First Data Review
- Date Established
- 1969
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
Pros
- Full line of Clover terminal, mobile, and POS systems
- Low interchange-plus rates available to high-volume businesses
- Extensive online knowledgebase
Cons
- Overpriced equipment leases
- Four-year standard contract with liquidated damages clause
- High recurring account fees
Overview
First Data is one of the oldest and largest credit card processors on the planet. Established in 1971, the company has a headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, executive offices in New York City, New York, and numerous regional offices throughout the United States and around the world.
How big is First Data? For starters, they provide services to more than 6 million merchants worldwide, giving them the largest client base of any processor in the industry. In the United States, 45% of all credit and debit transactions are handled by First Data. Worldwide, they process $2.2 trillion in transactions annually, averaging 2800 transactions per second.
That’s about as big as it gets in the processing world. But does that kind of size translate to high-quality merchant services at a fair price? Well, yes and no. On the one hand, the company has the resources to provide every conceivable product and service you might need to run your business. At the same time, however, their processing rates, account fees, and contract terms can vary widely. In many cases, you’ll end up paying far more than you should to access all those wonderful features.
Our top-rated First Data service providers
| heading | Clover Corporate | Payment Depot | National Processing | |
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Official Clover Store | Payment Depot | National Processing | Dharma Merchant Services | |
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Provides all Clover products | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Rate matching and negotiable quotes | Varies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Fair entry-level quote standard | $29/mn 2.3% + 0.10¢ for in-person transactions | $49/mn 0.00% + $0.15 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup (Must process $10K+ per month) |
There are two ways to get connected to First Data. One way is to sign up with the company directly. The other way is to sign up with one of the many Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) that resell First Data’s products and use them for transaction processing. Here’s an important thing to consider: some of those ISOs are really good, and others (okay, many others) are absolutely terrible. An ISO can offer you lower rates and fees than you might be able to obtain by signing up with First Data directly. However, they can just as easily charge you higher rates, tack on excessive fees, and lock you into long-term contracts with expensive early termination fees.
One ISO that uses First Data for processing is Dharma Merchant Services (see our review). They’re one of our favorite processors, mostly because they offer transparent interchange-plus pricing, fair account fees, and month-to-month billing. For most businesses (especially small to mid-sized ones), Dharma can provide you with a much better overall deal than you’d receive by signing up with First Data directly. They operate under the philosophy that if you offer your customers services at a lower cost and with fair contract terms, you’ll not only attract more customers overall, but more importantly, you’ll retain more of those customers for the long haul.
Unfortunately, there are also plenty of other ISOs that don’t follow this enlightened business philosophy. They’re more than happy to charge you even higher rates (usually on a tiered pricing model) than you’d get from First Data directly, and couple it with long-term contracts, outrageously expensive equipment leases, and poor customer service. Merchant turnover is high, but they don’t care. Why not? Because they make money from those early termination fees – sometimes more than they earn from a merchant’s processing activity. Unfortunately, there are a lot more shady ISOs reselling First Data products than there are good ones like Dharma.
For this review, we’re going to focus on First Data’s direct sales channel. Their terms can – and usually do – vary from what you’d receive from a reseller. One word of warning: First Data is a very big business organization, and their services are geared to the needs of other big businesses. Although the company markets itself to small businesses, their terms and costs really aren’t a very good deal for a small or mid-sized business. The bottom line: if you’re a small or mid-sized business, you’ll want to access First Data’s features through a reputable reseller instead of signing up with the company directly. On the other hand, if your business is large enough to have some leverage in negotiating your own terms, a direct account with First Data can be a good deal. The company can save you a significant amount of money in overall processing costs if you qualify for their lowest interchange-plus processing rates.
The main benefit of signing up directly with First Data is that you’ll have access to all the special features, such as advanced data analytics, that you might not get with a reseller. You also won’t have to deal with the potential confusion that sometimes results from having one company manage your merchant account and another one process your transactions. There are no middlemen with First Data.
There are, of course, also disadvantages to getting a merchant account directly from First Data. The main drawback is that the company offers a premium product – at a premium price. The company’s services are expensive, and smaller businesses won’t have much leverage to negotiate those costs down to a more manageable level. You’ll also have to deal with long-term contracts (typically four years) and a high early termination fee if you close your account early. Your account might also be subject to enhanced billback, which we don’t like at all. Finally, the company has a reputation for being quick to hold funds or shut down accounts entirely for a number of reasons. Check out our article How to Avoid Merchant Account Holds, Freezes, and Terminations for some tips to prevent this from happening to you.
All things considered, First Data rates as a slightly above-average merchant account provider (note that in the processing industry, the “average” is pretty lousy). We’re rating them at 3.5 out of 5 stars for now, but be aware that this is an averaged rating because your experience with them will vary quite a bit, depending on the size of your business. Large businesses will have a much better experience with the company, while smaller ones will most likely end up paying way too much for services they don’t really need. If you run a small business, we highly recommend that you approach First Data via one of their more reputable resellers, such as Dharma Merchant Services (see our review). You can also check out our Merchant Account Comparison Chart, which highlights the main features of our top-rated providers.
Our Top Picks For Credit Card Processing
Table of Contents
Products & Services
Rating: Good
As befitting such a huge company, First Data offers every conceivable product and service you might ever need to run your business successfully. These features are all very high-quality, but don’t expect them to be a bargain. You’ll pay full price, but for many merchants, the cost is well worth it in terms of what they can do for your business. Here’s what they provide:
- Merchant Accounts: As we’ve noted above, First Data is a direct processor, so you’ll be dealing with them for every aspect of maintaining your merchant account. You might not get the personalized customer service that a smaller company can offer, but they offer a measure of stability that a smaller organization can’t always provide.
- Credit Card Terminals: The company offers a variety of terminals, including both wired and wireless models. First Data’s current lineup includes new terminals that support both EMV and NFC-based payment methods. Terminals may be bought outright or leased. While pricing is not disclosed on their website, we recommend that you shop around before purchasing a terminal directly from First Data. Many of their resellers can offer you a lower price for this equipment. We also highly recommend that you avoid leasing your equipment, as you’ll be locked into a noncancelable contract which will cost you many times more than what the equipment is worth over the life of the lease. Unfortunately, First Data leases are handled through their subsidiary, First Data Global Leasing – one of the worst equipment leasing companies in the industry.
- Point of Sale (POS) Systems: One of First Data’s most powerful features is their line of Clover point-of-sale (POS) systems. While the Clover Station is their flagship product, with a smaller model, the Clover Mini, also available. These products all boast an impressive set of capabilities, but be aware that they’re rather expensive. The Clover Station, for example, typically costs around $1000. You’ll also incur a hefty service fee (usually $25.00 to $50.00 per month) to use them, which is in addition to your monthly merchant account fee. Finally, they’re proprietary products, so you can’t simply swap out the software if you’re not happy the way you can with a tablet-based system.
- Mobile POS Systems: First Data has recently introduced the Clover Flex, a portable device that combines point-of-sale functionality with the smaller form-factor of a smartphone. It has a 5” color touchscreen, a built-in barcode scanner, and an integrated thermal receipt printer. The Clover Flex can accept magstripe, EMV, and NFC-based payment methods, and can also manage your inventory. First Data doesn’t disclose pricing, but Dharma Merchant Services (see our review) sells this model for $549, plus $10.00 per month. There are additional monthly charges if you need inventory or order management, or a 4G data plan.
Get the best deal on Clover products
| heading | Clover Corporate | Payment Depot | National Processing | |
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Official Clover Store | Payment Depot | National Processing | Dharma Merchant Services | |
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Provides all Clover products | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Rate matching and negotiable quotes | Varies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Fair entry-level quote standard | $29/mn 2.3% + 0.10¢ for in-person transactions | $49/mn 0.00% + $0.15 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup (Must process $10K+ per month) |
First Data marketing example for Clover products
- Payment Gateway: If your business has an online presence, First Data’s Payeezy Gateway has every feature you’ll need to accept payments and keep your customers’ data secure. It integrates with over 70 different shopping carts and accepts payments by credit or debit card, eCheck, or PayPal. It also supports multiple currencies. Pricing for this feature is not disclosed.
- Website Builder: For the budding eCommerce entrepreneur, Clover Online allows you to build your website and integrate it with the Payeezy Gateway. Web hosting and shopping cart integration are built-in, making it easy to get set up and start selling online.
- Mobile Processing: First Data offers the Clover Go mobile payment system, which consists of the free Clover Go app (available for both iOS and Android) and a card reader. The latest reader supports both swipe and EMV transactions, as well as NFC-based payment methods. Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Wallet are all supported. The reader connects via Bluetooth, so it will work with newer phones that don’t have headphone jacks. Pricing is not disclosed for the reader.
- Check Processing: With Clover Check Acceptance, you can accept both paper checks and ACH (eCheck) payments. While the use of checks is declining in popularity as a payment method, this is a good service to have if your customers like to pay by check. Processing costs are also much lower, although this will be offset by the (undisclosed) monthly fee for the service.
- Online Reporting: Clover Insights is an app-based reporting solution that offers a variety of analytical data about your business. While this is a standard feature these days, it’s still useful if you want to optimize how you run your business.
- Security Features: Clover Security provides optimal data security through end-to-end encryption, which encrypts every transaction at each stage of processing. First Data’s website does not disclose whether this is a standard feature or an option that will cost you extra fees.
These are just the main features that First Data has to offer. There are other, more specialized features such as a developer portal for the Payeezy Gateway and loyalty/gift card programs. Unfortunately, there’s no mention whatsoever of pricing for any of First Data’s products or services. Unless a feature is specifically advertised as being free, it’s probably safe to assume that you will have to pay extra if you want to include it with your account.
Fees & Rates
Rating: Good
First Data’s website contains a tremendous amount of information about the company’s many products and services, but there are no pricing disclosures. There’s a reason for this: the company sets prices differently for every customer, and the tremendous variability in processing rates and account fees makes it all but impossible to list them all. Depending on the nature of your business and your processing history, you might be offered a tiered, interchange-plus, or even a flat-rate pricing plan. Even within those broad categories, there’s plenty of variability.
While we’d like to see a more open discussion of the possible rate plans you might encounter, we’re at least glad that First Data doesn’t employ the misleading “rates as low as…” trick that you’ll see on many other processors’ websites. Quoting just the lowest rate that the company offers is very deceptive, as only the largest and most established businesses will qualify for it.
Our top-rated First Data service providers
| heading | Clover Corporate | Payment Depot | National Processing | |
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Official Clover Store | Payment Depot | National Processing | Dharma Merchant Services | |
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Provides all Clover products | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Rate matching and negotiable quotes | Varies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Fair entry-level quote standard | $29/mn 2.3% + 0.10¢ for in-person transactions | $49/mn 0.00% + $0.15 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup (Must process $10K+ per month) |
Account fees, on the other hand, are a different matter. Many of these fees are standardized, and all merchants will pay the same amount for a particular fee regardless of how big their business is. We’d like to see more transparency on the fees that are the same for everyone.
