Stormpay is a payment processor. It's sole purpose is to PROCESS payments - move funds from point a to point b. Period. The past few weeks have revealed some very disturbing business practices which has made this (ex) member very nervous and prompted me to take steps to prepare to close my account with Stormpay:
1. They froze the accounts of major accounts in which large amounts of funds transfered on a daily basis. Stormpay makes unsubstantiated claims of Ponzi to justify the illegal siezure of funds. Yet, consider this:
If Stormpay did not want to do busines with a certian venue or certain programs all that was required was for them to STOP DOING BUSINESS. Simply stop doing business and return those programs money to them. Instead Stormpay got greedy. It's principles decided to STEAL all that money rather than allow the program owners to move their funds to another payment processor.
2. Stormpay's owner reportedly admitted (see Where Did The Money Go???) "... that Stormpay acts as a lender ... He went on to exlain that the money in users accounts in not completely backed by real funds...
Really? So WHERE are those funds? I know that I put real money from my bank or from the sale of goods and services into that processor. So, just where is (or was) that money?
3. Their help desk has been missing in action for sometimes days on end.
4. They closed their site for several days with a 'down for maintanence' yet then LIED in a public announcement to members that they had been under a DDS attack all that time. Their hosting company denies that Stormpay was ever down or affected by a DDS attack.
5. Stormpay also made false claims of FBI involvement in a joint investigation and that the FBI ordered them to freeze member accounts.
6. When you can get someone to finally respond to a support ticket all you get is finger-pointing and allegations of someone else interfering in their business. Stormpay itself is taking no responsibility for its own actions or ensuring that the members needs are met in a timely manner.
7. There have been wide-spread reports of Stormpay making unauthorized charge backs to bank accounts, credit cards as well as emptying the member accounts of their funds.
8. Stormpay has blocked members from removing their bank and credit card information from their accounts, making everyone who has that information listed vulnerable to unauthorized access and debits.
I did finally receive one of the two fund transfers from 2-2-06 to my bank 2-17-06. Hopefully I receive the second transfer as well. Then, it is time to vote with one's feet and leave Stormpay behind to deal with all the legal ramifications sure to follow in the wake of all the turmoil Stormpay has caused to members and programs alike in the past couple weeks.
