posted 03-15-2005 11:40 AM            

Gale Terry was approved for a merchant account in July of 2004. Indeed, we offered her a FREE custom-designed website with her merchant account. She was informed that she would simply need to submit pictures and information that she'd like on her site, and we'd be happy to design it for her, free of charge. Throughout July and August, she submitted information incorrectly, in a wrong format. Thousands of websites have been built using this format without any problem. She was given a lot of hands on help by our customer service staff. By the end of August, she submitted everything correctly to us, and within 3 business days, her website was completed.

By this time, however, she had been charged some modest fees for credit card processing. Because of this, she wanted to cancel and, it appears, used her difficulty with her website as a means of protest to extract herself from her obligation.

We at Landmark are extremely vigilant in providing excellent customer service to all of our customers, including Gale Terry. We, of course, are sorry that any merchant of ours was in any way unhappy, but she clearly looked for some difficulty in the process in order to wriggle out of an agreement.

Again, that you for this opportunity.

posted 09-12-2005 02:03 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by TimCandelaria:
My name is Tim Candelaria. I'm the Vice President of Sales for Landmark Merchant Solutions. I'd like to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to this false allegation.

Gale Terry was approved for a merchant account in July of 2004. Indeed, we offered her a FREE custom-designed website with her merchant account. She was informed that she would simply need to submit pictures and information that she'd like on her site, and we'd be happy to design it for her, free of charge. Throughout July and August, she submitted information incorrectly, in a wrong format. Thousands of websites have been built using this format without any problem. She was given a lot of hands on help by our customer service staff. By the end of August, she submitted everything correctly to us, and within 3 business days, her website was completed.

By this time, however, she had been charged some modest fees for credit card processing. Because of this, she wanted to cancel and, it appears, used her difficulty with her website as a means of protest to extract herself from her obligation.

We at Landmark are extremely vigilant in providing excellent customer service to all of our customers, including Gale Terry. We, of course, are sorry that any merchant of ours was in any way unhappy, but she clearly looked for some difficulty in the process in order to wriggle out of an agreement.

Again, that you for this opportunity.

Sincerely,
Tim Candelaria
Vice President, Sales
Landmark Merchant Solutions

---

posted 09-12-2005 02:10 PM            

Tim said all I needed was to simply submit my photos and information.Well,I read thier 150 pages of how to,If I were educated in the field of building web sites that would have been easy to do and I would not have needed thier service..I contacted their so called Customer Service and unfortunatly they did not know any more than I did,were rude and told me I was the only person having trouble with this (Impression of "Are you stupid!").

Also it said thier have been thousands of websites made without any problem.Well.all you have to do is read about them online,you will see for yourself that I am NOT the only person that has a Problem with them.Tim said I had lots of hands on help by thier Customer Service.Well, read my statement above!

Also Tim made the comment that I was looking for difficulties to wriggle my way out of my obligations.I had no problem with my obligations,I would have also taken care of any of my obligations if they had not mislead me from the start. The only reason myself and many others had taken this offer was for the purpose of the website,you can get a merchant account from many avenues.

I made a complaint with the BBB and they contacted LMS and LMS sent me a copy of my History Record. This will show how much I was trying to wriggle out of my obligations! Tim said my website was set up and ready to go in August,this is from September.

(Sep 27th,2004) Internal: Merchant(ME) called in about a charge to her account.I explained the charges.1 charge was crosschecked.I told her that this was cancellable.Another charge was for processing from Landmark.I told her this was cancellable.(After this,she kept complaining about her website.She sent in a ticket on Friday has not recieved a responce.I informed her of the responce time of the web ticket,and told her it is still to early for a responce,she needs to wait. Merchant then began cussing at me and said that she will just cancel everything cause she is not getting instant responce on her website,Which she claims she paid for.
Sent to Merchant(Me) I explained fees on customers account.after this,she kept complaining about her website.She sent in a ticket on Friday and has not recieved a responce.I informed her of the responce time of the web ticket,and told her it is still to early for a responce,she needs to wait.Merchant then began cussing at me and that she will just cancel everything cause she is not getting instant responses on her website,which she claims she paid for. I told her that the website was free,and that she gets instant customer response on those things that she IS PAYING FOR (I.E.Processing,Terminal troubleshooting) She just started cussing at me again and hung up on me.

So as you see,if I were not mislead about this wonderful offer for a 15 page website,I would have never went with them to begin with!

posted 09-15-2005 01:22 PM            

I spoke with Juliana Todd,supposed Assistant Vice President about the release form and told her I was not going to sign it,and was informed she was turning it over to their Atty.