What can you expect to pay in the way of account fees? You may or may not be charged an application fee when you apply for a merchant account, as well as an account setup fee if your application is approved. You’ll almost certainly have to pay a monthly account fee, although the amount could vary quite a bit from one business to another. This is one case where larger businesses generally pay more, although they’ll save money overall due to also paying lower processing rates. You may also have an annual fee to cover upgrades, etc.
If you use the Payeezy Gateway, you can expect to pay around $25.00 per month for it on top of your monthly account fee. Fees for PCI compliance are also very common. Additionally, there are many other smaller, per-occurrence fees such as Address Verification Service (AVS) fees, chargeback fees, etc. See our Complete Guide to Credit Card Processing Rates & Fees for more information. Lastly, be sure to review your contract thoroughly before you sign up. Most, if not all, of the fees you might be liable for will be spelled out somewhere in the fine print of your contract.
Contract Length & Early Termination Fee
Rating: Fair
A sample contract from First Data’s website spells out an initial contract term of four years, with an automatic renewal clause for successive one-year periods thereafter. However, contract length appears to be negotiable, and you might be able to get approval for a shorter initial term. While we prefer to see merchant account providers offer month-to-month billing instead of a multiple-year term, it’s unlikely that you’ll get this from First Data. However, some resellers, including Dharma Merchant Services, offer month-to-month billing as a standard feature.
Long-term contracts almost always include an early termination fee (ETF), and First Data’s contract is no exception. Their ETF is equal to your monthly minimum, plus your monthly customer service fee and your monthly account fee, multiplied by the number of months remaining in your contract. This type of liquidated damages clause could conceivably cost you over $1,000 if you close your account within the first year or two of your contract. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to have this clause waived. However, you must negotiate to have it dropped before you sign your contract. Be sure to keep a written copy of your waiver in case you later decide to close your account.
Sales & Advertising Transparency
Rating: Fair
First Data has a very slick, professional-looking website with lots of content. Unfortunately, not all of it qualifies as useful content. There’s a lot of marketing fluff, and you’ll have to dig pretty deep to find concrete information about the company’s products and services. As we’ve mentioned, there’s also no information about pricing, except for a very small number of free features. Overall, it’s not a bad website – it just lacks most of the useful educational information that many of the company’s smaller competitors and resellers include on their sites.
First Data doesn’t disclose pricing, but it isn’t directly deceptive either.
One very positive thing about First Data is that they employ a full-time in-house sales team, so you won’t have to worry about dealing with independent sales agents. You shouldn’t experience the intense sales pressure or the misleading claims that you commonly have to deal with when working with independent agents. Nonetheless, you should still negotiate aggressively to get the lowest rates and the best contract terms that you can, and you definitely will want to thoroughly review your entire contract before you sign up for an account.
The company has an active social media presence, with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. These accounts are a great source of information about First Data’s newest products and services, as well as partnerships with other businesses. They also have a YouTube channel, with dozens of videos on a variety of topics. Unfortunately, there’s a much stronger emphasis on marketing efforts in these videos than there is on providing educational resources for merchants.
Customer Service & Technical Support
Rating: Good
Very large businesses have a reputation for providing poor, impersonal customer support. However, First Data actually seems to do quite well in this area – at least, judging by the general lack of complaints about this issue from unhappy merchants. The company offers telephone support that’s available from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM Eastern, and you can probably reach someone during the off-hours as well. Live chat is also available from 8:30 AM to 9:30 PM Monday-Thursday and 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM on Friday. If neither of these options is working for you, you can also contact them via email and expect a response within 24 hours.
First Data support options
First Data’s website contains an extensive Client Support section that includes links to a huge number of online support resources. You may have to hunt around a bit to find what you’re looking for, but it appears to be a comprehensive source of information. We’re glad to see them providing such a high-quality knowledgebase for merchants, as most providers offer very little in this area. For a company of First Data’s size, we’d expect nothing less.
User Reviews
Rating: Good
Negative Reviews & Complaints
Remarkably, First Data is not accredited by the BBB. They have an A+ rating anyway, despite having a whopping 1002 complaints within the last three years. Of those, 282 were filed within the last twelve months. While this is undoubtedly a lot of complaints, remember that this is a company serving six million merchants. If you do the math, that means that only 0.017% of them were dissatisfied enough to file a complaint. We’d also note that the company’s complaint volume has slightly decreased since our last review update. First Data’s BBB profile also has 87 customer reviews, almost all of which are 1-star or 2-star ratings. While that’s certainly not good, remember that satisfied merchants very rarely take the time to write positive reviews. This is especially true for a site like the BBB, which is designed primarily to solicit complaints about businesses. The company also deserves credit for responding to every negative review and offering to try to correct the situation.
You’ll also find a further 541 complaints on Ripoff Report. Many – perhaps even the majority – of the complaints on both these sites are actually directed at one or more of First Data’s resellers and not the company itself. First Data has little or no control over the business practices of smaller companies that resell their products, so naturally, their complaint volume is very inflated. We also found a significant number of complaints that were directed at First Data Global Leasing, the company’s notorious equipment leasing subsidiary. Looking at complaints from merchants who signed up directly with First Data, we’ve identified the following common issues:
- Overpriced Equipment Leases: As we’ve mentioned above, leases are handled by First Data Global Leasing, a subsidiary. These leases come with noncancelable four-year terms, meaning that you’ll still have to make your monthly lease payment, regardless of the circumstances. You could close your account or even sell your business, but you’d continue to be on the hook for those payments. After four years, not only will you have paid far more than what the equipment is actually worth, but also you still won’t own it. Avoid leasing under any circumstances and buy your terminals. First Data’s terminals and Clover POS systems aren’t cheap, but they’re a lot less expensive than what a lease will cost you.
- Excessive Account Fees: These complaints mainly come from merchants who didn’t bother to read their contract very carefully when they signed up. First Data charges a fee for just about everything, and most of their fees are on the high side of the industry average. The company obviously sees itself as a luxury brand, and they charge accordingly for every service they provide. While larger businesses can afford these fees and will save money overall through lower processing rates, that’s clearly not the case for a small business. If you’re a small business owner looking for a cheap merchant account, you’ve come to the wrong place. First Data is not for you, unless you can sign up through a reputable reseller (such as Dharma Merchant Services).
- Withheld Funds and Account Terminations: Like any processor, First Data may freeze your funds or even terminate your account if they have reason to suspect fraud. Check out our article How to Avoid Merchant Account Holds, Freezes, and Terminations for tips on preventing this from happening to you.
- Enhanced Billback: This billing technique isn’t popular with merchants, and with a company as large as First Data, it’s generated a lot of complaints. While there isn’t much you can do about it, you can check out our article Billback and Enhanced Billback… Buyer Beware for more information about how it works.
On the positive side, First Data appears to respond to every BBB complaint. They also issue refunds and take other actions to try to resolve the merchant’s issue.
Positive Reviews & Testimonials
First Data has an entire section of their website devoted to Client Success Stories. Here, you’ll find dozens of video testimonials and case studies from satisfied merchants who are using the company’s services. The videos are very polished and professional-looking, but still come across as authentic. Most of the participating merchants focus on the capabilities that First Data’s Clover products and other services have brought to their business. There isn’t any mention of the company being the least expensive option for merchant services, which is only to be expected. We also note that most of the testimonials come from larger, well-established businesses.
Final Verdict
First Data is – obviously – a very big company, and their services are geared primarily to large businesses. Yes, you’ll see a lot of advertising aimed at small businesses on their website. Don’t be fooled! If your business is small or doesn’t have a lengthy processing history, you simply won’t have much leverage to negotiate a good deal with a provider like First Data. Instead, you’ll be stuck in a lengthy contract with high fees and even higher processing rates.
On the other hand, if your business is large and well-established, First Data can offer you a lot of extras that other providers cannot. Account fees aren’t nearly as burdensome on large businesses, and in many cases, the significantly lower interchange-plus processing rates will balance them out and save you money overall. Regardless of the size of your business, it’s imperative that you negotiate aggressively for the best terms you can get. Don’t accept the first offer that a sales representative gives you.
The company’s biggest strength is the wide variety of products and services they can provide. You’ll never have to worry about the needs of your business growing beyond what they have to offer. Their Clover POS systems are excellent (although pricey) products and integrate with just about every third-party service on the market. Their Payeezy Gateway provides all the essential features that an eCommerce business needs to run smoothly. Our one caveat is that you should absolutely avoid leasing any of their equipment through First Data Global Leasing. Not only will you pay way too much, but also your lease contract is separate from the one for your merchant account — this means that even if you close your account (and possibly pay a substantial early termination fee), you’ll still be on the hook for monthly lease payments on equipment that you might not even be able to use anymore.
Overall, we’re giving First Data a modest 3.5 out of 5 stars rating. This is an average rating because your experience with the company will vary a lot depending on the size of your business. First Data rates a little higher for large businesses and a little lower for smaller ones. If you’re a small business looking to take advantage of First Data’s powerful products and services – but without the long-term contract and excessive fees – then you should definitely take a look at Dharma Merchant Services. They’re hands-down the best overall First Data reseller we’ve found. For a quick overview of Dharma and other top-notch providers, check out our Merchant Account Comparison Chart.
Our top-rated First Data service providers
| heading | Clover Corporate | Payment Depot | National Processing | |
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Official Clover Store | Payment Depot | National Processing | Dharma Merchant Services | |
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Provides all Clover products | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Rate matching and negotiable quotes | Varies | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Fair entry-level quote standard | $29/mn 2.3% + 0.10¢ for in-person transactions | $49/mn 0.00% + $0.15 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup | $10/mn 0.20% + $0.08 markup (Must process $10K+ per month) |
Frank Kehl
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- The True Cost of Debit Card Transactions - March 29, 2019
To learn more about how we score our reviews, see our Credit Card Processor Rating Criteria.
Organization Name: EXTREME DIGITAL GRAPHICS
Stay Away!! Never used the service and was charged $21 a month for 13 months for nothing. Heartland Payment systems a much better option- better rates – I will be closing my Bank of America accounts ( 20+ year customer) for getting me involved with this POS company
Organization Name: The Only One Inc.
Absolutely the worst company I have ever had to deal with. Ridiculous hidden costs, lying salespeople, terrible customer service!DO NOT USE FIRST DATA!
Organization Name: Abacot Hall B&B
First Data has this great selling prologue but no follow-up service. It took over a month to get the documentation in place, after many calls and email with no response. I eventually got someone to look into the problem and get the documents processed.Then the monthly charges were not as agreed upon in the contract. My email and phone calls got me nowhere for over 3 months until I managed to speak with someone who authorized a credit to my account for a portion of the extra fees they had charged and a promise that the system would be changed to reflect the correct charges. I received the credit in my bank account but the system was never changed. My further emails went unanswered so I put stop payments on the pre-authorized debits and stopped using First Data. I have heard nothing from them since. This company is unbelievably BAD.
