ComplaintsforFirst Meridian Financial, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  06/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have no idea who this company is and have never done any business with this firm whatsoever. However, they somehow found our checking account number and either mistakenly or fraudulently initiated a series of 8 ACH deductions of $189.00 from our account. They have failed to make any response whatsoever when contacted regarding these deductions and return of these misappropriated funds. Statements made on various sites by a number of other people lead me to believe that this is the manner in which they conduct their business on a regular and ongoing basis. I intend to contact the appropriate regulatory and law enforcement agencies to request an investigation into the dealings of this company.

  

  Business response

  06/14/2024

  The merchant was enrolled in our **** program on March 3, 2022, simultaneously applying for funding through an approved broker. According to the broker's submission, the merchant was presented with four approval options, all of which were declined. Billing for the program began on March 15, 2022, per the **** agreement. The merchant was enrolled for services including Zero Origination Cost on all Business Funding Options, Personal Credit Restoration and Education, and Business Credit Establishment. A welcome packet outlining these services was sent to the merchant's address on the same date.
  After reviewing the merchant's account, it has been determined the services offered were not utilized. From March 2022 to May 2022, the merchant's assigned advisor made multiple attempts to contact the merchant to provide assistance. In November 2022, a payment was returned for the upcoming month. Given that our agreements are month-to-month, the agreement was terminated following this returned payment. Regarding the merchant's request for a refund and allegations of fraud. We cannot issue a refund for services from 2022, particularly as billing continued for multiple months and no issues of fraud were reported during the welcome call, the receipt of the welcome packet, the first billing cycle, or subsequent billing cycles. We regret that the merchant is unhappy with their experience, and we wish them the best in their business endeavors. An attempt to call the merchant was made today, but there was no answer. Subsequent calls will be made later today and on Monday if we are unable to reach the merchant.
  

  Customer response

  06/16/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:

   
  This corporation is NOT requesting a refund as that would imply an agreed upon transaction.There was no agreed upon transaction.

  
  This corporation is DEMANDING a REURN of funds taken from the corporation with its authorization or consent.
  Money taken without authorization or consent is a criminal act.

  
  Your business has made claims of an enrollment in some program. However, you did not produce a copy of an agreement signed by a duly authorized officer of this corporation nor did you produce a copy of an authorization to deduct funds from the corporate checking account executed by a duly authorized signatory of the corporate checking account nor did you produce a copy of a corporate resolution approving any purchase from your business.

  
  Of course,no such documents exist as this corporation has never had any dealings whatsoever with your business nor does this corporation have any knowledge or the claims you make.
  Further,your attempt to divert responsibility for your actions to a third party, a unknown and unnamed broker, of whom we have no knowledge, in an effort to cloud or confuse this issue is disgusting and not relevant to this matter. Your business was the party that took our funds without authorization and therefore your business is solely responsible for these actions.
  There was no authorization, no agreement with your business at any time.

  
  As there is no documentary evidence to support your groundless claims, you took our funds without authorization or consent and you have refused to return those funds improperly taken without authorization or consent, you leave us with no other option than to file criminal complaints against your business with the City of ****** PD and the Fresco ***************** on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at **** should you fail to initiate the return of the misappropriated funds by then.

  
  Also, as it appears this may be a common practice by your business we will be seeking out other firms who have had a similar experience with your business in order to form a class to commence a civil action against your firm.

  
  Additionally,we will be filing complaints regarding your business and its practices with the State of California Attorney General, the ***** the **** NACHA, CFPB AND FFETF.

  
  Lastly, as we are concerned not just for ourselves, but for every firm that might become victimized by your business, we will launch a national social media campaign to warn other firms of your practices, commencing at Noon on Wednesday, June 19,2024 and continuing until this matter is resolved with our funds returned.
  

  

  Business response

  06/22/2024

  We made contact with the merchant and we are working with him on a resolution 

  Customer response

  06/26/2024

   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.

  We have received a check for the funds, as requested.  We are waiting for the check to clear.

   

• Initial Complaint

  06/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company is pulling money from my business account ever 2 weeks. I have never heard of them or done business with them at all. I tried calling and sending emails many times with ZERO response. I filed a claim with my bank and a stop payment on the ****** they are pulling and 2 weeks later they are again debiting money from me. I asked my bank how this happened after a stop payment and they stated that the merchant changed the account info to intentionally be able to pull money from me. Going to file a suit for fraud.