Please,any and everyone who has had bad dealings with this company,please contact me so I can give everyones name to a Class Action Lawyer.

I have searched the web over and found so many complaints against them,and have copied off each one.I am waiting to hear anything from this company,then I am sending all the information to every broadcast around the country to get the word out and see who else has had bad dealings with them.

posted 12-21-2005 07:24 PM            

I just got one of Landmark emails and I too thought it was a great deal. But I came here you check if there was any dirty laundry out on those guys and I found this topic. I want to thank you for posting because you have kept me from making a potentially huge mistake. Good Luck to you on the case.

Ladco/Landmark,
If any of you from these companies read this message I am living proff that word of mouth does work. You almost had me but thanks to this board I was able to make a smart business descision. Thanks but no thanks!

posted 01-06-2006 01:56 AM            

WORD OF MOUTH WORKS.....

posted 01-30-2006 05:56 AM            

P.S. If you have any tax problems, I can help.

posted 02-21-2006 08:01 PM            

They offer you a website to sweeten the deal, too bad it is a piece of crap website that is nowhere near professional. We were told to paint this AMAZING picture of how the site would help any business, quite funny actually. We're told to sell it as a $2000 website...more like $200. And the 'team' of web developers? HA, try more like one really fat guy and his ugly girlfriend. All they do is eat hot pockets all day and laugh as they 'create' sites that are all based off of a template from the company Landmark has an agreement with. They are all the same.

Each employee goes through this week of training on how to rip off customers, it's hilarious the methods we were taught by Tim and George and the rest of the shady 'team leaders'. We were required to wear a shirt and tie to a job that involves ZERO face to face customer interaction, which is hilarious when you look at other merchant account companies and their attire.

Every morning is nothing short of a Hitler Youth rally. Hooting and hollering, led by Tim and/or George, announcing the sales of the previous day. So funny, oh so funny.

Drug use is also rampant. Many a time I would walk into the bathroom, only to hear that common sound of blow being snorted through a dollar bill.

Here's another great Landmark tradition: FORGERY!!!! That's right, forgery. In the time I worked there, I was taught by all of the other veterans that we just create forgeries of many documents that the merchants are supposed to sign.....AS A MATTER OF FACT, one of the senior team leaders created so many forgeries for one of his deals that he got caught. Did he get fired? No. Did the big wigs know about it? Yes. I personally did it on nearly every deal I closed, and I know that every other sales guy there did the same exact thing. I regret it now though. Right there is a gleaming example of how shady this company is, from the CEO jew boss, all the way down to the sales guys.

NOTE: IF ANY TRUE LEGAL AUTHORITY IS READING THIS MESSAGE, YOU SHOULD REALLY TAKE A SERIOUS LOOK INTO THIS COMPANY AND TO THEIR PRACTICES WHEN IT COMES TO CONTRACT FORGERY. THIS IS A SERIOUS CRIME AND SHOULD BE THE EASIEST WAY TO BRING THIS COMPANY DOWN.

It's pretty classic that Tim has to come on these boards and post rebuttals against these merchants, I'm sure that the higher ups instruct him to so do so though.

I feel kind of bad for Tim because he seems like there is some part of him that has to hate his position, but I'm sure the 6 figure salary helps him feel better. That, and the fact that he sleeps with the customer service girl Camile Anderson (who just so happened to work in sales before she started to spread her legs for him). Ooops, did I just say that?

And any complaints to Landmark end up on the phone with George, a 26 year old who still can't kick the acne vulgaris. I've heard him berate customers, employees, basically anyone that talks back to him. I guess that's why he's so good at his job.

This company will eventually go down in flames, it will just take a valiant effort by those who truly want it to happen.

In closing, I'm not trying to stop people from being stupid and choosing Landmark...they still will. I'm just trying to validate the complaints that people are posting on here.

posted 05-22-2006 06:04 PM            

Option 1, Ladco leasing. Credit Card machine leasing, Per month contract: $45.00 X 48 months equals what? $2,160.00 Plus $8.95 a month insurance for $429.60 A grand total of: $2985.60

Option 2, Cost of machine purchased on EBAY. (example, Nurit 2580) $150.00 or better!

Lesson: Leasing is $2,985.60 - Purchase: $150.00 a difference of $2,835.60. I could have really used that extra cash starting out. But we gave it to Ladco instead. Don't you feel silly, I do.......

