Cynergy Data Review
Merchant Maverick's Rating: (4 out of 5)
Last Updated: April 30th, 2010.
Overview:
Cynergy Data is another one of those companies thats been around for some time. Established in 1995, they've been doing business for over a decade now. They've won the Inc. 100, 500 and 5000 awards, and their CEO won the 2008 Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year" award. All great achievements that don't mean much to me. I care about what the real customers are saying about these guys.
They have about 35 complaints that they've received on their BBB profile, and only a few negative reviews on RipOffReport. 35 BBB complaints might seem like a lot, and believe me, I think it is as well, but Cynergy Data is also a much larger company than some of the other merchant account providers that I've reviewed. With a bigger merchant base, comes more complaints. I've personally heard mixed reviews about Cynergy, and that's due in large part to the fact that they are a bigger company. When you're larger, you have more sales reps and independent agents that work for you, so the possibility of falling into the hands of a bad rep are much higher. I know of some reputable reps within Cynergy, so if you're thinking about working with them, shoot me an email.
You won't find any testimonials on the Cynergy Data website, but they do have a few listed in their promotional white paper titled "Why Cynergy."
You can also follow them on Twitter.
I'm going to give Cynergy a 4 out of 5 for now, until I see some more user reviews from merchants that have used them.
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Date Established:
1995.
Location:
Long Island City, New York.
Domain Name(s):
www.cynergydata.com.
Parent/Partner Company:
The Cynergy Data parent corporation is Cynergy Holdings LLC. They were in the process of merging with EVO Merchant Services in 2006, but I'm not sure if they ever went through with it. They did acquire Abanco International in 2007.
Cynergy recently filed for bancruptcy (Chapter 11), and sold all of their assets to The Comvest Group for $81 million.
Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.
Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Wells Fargo Bank.
Payment Processor(s):
Cynergy Data processes its own transactions.
Payment Gateway(s):
Authorize.Net or their own LUCY payment gateway.
Do you need help setting up your payment gateway? See the payment gateway integration services page.
Trust Symbols:
The Cynergy Data BBB profile doesn't have a rating yet (as of this review), but has had 35 complaints in the last 36 months.
Negative Reviews:
ROR has a few complaints on Cynergy.
Common Complaints:
It was tough to nail down any common complaints based on the ROR (RipOffReport) data, but if you take a look at the BBB profile, you'll notice that the bulk of the complaints fall into the billing, collection or contract dispute categories.
Verifiable Testimonials/References:
The only place that you'll find testimonials is within the Cynergy Data promotional white paper titled "Why Cynergy." I went ahead and contact the merchants in that white paper, but I am yet to hear back from them.
Security/Privacy:
No third-party security features (i.e. McAfee, Verisign etc…) on the Cynergy Data site, they do have a privacy policy though.
Customer Service:
I contacted them through their site with a few "touchy" questions, like whether or not they have a cancellation fee and/or contract terms. I received a very nice and detailed response. The rep did mention that they have a cancellation fee and a contract term (3-year), but that both were negotiable. Has anybody else dealt with these guys? Let us know.
Contract Duration:
The usual 3-year contract term, but it can be negotiated.
Cancellation Fee:
I couldn't get the exact cost for this, but the rep said that it can also be negotiated.
Seasonal Downtime:
Cynergy Data does offer seasonal downtime.
Product/Service Offering:
Retail, Gift Cards, EBT, Check Processing, e-Commerce.
Product/Service Specialty:
None in particular.
Don't forget to leave your review and rating in the comment section. 
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January 12th, 2010 - 08:58
This company is not that good. I opened an account with them in February 2009. I made no attempt to hide my business (adult novelties, parties, fun parties, adult dvds, etc).
From the very beginging i had issues.
The rep they sent to me was an idiot.
they sent my machne to the wrond address and did nothing about. It took me 3 weeks to locate it.
They would nott replace it even though it was opened and tampered with.
My rates were not what was agreed to whcih i had to complain everyday form almost 2 weeks to get it straight.
Too many complaints to list!!!!!
I had 2 charge backs in October and they decided to close my account and took $495 from my account.
They should have never accepted my account.
They terminated my account and should have never taken the canceleation fee form my account since they terminated my account.
I am still fighting them over this matter.
January 12, 2010
January 12th, 2010 - 13:32
Thanks for the review Melissa! I’ll take it into consideration during the next update.
March 24th, 2010 - 14:08
I’m an ISO for Cynergy and can tell you if you get a good rep Cynergy Data is a great company. The company was purchased by Comvest in bankruptcy similar to the Chicago Cubs sale. I doubt the Cubs will be going away anytime soon (althought I’d like them to as a life long Brewers fan) and Cynergy will be around for a long time as well.
As a rule Cynergy Data does not work with Adult businesses so someone did not know what they were doing. Here in Milwaukee we actually have a sales office set up so we are not just reps working of our basements. This allows us to meet and visit with all of our clients. This includes personally delivering and installing equipment as well as training staff on all the functions.
Having said that our Milwaukee office has a great reputation and many of our Milwaukee area clients have referred us to businesses out of state which we do service over the phone. They are always happy to work directly with our sales office rather than calling a cutomer service number.
March 24th, 2010 - 14:20
Also please note that Cynergy Data has partnered with PayChoice to offer payroll service to our merchants.
May 18th, 2010 - 18:07
I just received a letter from Cynergy Data telling me all merchants must compy with DSS mandates to avoid costly penalties. They are directing my to a program they developed to receive self compliance certification. At a cost of $110 a year. While they tell me I must comply with the act by 9/1/2010 they are also telling me that they are going to automatically deduct the $110 from my June 15 processing account. I don’t currently us the internet for processing transactions. All transactions are by telephone line so I don’t think the mandates are applicable to me yet they are going to take $110 from my account. I’m looking now to move to another vendor before the June 15 deadline.
June 9th, 2010 - 18:00
I have been pretty happy with Cynergy Data up until tonight. They had good rates, got me my money, no issues really. Tonight, however, I am just getting busy signals when i try and process cards. I tried to call support, busy signal. I tried calling sales, busy signal. I don’t know what is going on, but it has already cost me money, and I am worried about all the days charges I can’t batch out. Nothing is posted on any of their websites about any outages. I am getting pretty outraged at this point, have been considering switching, this may be the straw that breaks the camels back.