  

  Business response

  06/13/2024

  The merchant was enrolled into our **** program by his broker for $289.00 per month

  We take complaints and accusations of fraud very seriously and strive to address them with the utmost transparency and professionalism. However, we do not appreciate attempts to manipulate the facts in order to obtain a refund or escape an agreement. We would like to address the inaccuracies presented in the complaint and provide clarification on the matter:
  

  1.The billing for his service is $289.00 per month, not bi-weekly, as stated in the complaint.
  

  2.The merchant has only placed one phone call to us, which was made at 7:18 AM on the day of the complaint. Our office hours begin at 8:00 AM PST. The assigned representative returned the call at 10:39 AM PST, but there was no answer. Additionally, the merchant selected the option in our IVR to be transferred to the **** support line, indicating awareness of enrollment in the program. Furthermore, we have not received any emails from the merchant in our general or specific email inboxes.
  

  3.The billing amount has remained consistent and has never changed. If the merchant had placed a stop payment with his bank, the payments would not have been processed. The merchant did successfully place a stop payment on the last payment on the day of this complaint.
  

  This appears to be a case of the merchant not utilizing the service and attempting to obtain a refund. No refunds will be provided; however, we have terminated the merchant's agreement.

  Customer response

  06/18/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Do you have my written signature on any documents that states that I agree to sign up for this service? Do you have any legal contact between my company and yours for the services you claim to offer? I have never contacted you, never heard of your name never requested your services ( which I still don't know what you are other than scamming people). Show valid proof of such otherwise refund my money. I will be tapping the *** into this for wire fraud as seen in MANY previous complaints from other victims of your scam. My lawyer has already obtained all the complaints posted here on BBB. You clearly can respond to everything here which means you know very well what you are doing so unless you have my signature on a document authorizing you to debit my account monthly or biweekly for claimed services, I demand a refund immediately. If you do not refund, I will escalate and seek every legal way of getting my money back even if it involves paying more than what you stole from me. I have called over 4 times with zero response. Sent 2 emails with zero response. how do you even know what number I called from?
  

  

  Business response

  06/26/2024

  We have tried to reach out to the merchant on multiple occasions to discuss his complaint. 

  We have canceled the agreement with the merchant and billing has stopped. 

  We will continue to try and make contact with him this week. We have the electronic submission of his funding application & bfap agreement. 

  Merchant can send an email to *********************************************************** or ************************************************************** with his best contact information since we have been unable to reach him with the information we have on file.

   

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have been charged $489 per month monthly since December 29, 2022, until December 2023. We have no record of doing business with this company and have no way of canceling the payment. We have just issued a stop-payment and now we are requesting the funds back (13 months x $489 = $6357).

  

  Business response

  01/26/2024

  We have reviewed the complaint. The merchant failed to provide the Legal Business Name or DBA so it took a couple of days to complete our research. Charisma Creations DBA Propel bikes had applied for funding in December 2022. We received their application from 7 brokers over 10 day span. Multiple approvals were sent to the submitting brokers. One broker electronically submitted our Business Finance Advantage Program agreement at $489 per month with billing to commence on 12/29/2022. Welcome back was mailed and 5 attempts at welcome call were place between 12/21/2022 - 2/19/2022. Upon review of our internal records the merchant has made zero attempt to contact First Meridian Financial. We have no incoming calls from any of the numbers we have on file or provided in the complaint on our call records dating back to Dec 2022. We also have no email communications from anyone dating back until Dec 2022. We believe this is a case of a merchant that didnt use a service and is now unhappy and wants money back. The other possibility is that their broker didnt explain the program to the merchant appropriately or has had an issue with their broker. The merchant has not used the service so therefore we will terminate the agreement and billing effective 1/26/2024. Any other questions or concerns should be addressed directly with their broker. We consider this matter resolved and closed.

