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After working years for someone else I decided to buy a franchise.
Ladco was strongly recommended by my back as their partner in merchant services. The contract was written up the rep reminded me over and over that the lease amount was tax deductable as a business expense. (should have reaised a red flag but what did I know)
Well 18 months later the business failed and when I turned the franchise over to the new owner I offered to turn over the lease for the credit card machine and it's 52.00 a month payment. I was told I was crazy and she shows me her payment of the same equipment for 8.00 a month. I looked up the retail price of the equipment NEW and it comes to $600.00. Ledco ecpects me to pay 2500.00, 400% interest on the equipment and a 200.00 buy out at the end.
They over inflated the price of the equipment to start out, they push the fact that this high price is now deductable on your taxes.
Don't you just want to throw up when you read their comments claiming innocence?! These guys are a sick bunch of criminals. The truth is; they misinform the banks & processing co. about their service, fees, etc.. Then, thy pay a HUGE kick-back for each account the banks & processing co. After a long battle with all 3 parties involved (Ladco, Elavon, Wachovia), I thought this had finally been resolved. A very embarrassed and helpful rep from Elavon (the processing company) agreed to cancel the contract. Once she actually read the contract, she was appalled. She sent me an email confirming this, which I have provided to all 3 credit reporting bureaus. This because Ladco tried to ruin my credit. This all took place in Sept. of 2009. Yesterday, I received yet another harassing call from Ladco. Now, I have a case for harassment. With all of the money I'm saving by not having to pay their extortion fees any longer, I definitely plan on filing a case. I feel terrible for the business owners who don't have the funds to fight them but, I do! My business is successful & those creeps pissed off the wrong business woman. If you want to see what they are really like, read about them on the [redacted] site.
Well at least I know I'm not alone in this nightmare. It is infuriating! I too trusted US Bank, whom I've banked with for many years and thought I could trust them. I just cancelled my fabulous Merchant Services account for the $200 termination fee after discovering I can invoice my customers for credit card payments through PayPal... with no monthly or term fees, tiered fees, etc. The whole situation was deceptive and predatory. I knew once I got that machine delivered to my shop, I was stuck and totally taken. Flat monthly fee for Merchant services, plus tiered fees, plus per transaction fees, plus PCI compliance fees, plus the Ladco lease amount, plus the cost to insure it... wow. Amazing how much it takes from your margins. I just dealt with it while my business was open because I had so much to worry about. The Ladco lease is indescribable; it's bullet proof. I was totally scammed and feel pretty stupid that I didn't do my own due diligence - but I still believe I was taken advantage of by US Bank. My complaint is against both Ladco Leasing and US Bank. I will definitely file a BBB report and follow up with the FBI.
Has anyone successfully gotten out of the Ladco nightmare with a lump sum offer? I don't even want the damn thing.
********** LADCO LEASING IS A FINANCE COMPANY ONLY ******* The actual lease prices are between you and the company that is supplying the equipment to you. It is the same thing as financing a car. If you agree to pay 60 mos for $450.00 per month on a Honda Civic, without doing any research on the car and its value, whos problem us that? Who is to blame, the bank who chose to finance you.
That is all LADCO is... you should READ BEFORE YOU SIGN ! ! ! ! And pay the bills that you obligate yourself to pay.
When you sign the lease, they pay the company who supplies the equipment to you in full for the machine.
I too am having problems with Ladco Leasing. I live in a small town, been banking with the same bank for years. I've used another CC pos terminal for my business and never had any problems. I was persuaded by a trusted bank rep to switch to Ladco's terminal, "it would save me money", , , BIG mistake! They find ways to extract money from your account, if you don't see and jump thru the hoops they put in front of you. I'm about to leave the bank I've been with for 23 years because of these rip offs!