Where they really suck is after you pay thousands, I said thousands for a $150.00 machine in the end of your lease, you have the privilege to purchase it........for $150.00.

posted 05-22-2006 07:56 PM            

It is time for everyone to come together that has been taken advantage of and do a karma kick in their butt.

I am looking for a class action Lawyer to start proceedings on these companies and I will need as many of you to sign up as possible,it takes a village to start a class action,so please spend the time to join and lets stop them now.(pru1958x3@yahoo.com)

posted 05-22-2006 08:08 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by sales76:
I happened to work for Landmark Merchant Solutions for a while and don't agree with most of the posts here.
Sure there was a few reps that did drugs. Sure there was some cut and paste. Its a sales floor for god's sake. That tends to happen. I have moved onto bigger and better things but credit most of my success to Landmark.
That's where my sales career started and Tim and George are extremly talented sales reps that do a great job training employees how to sell. I learned a lot from them and would never regret one thing that happened working for that company.
And as far as new businesses are concerned, they offer a great program that is affordable and works great if the business owner is willing to spend some time and effort with the program. It doesn't happen overnight. Those owners that I set up, that weren't lazy and were willing to help the webteam by submitting their products the "right" way, tend to love the program. The majority of businesses that have been set up by Landmark, when I was there, were happy. And they were actual businesses. $100,000 a month accounts.
I do agree that a small business should know what they are getting into. And yes, stay away from Leasing Companies if possible. Buy out the program cash, no contracts. It will save a few headachs.
But to put down a company just because you're a lazy business owner or a poor sales rep (that should be working in customer service somewhere) is a poor excuse for a complaint.
Landmark is a good company that will take good care of you. Out of one hundred accounts that I set up, no one was disapointed.

---

posted 12-21-2006 11:05 AM            

for every responsible business owner this should not constitute a problem.

READ THE CONTRACT FIRST, ARE WE THE EMPLOYEE EXPECTED TO GO TO YOUR HOME AND TUCK U IN AT NIGHT AND READ IT TO YOU. IT'S YOUR BUSINESS U SHOULD CARE ENOUGH TO READ THE DAMN THING!!!!

Drug use is at any job and at no time in my year and a half there did i witness it at the jobsite although i know people did come in under the influence.

To address the forgery issue the lease agreement is faxed back to landmark signed---however sometimes the merchants fax machine is on the older side and may not send it through a very clear signature on one of the pages, at that time someone may make a copy of a clearly signed page and paste it on the unclear one.

Regardless after all the pages are signed their are not one BUT 2 verifications by phone both of which the merchant can cancel by not agreeing to the signed paperwork. These verifications are done by an employee of VISA/MASTERCARD that is very didicated to their job.

posted 01-03-2007 11:50 PM            

I decided to go to Google and find what I could about LMS. Wow, was I surprised. Your site and topic really got my attention. I am green around the horns and have no experience with the credit card business. But after seeing all the heart ache here, I decided to go with the program my Bank (BofA) has offered. It will cost a little more but I think I will have more peace of mind.

posted 01-16-2007 12:57 AM            

After I found Landmark lied about the websites they made, I confronted them about this. I had all the emails stating how they made the sites to get me to sign up with them. Also I was given a contract stating no monthly fees except for their overpriced machine. Well to make a long story short I was promised through emails that I would never be charged any monthly fees as long as I was with Landmark.

Well, Andrew Birsa decided to let go any of the contracts I had and emails I had and said I would be getting charged starting Oct 1 2006. Needless to say I had to find a different hosting company. But, I still have to pay $31.95 a month for a credit card machine that isn't any good, and didn't want in the first place.

On top of all of this Landmark trashed my site, took out www's from my url, my site was down alot just to name a few issues.

I'm not the only one either. I have scores of emails from very unhappy people and how bad their traffic is since they've been with Landmark. Also emails stating how bad the service has been for them too. I can go on forever.

posted 01-17-2007 03:30 PM            

I am facing the same problem with you. I recently filed a complaint against the company, USA Card Services and Ladco Leasing, to AG of Texas, California, and New York. I also filed a complaint through BBB and FTC. I stumbled into a very interesting case by FTC v. Leasecomm. It is exactly similar to our case. I am drafting a letter to FTC regarding the use of false advertising by these companies. I still have a copy of the Sales Presentation used by USA Card Services that was faxed to me two years ago. I did not make any attempt to cancel the service because my credit and my friend (he cosigned for me) are on the line.