Organization Name: Bellview
This is awful. Lodged our tranfer papers weeks ago left message after message with zeto returned calls. Now they tell me i cannot have my eftpos in time for takeover of my hotel and it cant open costing me $15,000 loss. Seriously AVOID them. They are truly awful irresponsible and heartless.Go to your bank where .09 flat fee is ..first data have olus plus plus also. Really should take legal action over the loss of trade. DONT EVEN CONSIDER THEM FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION.
Organization Name: Conleff Plumbing Supply, Inc.
First Data might possibly be the most corrupt company I’ve encountered in my professional life. Our company was automatically signed up with First Data through our bank merchant services, and when I decided to change our credit processing over two years ago, First Data is STILL charging us for machines that we have long since returned. Every attempt I have made to remedy these problems have been met with avoidance of responsibility, or my personal favorite, being put on hold for three hours only to be disconnected before ever speaking with a representative. I am forced to go through backward and aggressive means in order to make First Data stop stealing from us. I’m very surprised by the BBB rating for this company and would love to know how First Data’s practices are considered both legally and morally acceptable.
First data has destroyed my company in a very short time. Holding moneys so that I can not pay my staff or any of my liabilities. They say they will call u back. But they don’t. Now one has answers. Worst company ever. Please read this and stay away. From them.
Organization Name: NEIL CONSULTANCY
Very worst company and they hold money for no reason
They hold money for more than 2 weeks and everytime I call, they give me a reference number and tell me someone will call me back. They never call me back. Where do I go to complain against them?
They have no rights to hold our money.
**Stay Away – Avoid at All Cost **These criminals operating from Marietta, GA are total scam. First they will charge you $300 for their Payeezy gateway. They will offer you a good rate of 1.89%, then within a few months it goes up to 4.5%. They will tell you as long as you fill the PCI compliance questionnaire, you won’t get charged, yet you will see $50 monthly charge for this and they will say that you didn’t fail to pass the questionnaire even though you point out to them that your PCI is perfectly correct.Then, after they stiff you for couple of months, they terminate your merchant account without notice or cause; and without giving you a grace period to try to find another credit card processor for your business. As such, your business will suffer and you will lose sale and end up with tons of bills to pay without any revenue.And to add insult to injury, they charge you $500 for account termination, even though the agreement says that this charge is applied if you terminate the account and not if they cancel it. But of course, they will stiff you no matter what.These people are inhumane, they should be prosecuted for stealing from hard-working small businesses. Everyone who suffered from them should complain to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General. They should go out of business, they are totally rude and their customer service is absolutely abysmal. It’s not only the worst, but it’s like dealing with thugs from third-world countries.
Organization Name: Cut&fade
STAY AWAY FROM THIS SCAM COMPANY!! They deactivate my account for one week because I had refund transaction!! However because they got me on contract for 3 years I was trying to work with them they did not care if I’m losing business, everytime I call customer service they have no idea what’s going on they just talk shit every time when I call I get a different guy on the phone they telling me different stories…And a week later they reactive my account now every time we have a transaction they holding some transaction I don’t know why trying to understand when I called them they telling me your account is closed how my account is closed when we are processing transactions?? And then they tell me our account will be cancelled anytime going to use it and I said okay what about the Clover machine I have you guys put me on contract for 3 years on that one as wall they have no answer for this I call First Data Global Leasing they telling me we don’t care you have to pay for cancellation fee if you have to cancel we are two different department what a big scam!!I’m trying to talk to their manager every time I asked get the manager on the phone they put me on hold for 15 minutes and they get back to me they say the manager he’s not available leave your number he will get back to you and I leave my number nobody getting back to me I’m really frustrated with this company I’m thinking walkaway from it but also I don’t want to pay for the cancellation fee yeah they had nice machine but the service is sucks I’m losing money with them everyday and the problem is they don’t care when I say that on the phone!!
Organization Name: AK Grind Espresso
STAY AWAY FROM FIRST DATA ….THEY WILL HIT YOU WITH A $20 A MONTH FEES FOR NOT GIVING THEM A WORK NUMBER ON THEIR PAPERWORK, WHICH WE DO NOT HAVE………We are a very small drive through coffee shop. We had a customer who wanted to buy the shop and they gave us a $5000 non-refundable down payment to take the shop off the market, $1000 was made on the purchasers card and the other $4000 was made on the fiancées credit card, after signing all the contracts, my wife and I agreed to personally finance them. They had it for 3 weeks and walked away. No bills were paid during this time and my wife and I were stuck with all the bills. A week later the purchaser filed a dispute with First Data. With out telling us First Data immediately stopped putting credit card payments for product we sold in our Bank account, they said they needed to collect the $5000 as they had refunded it to the purchaser. We sent them all the information they required including all the legal contracts of the sale proving that this was a fraudulent case and we also filed a police report for fraud against the purchaser. First Data with held our money for 17 days and then told my Bank and I, they would need to continue to with hold payments for another 105 days while they go through all the information we sent. I am still fighting this with my bank, I had to changed my credit card company in order to stay in business and I am struggling to pay my 6 employees as they have with held over $3700 and continue to do so.I do not think this is legal and I am now filing a report with my States Attorney. FIRST DATA THINKS THEY ABOVE THE LAW………..YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
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Organization Name: TCM Yard Ltd
This company always give you “PCI DSS COMPLIANCE PROGRAMME, PORTAL PASSWORD”, but never can login. even you ask to change a password, you always fail to login,and then tell you that your account be locked 30 minutes.A rubbish company!
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Organization Name: Affordable Vanpool, LLC
I get charged close to 10% of my gross income. I signed up for 3.5% and talked to the representative about fees well before signing the contract. These guys are a legal fraud. STAY AWAY…very far away.
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Organization Name: Salton co.
Agreed. I have heard this bait and switch scam from First Data and their resellers. I belong to a small business group where we discuss our business. 10 people have complained about First Data. Sat away from First Data.
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Organization Name: 99 car care & collision
We have first data we have had nothing but troubles,AVOID!!!!!
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Organization Name: Eastern Hills Soft Serve
Worst customer service I have ever come across. Totally unreliable in follow up actions. Numerous phone calls and many promises later , absolutely nothing has been achieved. Good at giving you the run around though. It is not a difficult task to rectify my problem but it seems it is impossible for this lot.
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Organization Name: TMH Solutions
DO NOT use First Data or any reseller of First Data like Bank of America. God forbid you get one chargeback – they WILL shut you down and hold your money for 6 months. Too many better services out there. Not sure how they get 4 stars. Terrible customer service. And they increase fees all they time. Scary!
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Organization Name: CMD
Fully agreed. Stay away from these jokers. Criminals. HORRIBLE people to do business with. I have promised a call back 3 times AND nothing. They increased my fees for no reason. I had independent party audit my account….PLEASE for your sanity – do not use them. WORST customer service on the planet!!!
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Organization Name: Absolute Dance SA
Don’t use First Data Processing, they are criminal with fees and business practices. I was blantantly lied to about a cancellation policy and now find out we would have to pay the whole contract out regardless if we return the equipment or not. For a business who is just starting this could be the reason why we might have to close our doors and they will still expect there money. I don’t understand how we can cancel the service for machine with no penalty but have to finish the lease even if you don’t have the service to actually process payments. I really hope they screw over the wrong person and get a chance to feel what’s it’s liked to be taken for everything they got. I will do my part to show the country how unethical your business model is, so First Data has the fear of not knowing if their business will last another year. I’m glad I record all talks with business reps to post online and show how corrupt some companies are. Being a veteran and having fought for this country so businesses like this can continue to rob people blindly makes me sick. You’re a disgusting excuse for a company who have horrible excuses for people who work for you.
Quote from agent:
“I don’t care if you’re a veteran, those are our cancellation policies and if you don’t like what you hear, you shouldn’t have signed up for our service”
All that after stating what the original representative had told me about their “so called” cancellation policy. I would recommend that no local business ever receive service from First Data, they are a money hungry company that will lie to get you into a contract under false pretenses knowing that they have NO REAL CANCELLATION POLICY. Hoping you go out of business and have a wonderful day. Best wishes!
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Organization Name: admiral steamer carpet cleaners
The same thing happened to me I canceled them due to they didn’t for fill there part of the agreement
I was told I could cancel at anytime with no problem which was not true now they have put it on my credit in collections and I’m having to fight to get it off there the biggest rip off company I have ever depth with. STAY FAR AWAY FROM FIRST DATA !!!!!!!
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Organization Name: Himalaya Indian Cuisine
We are having a worst experience with them,we are paying for three lease while I am using only one.I asked them to take your machines back,they said you have to pay your whole lease amount.No one is giving me the solution.Guys never trust First data
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Organization Name: Khondaniha
Customer service is not helpful. They put me on hold for two hours then say you need to wait two business day to get your deposit. After that, the transaction did not go through my account. When I called them again, they said Oh I am sorry I forgot to save the process and we need to reprocess again!!! This happened again and again. They block customers money with a funny excuse. Do not go with First Data!
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Organization Name: Meredith Lawyers
Been 3 weeks waiting for an urgent call back, I have been calling every 3 or so days to remind them that I exist but still no response, as well as charging me for additional units that I do not have.I would not recommend this organisation.
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Organization Name: Pink Moose Cafe
I am disgusted with first Data. Im constantly getting new fees taken out or raised, haven’t heard from my salesperson since day one, took 5 months to get my pinpad, while being charged credit card fees instead of the 0% debit fee I THOUGHT I had. Now they’re taking another fee that is 20 to 25% of my monthly gross sales. I’m also being charged monthly for wrong information for the IRS since April 2017, when it was resolved by a form emailed back to them immediately in April, but several months later when I noticed the same charges, I called them out on it, got sent the same form, sent that back too, and am still getting charged. I am going to close my account with First Data, start my business as cash only, unfortunately losing good loyal customers, but unfortunately will continue paying the lease on the machine. Luckily I got them to give me a 3 year lease instead of 4. God my lease on my business only lasts another year. If anyone wants to jump on the class action lawsuit bandwagon, let me know. You now have my email address.
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A First data sales rep said they evaluate after 6 months to make sure I’m on the best plan. They say they don’t require a contract but it sounds like they could raise fees. Anyone have any recent experience with First Data directly?