  Customer response

  01/30/2024

   I am rejecting this response because: I have no record of doing business with this company or any ***************** as claimed. This company is fraudulent. We have no emails from First Meridian Financial on any of our company or personal email addresses. We have no record or invoices from this company. When we searched "First Meridian" which is the only information we had from our bank, we found this company *****************************************************. The company informed us that they have received numerous calls of people who have experienced the same fraudulent act and suggested that we reach out to First Meridian Financial. There is no service that we paid for and no product that we received for the monthly payments that First Meridian Financial have been taking without our authorization. I am curious to see the communications they claim to have had because we have no record. As you can see in the two main email addresses that we use for our business, they are not anywhere to be found when searching "first meridian financial"
  

  

  Business response

  01/31/2024

  As stated in our previous response, this seems like a case of a merchant who didn't use a service and is looking to get refunded. While we do acknowledge that brokers have submitted agreements in the past that were "fraudulent" we simply cannot believe this is the case here. Multiple calls were placed to the merchant in Dec 2022, Jan 2023 and Feb 2023. A welcome packet was mailed in December of 2022. The agreement has been active for 14 months and find it hard to believe that this is a "fraudulent" submission and the merchant is just discovering it. The merchant will need to contact the broker or brokers that they used to originally apply for funding in DEC 2022. First Meridian Financial conducts all business through their approved broker network and does not maintain an internal sales team. Attached you will see screenshots of call records dating back to Dec 2022. As stated previously, the agreement and billing has been terminated. This matter is considered resolved and closed

  Customer response

  01/31/2024

  I am rejecting this response because

  1. the screenshot provided is a screenshot of the transactions that I provided. It is not of the supposed call recordings - I would like to see this. 

  2. You have not provided me with a broker name, or any evidence that there have been calls to our business or a welcome packet mailed, or anything of that nature. No emails, no phone calls, no direct mailings, nothing. 
  

  3. You have not provided a signed agreement or any agreement that we agreed to work with you or your company, whether through a broker or directly.

  4. you admit to fraudulent charges happening on behalf of these so-called brokers so why is our case any different. 
  

  5. we did not use this service. We should not have been billed for the service and expect to be refunded.

  

  Business response

  02/09/2024

  Attached is the online submission we received from the broker on 12/18/2022. Screenshots of call records showing our attempts at the welcome call have already been uploaded and provided. Fraudulent submissions are caught during the welcome call, when a merchant receives the welcome packet or within the 1st billing cycle, not the 14th. This merchant has made no attempt to contact us directly. Agreement has been canceled. Any further questions should be directed to your broker.  

• Initial Complaint

  12/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Name of Business: *************************************** LLC Date of Transaction: 12/05/2023 Amount of Money debited from our bank: $289 We have never received a loan with this company. We applied for business loans between 10/23/23. - 10/27/2023. We got close to getting loans through Nationwide Advance (worked with *************) and 4pillarfunding (worked with *******************************). We signed contracts but we failed the ************** verification of our bank account so the loans were not approved. We did not end up getting any loan. Multiple other brokers contacted us but we did not apply with any others. I fear that one of these brokers did Identity theft on us and got the loan proceeds, but we now have the payment for a loan we never received. We want any loan in our name cancelled.

  

  Business response

  12/11/2023

  Multiple attempts to contact this merchant have gone unanswered.  As of 12/7/2023 any agreements with First Meridian Financial have been canceled. We will continue to try and contact this merchant throughout the week

  Customer response

  12/12/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:

  Meridian says they have made multiple attempts to contact us. But, they we have not received any voicemail or email from Meridian Financial at my number ************** nor to our email **********************. 
  Meridian says any contract has been cancelled but did not say if they will  refund the $289 they took from our bank account.

  
  

  

  Business response

  12/20/2023

  There was no loan or advance taken out for this merchant. The merchant was approved but the submitting broker's did not pursue the approvals. The amount that was debited was for our Advisor Program, which one of the 4 brokers that submitted the file enrolled the merchant in. Its clear from this complaint that the merchant was unaware of this and appropriate measures have been taken including terminating the *** agreement with that broker. Based on the screenshot provided from the merchant its clear their account was overdrawn by over $2000 thus resulting in the payment being returned for non sufficient funds. We have cancelled the agreement and terminate the billing. We have made multiple attempts to reach the merchant on the phone number provided and they have failed to answer. We consider this matter resolved and wish the merchant the best for her business 

  Customer response

  12/21/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:

  We appreciate Meridian for canceling a program that we never asked for, never approved, and never knew about. My bank gives us a $2500 overdraft. So even though our account was overdrawn on that date., our bank paid the $289 to Meridian and we want it refunded. If you see it says posted. That means our bank didnt return it. Meridian should be able to check their books and see they received the $289. Meridian  seems to be willing to work this out. Im sure they dont want to take unearned money from a  small business that apparently is already doing badly.
  

