here is thier first fromal reply.....burn your citi cards!
( the originator is a pedersol gun rep)
After making contact with Mr. Tannenbaum of First Data, I explained the problem with their refusal to service legal dealers selling firearms in both face to face and non face to face situations.
He said the matter would be reviewed and he would send me an official statement.
The statement arrived Wed. evening and I copy it (in full) below.
You will see that their statement does not reverse or change any of the original reported facts. In fact, from the words he chose to use I get the impression they are quite aloof and don't really care what we gun people care or feel in this matter.
At this time it seems that the matter might best be taken directly to Citi Bank or to whatever parent company franchises First Data and Citi Merchant Services.
Dick T.
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" Mr. Trenk:
Thank you for your message. The posting at
www.nssf.org regarding Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp. is inaccurate. Further, while we generally do not comment on individual merchant customers, we would like to briefly address the 12/26 letter posted on the web site. Regretfully, that letter did a less than satisfactory job of expressing applicable policies. Those policies are more properly detailed below.
Citi Merchant Services and First Data do process firearms transactions. Our policy restrictions address only the sale of firearms in a non face-to-face environment. Non face-to-face transactions occur when a cardholder is not present in front of a merchant and includes mail order and online purchases. It is our policy not to service merchants that make non face-to-face sales in a number of industries, including firearms.
It is not the policy of Citi Merchant Services or First Data to refuse to process transactions from duly licensed merchants that sell firearms in face-to-face transactions at the point of sale.
The posting also incorrectly states that Robert Tenenbaum is the supervisor when, in fact, he is not. "