Leaders Merchant Services Review

Merchant Maverick's Rating: (3.5 out of 5)

Last Updated: September 6th, 2011.

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Overview:
Leaders Merchant Services is a merchant account provider based out of Camarillo, California that has been in business since 2000, and has nearly 100,000 merchants under their belt. They operate two websites, one being Leaders' main site at LeadersMerchantServices.com and the other being RockBottomMerchantAccounts.com.

It took quite a bit of time for me to do this review, mainly because I had a lot of complaints to read through. As of this update, Leaders has about 163 complaints with the BBB and plenty more spread out across other review and complaint sites. Given their size, it's to be expected.

After reading all those complaints, it seems that the biggest issues merchants are having with Leaders are with hidden fees, and poor customer service (read Common Complaints below). In all my reviewing, I haven't seen this many complaints about hidden fees, so that pattern was something that I had to pay attention to.

If you have a look through any of Leaders website's, you'll notice that their advertised rates are significantly lower than most of their competitor's. So low in fact, that one would question how these guys make any money?

I have a feeling that the extremely low advertised rates, have something to do with the large number of "hidden fees" complaints. I suspect that most merchants are getting lured in by the "low rates" then getting a wake up call once their first statement arrives. This is a classic example of why it's not smart to shop a merchant account based solely on advertised rates. Especially if you don't understand interchange.

Some of the undisclosed fees and contract terms that were mentioned are the 3-year contract, with an early termination fee of $350 or $250 depending on when you cancel, the annual fee of $99, and the PCI compliance fee of $120/yr.

The good news is that Leaders seems to be actively responding to complaints in hopes of finding a resolution. According to the BBB complaints, Leaders has offered refunds to many of their unhappy customers. In a nutshell, your voice will be heard if you speak loud enough.

You can find Leaders on Facebook and Twitter.

Leaders Merchant Services gets a 3.5 out of 5 for now. I'm going to allow some of my readers to leave their reviews, then I'll revisit this.

Date Established:
2000.

Location:
Camarillo, California.

Domain Name(s):

• www.leadersmerchantservices.com
• www.rockbottommerchantaccounts.com
• www.lms-corp.com
• www.leadersccprocessing.com

Parent/Partner Company:
No parent or partner companies.

Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.

Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Wells Fargo Bank.

Payment Processor(s):
Leaders Merchant Services is the processor.

Payment Gateway(s):
Authorize.Net.

Do you need help setting up your payment gateway? Visit the Payment Gateway Integration page for more info.

Trust Symbols:
You can find the Leaders Merchant Services BBB profile here. It has an "A+" rating as of this review, with 163 complaints in the last 36 months.

Negative Reviews:
There are a large number of complaints and negative reviews against Leaders Merchant Services all throughout the web. The BBB complaints, TrustLink reviews and RipOffReport complaints proved to be the best resources for my research.

Common Complaints:

• Hidden fees: There are many complaints about hidden fees. It seems that most merchants did not know that Leaders has an annual fee of $99, an annual PCI compliance fee of $120 and a monthly customer service fee (varies). Merchants also complained about their transactions clearing at a much higher rate than was quoted by Leaders (i.e. downgrades). To avoid the downgrade issue, ask for interchange-plus pricing.
• Poor customer service: This is another area where Leaders seems to be having trouble. The majority of criticism against Leaders has some mention of sub-standard customer service.

Verifiable Testimonials/References:
There are a few testimonials on the Leaders site, but non of them disclose the merchant's full name or business name. It's hard to take any of those at face value, so be sure to ask for references.

Security/Privacy:
No on-site security features (i.e. McAfee, Security Metrics etc...). The security issue really depends on what kind of information the merchant account provider is collecting from you. If they require you to fill out a full digital application with sensitive info like SSN numbers, then they should definitely have some third-party security in place. Sometimes, and in the case of Leaders Merchant Services, the initial contact form only requires some basic info, then the real application is taken care of by fax or later on through a secure online app.

Customer Service:
There have been a bunch of complaints about Leaders customer service. Take a little time and read through the details of the BBB complaints, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Contract Duration:
3-years with a 30-day trial period.

Cancellation Fee:
Leaders offers a 30-day trial period, so if you cancel within that period, you won't be charged an early termination fee. After the trial period it's, $350 if you cancel before the first year is up, and $250 if you cancel within the 2nd or 3rd year.

Interchange-Plus Pricing:
Interchange-plus is offered by Leaders Merchant Services. Be sure to ask for it.

Seasonal Downtime:
Leaders does offer seasonal downtime, but be sure to work out the terms with your sales rep.

Product Offering:
Retail (Credit/Debit), eCommerce (Online), Payment Gateway, Virtual Terminal, Check Guarantee, Check Conversion, Gift Cards, Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO), Business Cash Advance.

Specialty:
None.

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