Anyways, I found a way to prevent these companies from tampering with my credit report and my friends credit report. Its still a work in progress, but it seems to be working fine.

I am drafting a letter to FTC to try to settle this case as they did with Leasecomm. I have a copy of the case information. I would be more than happy to provide it to you. If you wish to be included in the petition to request FTC to act on this case, please let me know. I will need a statement from you and a copy of the sales material that the Vendor used to get you to sign the contract.

You can email me at emjeedesigns@yahoo.com. If you want to draft a little letter stating your case with your signature, you can fax it to me at 800-409-2450.

posted 01-18-2007 12:34 AM            

The contract doesn't even state what we were to receive. All it does is remove our rights as a customer to defend ourselves against the leasor and the vendor regardless of the validity of the transaction.

In other words, if the supplier, say in my case USA Card Services, failed to deliver the equipment, it does not terminate the lease contract. It also removes our rights to fight against fraudulent transaction. By removing our rights for a 'Fair Trade' makes the contract void.

So...Killa4Rilla, you might want to consider looking for another job.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Killa4Rilla:
I worked at landmark and one consistant problem that every complaint here doesn't admit to is that you MUST SIGN A CONTRACT!!!!

for every responsible business owner this should not constitute a problem.

READ THE CONTRACT FIRST, ARE WE THE EMPLOYEE EXPECTED TO GO TO YOUR HOME AND TUCK U IN AT NIGHT AND READ IT TO YOU. IT'S YOUR BUSINESS U SHOULD CARE ENOUGH TO READ THE DAMN THING!!!!

Drug use is at any job and at no time in my year and a half there did i witness it at the jobsite although i know people did come in under the influence.

To address the forgery issue the lease agreement is faxed back to landmark signed---however sometimes the merchants fax machine is on the older side and may not send it through a very clear signature on one of the pages, at that time someone may make a copy of a clearly signed page and paste it on the unclear one.

Regardless after all the pages are signed their are not one BUT 2 verifications by phone both of which the merchant can cancel by not agreeing to the signed paperwork. These verifications are done by an employee of VISA/MASTERCARD that is very didicated to their job.

If anyone would like to address any issues please ask away.

---

posted 01-22-2007 05:16 PM            

There is a lease for the machine though, maybe if you knew how to read you wouldn't be in this situation.

Answer this question.

Do you think you would be in this situation if you read the lease agreement?-------------thoroughly?

posted 01-23-2007 01:08 PM            

Legal 101, for your information, a contract is any form of agreement, written or oral, that binds two or three parties.

Therefore, as per your argument, a lease agreements is a contract.

Since three parties were involved to bind the "lease agreement," it is only executable upon the performance of all parties involved. Since USA Card Services failed to deliver the supposedly "financed" product, the contract is void.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Killa4Rilla:
There is no contract dummy!!

There is a lease for the machine though, maybe if you knew how to read you wouldn't be in this situation.

Answer this question.

Do you think you would be in this situation if you read the lease agreement?-------------thoroughly?

Read what you sign dummy!!!

---

posted 01-29-2007 03:07 PM            

Probly should have done that!!

posted 02-20-2007 10:07 PM            

thanks,

posted 02-21-2007 09:19 PM            

Here is the deal: You get a week of "paid" training on how to lie to people. Then you get on the phone and are constantly connected to your headset where it auto dials any business or new business. You will cold call every kind of business possible and try to sell (screw) them either a machine or a lower rate if they already are a merchant. If you close a certain number of deals you will get "warm" leads, which are bascially people that filled out a survey on the internet b/c these people think they are getting a free gift card to Target or something like that.

Advancement? Hah. Unless you are a semi-attractive female (Camille) and are willing to polish Tim's knob, the only place you will eventually head is out the door. Unless you have no soul, then you will be okay.

If you don't sell (screw) enough people, you will be put on draw and make minimum wage until you get back to selling (screwing) more people. You will not get health insurance until 6 months, which is great for them b/c their turnover rate is incredible. They hold "training" for new employees roughly every 2 weeks because so many people are fired or they just quit. As you say you have a family, do you really want to risk that?

Even better is how they pretend to be professional. You will have to wear a shirt and tie to this job, even though you will never be face to face with a customer (unless they come to the office irate and with a baseball bat to beat up the person that just ripped them off).

I really am completely shocked that this company is still open for business.

