150.77 after the payoff for a total of $3751.96, for the financed amount of $2825.50. I did receive a check for $301.54 from Breath Easy LLC but someone still owes me money and Merchants Acceptance Corp needs to quit billing **** am at a loss as to how to handle this further.

  Business response

  03/02/2024

  Merchants Acceptance Corp. has investigated this complaint.  The only contact we have had with this consumer since the loan was originated on 2/7/2023 was on 2/17/2024 when the customer called to inform us of the payoff made to the seller and not to Merchants Acceptance Corp..  Immediately we investigated the customers claim and contacted ****************** (the original seller of the equipment) to confirm that she had paid off directly to them.  We did confirm on 2/15/24 the payoff made to Vacuity and immediately closed the account as ************************* from Vacuity explained that he had resolved the refund issue with the customer.   Apparently that is not the case.  Merchants Acceptance Corp. deducted payments of $150.77 on 10/8/23, 11/8/23, 12/8/23 and 1/8/24 for a total of $603.08.  These payments were after the customer had already paid off to the seller.  Vacuity has already refunded $301.54 to the customer so and additional $301.54 is due to the customer.  Due to the issues the customer has had in dealing with Vacuity, **********************. will be refunding the additional $301.54 to the customer.    

  Customer response

  03/03/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  If I do not receive payment from Merchants Acceptance, I will be back in touch.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  03/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am not liable for this account as I was deployed in another country at the time of this contract therefore was unable to give consent. I have disputed this before.

  Business response

  03/01/2024

  Merchants Acceptance Corp. requires a completed FTC ID Theft Complaint form along with a valid photo id to investigate ID Theft Complaints.  Please contact me directly at ************ so that we can get you the required forms to initiate an investigation into your claim. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My account was sent to collections and sold off to a law firm which I've been trying to pay off for a month now but when I try to make payment over phone or online they tell me there is not an authorized account! I want this removed from my credit report all together! I'm trying to purchase a home and this is the only thing stopping me! It's been a hassle to even find the account even after it was sold now this!

  Business response

  02/14/2024

  We sincerely apologize for any issues you have had with the firm that your account was placed with.  Merchants Acceptance Corp. can help you by directly taking your payment and expedite getting your credit report updated.  Please contact ********************* at ************ to make arrangements.  

• Initial Complaint

  01/07/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I am not liable for this **** with merchant appearance corp I do not have a contract with the collection agency trying to collect they did not provide me with the original contract as I requested

  Business response

  01/08/2024

  Please see attached contract that validates the debt.  No changes will be made to the consumers credit reporting.  

  Customer response

  01/08/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. This collection agency didnt provide me the signed documents that I owe them and I demand this to be removed off my credit 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I SECURED A LOAN FROM MERCHANTS ACCEPTANCE CORP. ON 7/29/2023 FOR $2,800.00. MY FIRST PAYMENT IS SAID TO BE DUE TODAY 9/12/2023. I PHONED THE COMPANY AFTER REALIZING I WAS GOING TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $997.64 OVER THE COURSE OF 36 MONTHS IN FINANCE CHARGES. I WAS TOLD THEY WOULD NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARD, WHICH IS FINE, HOWEVER THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE TO CHARGE ME AN ADDITIONAL $49.00 FINANCE CHARGE BECAUSE I DIDN'T PAY ON 9/11/2023. I EXPLAINED MY PAYMENT SAYS ON MY PAYMENT BOOK THAT THE DUE DATE IS 9/12/2023. THE GENTLEMEN I SPOKE WITH SAID THE $49.00 CHARGE HAD ALREADY BEEN PROCESSED. HOW CAN THEY PROCESS A FINANCE CHARGE WHEN I AM PAYING ON TIME????? THE GENTLEMEN, OF COURSE, SAID THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT HAD ALREADY BEEN PROCESSED. I'M FURIOUS AS TO WHY I HAVE TO PAY AN EXTRA $49.00, WHEN I PAID ON TIME!!!!!!!

