Thread: Need Help...TMF Merchant

I was with CardService Intl for about 2 years...Chargeback rate under 1% ,in fact the only chargebacks i EVER had were from customers who didnt recognize the transaction(sold items on sites like pricegrabber,amazon,ebay,etc so some customers didnt expect the charge to appear on there card as my company) which were ALL resolved within 7 business days.

Several months ago, I decided to invest in search engine advertising for my website. The turnover was great, sales increased 50%+. received better discounts from my supplier...business was good. I eventually became a little overwhelmed with orders. About a 1 week delay for delivery rather than 2-3 days. Received a few chargebacks (3 or 4 out of 50 sales)for non-receipt, but was able to dispute with tracking info, and apologize to customer.

TROUBLE:
Placed a larger than normal order with my supplier, so I would have items in stock and avoid chargebacks,etc. Supplier delivered(takes about a week for delivery), Unfortunatly it was the wrong items!! So now im 1 week late on my regular orders,and have to send back the package to my supplier for Exchange which takes another week,and then another week to get back to me.Total 3 weeks late +delivery time which ends up being a month to about 60-80 customers.
About 30 chargebacks came in all at once, While the chargebacks were pouring in i was receiving more and more orders(items were in stock), however i noticed, my batches werent being processed, and no funds were going into my bank acct.

When i contacted Cardservices they said my account had been suspended and All FUNDS were being held Indefinitely...I no longer had access to my gateway, which meant I can not issue REFUNDS, Authorize charges,etc,etc.
So now i have 30+ chargebacks that im disputing + 50or so new customers whose funds are being held...Should I ship merchandise out and risk not receiving the funds for 180days or whenever "Indefinitely" is up??? or just refund the customers?
I decided to refund customers, but since i no longer have access to my gateway I can not do this. Contacted cardservice, and asked if they could issue refunds; the agent told me "NO, you would have to instruct your customers to file chargebacks". Ok,fair enough, I did just that, only to get a phone call saying my account is NOW TERMINATED due to excessive chargebacks and placed on the TMF List(before all of this I had NO IDEA what the TMF list was and how serious it can be)
My Chargeback ratio during the 2 yrs i was with them was well under 1%, processing 50-100 transactions per month and after all this mess my CB ratio shot up to 6%.
now they are saying I owe them money, but the money I owe them was from chargebacks that were disputed and are currently(for the past 4 months) being "reviewed".

I am fully aware that this is about 99.9% MY FAULT, however I am now finding out it is nearly impossible for me to obtain a merchant account.

I need help!

I need a merchant account, offhsore, in the states,it doesnt matter.

Is anyone aware of ANY merchant accounts that cater to TMF merchants?
I am not HIGH RISK, just a victim of poor judegement and circumstance...

I do not mind higher fees,Rolling reserve or anything like that.

I am just looking for a SAFE/Secure Merchant Account...

Any info / suggestions would be appreciated.

(and yes ive begged and pleaded to be taken off the TMF)

TMF list can be a real challenge and most companies even willing to help will ask for $10k+ upfront. I would suggest that you contact preCharge by calling +1 (212) 751-6213.

Try, tmfmerchants.com. They been able to help others get a merchant accounts after being TMF. First, they will try to get you another domestic account, but if that fails they have Offshore Processors available.

You could try CrystalPayments, they are good and reliable offshore thrid party payment processor.

Originally Posted by Iedefender

You could try CrystalPayments, they are good and reliable offshore thrid party payment processor.

Do you work for CrystalPayments ?

Wow....I can completely relate. I had Card Service years ago...almost the same result. Supplier issue and I grew too quickly. They cut me off.

My question is this...do you accept checks on your site? Because of the economy, the online use of checks is growing.

It doesn't solve your cc merchant account issues...BUT! It will immediately raise your sales and you do not have to worry about reserves or chargebacks (depending on the company)

Good Luck!

Check chronopay or if everything fails use Alertpay to accept CC's on your website, by using an e-wallet or third party processor you might pay a bit more in processing fees but you will be ablt to accept credit cards again.

Originally Posted by Luxenburg

I was with CardService Intl for about 2 years...Chargeback rate under 1% ,in fact the only chargebacks i EVER had were from customers who didnt recognize the transaction(sold items on sites like pricegrabber,amazon,ebay,etc so some customers didnt expect the charge to appear on there card as my company) which were ALL resolved within 7 business days.

Several months ago, I decided to invest in search engine advertising for my website. The turnover was great, sales increased 50%+. received better discounts from my supplier...business was good. I eventually became a little overwhelmed with orders. About a 1 week delay for delivery rather than 2-3 days. Received a few chargebacks (3 or 4 out of 50 sales)for non-receipt, but was able to dispute with tracking info, and apologize to customer.

TROUBLE:
Placed a larger than normal order with my supplier, so I would have items in stock and avoid chargebacks,etc. Supplier delivered(takes about a week for delivery), Unfortunatly it was the wrong items!! So now im 1 week late on my regular orders,and have to send back the package to my supplier for Exchange which takes another week,and then another week to get back to me.Total 3 weeks late +delivery time which ends up being a month to about 60-80 customers.
About 30 chargebacks came in all at once, While the chargebacks were pouring in i was receiving more and more orders(items were in stock), however i noticed, my batches werent being processed, and no funds were going into my bank acct.

When i contacted Cardservices they said my account had been suspended and All FUNDS were being held Indefinitely...I no longer had access to my gateway, which meant I can not issue REFUNDS, Authorize charges,etc,etc.
So now i have 30+ chargebacks that im disputing + 50or so new customers whose funds are being held...Should I ship merchandise out and risk not receiving the funds for 180days or whenever "Indefinitely" is up??? or just refund the customers?
I decided to refund customers, but since i no longer have access to my gateway I can not do this. Contacted cardservice, and asked if they could issue refunds; the agent told me "NO, you would have to instruct your customers to file chargebacks". Ok,fair enough, I did just that, only to get a phone call saying my account is NOW TERMINATED due to excessive chargebacks and placed on the TMF List(before all of this I had NO IDEA what the TMF list was and how serious it can be)
My Chargeback ratio during the 2 yrs i was with them was well under 1%, processing 50-100 transactions per month and after all this mess my CB ratio shot up to 6%.
now they are saying I owe them money, but the money I owe them was from chargebacks that were disputed and are currently(for the past 4 months) being "reviewed".

I am fully aware that this is about 99.9% MY FAULT, however I am now finding out it is nearly impossible for me to obtain a merchant account.

I need help!

I need a merchant account, offhsore, in the states,it doesnt matter.

Is anyone aware of ANY merchant accounts that cater to TMF merchants?
I am not HIGH RISK, just a victim of poor judegement and circumstance...

I do not mind higher fees,Rolling reserve or anything like that.

I am just looking for a SAFE/Secure Merchant Account...

Any info / suggestions would be appreciated.

(and yes ive begged and pleaded to be taken off the TMF)

I see a lot of expensive bad advice here. If you are still having trouble, send me a PM with your name and phone number and I will walk you through the best process for your business. FOR LONGEVITY!

Originally Posted by Iedefender

You could try CrystalPayments, they are good and reliable offshore thrid party payment processor.

I agree with you! They are really good.

I can help you all you really need to do is give me permission to call and get you off TMF then i can help you get a merchant account. See the bank that put you on TMF is the only one that can realease you but it is really not that hard to do if you change the way you process the cards cause that will be the only way you will be able to get off TMF and be back processing again.