Why The Business Junction no longer offers StormPay!

Copyright 2006 The Business Junction

Online merchants were delighted when StormPay came onto the payment processing scene in 2002. Tens of thousands of merchants were already victims of PayPal while thousands of others were fed-up with PayPal's antics, but continued to use their services because there were no real alternatives.

StormPay arrived and grew in popularity quickly. It offered a more secure system and was more merchant friendly than PayPal. At its height, StormPay had over 3,000,000 users and growth appeared to be endless. Then...

Well, most of you already know the story. StormPay suddenly and without warning stopped processing orders on March 24, 2006, leaving tens of thousands of merchants scrambling to find alternative options to offer their customers. But the sudden end to payment processing was just the tip of the iceberg.

Thousands of merchants found their accounts frozen with no way to obtain a quick release of their funds, forcing some out of business. Others did a little better only because they had removed funds from their accounts in time.

We have really investigated the problems at StormPay and things are BAD and they appear to be getting WORSE. A few months ago a search on Google relating to complaints would result in thousands of listings. This was not a significant number when you consider the size of StormPay. But a recent search on Google resulted in 8,950,000 listings, most very recent.

We could go into a lot of detail but we don't wish to beat a "dead horse"! If you are still interested in using StormPay we strongly urge you to visit the following links first. In the end, it will save you a lot of time and money!

We have compiled an extensive list of PayPal and StormPay alternatives for payment processing. Click here for details.

Web Site: Answers.com
Subject: StormPay
http://www.answers.com/topic/stormpay 

Web Site: AutoSurf BLOG
Subject: StormPay Complaints
http://autosurfblog.com/2006/02/06/stormpay-complaints/ 

Web Site: Check-Affiliate-Program.com
Subject: StormPay Consumers & customers reviews, comments, possible complaints
http://www.check-affiliate-program.com/latest-affiliate-news/StormPay.html 

Web Site: Complaints.com
Subject: Stormpay never got the wire transfer and money was removed from my stormpay account
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2005/march/16/2.htm 

Web Site: DaniWeb LLC
Subject: Is Stormpay a credible payment system?
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/showthread.php?p=203903 

Web Site: Digital Point Forums 
Subject: stormpay investigated by the feds
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/

Web Site: Fair Trade Authority
Subject: StormPay.com Update
http://www.fairtradeauthority.com/stormpay_update.php 

Web Site: Fair Trade Authority
Subject: StormPay Money Transmitter License Renewal Not Granted
http://www.fairtradeauthority.com/stormpay_out_of_business.php 

Web Site: Get Paid Forum
Subject: THE FACTS ABOUT THE OWNERS OF STORMPAY & NETIBA, Want to contact the owners? Read on!
http://www.getpaidforum.com/forums/

Web Site: GrayScales
Subject: StormPay Scam
http://quikonnex.com/channel/item/10570 

Web Site: How To Forum
Subject: Stormpay- 19,000 complaints? WOW!
http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/53081 

Web Site: How To Forum
Subject: Tennessee Better Business Bureau Releases Warning About STORMPAY!
http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/52956 

Web Site: Lawyers and Settlements
Subject: Possible Stormpay class action lawsuit.
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/stormpay 

Web Site: MoneyMakerGroup Forum
Subject: Stormpay Has Wiped My Account To Zero!
http://www.moneymakergroup.com/lofiversion/index.php/t46732.html 

Web Site: No Bullshit HYIP Blog Community
Subject: I Can’t Open Stormpay’s site, can you?
http://hyipblog.nobshyip.net/2006/02/04/i-cant-open-stormpays-site-can-you/ 

Web Site: PayPal Sucks
Subject: Class Action Lawsuit against Stormpay
http://www.paypalsucks.com/forums/showthread.php?fid=19&tid=9498 

Web Site: Petitionspot.com
Subject: StormPay-Release Our Money
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ourmoney/signatures?start=2000 

Web Site: Quikonnex
Subject: The Better Business Bureau examines Stormpay
http://quikonnex.com/channel/item/16905 

Web Site: Reality Makers
Subject: Customers upset because money unavailable at StormPay.com
http://www.realitymakers.com/forums/about303.html 