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Organization Name: Village of Theodore
Our office was experiencing difficulty in tracking POS payments in monthly bank statements making account reconciliation with our general ledger more difficult than believed necessary. During my first year as CAO for the village, I reviewed the long established process and determined that there was an avoidable disconnect. After a discussion with our local credit union, I discovered that they were affiliated with First Data. This was encouraging because the long established POS was with a chartered bank and moving to First Data would reasonably be more seamless given the affiliation. Additional research indicated that our provincial municipal association has an agreement them that further reduces our fees. Our local credit union arranged to have a First Data representative contact my office to discuss service and pricing. I was fortunate to have their representative Maryam Bin Yahya walk me through the process in an efficient, quick and professional manner. The POS unit arrived yesterday and will be ‘online’ this week. I look forward to the expected reduction of time in reconciling accounts and also experiencing a reduction in fees to help with our modest budget. Thank you Maryam!
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Organization Name: LMHL
Representatives can never explain all these hidden fees. Almost 10% in fees! For a small business, this company has crushed my business. Then they blame it all on you for not taking a 1hr test to be compliant.The test was written like it was made in 1990, very difficult to navigate. Wish those young men in suits never sold me on this low-interest processing company.Something they are doing must be illegal??
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Organization Name: irish pig bbq
go to ur states attorney and file a complaint, I’m also calling my local tv station, they got me for 11 thousand
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Organization Name: Montain Attitude Designs
We are 4 months in and have gone 2 months without a return call from our representative to explain the tremendous billing fees, along with 4 month of $20 fees that were to be credited. In comparing our credit card processing fees to that of PayPal last year, FirstData is charging us DOUBLE than what we paid with PayPayl! We were told our fees would be MUCH LOWER. We just opened our business last year and this is killing us!!!!!
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Organization Name: NWW Vet
Worst financial company on earth, morally unethical, charged us for years on a hidden account for no services, once you sign up with the devil you can never get rid them.
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Organization Name: Rockbridge Music
This is the highest priced and worst credit card processing company I ever used in my 35 yeears of doing business. I bought out my contract with them because they made me so furious. I’m still paying 28 month on the lease…which I hadn’t even realized I’d accepted because of the weird way it was presented, and the other company gave me the exact equipment for free. Never never never give them a dime of your hard earned money.
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Organization Name: Daily Market
I totally agree with all comments! It’s so true! No ever never deal with First Data! You will stick with their contact and junk machine no matter what! Easy signature but hard life for your business! Rude employees won’t do anything for you! No first data!
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Shady company to be avoided at all costs. They are aggressive and dealing with their “customer service” agents is like dealing with the mafia. High fees and hidden costs. Charging me for equipment that we returned 3 years ago. Claim they never received and will not take it off my credit report till I pay an additional “buy-out” fee of $324.20. You’ve been warned!
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Organization Name: TJE
This company really screws you over! So watch out ! I’ve had this machine for 4 years now , never used once. Now they want me to buy them out , First Data said ” the contract never ends ! ” Please don’t use this company!
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Organization Name: Ability to Change
I have been unable to use First Data to process credit and debit cards. I have been placed on hold a total of 4 hours 32 minutes in a 2 week period to try to fix the issue. In the end I’m out $195.69 and have never process a payment through the system. First Data is a company you want to run from.
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Organization Name: Zest hair
Awful company they are stealing money from me every month for something I don’t have,sent machine back on time never been used no transactions,customer service is disgraceful
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Organization Name: Annona Gourmet
Stay far away from them and anyone connected with them especially SBGA. Hidden fees are everywhere. My POS is through them and it turns out they owned the software company also but sold it so now I can’t update anything. Now they want me to buy a whole new system. I’m a small business and don’t want/need a new system. My processing is now PayLo which is through SignaPay. Month to month and the customer pays the CC fee so on a 5.00 bill they would pay an extra .19 .
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At first I was fine with the 25 dollar no transactions service fee whileI waited for business to arrive. Business did not. Conveniently they attempted to deduct money from my account right within a 3 day window where there was no money then proceeded to deduct $75.00 ($25 for each attempt) I have no idea how many times they would do this but today I spotted large amounts being withdrawn. Its all within the contractual allowances you signed they said. I asked politely to refund my money and they politely refused saying it was within their legal allowances. There were NO phone calls, NO messages or texts or emails saying they were doing this. The bank doesn’t notify me cause it just looks like a typical charge. No red flags come up from my own bank when they try to give me their usual service fee charges because they keep trying then when you HAVE the money take it all out then. And thusly they did. Not one notification of this. I just graduated college and it left me with no money to eat food. Not one ounce of humanity or hope from this companies representative, just spoon fed rhetoric on the phone after a lengthly pause on hold so they could digest it from their supervisor or legal department or policy department. How they sleep at night I have no idea. I highly recommend that anyone wanting to use a service like this one just simply walks away.
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Horrible company. We switched to them in 2013 only to find out recently that they never closed an account we had with them since 2002 (so they have been charging us for 2 accounts!). Both accounts have now been closed and we will never be doing business with them again (thankfully).
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I agree with Bob! I’d give a zero if I could. There are hidden fees and the cost is twice what my old provider was even though their salesman promised I’d be paying way less. Average for year paid in fees is 6.8%.
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I think they are a great company, I had nothing but a good experience with them
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THEEEEE VERY WORST, EXTREMELY HIGH RATES HIDDEN FEES NOT TOLD TO ME….”WEEL YOU SHOULDA READ THE CONTRACT” RIGHT….. HOW ABOUT YOU READ IT TO ME AND EXPLAIN EVERY LITTLE DETAIL…..IN ONE YEAR I TOOK IN 79 K IN SALES AND PAID 7%……NUFF SAID!
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If I could give this company a zero I would. They have the worse customer service and policies put in place I have ever delta with. I am the Bookkeeper for the company I work for and they constantly make changes and process our funds differently so that we have holds on our account. I was told by a rep call the “reserve” department leave a message and someone will get back to you in 24-48 hours. It has been over a week since I called and no has called me back. You cannot talk to a live person in the departments that matter where they have the answers as to what is going on with your funds. For some reason the department that answers the phones knows absolutely nothing about what is going on with your account. We pay enough in fees just to run a credit card I do not think we should have to deal with all this other aggravation with our own money.
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We are dealing with them third hand and was surprized to find we are in a 60 month contract at $42 a month.
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Having just set up our account, I found the help and service exceptional. One often hears of the uncaring bank personal that hides behind voice mail and seldom returns calls, our experience was the opposite. Start to finish 4 days from when I asked our bank to arrange credit card processing to everything from First Data being set up. Very satisfied so far.
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I have been banking with Suntrust since 2014 and it is truly such a shame that Suntrust has such a terrible partner, First Data, who doesn’t care about business. The reps at First Data have NO customer service and they literally interrogate their customers. They challenged me to switch to a different merchant services company because they claimed my “transaction was too big.” First Data is literally playing God and very clearly has no interest in doing business. Because my “transaction was too big,” they closed my account and I was unable to run any other transactions. STAY AWAY FROM FIRST DATA!! Worst Company ever not just merchant services!!!
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Do not touch this company they are con artists in my experience. My account was suspended even though I was still using it. When I range them and found this out they sent me a reactivation code which did not work. I sent in a formal complaint in January and a second in February. I had no response from them even though I know the letters were received. I then cancelled my direct debit to prompt someone to contact me. I then received letters and emails demanding for money, I responded by email stating that I would not pay until my formal complaints were addressed. Yesterday (May) I received another letter saying that bailiffs wee going to come. I rang the company again and said I was going to take legal action against them. Today I finally have had the debt cleared, thank goodness. Please do not make the same mistake as I did – DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY
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Horrible service if card isnt used on a regular basis they cancel your card and hit you with bills after they broke contract and cancelled my service and still forced us to pay. When you call there receptionists pass you around give you crap answers say they will look into it and never a call back but they keep pulling there monthly fee out and they closed my account. Caution look into other services
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I have first data processing but I can’t stand how slow the EMV is compared to swipe. It takes about 20 to 30 seconds with the FD130 terminal where swipe took 3 seconds. I wonder if it has to do with my broadband connection where EMV takes up more bandwidth to process. I have 3 Mbps down 1 Mbps up. Is there any way to find out how much data is processed and having a greater bandwidth would help with speed or is it First Data’s server side that is slow. Thanks.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hello Eddie,I work with First Data and you are right the system is slow for emv. However, this is true for all processors since the systems Visa, MC, Amex, and Discover use are slow. They are working on making it faster but this may also negate the security according to this article. http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/20/pf/visa-chip-card-speed/Sadley not much has changed since the article debut a year ago. At this point you can wait for the systems to be improved or if you have a low fraud rate you can turn emv off. All have their pros and cons so be careful and good luck. -Raul Vasquez
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All I want are answers. I love the Clover. It’s quick and easy to use. My customers love it. BUT…why can’t I do refunds?….what is a manual refund. ?? It shows up on my Clover when we have attempted to do a refund that the Clover said no to… When the clover refuses to do a refund I give cash to the customer. Then the clover shows this manual crap. I have spent HOURS on this… no answer from sales rep, customer service , our bank, no one.
All I get told is they’ll check and call me back.
We paid up front for the equipment and are told no one else can program it so we are stuck.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Pat,
This article might help with processing refunds. I hope this helps and if you have further questions please let me know.
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Awful experience with this company and Canadian POS Corp! Sales rep was darn good at their job, but was lying every step of the way! She quoted in an email a specific price that was not what we ended up with on our statement at the end of the month. We also had the option to purchase the machine, which is what we did. We were quoted a certain price to outright purchase it, but were later billed $200 more than what she quoted us.Then comes the contract. The boss was on the phone with her and she sent him a link. She says just scroll down to the bottom and click the box, then boom. Just like that, the contract was digitally signed without a chance to read it.So we used it until our first statement came and showed we were being charged too much. A total of 2 weeks use. (which we had the machine break twice in that time to boot.) We phoned to cancel and send the machine back, but they told us we own it and they don’t want it back. So we don’t even get a refund on the machine they charged us $200 to much for!I would not advise anyone to use this company without being very very careful! They lied to our faces, then just put their hands up when we had problems and walked away. They would not even refund our 2 week old machine that we can no longer use. I am extremely disappointed and dissatisfied!
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I would give it negative rating if possible. We’ve been processing our merchant account with First Data for 2 years and it’s been the most frustrating and horrible experience. They are very incompetent people. Every phone call to them will take you 2 hours, long holds, they transfer to different departments and at the end you get someone’s voicemail and they never bother calling you back.Do your business a favor and find another merchant company that cares about your business and give you customer service. You will become miserable dealing with them.
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I received a fraudulent 1099-K for 2016. I tried to speak with someone and no one knows anything -when you call it’s a big circle of disconnected calls, ignorance or they don’t answer the phone at all. This business is a Fraud and should be investigated and Shut Down.
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Absolutely horrible! Their errors cost me business. Their inability to provide a machine that could function on a digital phone line is just an example of how inept and unwilling they were to do their job correctly. Lots of talk and they take no ownership of their errors. Too expensive to get the worst customer service and consumer protection!