  Business response

  09/13/2023

  Merchants Acceptance Corp. has investigated the consumer complaint and we have determined that the interest charge is valid and that this is no justification for a billing adjustment.  Monthly interest accruals occur on the customers due date for payment.  As confirmed by the customer and as outlined on the contract the first payment due date was 9/12/2023, the $49 of interest accrued on 9/12/2023.  The customer contacted us to payoff the loan on 9/12/2023 and the payoff amount included the $49 interest accrual which was valid and owed by the customer.  

  Customer response

  09/13/2023

   
  Complaint: 20591995
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  When a payment has a due date of 9/12/2023, which I paid on 9/12/2023, any interest charge should start on 9/13/2023.  So what your telling me...if I had wrote a check that you received on 9/12/2023 I still would have been charged $49.00 as well as the the $5.00 lated fee?
  

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

  Business response

  09/20/2023

  Your contract due was 9/12/2023 the interest accrual occurs on that day, not the day after.  You would have needed to pay the account on 9/11/2023 to avoid the interest accrual.  You have a 10 day grace ****** for late charges so a late charge would not have been charged until 9/22/2023.  Late fee charges and interest accruals are not the same thing.  

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am not liable for this debt with Merchants Acceptance Corp.I do not have a contract with Merchants Acceptance Corp , they did not provide me with the original contract as I requested

  Business response

  08/25/2023

  The debt is valid and owed by the consumer.  Merchants Acceptance Corp. has never received a written request for validation of debt.  Attached is a copy of the contract. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Merchants acceptance has my payment on auto pay and deducts money every month, but calls me multiple times a month for no reason. They just want to check how Im doing. Youre getting payments and Im doing fine. There is nothing else to sell me. They recently put a delinquent payment on my report even though Ive paid, its on auto pay because it is linked to my business checking account. I wish they would stop harassing me and just take the money so I can be done with this terrible company. For some reason the skip every April payment. Total headache of a company.

  Business response

  06/06/2023

  Merchants Acceptance Corp. has investigated the consumer complaint and determined that we are calling the customer and reporting the account as late because the automatic payment scheduled on 3/29/2023 payment processed with the consumers debit card declined.  The payment has not been made up or resubmitted and the account is currently past due.  The consumer attached screen shots of payments that we did receive on 4/29/23 and 5/29/23 but we are still missing the payment that was due on 3/29/2023.  We encourage the consumer to check their bank records and contact ** to resolve the issue. 

  Customer response

  06/06/2023

   
  Complaint: 20148801
  
  I am rejecting this response because: there is no record of any attempted payments from your company.  They would show up as paid or overdrafted. I will contact the company Friday to make sure there is a payment, I ask that you please remove delinquent payment history once its paid because I have no record on my bank account to show there is a transaction that failed to post whether it is a bank error or your company that didnt collect the money. I happily pay my bill on auto pay and I shouldnt get punished with derogatory marks because there is no record on my bank statement. Every other month it shows paid, but the missing month there is no record of any payment or rejected payment, or fee from a rejected payment. 
  
  *******************

  Business response

  06/09/2023

  Automatic payments on this account are being made with a debit card.  When funds are not available for a debit card transaction the transaction declines, there is no record on your bank statement because the transaction never successfully processed due to insufficient funds.  Attached is the payment history on file for the payment in question that demonstrates the payments were processed and declined.  Merchants Acceptance even resubmitted this transaction for payment on 4/5/2023 and it was again declined.   It is the consumers responsibility to ensure the appropriate funds are available in the account before the payment processes.  There was no wrongdoing on the part of Merchants Acceptance and certainly nothing that warrants a correction to the account payment history or credit reporting.   