Web Site: Reality Makers
Subject: StormPay.com Freezes Accounts
http://www.realitymakers.com/forums/post-567.html 

Web Site: ScriptLance Forum
Subject: What the (#@*&@ happened to stormpay?
http://forum.scriptlance.com/archive/index.php/t-647.html 

Web Site: SiteMason
Subject: StormPay Freezes Accounts
http://www.sitemason.com/newspub/j0Ap4A?id=27594 

Web Site: Talkgold Forum
Subject: Stormpay complaints from last year
http://www.talkgold.com/forum/r77569-.html 

Web Site: Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs
Subject: On-Line Consumer Complaint Form/StormPay complaints
http://toget.to/ReportStormPay 

Web Site: The Leaf Chronicle
Subject: State agency investigating StormPay complaints
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/

Web Site: The Pontiff
Subject: More on Stormpay - the Clarksville company imbroiled in scandal 
http://pontiff.wordpress.com/

Web Site: US Securities and Exchange Commission
Subject: 12 Daily Pro / Storm Pay Complaints
http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/claims/12_daily_pro.htm 

Web Site: Utah Division of Consumer Protection
Subject: 12 Daily Pro / Storm Pay Complaints
http://consumerprotection.utah.gov/education/12daily.html 

Web Site: Webmaster-Talk.com
Subject: stormpay investigated by the feds
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/

Web Site: WorldNow and WTOC
Subject: Consumer Groups Warn of Potential Fraud
http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4476868 

Web Site: Scam.com
Subject: Finally ALLL the DIRT on STORMPAY...just give us our money back.
http://scam.com/showthread.php?t=9545 
Details: Hi everybody...feel FREE to copy this and RE-POST it on every board you find. info I found somewhere else. Hey Steve - we just want our money (jackass)

Here's some info:

Steve Girsky
StormPay, Inc
1690 Golf Club Lane
Clarksville, TN 37043
Telephone: (931) 647-8750
Fax: (931) 647-8970

STEVEN C GIRSKY
4987 Shadowbend Cir
Clarksville, TN 37043-9007
(931) 362-9288

Stormpay Office:
(931) 647-8750 ext. 105

Girsky, Steven C (residence)
4987 Shadowbend Cir
Clarksville, TN 37043-9007
(931) 362-9288

Girsky, Steven C (office)
121 S Third St
Clarksville, TN 37040-3403
(931) 647-1501

Registered Agent and President:
Name: JOHN R. MCCONNELL, JR.
Address Line 1: 1690 GOLF CLUB LANE 
City: CLARKSVILLE
State: TN
Zip: 37043
Telephone: (931) 647-8750
Fax: (931) 647-8970

Tymglobal.com is Steve Girsky
By now most of us know that StormPay and NetIBA were incorporated by the SAME person. Mr. John McConnell Jr is the registered agent, the principal officer, and the customer service contact of NetIBA. This man is also the registered agent of Stormpay. Steven Girsky is the CEO and Customer Service contact for StormPay. You can see my previous post on this at http://www.getpaidforum.com/forums/s...s-t425180.html. 

Interestingly, these two men are also neighbors. From The State of Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, Real Estate Assessment Data website (http://170.142.31.248/ParcelList.asp  or go to http://170.142.31.248/SelectCounty.a...lectCounty=063 and type Shadowbend in the Property Address Box): 

MCCONNELL JOHN R
ETUX DEBORAH K 
4975 SHADOWBEND CR 
CLARKSVILLE , TN 37043 
931-362-4116 (from www.whitepages.com) 

This is where John lives. From the data you can see he lives in a 2 story, 3,012 sq ft home he bought for $266,000. He also owns 4981 and 4990 Shadowbend (both plots of land). 

From the same site:
GIRSKY STEVEN C
ETUX CAROL L
4987 SHADOWBEND CR
CLARKSVILLE , TN 37043 
931-362-9288 (from www.whitepages.com) 

Steven lives in a 2 story, 3,692 sq ft home he bought for $250,000. 

According to google maps: Map Link, they live 168 ft apart; it takes about 4 seconds to get from one house to the other. 