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After 15 years with Chase Paymentech, I switched to First Data. I chose the Clover Mini to replace the old swipe terminal. It has been a phenomenal experience. From the sales rep, to the product delivery and unboxing, to the follow up and getting started material, I’ve gotten everything I need and more. I purchased directly through CloverConnect.com. Talked to a sales rep and received my device within 5 business days. Set up was easy. Like setting up an iphone. If you’re the least bit tech savvy, you won’t even need the user manual. I was so happy throw the old terminal out! The mini is chip ready. It also supports contactless payments, which most of my 50+ year old customers don’t use, but sometimes I do get a young Californian in the office that wants to buy a new boat prop with his Android device and he simply taps and pays. Helps make us seem a little more modern than we actually are! It fits right in with the minimal aesthetic of our office.
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I have been banking with Wells Fargo since 1993 and it is truly such a shame that Wells Fargo has such a terrible partner, First Data, who doesn’t care about business. The reps at First Data have NO customer service and they literally interrogate their customers. They challenged me to switch to a different merchant services company because they claimed my “transaction was too big.” First Data is literally playing God and very clearly has no interest in doing business. Because my “transaction was too big,” they closed my account and I was unable to run any other transactions. STAY AWAY FROM FIRST DATA!!
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Stay away, worst company ever!!! They will take several hundred dollars/month just in processing fees, on top of charging you ridiculous amounts every month for 4 years for the card reader machine. You do not want to do business with these people, worst nightmare ever!
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I am absolutely disgusted with this company. The reason I chose FD was because I opened a business account with PNC Bank. They recommend FD and offer “free checking” if you process with FD. After my first year of business I decided to switch processing companies. My reason was because I needed a POS system & decided to process through Shopkeep, whom I purchased my system from. After paying a $550 early cancelation fee, which I assumed was to FD & to cover the equipment, I went on my way. Well after a couple of months I noticed that I was still being charged a monthly fee of $37.50 for the processing equipment rental. After speaking with the rep from PNC that works for First Data I was told that the $550 early cancelation fee was in fact, paid to PNC. Why THEY collect a fee I have no idea. First Data does not offer an early cancelation fee and apparently I am responsible for the remainder of the lease. This is a 48 month lease. This little credit card swiper will have cost me $1800 by the time I’m finished paying for it. Eighteen hundred dollars!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?! I am really disappointed in myself for not realizing what I was getting myself into. This company is a complete rip off if you ask me and definitely does not have the best interest of small business owners in mind. If my review stops one person from signing on with this company and buying an $1800 credit card processor I may feel a tiny bit better. I am so sickened by these greedy corporations ripping off small businesses. And yes, I was totally RIPPED OFF! These little card processors can be purchased online for a couple hundred bucks or less. Make sure you read the fine print before you sign on with these sharks. Just sucks I learned the hard and expensive way 🙁
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I am in the exact same boat! I have my business banking with New Bridge and they recommended this horrible company. My business has busy seasons and slower seasons so the tier program screwed me big time. I also found much better rates with another company, Future Plus – they have been great, I would highly recommend them! So I paid the cancellation fee and ended that nightmare but it wasn’t over….The same machine that does not even have a chip reader, would have been free through Future Plus, but I was told I had to upgrade to a chip reader, which I am paying less than $10/month. This basic outdated machine that I cannot even use with a new processing company I am still paying for every month $34! I called recently to find out how much longer this rip off will continue, total of 48 months!!!! That is more than $1500 for this piece of crap!!! The processing fees are ridiculous and the machine lease is robbery! This is the worst company ever!!! Do yourself a favor and NEVER sign a contract with these people!!!
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Negative review also… 3 and 1/2 years ago my small family business started using First Data as a credit card merchant which was set up through Bank of America . Just after the 3 year mark ( Bank of america term for our lease was 3 years ) I tried to cancelled my account with BOA and First Data as we wanted to go with a quickbooks merchant…oddly First data had a 4 year term/lease ? When I called First data to try cancel they were not receptive to that idea even though BOA had set up the account and no one could explain why First Data was 4 years and BOA was 3? I tried to negotiate with them but they would not at all.
I still have their credit card machine and would return it if they would just cancel my account. I had called a couple times trying to negotiate , but had no luck …in fact the last lady was just rude about it.
A 4 year commitment is a ripoff. I understand now that they do 3 year terms to match the BOA 3 year term. It doesn’t help me though.
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Absolutely worst company I have dealt with in 40 years !
Do yourself a favour and go elsewhere as the stress caused is unbelievable
Conned us into a long contract and we are now waiting 4 months for them to collect the terminal and send a final invoice
They just send threatening court letters
Rubbish GIANT of a firm with no customer service
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Signed up through PNC Merchant Services under the guise of no monthly minimums or monthly fees. A few months into the account we started getting charged a $19.95 monthly “TransArmour” fee. Called up several times to cancel it. It took 5 months. Received a refund only to have it all billed back again. More recently, without fair warning, they instituted a $19.50 monthly minimum. It took us 3 months to figure out this was happening and when I asked for a refund they refused, claiming that their contract states that they can institute new fees any time they want. I’ll never sign a First Data contract again!
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This company should be avoided. Do NOT use them for anything. We signed a contract for a PDAs terminal. We weren’t have with what they supplied so we cancelled within 48 hours and returned the terminal. We have spoken to numerous different departments and people and have written to them. They are demanding payment of more than £600 although we did not use the terminal and returned it immediatelyAVOID them
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no stars! They are liars and a rip off. Salesman contacted me, looked at several statements from my previous provider and stated I’d be saving SO much money in fees by switching. I balked at the $599 set up fee so he reduced to $299 which he said we’d save in less than a year. Well….I’m paying more by between 1/2 a percent and a full percent with First Data each month (like total fees divided by total sales submitted) – so now I paid $299 to start PLUS I’m paying more each month. Representative said “that’s because your customers are using premium cards, it’s not our fault”. The cards my customers are using are the same as they were with the old provider. I told them I want to cancel and want my set up fee back because they lied…..as I would expect now that I’ve had a taste of First Data practices she says “oh no, setup fee cannot be refunded.” Do yourself and your bottom line a favor and AVOID First Data. Both Elevon through Costco and Stripe were way cheaper and nicer to deal with.
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There are several parts to this Ignite Payments, Authorize.net and First Data. I cancelled all three in May 2016 and in June I found out that all three parts did not cancel and I had to re-cancel everything all over. I was then told that the only way to reverse the over priced merchant fees was to dispute the fees for June. Now I am being sent to collections for a minimal amount. Its the principal of the matter that I am upset about and the deceiving practices that take place when you try and cancel. I only processed around 6 credit card transactions per year. Ignite needs to waive their fee for June since we have not had service since May 11th 2016.
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First Data is a pathetic excuse for a processing company. Nearly impossible statements to read, terrible customer service. I cancelled service with them in Jan ’16 and they still charged me a fee for six more months. RUN, don’t walk from First Data!!! I was told in no uncertain terms…..too bad!
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My experience with First Data include:
1. Sales representative now explained in video with my lawyer that she ‘forgot’ that FD has the right to increase my basic rate every 6 months. So the contract states 1.68% and 3 years later it is 2.5%. If you do not notify them, you get fleeced.
2. They use the Trans Amour certification process, which can take 45 minutes, to increase fee by $19.99 per month. No small business profession has this time to waste. Another company’s program took 5 minutes and is good for one year.
3. FD refused to close the contract, even though services were discontinued, with the expensive cancellation policy unless I contacted them on the exact date of policy cancellation. They refused to put their supervisor’s comments in writing. They said, “accounts can only be removed manually!”
4. The local agent refused my and the banks telephone calls to meet with me for 18-24 months.
In summary, I realize I was stupid to have listened to my bank (who gets a kick back) and not check out Chase and Elavon. I have not had any of these FD experiences with either company.
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We’ve dealt with FD for too long and are trying to end the contract
They said it would take 10 minutes to speak to a rep. 1.5 hours later…. The rep didn’t know his contact number if we got disconnected or the address we could sent the rental POS to.
They could not provide a list of equipment we were renting or what we were paying monthly.
Thoroughly disappointed
0 stars (even while we had the equipment it always broke down and we could never contact tech support)
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I am from Toronto, Canada. Im wondering anyone here have had experiences with Integrated Payment Solver company, powered by First Data in Canada. I believe they are ISO for FD. Thanks !
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I’m a small business and hope to help you to discern “buyer beware” before you sign up. I never write bad reviews for anyone except this time. There was no way that I could get out of this contract, even though I used this set-up once or twice and now paid well over a $1,000.00! The first time I called the customer service she was very rude and had a critical attitude knowing there was nothing that I can do unless pay it off. Okay. Now I’m in the position to finally pay it off where the representative assured me that after I send in the equipment and no further charges will be on my bank account, yet there was another “fee” charged to my bank account. I just received a letter stating “In the event that a payment is returned after the above date (closing date), this letter will be null and void and your lease will be reinstated.” One last comment from First Data: “Liability remains with you — FDGL will assess a charge for the terminals received that are either: In poor condition- Excessive wear and tear/dirty/cracked Not serviceable – Will not power up”Unfortunately, I made a bad decision, for my company. Hopefully, I helped you to at least consider carefully your future possibilities, before signing their bottom line, with First Data.
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I signed up with First Data via Ignite Payments. It went smoothly initially, and I was happy till I started integrated Payeezy. When I found out there was going to be some work to get it up and running — as payeezy supports limited number of languages. The payeezy support team’s response was less than adequate (that’s when they responded at all).I decided to cancel my First Data account. The agreed cancellation fee was $20 – but the threatening letters from their collection department started showing up merely 4 days after I cancelled the account. The cancellation fee now is in the hundreds of dollars (we never processed a thing with them). And if I don’t pay, this will impact “my personal credit score”. What did I really get into? And who are these people?The collection department is impossible to reach. I spent my Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday just trying to talk to someone (pfff the time wasted on that).And when I got through to someone at First Data — the person at the other end said – I “should be charged only $20” but someone has put in a different amount in the “comments section”. And she would call me back in 24 hours. She never did. Three days later, I called back, and a different person managed to reach the collection department on my behalf. The collection department agreed to settle for the original cancellation fee $20. They never apologized or explained the fees. Based on their transactions, I have seen on my bank account — I’m now cancelling my bank account to get rid of them.
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I cannot believe how the representatives for First Data Merchant Services gets away with the lies they tell consumers such as myself. I down sized my business and not sure at that time if I even needed a processing machine. Jackie (the rep for First Data) suggested that I try it out and if I felt that it was of little service for me to have that I could cancel at any time after 1 year. So I tried to contact First Data many times and unable to reach anyone as the phones where busy and could not get through. By the way Jackie is no longer with First Data. I e-mail First Data to return their machine. I needed a courier label and they told me that it was at my cost and here is the address to send it. Well I was told by Jackie that no cost for me to return it just notify them and a label will me mailed to me. Wrong!
