Merchant Bankcard Services

Our experience with some seller-assisted marketing plans (SAMP) is that claims about the plans’ income potential, the opportunity to work from your home-part time and the ability to realize success with little or no experience are unfounded. Complaints about these types of plans allege that the promised assistance was not provided, at least to the extent represented, and that the product or service quality or marketability was misrepresented.

California law requires SAMP offerors to provide certain disclosures early in the process of the sale, including exactly what the seller will do for you, any training required and promised by the seller, payment information, etc. If the seller made any statements to you about earnings potential, he/she is required to provide you data substantiating such claims when they are made or soon after, if they were made by mail or telephone. If such representations were made, the disclosure statement must include a statement that no guarantee of earnings or ranges of earnings can be made.

Other information, such as whether the seller or others affiliated with the company have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor or filed bankruptcy, must be provided at least 48 hours before you execute the contract or pay anything, but this information may be combined in the disclosure sheet.

If the seller represents, either orally or in writing, that a “buy-back” arrangement exists or that your initial payment is protected from loss or “secured,” those arrangements must be fully disclosed and explained. If the seller makes such representations, he/she must obtain a bond or deposit money into a trust account and include information about it in the information or disclosures you are to receive. And if you must pay more than 20% of the cost as an initial payment prior to delivery, the contract should reflect an established escrow account.

You have the right to cancel a SAMP contract for any reason within three days and refunds must be issued within five days of receipt of the cancellation notice. A contract may be voided within one year from the date the contract if any misleading statements are used or the company fails to provide proper documentation of the offer.

For businesses outside of California, please check with the agency that regulates this industry.