Any more questions? Send them to landmarkmerchantsucks@gmail.com .

posted 02-21-2007 10:55 PM            

i appreciate your candor. i am actually do to be in training in two weeks. i interviewed today. i should say first that i believe you and everyone else, but need a job. i have rent and a family to support and i think i can make pretty decent money there. i need a job and fast. can you give me some specifics on how i can get fired, for what reasons, and how much i can average $ per week. and i consider myself a decent and honest guy, will i survive even six months there? they told me the hours are 8:30 am - 5:30 pm which is a pretty long day? they also said i can make from $11-15 per hour?

i guess what i'm asking is, i need you to give me concrete answers so that i can close this door in hoping i can make a difference at landmark for good.

thanks, john.

posted 03-07-2007 05:29 PM            

My very first and last day of a week in training ended Monday. What I saw and heard was shocking.

Let's paint a picture. I'll begin with the HR dept that consisted of one "ghetto fabulous" blonde who clearly had no class and little education. Her talent was in being unprofessional, an office flirt and in lying to the trainig class when asked specific questions about compensation, turnover, etc.

Next, the training manager/assisatnt V.P. by day and bully and pimp ny night. This guy was the worst of them all. With a napoleonic complex, a cheap stainless steel watch, cheap shoes, and wearing two earrings in one ear, he set out to bully and intimidate all in his training class into submission and control. He clearly was an uneducated and unintelligent, quick tempered street thug in a tacky multi-colored collared dress shirt. Loser.

Lastly, the President of Sales/Con and ex tennis wash out. He gives off the appearance of a professional but is another low life fast talking pimp at this "company." He reprimanded a man for yawning when he was talking and tells him not to yawn again. He used profanity throughout the day on our very first day in training. How unprofessional. He would be better off teaching tennis to teenagers at the local YMCA. He could then at least look in the mirror and be proud of himself.

This "company" purposely dodged any questions as it relates to compensation and just says repeatedly when asked, "we'll cover that on Wednesday." Meaning after we've got you hooked, we'll then lower the boom and tell you that you will be making minimim wage instead of the $11-15 an hour they promised if sales slip a bit. Even worse, they can fire you without warning which is why a new training class is held every two weeks. The turnover rate is the worst I've ever seen or heard of.

I ran into an employee down stairs and he said he was the only one left in his training class still there. His spirit looking bruised, battered, and beaten. It was clear that the life had been sucked out of him.

My point, anyone even thinking of working for this so called "company" should keep moving. When working at McDonalds in HS, I found them even to have more integrity, talent, and ethics in management. They were a real company.

Sorry guys but I'm just telling the truth here. This "company" should not be in business. From what I've seen and heard, they only suck the life out of people. And could care less about anyone.

posted 03-13-2007 12:48 PM            

If ur first day of training was also your last then thats your own fault. You start out making 13 dollars an hour for your first week of training. I think thats a good hourly for a job you conceivably need no prior experience in. Sales people are a different kind of people. Most are either overbearing, obnoxious, loud, or all three. You hafta be in this kinda job. Landmark has been around for years and will continue to be so for the unforseeable future. There is a reason for that. With over 100,000 merchants this board covers about 2% of our customers. Back to you--sometimes you cannot cover all the ins and outs of the job in one day--sorry landmark didn't work quick enough for you. In one day u figured all this out huh? Maybe you just had a preconceived notion as we can all see from this board. Find me another desk job where u start out making that kind of money with no experience.

Yes, you can be moved down to min wage after a period of time not making any sales. This is a sales job! If your job was to mop floors and they were never mopped would you get minimum wage or would you get fired? The point of this job is to make sales-nothing else!

There is an exponentially high turnover rate. Landmark will not continue to pay a sales rep if he never makes sales--its kind of counter productive. If processing sold itself then there would be no landmark! People at the board of trade have a high turnover rate too because of the stress level of the job---but they always have people ready to try it out because of the money you can make if you succeed at it. Landmark is the same way only on a smaller scale.

Trainer---or should I call u Julius? Your best bet is to go to Mcdonalds--apparently you like the atmosphere there and the high level of proffesionalism there. Why did u ask about National Bankcard if Mcdonalds is so attractive---Oh thats right you like the amount of money you can make in bancard phone sales don't you?

Trainer/Julius you are a hypocrite and not ready for any type of phone sales. Don't criticize landmark because you couldn't hack it. Sometimes I get mad at baseball players but I sure as hell can't throw a 100mph fastball, let alone with any kind of accuracy. That stops me from criticizing them.