WOW! I wish we had done more research before we got our machine through them too! A business friend of mine @ US Bank set my husband and i up on this program. We were told it would only cost $50 month and then 3% interest for when we did use it ... My husband had just started a construction business and some customers were asking if he had a credit card option. We were told NOTHING about a 4 year lease when we signed the papers... it wasn't till 2 months later (when we realized we weren't going to use the service AND were paying $118 month instead) that we found out we had a 4 year agreement. I called my friend at the bank immediately, and she had no idea that it had a contract either, but by that time we were told the only way out was to pay $800 ... Of course we didn't have the funds to do so, so were stuck. Several more times over the last 2 years that we have had it, we have tried to get out of it --- especially since we have NEVER ONCE USED the equipment! They just told us that was our problem and NOW it is going to cost around $2000.00 to buy out --- How it went from $800 to & $2000 when we have already pd for 2 years is beyond me! We closed the US Bank account that the automatic deductions were coming out of and set up a new account at another bank. We decided we weren't going to pay them anymore until they were willing to deal more fairly... We kept getting phone calls and statements from them and fees were piling up, so we did finally send ONE payment to them. They kept calling wanting more (since we let payments lapse for a couple months). We told them they would get their money when we had it -- my husband had been out of work for 3 months and we felt it was more important to pay our business insurance than some stupid service WE HAD NEVER ONCE USED! Howevevr, the other day we found that we had overdrafted on our new bank account, and couldn't figure out why... come to find out that the ONE payment we made, they took the liberty of using the checking account # and routing # and AUTO DEDUCTED from our account WITHOUT ANY AUTHORIZATION FROM US! We were LIVID! We put in a complaint with the BBB... I encourage ALL OF YOU TO DO THE SAME... Anyone who does make a complaint, if there is a CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT, anyone who complains to the BBB will be covered under it. So PLEASE MAKE YOUR COMPLAINTS TO THE BBB... THE MORE THEY HAVE THE BETTER IT IS FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN SCREWED OVER BY THIS COMPANY!
I too would like to join a class action lawsuit. I am so embarrassed and infuriated that I fell for this scam. This company should be shut down and all executives should go to prison. We have calculated that we are paying a 720% mark-up! People (business owners) should organize an effective method to take these guys down.
I closed my bank account in Feb after paying Ladco for two year, $49.00-$53.00 per month. My business closed several months after its openning and I returned the machine right after its closing. They've been drafting my account for 16 months after my closing. How stupid I was to listen to the sales representative! I just received their collection letter. Is there a class action against them? I would like to join.
Ladco Leasing is now attacking Florida. I am a recent victim. I met with the FBI yesterday and they were astounded by the immencity and scope of abuses. I spent over two hours with them, a file and complaint is on record. Like you, I have filed as many complaints as possible and will continue to do so. Mine is the same story, deceptive sales presentation, lies, a trap that attempts to force you to pay thousands of dollars for a $200.00 machine. FBI was particullarily interested in the number of consistent complaints re fraud and forged documents. I suggest you immediately contact your local FBI office, I did so in Miami. Although I will not reveal the source, a correspondence states "pay particular attention as Presidential interest is involved." I would also suggest you write the White House ( President Barock Obama) . Reguardless of politics, we are lucky that only a couple of weeks ago the President made sweeping changes reguarding the credit card industry. What Ladco, Wholesale Merchant Processing, and there shell or parent companys are doing is criminal. We need a common ground where we can communicate and join forces.
Before one takes too negative a view of Lease Companies there are a few things to keep in mind: 1. In determing the cost of of your card processing costs it is necessary to look at the overall costs eg., one company may give you equipment, but charge a horrendous early termination fee. 2. Most companies quote only a low qualified rate and fail to mentioen the 3-4% additional for mid and non-qualified. In fact the reason some companies charge less for equipment is they plan to make it up on other (sometimes hidden) charges. A modest lease payment $20-$40 per month; no minimum monthly fee; no early termination fee; rates in the range of 2-3.5%; trans fees of 15-20 cents; & $10/mo statement fees are reasonable for most businesses.
It is better for some merchants to lease; others to purchase. The lease document is quite clear that it is non-cancelable and the terms have to be filled in completely. It is usually a combination of an unscruplus sales rep and an unsophisticated buyer that combine to make a deal go sour. However, no one will deny lease companies are nasty when a lease defaults.
Ladco leasing is a big ripoff. I signed a 48 month lease for $96 a month
and paid it off in full. Now they are still wanting $358 for a month to
month lease, even after I notified them to discontinue the lease and tell
me where to send the equipment . They would never give me any info
until I stopped the draft.
I later found out the equipment that I leased for over $4600, I could have
purchased for $90 to $135.
I have been paying them for over 3 years. They auto debit very month. Lately, every once in awhile they have been taking $25.oo from my account.
When I contacted them, they said it was for taxes.
Now when I signed the lease they told me my payment was inclusive of taxes.
And the LADCO representative was VERY NASTY about it.
So I stooped the AUTO debit.
GUESS WHAT? When they did not get thier payment, ROBERT called me. When I was Let hime have it over the way I was treated when I called, he told me if I did not tone down, he would disconnect. So I told him not to bother I would do it for him.
They will NOt get another dime, until they get off their HIGH HORSE and treat me like a customer. Instead of like they are doing me a favor by leasing me their OVER PRICED equipment.
John Fuller