Before filing a complaint with the BBB about StormPay, one should contact Steven Girsky at:
1690 GOLF CLUB LANE 
CLARKSVILLE, TN, 37043 
931-647-8750; Fax 931-647-8970

If you have a complaint about NetIBA, before filing with the BBB, you should contact John Mcconnell at (931) 905-0112. If you reverse search this number at www.whitepages.com, you find it belongs to NetIBA at 1690 Golf Club Lane, Clarksville, TN 37043. 

Who owns 1690 Golf Club Lane you ask? This 2 story, 6,068 sq ft, 30 office building is owned by John R. Mcconnell! Imagine that! 

No, you're not seeing double, NetIBA is at the same address as StormPay, in the building owned by John McConnell. The only difference is the phone number.

My question: is it legal to call a business owner at home? Of course, you are almost certain to lose your account, rather than get anything resolved so I wouldn't recommend it! Additionally, according to the BBB, Steven Girsky is a lawyer working for Batson, Nolan, Brice, Harvey, & Williamson. However, Steven Girsky is not listed on their web page: www.bnbwg.com. Nor is he listed as a member of the Tennesee Bar Association. I don't dare speculate on this and anyone else inclined to do so should cease and desist! 

Looking back at the Tennesee property records, I looked up S. Third St to see who owns the building where Steven is/was a lawyer. It's owned by BNBWG Realty. Hmm, Could those letters stand for Batson, Nolan, Brice, Williamson, & Girsky? Doing a search on google tells me I am correct. However, the BBB doesn't have a record of this company and the address is the same address as the attorney's office address. I guess BNBWG Realty doesn't do much business? 

Want to see a picture of Steven Girsky? http://pview.findlaw.com/view/2558419_1?noconfirm=0 

Finally, according to the BBB, Stormpay has "an unsatisfactory record due to a pattern of complaints received. In the past 36 months, the company has received complaints specifically concerning the company's failure to inform and follow up with its customers when it suspends accounts, failure to release funds in a timely manner and failure to resolve complaints directly with company management. The company has responded to each complaint presented by BBB. However, the company has not eliminated the pattern of complaint. The BBB Definition of pattern: - More than 2 complaints involving the same allegations usually within 12 months that are significant in relation to the company's size and volume of business. YTD 2006, the company has received 8 complaints; in 2005, the company received 49 complaints; in 2004, the company received 6 complaints. 

In comparison, PayPal has a satisfactory record. To see the definition of satisfactory: http://www.bbbsilicon.org/commonreport.html?bid=210387 

The proof is in the pudding folks. For all practical purposes, StormPay and NetIBA are the same company. Don't be ripped off by them!

Additionally, If you are desperate to contact StormPay or it's owner, I believe you can find enough information here to do so. You might have to think outside the box a bit though. 

All the information provided here is a matter of public record. I have provided the links where you can find the same information for yourself. Being a web researcher, I know where to look for these kinds of things.

Contact his local Newspaper:
http://theleafchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage 

I wrote to the newspaper this morning, using the link that was available in a Sports Story. Here is the email back I just received:

Thank you for your e-mails. I’ve received several e-mails and phone calls over the past three days regarding StormPay.Com. Because this is no longer a sports story, I’ve forwarded all e-mails and links to our business editor/writer. Our news department will take this story from here. Thank you for your e-mails.
Jimmy Trodglen
Sports editor
The Leaf-Chronicle

Contact Steve Girsky's Racing affiliates: Warn them!
Clarksville Speedway
wiltamracing@aol.com 
Office: 931-645-2523
Fax # 931-645-5171 

Golden Isle Speedway
GIS@GoldenIslesSpeedway.com 

Columbus MS. Speedway
johnnyas1@bellsouth.net 

Cleveland Speedway
| (423) 479-8574 | 
Cleveland, Tennessee

Pike County Speedway
J.F. Gasquet
504.394.5530 or 504.442.8847
info@pikecountyspeedway.com 

Talladega Short Track
http://www.talladegashorttrack.com/index.html 
(256) 831-1413

East Bay Raceway Park
6311 Burts Road, 
Tampa Florida 33619 
1.813.677.7223

This article was originally published by The Business Junction on May 8, 2006.

Article Source: The Business Junction at http://www.thebusinessjunction.com