Who is exclusively responsible for all activity and transactions that occur in connection with Crowne Plaza's Merchant Account or through its Merchant Systems?
Crowne_Plaza Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You are responsible for all Chargebacks, Third Party Based Fees, Servicers Fees, and other amounts arising from fraudulent activity processed through your Merchant Systems and/or your Merchant Account (regardless of any AVS response that you receive).
- 4.8 Costs. If you or a Merchant Provider (or other Third Party used by you) are determined by any Card Organization, regardless of any forensic analysis or report, to be the likely source of any loss, disclosure, theft or compromise of Cardholder data or Card transaction information or are determined to have caused Cardholder data to be put at risk (together, "Compromised Data Events") and regardless of your belief that you have complied with the Card Organization Rules or any other security precautions and are not responsible for the Compromised Data Event, you must promptly pay us for all related expenses, claims, assessments, fines, losses, costs, penalties, and Issuer reimbursements imposed by the Card Organizations against us (together, "Data Compromise Losses").
With respect to any billing statements, reports, agreements, disclosures, notices, and other communications that you receive from us via electronic means, including via email or the internet ("Electronic Communications"), you are responsible for: (a) configuring Merchant Systems so that you can receive, access, and view Electronic Communications, including disabling spam filters and whitelisting domain names and email addresses; (b) the accuracy of, and all activity and communications under, your email addresses and accounts; (c) regularly monitoring and checking Electronic Communications; and (d) regularly monitoring and checking Business Track and any other websites, tools, and databases that contain information related to your Merchant Account.
You are solely responsible for any disclosure, interception, or viewing of any Electronic Communication that has been transmitted from our server.
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 100–424)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Crowne Plaza FDD, the franchisee is responsible for all activity and transactions that occur through their Merchant Systems and/or Merchant Account. This includes responsibility for all Chargebacks, Third Party Based Fees, Servicers Fees, and other amounts arising from fraudulent activity. This responsibility applies regardless of any Address Verification Service (AVS) response received.
This means that as a Crowne Plaza franchisee, you bear the financial risk for any fraudulent transactions processed through your systems, even if you utilize security measures like AVS. You cannot rely on AVS responses to guarantee the validity of a transaction or to avoid financial liability for fraudulent activity. This underscores the importance of implementing robust security measures and carefully monitoring all transactions to minimize the risk of fraud and associated costs.
Furthermore, if a Card Organization determines that the franchisee or their Merchant Provider is the likely source of any data compromise, the franchisee is responsible for all related expenses, claims, assessments, fines, losses, costs, penalties, and Issuer reimbursements imposed by the Card Organizations. This holds true regardless of the franchisee's belief that they have complied with security precautions or are not responsible for the data compromise event. This highlights the critical need for franchisees to maintain strict data security practices and ensure the compliance of any third-party Merchant Providers they use.
In addition, the FDD states that with respect to any billing statements, reports, agreements, disclosures, notices, and other communications that you receive from us via electronic means, including via email or the internet, you are responsible for configuring Merchant Systems so that you can receive, access, and view Electronic Communications, including disabling spam filters and whitelisting domain names and email addresses; the accuracy of, and all activity and communications under, your email addresses and accounts; regularly monitoring and checking Electronic Communications; and regularly monitoring and checking Business Track and any other websites, tools, and databases that contain information related to your Merchant Account. You are solely responsible for any disclosure, interception, or viewing of any Electronic Communication that has been transmitted from our server.