I was promised lower prices for the transactions, wrong. They where more. They turn the machine off at their end and I cannot even use it but they still expect me to pay the monthly fee. Stay away from First Data, they are a rip off.
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Absolutely useless. Wish I’d never set eyes on these clowns. Salesman took 3 attempts to install machines and never rang back when there was a problem. I’ve been sitting on the phone to their credit management team for 21 minutes waiting for someone to answer the phone. I’m liable to go insane if I have to hear ‘please wait a moment’ every 20 seconds for another 20minutes. I’m calling them as I’ve had a request for payment even though direct debit forms were signed in my shop weeks ago. Apparently I may be charged £30 for an unpaid direct debit fee. Rest assured there are plenty of funds available in my account.
Update:
27 minutes to answer my call. They or my bank have lost the direct debit forms. I think I know where the fault may lie!
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I am having the same problems as others here. I closed my bank account and opened a new one. Lets see now how they like it. Let them try and get money they don’t deserve. If we all stick together and give them problems maybe we will be the winners not them.
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I would highly advise you not to do such thing. It will only create bigger problems for you. As they will try to bill your old account, having found that it is closed, they will place your Merchant account in their Collections agency, adding a pretty high Collections fee to the amount they tried to take out originally. Let them know you switched bank accounts and figure out a way to get lower rates.
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I agree I was told so many lies Their fees are crazy even though their percentage rates are low. The more you make the more they takeI was on a month to month with no fees to be charged when I would drop them. I did then I was charged without warning early closing fees of almost $400. I been trying for almost a month to get the charges reversed Again the run around no one seems to know why I was charged even though ai trced it back to them My advice is stay away from them if posdible No I have a $150 clover go reader that is useless because it is a first data product
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Everything written in this comment section is true! First Data is the absolute worst company I have encountered in 25 years of business. Sales people lie, hidden charges, no customer service. They leased me equipment that was supposed to be chip ready when in reality; they still do not have the software 5 months later. No one told me this and when the machine didn’t work I called customer service only to be told..I didn’t have the machine ….that I have. The customer service person tried to convince me I didn’t have the FD400GT(piece of s#%t)., which I have. How do you deal with that? That’s only one example of many bad encounters with First Data and they have been charging me all along even though they are not delivering what I am supposed to have. Wells Fargo+First Data=Evil Empire.
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Please do not use this company First Data. They will suck the fees out of you. I signed a month to month agreement and no closing fees were to be charged. Not true I was charged close to $400 and When I call my rep he says it was not them! Now they want all of my bank information and account numbers if my financials associated with them. My bank says do not do it. The charge clearly came from them because it has my merchant account number listed. I am very frustrated and feel I was lied to.
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Please don’t use this company ! they will reap you up to the bone.
please don’t sign any contract with them. They will hit you with a 4 year contract that you can not get rid off because is a contract. They do not any compassion for small businesses. when you bank approaches to get a credit card machine’ “please do not support First data. Your are feeding crooks.
Bank of America came to my office and offer me a credit card Machine. They offer me something and
my bank account will show something different . The bank was charging me $25 a month and Firt Data $25 it was $50 a month for the two parties plus the swipe per transaction.
complete nightmare. Thanks God today is my last payment.
They are horrible.
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DO NOT USE!!!!!
A range of problems, there are far too many to list but some of them are:-
Contracts for merchant services and terminal lease different lengths so tied in for FOUR years but was told it was an 18 month contract or else I would not have signed.
Payments not credited onto our account on a regular basis from the contactless payments. Have been having to fill in manual vouchers for missing payments for months to reclaim the money risking very unhappy customers as it could be over a month from the original transaction that the payment leaves their account.
Minimum charges not fully disclosed and far higher than we could possible use. Extra charges added on all the time. Fees too many and too complicated to keep track of easily.
On the plus side, I now have a point of contact who I can go to with any problems. She is efficient and helpful even if she can’t or won’t reduce fees.
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*****WARNING*****DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR BANKING ROUTING & CHECKING NUMBERS ON YOUR FIRST DATA APPLICATION!!!I’ve spent over 5 hours on 12 different phone calls trying to get the unauthorized charges returned to my corp checking account…. and still no refund.. I was charged $99 for the POS equipment that they agree they never sent me. Since we don’t accept credit cards directly from clients there is no need for equipment. I was also charged a $25 monthly service fee even though in every emailed communication from them it states no monthly fees and in a couple of emails from me to them, I confirm that there will be no monthly fees. As a last resort, I contacted the sales representative that set up our account and he accused me of altering his emails that confirm that there would be no monthly charges or fees.One of the worst “vendor” situations I’ve been involved in in many years. I didn’t see the horrible reviews of First Data until after I submitted the application, but as soon as I did see them, I cancelled the service without processing a single transaction with them.
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If there is a zero star I will choose it.Very confusing company, divided into different groups and you have to find and deal with each department if there is an issue. That is if you can get through to someone. At one point when they had a major problem with there terminal I have spent over £20 on telephone bill just waiting for someone to pickup the phone. That is when I decide to cut my losses. Becareful as there is heavy charges for termination. Would no recommend to anyone!!
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HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! I should have known when I first signed up and I dealt with some of the most horrific sales team. ALWAYS go with your gut and I didn’t on this one. The sales lady and the bank who referred me told me one thing. Then secret fees started being withdrawn from my account. Any profits I made for the first few months were taken away on a machine that i only needed just in case. Please do not sign up for this credit card reader. Do your research and look outside the bank. This has been my worst business mistake so far!
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If i could give this scam company zero stars, I would.. They are a total scam.. They still owe over 14,000 dollars to my companya nd it’s been 180 days.. They told me funds will be available in June and now we are in October and they take all day to respond. They want you to move fast to geta pproved and to take your money but when our funds is due they want hold your money… bullshit
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Where do you send terminals back to? If anyone knows, please clue me in. Thanks in advance!
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They kept charging me Fees Interchange and PCI compliance fees 3 months after canceling their service. $94 charged 3 months after cancelling. They claimed they did not get my cancellation.
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if I could rate this company in negative stars I would give them a negative 10.They are the worse company for small businesses and they do not stand behind the word of the sales rep that can pretty much tell you anything they want to get you to sign the line. I was told the device I received would be wi fi compatible and it is not. I was told that I could upgrade ant any time for a more up to date product and I cant. I am stuck with paying for an old dinosaur for another 2 years weather I use it or not. Not to mention all of the other fees they tack on. The absolute worst company and the bank that sold it to me is no better.
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You are misleading people with you 4 star rating of First Data Leasing. This company is a ripoff and they do not care about their customers. Google their name. It is their responsibility to make sure services sold for or by their company are being done ethically. They hire snake oil salesmen to go up the highway and hit every business selling their goods. You are as bad as this company and probably work for this company. They prey on small businesses that perhaps do not have the education or are able to have a lawyer on call. They lie and so do their salesmen which neither will help you after they have completely put your business under.
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Hi Geoffrey,
This review is for First Data’s payment processing, not it’s leasing business. We HATE terminal leases, as we mention in this review.
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I am seriously disappointed with Bank of America and first data
I am a small business and I signed up with them to do my processing with them all knowing I am selling the business and they gave me. Two year lease and I got my buyer to go to that bank and they did not ensure I was covered despite this contractor and so-called agreement that I could get out of it.
Do not go to them it’s cheaper with square or others when you are selling
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I had issues with First Data and Thank All Mighty (Whoever it is) that I got out before serious issues took place.
I have since been with Chase Paymentech and OMG!!!!!!!!! What a difference!
Plus rates are so much cheaper……….
Customer Service is Great…………………
James
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This company has a very poor customer service & it is like a big fraud. In Christmas I had lots of customers & I made big sales but just in 3 days they closed my account only because I sold more than their limit which I never could fix it anymore. They are still charging me $50 a month & I just used the machine only for 3 months & now it’s 9 months that they are charging me for nothing. The best alternative is using Square credit device, just make sure you don’t slide more than $1100 per each transaction. Since I though this company gives me more limit per transaction I used their machine but it turned to be all a fraud. They barely help you on the phone. Square credit device charges you a fee on each transaction with no monthly fee, First Data is charging you both on each transaction & on each transaction. If you go and do the math well then you will see Square is a better deal. Just don’t trust this company. There is no way to fix your problems with this company & their bills are shown on your credit report.
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Where did you send your product back to. I need an address.
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1307 WALT WHITMAN RD
Melville, NY 11747
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Anyone having issues with chargebacks due to a “glitch” in First Data system in that it allows a customers to enter a random number on the pin pad for debit cards which tricks the system into thinking it is authorized? Eventually the bank catches it but my customer and several cases of liquor, almost $800.00 were long gone! I don’t want to list exactly what the customer did because it is so ridiculously easy but merchants should definitely be watching that their customers are only entering a 4 digit PIN number !
I’m thinking class action lawsuit ….
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I am shocked that there are not already class action suits against them. Their business practices are outrageous.
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I have had a similar situation, what did you do?
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Oh my god, where to start with First Data. I can not believe that a company can get away with suck racketeering. For the last year I was charged between $40 – 60 a month because they didn’t have my corporate phone number on file. I had been with First Data for over 20 years but somehow my number wasn’t on file? Then when I complained about the charged, they told me that they had been miscoded and it really meant something else. Then when I inquired about some other charges on my statement they told me it was because I wasn’t collecting address/zip code information on my virtual terminal which caused me to pay a higher rate. Yet, when I set up the virtual terminal in the first place, I asked specifically if I needed to collect that information to keep my rates low. They said no. And when I tried to resolve the problem they told me that “my terminal” was somehow messed up and left it up to me to resolve. Many phone calls later I found out it was something in the set-up of the terminal itself (that First Data helped me set up) that was the problem. So I’m thinking to myself, finally got the almost $80/month issue resolved. But NOOOOOOO. The next statement still showed no corporate phone number on file and then they added a new code which pulled more money from my account. Tolled, imagine that – about $80.00. When I called to find out what the “new” code was, no one in customer service and even their escalated staff knew what it was. The code did not appear in any of their books and it took almost a week for them to figure out the new charge. Personally, I think they just make it up to extort more money from their people. What a rip-off company – Stay away!!!!
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Their is a corporate phone number I found but I am not sure it was worth the effort
I am trying to get $400 back for early cloding fees
Any advice would help
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I wish I could give First Data Global Leasing a negative star rating. We were bamboozled into a lease with this company through Securus Payments. I understood that the lease for the equipment was could not be canceled as long as I was with Securus (which is who I thought owned the equipment). I am not with Securus and First Data is holding me responsible for the 48 month lease. RIDICULOUS!! These people are scam artists!!