  
  

  

  Business response

  01/09/2024

  Upon review with accounting we do see the deposit from the transaction. We apologize for the delay in response as it was the holiday season on the vast majority of our staff was out on vacation. The payment will be refunded as of 1/10/2024. Please allow ************************************* your account

  Customer response

  01/11/2024

   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.

• Initial Complaint

  11/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company has fraudulently charged our account since May and we have no company records of ever doing business with them. It seems they stole our account info from a broker and do not have a working phone number.

  

  Business response

  11/22/2023

  This issue was resolved with the merchant on 11/22/23. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/21/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have never had any dealing with this company, but they were able to get my bank information and have tried to with draw 299.00. I have put a stop payment on this account and may have to change bank accounts if this continues.

  

  Business response

  07/12/2023

  Without a business name we are unable to research this. Multiple calls have been placed to the number that was provided but we have never got an answer.

  Customer response

  07/12/2023

   

  I dont have a number. The number I provided is from their website.  I have not had any business with them. They just tried to take money out of my checking account.  The bank was unable to get a number as well.

  Customer response

  07/12/2023

  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.

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  04/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This is not a company that we have any business with, but somehow they were able to obtain our banking information and have deducted over $1700 from our account over the past several months. Emails to them have gone unresponded to.

  

  Business response

  04/28/2023

  We have received the complaint and are in the process of contacting the merchant. 2 calls were placed to the phone number provided and to the number we have listed internally as the merchants cell phone. The merchants email was sent yesterday at 2:32pm PST and went to a spam folder, most likely due to the email address the merchant uses. The email has been forwarded to the appropriate person as of 8:17am PST on 4/28/2023. We will continue to try and make contact with the merchant later today and again on Monday 5/1/2023.

  Customer response

  05/01/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  I find no evidence that the company called or emailed us, as claimed. I have checked voicemails and spam message folders. 

  

  Business response

  05/01/2023

  Multiple calls have been placed to the merchant to resolve this matter. Please see the attached screenshot of call records. First Meridian Financial received an application and supporting documents for funding from 12 different brokers between Sept 18th 2022 & October 3rd 2022. Attached in 3 of the submissions was our financial advisor retainer program to be billed at $289.00 monthly. Billing commenced on November 10th 2022. According to our record this merchant has never used the service. Welcome packet was mailed to business on October 10th 2022. Assigned advisor made 3 attempts for a welcome call in the month of October, all resulting in no answer. We have canceled the agreement and terminated billing as of May 1st 2023. We advise the merchant to contact his broker or brokers that he used to apply for funding in September 2022 for any further questions. We will reach out again tomorrow Tuesday May 2nd to try and make contact with this merchant directly

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We have no idea who this company is yet they were able to get ahold of our bank routing and account number and are illegally removing funds from our account each month. We can't reach anyone at the number provided and no one will return the messages we left. This company is a fraud and we are filing a complaint with our bank for the $498 they continue to remove from our bank account each month. Someone should legally sue this company for the fraud they are committing.

  

  Business response

  02/03/2023

  We have reviewed the complaint and our internal files and notes relating to this business. On 9/19/2022 we received an application for funding from *** ******* LLC through a broker partner. On 9/20/2022 we received the same application for funding from a different broker partner. On 9/21/2022 we received the same funding application from 3 additional broker partners. Two out of the 5 applications were accompanied with our retainer programm agreement to begin on 10/10/2022 with the first billing cycle to begin on 11/10/2022. I accordance with the agreement bill took place starting on 11/10/2022. We have reviewed our notes and this business has never used the service. Seeing is how they have never used the service we will cancel the agreement and stop the monthly billing. We have also checked and have never received any voicemails from anyone at *** ******* LLC. We did receive 1 email the same day this complaint was filled. 2 phone calls were placed to *** ******* to resolve this directly, however on both occasions there was no answer. We encourage *** ******* to discuss this matter with the broker or brokers they sent their information to in search of funding for their business. Multiple approvals were sent to all brokers that submitted the file but it looks like they were rejected. First Meridian Financial only does business through its Broker and ISO channels and no longer has a sales team. All question regarding products and agreements are to be directed to your broker. All agreements between First Meridian and *** ******* have been canceled as of 2/2/2022

*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. ↩