America's Companies --DBA "Jabba The Hutt"

For eight years, I have been a good customer of an unnamed payment processor for personal internet auction sales and money transfers. Their percentages for the service were high, but who's to gripe about it? Those of us who could not or would not pay a high dollar merchant services account did well enough with this. They evidently worked their way to fame and fortune off those of us with our own auction site Poor Man's Camps and they were eventually bought out by an unnamed auction site.

But, along with the rest of American business, it seems, this company has now embraced a new business brand.

Enter the Poor Man's Payment Processor, now DBA as Jabba the Hutt.

[Remember the trader from Star Wars? Jabba was big, slow, lazy and greedy. He rarely told anyone the truth. He explained himself to no one. He robbed people. He thought he had people chained to his leg where they could not--or would not get away.]

The unnamed folks are the payment processor--come on, I'm not getting my money till they get theirs. This is a no lose situation for them . Not only am I NOT borrowing money from them--they actually have the use of my money until they turn it over.

So what is the sudden deal of demanding a credit score before making a decision to process further sales? I asked them for a point of sale account to make a few lousy transactions at flea markets, (that again will profit them at their inflated percentages without risk) and suddenly I am treated worse than a Hare Krishna pandhandler at the airport.

"No point of sale processing because of your credit score" they said, "But oh yeah, you can now pay us $30 a month for what you get for free already, website processing".

I ask why, and get the all purpose "the government made us do it". "Well, why didn't any of your competitors require that I meet some sort of nebulous credit score requirement before they offered me the service". Dead silence. Then I got "cutoff" on the phone and my emails are never answered. I get an occasional email, but it is always from a "no answer" return mail at the company.

So I finally had to shake my head, come up out of the slime and say

"When did I get chained to their leg, dressed in a harem outfit?"

And guess what, I'm not. I signed on immediately with one of their reputable competitors at an attractive rate and with courteous service. There is such a thing.

Meanwhile, this company seems to be just another example of the reason why the financial backbone of America is breaking.

• Like Jabba, they're big. Too big to make the nimble movements needed to dodge the lightning bolts of our current economic storm.
• They're lazy and complacent. "What, us do something for your business? What ARE you thinking?" And the use of a credit score is downright lazy. Did anyone wake up and notice that today's credit score isn't reflective what the person does? Like, how much time does it take to review the record of a customer's years long dealings with you? The credit score is arbitrarily raised and lowered when companies are starting to fail through their own practices and wish to shovel the blame onto the consumer. The best predictor of a client's behavior is their behavior with YOU.
• They are slow. Now, it doesn't have to be that way, but bigger and more successful is slower these days. I do business with a webhost right now that answers any questions with a few hours by email and immediately by phone. Moreover they answer me with a native American English speaker here in the US. Now that is responsive to the client, getting knowledgeable people right on the problem and taking care of it. Not waiting three days to send somebody an email with the FAQ page referenced (like I, a PhD, was too retarded to have already read the FAQ page?) Oh, yeah, and an email that forbids any reply.
• They don't tell the truth and they explain themselves to no one. Ask the "why" question and see how fast you get shunned or bullied.
• They rob people . Hike the rates arbitrarily, charge for non-existant "extras".

I've decided I am tired of doing business with Jabba the Hutt. You can't appease a monster, it will only make him grow. My worth as a human and a businesswoman is not measured by three arbitrary numbers that reflect the environment more than me.

I am not chained to anyone's leg, and I refuse to wear a harem outfit.

Watch me leave, Jabba. Watch me leave.