I recently signed up for a merchant account and checking account with QB/Intuit and began receiving payments, as well as transferring money from my main account into there. Shortly after (a few weeks maybe) my account was closed for no reason and with no notice. I only noticed when I went to bill someone and they were unable to make the payment because of this. After speaking to a customer service rep, I was told that the account would be temporarily reopened in approximately 2 business days so I could transfer MY money into my normal bank account. 5 business days later, nothing.
So I call again, and I am told that since QB/Intuit closed my account for no reason, or a reason they have not made up yet, I will not be able to reopen that account to transfer MY money out. Instead, it will be on hold for 270 BUSINESS DAYS and then be transferred to the state's unclaimed funds department, where I would have to file a claim to reclaim MY money. The customer service rep didn't have much in the way of answers or reasons as to why my account was closed, nor could he tell me where I'd find in the agreements that they could legally hold MY money for that long. After finding it myself in the Merchant Agreement, it reads that those funds can only be held for 270 days if policy is violated and Intuit is put at risk. That's the only place it mentions that they can hold funds for that long, and mentions nothing of it having to go to the state first. As far as I know, nothing of that sort happened and if it did, they did not tell me.
So now I have a decent amount of funds tied up, possibly for 270 days, for a reason that cannot be produced and they are violating their own policy. I'll be going through every single motion to get this resolved and hopefully to a point where they are no longer allowed to pull stunts like this. BBB reporting, demand letters, civil suit or class action if possible. This is criminal and unjustified, and even if they can provide some explanation it is still fundamentally wrong.
What if the money is for payroll? What if it's for taxes? What if it was a deposit for materials to complete a job and now the company has to eat that cost? There's so many different issues that can arise out of their actions. Luckily, I didn't put all of my eggs in this basket. I hope other small businesses this has happened to have been able to manage and recover. After some research, it looks like a common issue. Pitiful.