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As I read other comments regarding First Data Global Leasing is has become blatantly apparent that this company prefers to be less than open about their initial leasing agreements and that they operate in a manner that prevents those scammed by their current method of business from seeking correction or preventative action. While there is interest in a class action suit I would encourage each “victim” of their deceptive practices to alert their state Attorney General, their state Chamber of Commerce and their state banking commission, as well as the bank who sold you their bogus plans. Obviously, this takes time from your already packed day, but unless we speak up vigorously, this company will keep doing business as usual. If any of you have experienced significant loss, contact your local news outlets. They LOVE to take down folks like this. Unfortunately, my loss was less than $100, as I am betting most other losses are. THIS IS INTENTIONAL. Can you imagine how much they are pocketing at $100 per pop! Truly a scam falling between legal cracks.
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First Data has very poor customer service. In the 2 plus years I have been with them I was told on 23 occasions that someone from research would answer my question in 48 hours. They even gave me confirmation numbers. When I called back I was told they would reach out to me. I am still waiting on that first of 23 calls. I think “research” is just their dumping ground to make you go away. The client website gives some good data but their charges trickle in months in arrears and their bills are unintelligible. The only bright spot is they have not made errors with payments. However it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between a pass through charge and something they may might make up. I have had charges appear on my statement and they cannot tell me what it was for or why I was charge the fee or what transaction it might be related to – their only answer is that the computer determines the fees. I have never been successful at having any suspect fees removed. I would only recommend this company to a really tough competitor. They truly don’t care about customers. They are just processors.
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They have the trickiest program going right down to returning your terminal when you are forced to update, which I thought should be covered in the $100 plus maintenance they charge me every year. First time I returned a terminal because of high rates and hidden costs and switched to PNC they continued to take payment from my bank account for 7 months till I got the bank to stop payments. Get this the bank (PNC not much better than FD) said they would only refund the last quarter. This time, four years later, I get notice from PNC MS that I have to update my terminal through, WAIT FOR IT, FIRST DATA. So I watched my statements closely and sure enough after the second month on the new terminal there was a withdraw for the old one they had received back from me 55 days earlier. I think this must be some kind of scam they are running to rake in a couple extra million a year. I know this, after this contract is up there are many CC processors way better than FD and I will choose one of them. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from First Data. Be careful using your local bank also because they probably use FD to process, make sure you ask. That is how I ended up back with them after I left the first time they screwed me over the first time.
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Terrible service. Full of hidden charges. After 3 months, a rep will NOT come out and install system regardless of what they say. No one answers 800 customer service.
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I really really want give Firstdata company 0 star , I just first time open business,I trust Wells Fargo and signed contract with FirstData in Wells Fargo ,before signing contract , the guy name Neil told me I will be charge per trantraction for credit card and debit card ..but not true ,when first bill coming they charge me more than that ,I tried to contact with that guy but he like don’t want help me and explain for me ,when I said cancel and they will charge me &1500 cancel fee ,why they don’t tell me before I signed contract ?? What should I do now??
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Hey Tom, I know you love Dharma so much, just so you know, they’re an ISO of FirstData…
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Hi Andrew,
Dharma uses a few different acquirers, one of which is First Data. There is nothing wrong with this. While some First Data ISOs are terrible, some are the best in the industry. Dharma offers really solid contracts and quality customer support. They know how to get the best deal possible out of First Data, and that’s what they pass on to their clients. So while I don’t usually recommend merchants sign up with First Data directly because I can’t vouch for every single internal sales rep there, I do recommend that merchants sign up with services like Dharma that have a proven track record of quality and value.
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First Data is nothing short of a nightmare. We have been with them 5 years, but that is 5 years too long. I kept putting off getting out because it is is as difficult as everything else.We get lots of junk calls from them, they identify themselves as Sam’s Club merchant account employees. We do not even have a Sam’s Club account and when I confront them they do say they are with First Data. They have tried to send us new equipment recently. We told the person on the phone no. We never received any equipment, yet there charged us $ 594.00 for a terminal. I called several times regarding this unauthorized charge, usually spend about 45 mins on the phone, nothing is accomplished, each individual I speak to has no authority to reverse the error and issue a refund. I finally have a phone number of one of their departments but that number has been busy the last two days I attempted to call. First Data is impossible! Stay away, I will make sure never to use them in the future.
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HORRIBLE!! Stay away from First Data! I cancelled my services with them in Dec 2012, I followed everything they told me to do, sent in the forms and even received an email confirmation that my membership was terminated.I found out however that they were still charging my account $73.00 per month for over 2 years. I didn’t realize it was them because my statement didn’t say first data, I assumed it was one of the many companies I deal with.I called, and the only thing that their NON HELPFUL & RUDE staff could do is resend me the cancelation form I already filled out and sent out over 2 years prior.They were not even open to the talks of a refund that’s over $2,000.As a consumer, I did everything right and they continued to take over $2,000 out of my account.They are unethical and unsupportive. The “floor supervisor” wouldn’t provide her last name, couldn’t tell me her managers name and literally hung up on me.Do your self a favor and NEVER use this company and spread the word.
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I do the office work for a sole proprietor painting and restoration contractor. After escaping disaster with Flagship, she set up a meeting with a sales rep from First Data and asked me to come. A common thread here – each was recommended by a bank she does business with, and each had a nice friendly sales rep who put her at ease.
But she now has a signed contract that is not what we believed we were reviewing before signing, not what we understood she was putting her e-signature on, and something she would never have knowingly signed.
The sales rep began by saying he understood from his phone conversation with her that her main concern was to avoid being locked into a contract with an early termination fee. He said this could be done. At no time did he say it would not be done through the contract.
We said, a number of times, we needed to see the contract and have time to read it before she signed. He said that we could do that on his iPad. He took us through it, reading it from the iPad while I watched the screen. He showed us a line that said “Early Termination Fee 0:00”. We all saw it and said words to the effect of “Yes! There it is!”
It got a little rushed at the end as the rep said he had another appointment. If we hadn’t seen that “Early Termination Fee 0:00” I am quite sure the boss would never have signed, and I would certainly have advised her not to. However, we believed we had read the contract, and that that line was in it.
She signed by e-signature, as an image file. We believed she had signed what we had reviewed, and the rep e-mailed the contract to her. When I got home, I printed it out and was completely shocked to be unable to find the line saying, “Early Termination Fee 0:00”. All it said about this fee was that it was $500.00. I emailed to the rep to ask what section the line I had seen on the iPad was in.
At this point, the same day she signed the contract, he answered all my questions almost instantly. He said “It doesn’t show on the physical MPA. It is updated on the back end. The reason it doesn’t show is because we typically do not zero out early termination fees but because she is seasonal we can make an exception.” However, although in discussion we decided on the months she would be listed as working, in the final contract under Seasonal, the “No” box is checked.
I asked what “on the back end” meant. He replied, “On the back end” means that her portfolio is updated via my support team. I can have documentation sent to you once it is done expressly showing that you do not have an early termination fee. Also, for the months in business that is done via my support team as well. That happens once the application is approved.” However, the contract says that it is the whole total of their agreement. We think it would be very dangerous to rely on his statement that he will modify the provisions.
So the day after signing, she emailed to the rep requesting cancellation “because the contract was changed without my consent after I signed it.” and requesting that no card swiper be sent. That was Saturday, so we didn’t expect any response until Monday. It is now 10:03 on Tuesday morning. No response whatsoever.
We’re not sure what to do. Should she try to block or contest if they debit her account or would that put her in breach of this contract? Is it actually null and void because of misrepresentation and she can ignore it? Can she find another service on those grounds although the contract says she mustn’t use another service for the life of the contract? What is the life of the contract when it’s been protested as invalid but the company hasn’t responded? I think we should send a certified letter to First Data at the address in the BBB’s report.
Then… should we go to the BBB? The state Attorney General? A lawyer?
Anyway, please friends, if you decide to go with First Data, be Very careful. If you can’t get a paper copy to sign, get up and walk out.
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I recommend never sign anything without having time to read it thoughly. I took days to read the contract carefully. Hairs always stand up on my neck when someone tries to rush me though the contract.
Fortunately (or unfortuantely), for me, it wasn’t the contract, but the service and administration problems. Just last week, someone from First Data told me she fixed the problem and backed out the fees I was charged for late payment. We will see if this resolves the problem. If it doesn’t I’ll be back on this site to complain. I shouldn’t have had to spend about 40-50 hours of my time fighting for a resolution of this 5 month problem.
If you need a lawyer, you should check into consumer law attorneys in your state. Also Googling lawsuit and “First Data” may bring up some names.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
This company is one of the worst credit card processors there is. They lure you in with low fees and a 2 year contract. After the first year the rates keep going up. By the time your contract is done you are at 4%, the cost of getting out of the contract is even more. Once your contract is up they still continue to charge you fees. They are crooks. Do not be fooled by their low fees to start up, as you will pay the price heavily before the 2 years are up, and still keep paying fees for no reason. Their customer service is the worst there can be. I am still trying to get charges back after contract and processing canceled.
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This company is awful. Fees are bad, customer service is not present. No way out of contract, even pay above and beyond if you want to buy your contract out. Do not recommend. With this many complaints, I’m not sure why they are in business. Very unhelpful on the phone as well.
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I agree with Paula McGill, this company is terrible. I have already complained to Sams Club since that is where I got the referral. When we signed up, we asked that the price of the terminal be debited from our bank account in 3 equal monthly payments. Well, they debited the entire amount in 1 payment. I called and got no where. Well, Ok, human error. I just accepted it.Then on the first transaction, I found that the discount fee was taken out with the transaction, instead of monthly. What a nightmare that would be during reconciliation. I called them to change this to monthly in April, 2015. They said it would take place in May. So, I didn’t use the First Data machine for the entire month until May. Well, here is May and on the first transaction, no fee was deducted. Great. But, the 2nd transaction the fee was deducted again.I called again and the rep said that he would change to monthly again and should be effective JUNE, 2015. Then he explained EACH transaction has to be intercepted andchanged. WHAT. What kind of technology is this?So, I am going back Chase Paymentech. Anybody want to buy a FD200?
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Do not get rid of that useless terminal. They will charge you some outlandish fee if you do not return it. Also, be sure to close your account with the First Data Leasing side as well as your main account as they do not communicate and continue to charge you fees for the terminal.
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I agree with the last poster, these people are horrible. I wish I had read the ratings before I signed up with them. Luckily for me I purchased my machine and can leave them at any time. I’m in the process now of finding another provider. They are incompetent and do not follow through with complaints. They claim they will fix your account and the same problem crops up month after month. I have written letters, yelled, screamed and spent hours and hours trying to get my account corrected. What is more frustrating is they duduct fees out of the account and then claim you did not pay the month before. They were supposed to set up the account that automatically took the small fees out monthly. Instead, they don’t take the fees out monthly and charge you for late fees. Moreover, today, I had the misfortune of dealing with a millineal delicate flower who couldn’t stand criticism. If you can’t stand to have your company criticized, don’t work for First Data.If you are looking for a credit card processing company, stay away from First Data. As soon as I find another one company, I will just chalk my machine purchase as a life lesson learned. At least I wasn’t stuck like others with a 3-5 year commitment to these incompetent clowns.