• Initial Complaint

  04/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Merchants Acceptance Corp called my personal cell phone after 9pm local time multiple times in the month of March.When following up with them, they claimed it was a system error identifying my address as in the Central Time Zone, instead of the Eastern Time Zone. Two agents argued with me that I was wrong about which time zone I lived in, however one Supervisor was able to do a ****** search and find that my zip code was in the Eastern Time Zone.I also found that they had the wrong billing information on file, and considering the calls were being made because i was two months past due, I now question if this was the reason why no payments were being processed.I also found that the company does a poor job of defining their payment method terms. When speaking to the Supervisor, he said that they only take debit card or routing/checking numbers over the phone because credit cards are billed as Cash Advances. While this is mentioned on their website, it is poorly located, and in many cases is not found within the actual payment pages themselves prior to confirming the payment.Because of these issues, my credit report was reported to as Past Due. The Past Due payment amount and information was eventually fixed over the phone with a Supervisor, however, one agent hung up on me initially, and there were multiple times where information was unclear, or even contradictory. In one case, it was described that no fees were required to make a payment (in re: Cash Advance/Credit Card) so I should use a debit card, but if I gave him a debit card number over the phone, I was going to be charged an additional 6$ processing fee. This company is highly unprofessional, questionably ethical, and should be avoided at all costs. Their practices are even worse than most student loan companies I have done business with in the past.

  Business response

  04/13/2023

  Merchants Acceptance Corp.(MAC) has investigated this consumer complaint. 

  MAC has found that there was 1 attempt made on 3/15/2023 to contact the consumer at 9:09pm in the consumers local time zone.  This was the result of the customer residing in an area that is on the border of the eastern and central time zones that our system was recognizing as being in the central time zone.  The issue has been corrected and we can assure there will be no other attempts to contact the consumer after 9pm. 

  MAC investigated the payment history on the account and determined that payments made by the consumer were timely posted to the account.  The result of the account being past due was due to the fact that the consumer failed to make the monthly payments due.  Per the terms of the contract the customer agreed to make monthly payments of $104.54 each month starting 7/22/2022.  Payments made and posted to the account were on 7/22/22, 8/23/22, 9/26/22, 11/7/22, 11/15/22, 12/27/22, 1/30/23, 2 payments on 4/11/2023.  The consumer failed to remit timely payments for the month of February and March 2023 resulting in the account being past due.  Please see the attached statement of account for details on the payment history and balances.   

  PCI (Payment Card Industry) defines MAC as a debt repayment company and therefore defines any credit card transactions processed by MAC as cash advance.  When taking payments over the phone we only allow debit card payments to avoid any misunderstandings with the consumer.  When making payments on our website we do warn the consumer to only make payments with debit cards and that credit card payments will be treated as cash advance, see the attached warning.  After entering the pay bill checkbox the consumer is directed to a 3rd party processing site managed by Authorize.net; unfortunately we do not have any control of the content or messages in this payment portal to add a 2nd reminder.   Payments made by phone are assessed a $6 convenience fee for payment by phone. 

  Our determination is that there was no error made on MAC's part resulting in the account being past due and reporting as such to the credit reporting agencies, therefore there will be no corrections made to the credit reporting on this account.  

   

   

  Customer response

  04/13/2023

   
  Complaint: 19923542
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  Multiple instances of the company making phone calls after 9pm were shared with the company and the BBB complaint. My address is *not* on the border of the EST/CST timezone.

   

  Agents I spoke with on 4/11 confirmed the same dates with this over the phone that they also saw the times when called, and when converted to the proper timezone, were after 9pm.

   

  Again, as mentioned, MAC makes little to no effort to clarify their payment methods to the consumer on their website or over the phone. 

   

  MAC had incorrect autopay payment information on file, incorrect location information data, and made multiple phone calls after 9pm local time. Their agents hung up on me when confronting them about their business practices and only after speaking with a Supervisor were we able to correct the information, find the errors, and bring the payment to an AutoPay solution that didn't cost me extra money each month due to most of MACs payment methods requiring additional fees due to how they process their payments.

   

  Despite the incorrect information and internal system errors, MAC did nothing to compensate for these issues other than continuing to require me to make the payments. Supervisor advised me they would follow up to make sure the account was deemed current and the Past Due removed.

   

  In any case, these aren't new complaints against MAC and as in previous complaints, it's clear they will simply tell their story, dismiss the complaint, and make no effort to provide customer service.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  03/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I want to return vaccum cleaner i didn't know they put loan towards it icant afford a loan plus I dont have job anymore

  Business response

  03/29/2023

  Merchants Acceptance Corp. received an application for financing of a ***** Vacuum on 2/24/2023 which as denied.  Merchants Acceptance Corp. did not provide the financing for this customer and does not have an account with Merchants Acceptance Corp..  Consumer has the wrong company.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