Does Your Merchant Account Have an Early Cancellation Fee?

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After reviewing a few dozen credit card processors, I've started to see a pattern of sticking points that unhappy merchants repeatedly complain about. One of those points is the early cancellation, or early termination fee.

I can't count how many complaints I've read from folks who've lost their marbles once they've found out that they have to pay a cancellation fee. They swear up and down that they were never told about it, so they refuse to shell out the anywhere between $100 to $500 bucks just to break their merchant processing agreement (MPA).

The title of this post poses the question; "Does Your Merchant Account Have a Cancellation Fee?" Well, I ask you again...does yours?

I'll bet that some of you don't even know, but to be fair, it's not entirely your fault.

Sales reps are out to make money, so I would never expect to see one ruin a deal by verbalizing the existence of a cancellation fee before the deal is closed. Matter of fact, I'm willing to bet that they'd do whatever they can to actually avoid the subject entirely. I'm not trying to bad mouth all sales reps here, because the vast majority are actually very honest in their dealings, but I'll take a quote from Upton Sinclair to explain myself...modified Merchant Maverick style:

It is difficult to get your sales rep to mention the early termination fee, when his salary depends upon him not mentioning it!

I urge you not to assume that there isn't a cancellation fee just because your rep didn't say anything about it. If you don't ask, then chances are, they won't tell.

The only way to be sure is to first ask, then ask a second time, then finally verify by reading your ENTIRE contract. It's boring, I know...reading contracts sucks! But trust me, early termination fees suck even more.