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I shouldn’t really give these gangsters and con artists even a 1 star. I wish a responsible government body would put the brakes on the unscrupulous business practices of this company and Global Leasing. They are completely dishonest and Class Action Lawsuits should be launched to put their backs to the wall.
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They are horrible! Stay away from First Data. There are hidden fees and charges that were not disclosed when I initially inquired and signed up with them. I was billed a total of $73+ on a month that I processed $375 dollars. I met their monthly minimums. I spoke to the sale rep [Name Removed]. He does not admit failing to disclosing many of the charges that have occurred since I began service with them. I know that I clearly asked how much are the fees, and he only told me fee per transaction. But since then I have been billed and additional $25 when I do not use the card, which I was unaware of, and some other additional fees, even when I did meet the monthly minimum. Now they are charging me $500 to cancel service. I was using their service as I expected when I first spoke to [the sales rep] and he tries to suggest that my business has declined and that I should try to promote customers to pay by credit card. That is bad taste on his part and does not address the problem of hidden fees. Even the bank rep that sat in on the conversation that we had does not remember [the sales rep] disclosing all of the fees and charges that I have been charged.
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Run away from First Data as fast as you can! Our small business was supposed to save money with lower fees; however, First Data ended up costing us 7% of our sales each month in fees we had no idea how to track through their statements. Forget calling. I could hardly understand the reps on the phone. When we tried to get out of the contract, we were told it would cost $500–well worth it. Oh yeah, and thousands for terminating the equipment lease. First Data will take the equipment back but we’ll still owe the money for it.
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First Data has cost us more money than actual profit. They leave you to set everything up yourself so those who are new to processing online orders beware. What is promised is not at all delivered. Fraud protection is bogus. At first they told me it was because of my AVS filters not being set up correctly so I had a representative guide me through it. She assured me everything was correctly set up now. And not even a week later I had another fraud transaction. When I called to verify the Address and Credit card even further (which I was told I didn’t have to do because the filters would take care of everything) the associate told me she couldn’t verify the address and nothing pops up. So I asked how is this possible if the filter can do it. She had no response. My only solution now is to leave first data. My suggestion to those who are seeking a merchant steer clear from First Data. Just don’t do it!
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BEWARE! When closing your account you must close your First Data accounting and the “First Data Global Leasing” account. This was not even mentioned when we set up the account. Evidently it strains their infrastructure to communicate within their umbrella. Our customer service rep left the company and no one notified us. The account was closed in June. We were charged for a leasing fee and an “annual fee” (described to be the taxes on the terminal for the PRIOR year) in September, promised a refund and then told, so sorry, “upon further investigation, you owe this” and never provided the statements requested. Go somewhere else.
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Did you get a hold of Mark Tilman to get back to me I only want 1 credit card processing company not two he did not cancel me with the other company.
can you get a hold of him and e-mail me back at the above address.
Thank you
Evas Gifts Shop
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Eva,
You should contact First Data or your account representative about this directly. Our site is for independent reviews and is not a reliable way to reach customer support. But if you’d like to leave a review of First Data based on your experiences, please do!
Good luck,
Tom
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Eva,
No one other than yourself is able to cancel services from a merchant processor. If the rep was able to cancel on your behalf you can imagine the confusion and chaos that would take place as hundreds of reps are cancelling services for merchants. It’s illegal because they would basically be committing fraud by representing themselves as the merchant. If you have trouble, questions or need further assistance please feel free to respond to this post and I’ll reach out to assist.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I am writing this while being placed on hold by Emma, a customer service representative for First Data. I am trying to cancel my account and she is saying I owe a penalty. No, I keep telling her; no, listen to what I am saying, I keep telling her. I never signed up for this account! I have been trying for months to get First Data to stop taking money out of my business checking account. The entry says “GoDaddy”. I call GoDaddy and they say they aren’t taking any money out of my account. Finally, after months of calling, I email the webmaster. He goes in an tells me to deactivate everything in my account for prepayment I don’t need. I do as he advises. But, lo and behold, the first of the month, there is GoDaddy (First Data) with their hands in my checking account. I never signed up for this; I’ve never activated the Merchant Services (just found out this today). I have never used First Data and I want them deactivated from my checking account. (put on hold at 10:19a when I asked to speak to a supervisor and it is now 10:25a).
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Hi Bonnie,
Do you have a website with Go Daddy? If so, it sounds like you may have been signed up for Go Daddy Payment Solutions, which is powered by First Data. If you never used the account, they should be willing to cancel it without charge.
Hope they sort this out for you,
Tom
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This is the hardest company to receive customer care from, they have been charging my account for 10 months even after I have returned the terminal. The contracted ended after 48 months, I returned the terminal and received a POD and they still are charging me. This does not make any common sense, if the consumer as completed the term of the agreement returned the terminal with proof. That should be it.If there is a lawyer interested in bringing this to First Data I’m sure you will have many clients with similar concerns. This is not a company that respects professional ethics.
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I would be very happy to join a class action against First Data if you know of one.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
There is a class action investigation you can sign up for: http://www.classadvocate.com/classaction.php?id=1573
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Unfortunately, my experience is similar to some of the others here. I called in advance of my company’s sale. I followed all the instructions. I called after things weren’t resolved. I was told wait for correct paperwork, Don’t send back until you receive the paperwork. I called and emailed when the paperwork was incomplete; not giving me credit for all the equipment i needed to send back, etc. Long story short. Delayed getting me paperwork. I sent it back anyway. They received the equipment in excellent condition, (photographed everything) and i am still getting bills 5 months later as if i still had the equipment.
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The all-in-one-place merchant service the author discusses is true. Unfortunately, that is the problem. A few months ago I was alerted to a new ssl protocol that would require “patching” the IC Verify software I purchased previously from First Data at great expense. When the patch could not be applied, First Data told me I had to pay again for a new version of the software. I was stuck because of that all-in-one package. I bought the new software from them and found it still had to be patched. Hours on the phone with tech support and it was done…or so I thought.Today, we could not process nearly $3,000 in receipts. Turns out the new software was defective and unusable because it didn’t support their own ssl protocol. More hours with tech support in an obviously offshore call center and they could not fix it. The single biggest obstacle to a solution is that I could understand their foreign accents and they couldn’t understand my English. By this time, we missed AMEX’s deadlines and will lose a day in getting the funds. For a small business, this can be make or break.Another round of phone support with an improved English speaker confirmed the “new” software was obsolete and incompatible before it was even sold to me.I called customer service a final time to ask for at least a partial refund, but they said they didn’t know how to do that. I will be filing a small claims court case and begin looking for a reliable vendor.
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This company is a total rip off. You cannot get out of the lease you sign no matter what. When you pay off the lease and send back the equipment, that is worth nothing because of outdated technology, they claim that it is damaged, thenthey start charging me late fees, sales tax, equipment fees as well as continuing to charge you for your monthly lease rate. I have been trying to get them to send me proof that the equipment was damaged and they have done nothing but sent me more charges. The billing started out at $ 100+ that I owed at the end of the lease to $400+ one month later, then went back down to $175+ then back up to $300. as well as charging me sales tax every billing as though I had bought something from them which is totally illegal. They do not itemize any of the charges so i have no idea what I am being charged for. I get bills sometimes weekly then they stop for a couple of weeks then they show up again. They have sent me over 12 bills over a 3 month period. Every bill has added fees. Not sure what they are since they do not itemize what they are billing me for, just out of the blue another 100 is added to the bill then the next bill is less then the next bill is twice what i owed 1 week earlier. I was a very small business that could not afford to pay all of these fees throughout the 4 years but toughed it out and now this. This company should have a long hard look at them by the attorney general of Colorado where they are located at, but they will not do a thing. They said that not enough people have complained bout them, but on this site I can see there are plenty of complaints. What does it take to get these people to stop what they are doing to innocent business owners.Wells Fargo bank represented them when I signed on and I am now refinancing my house with them, what a mistake this is. I am also going to complain to them and might just back out of the refinancing because they are not on the up and up on their fees either, They said it would cost only $2600.00 to refinance and now it is over $3500.00 what is it with these people.My hands are tied and refuse to pay this rip off of a company another penny of my hard earned money.Do not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I repeat DO NOT lease from this company!!!!!!!!!!!If Global Leasing reads these complaints, which I doubt….stop sending me bills I am not paying them and unfortunately my next step is an attorney. I will fight for every penny I have paid you and then some, no matter what it costs me, I am very very very upset!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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First Data doesn’t even deserve one star, but I wanted to put my comments out here. First Data has repeatedly lied to me. First of all, I never received the $100 rebate that First Data promised to me in the contract. Second, I was never informed of the $1,000 cancellation fee before signing the contract. Third, I had to transfer my funds from my business checking account to my personal checking account so that First Data can no longer take out money without my authorization. In addition, I had to pay to have the terminal mailed back to them. The only way First Data will cancel the $1,000 cancellation fee is when I fax my bankruptcy papers from my Attorney to them. But I am currently going through bankruptcy right now anyway. I feel bad for all those people that don’t have a way out like I do.
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Michelle whats the fax number first data gave you? I am having the same issue with them and have a discharged bankruptcy. Thanks
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Hello, I am a office manager of veterinary hospital. My company has been stayed with First Data via Bank Of America merchant service. We accept all type of credit card by by processor in-person or over the phone authorization. We don’t do any E-commerce. Our monthly average between 20000-35000. First Data’s fees and rate is so high. I would like to change the merchant service company. When I contact a company to get a quote, they always asked me to submit copies of last 3 months’ statement then they can show me how much I can save for service fees from them. Could you recommend any good merchant service and advice how to find reliable one?
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Hi Jackie,
You should look for a provider that doesn’t charge early termination fees, it willing to provide interchange-plus pricing, won’t pressure you to enter into a long-term non-cancelable lease (renting is okay, however), and will provide you with consistently good quality customer service. Any of our higher-rated providers would be a fine choice, since we make sure they fit these criteria (and more). Check out CDGcommerce, Helcim, Payment Depot, Dharma Merchant Services, and Payline Data for starters.
Good luck. Let us know if you need more help.
-Tom
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This is a review on my absolutely ridiculous experience with First Data… All of the seemingly “cooperative” departments are not in alignment with one another what-so-ever. I have been trying to deal with an issue (I will not go into detail) for about two months now, and just got off my last of countless calls/emails to be told that I have simply been told the “wrong information” from the other departments. I am livid and infuriated for I have wasted two months trying to collect something that I know was and is due to me, only to be told that I was simply “misinformed”. The level of incompetence and unprofessionalism, the trickery, deceiving. Let me forewarn this caveat to you all!!! STAY AWAY FROM FIRST DATA… They have robbed me, the small business that they “support”, of not only my rights as a client, but more importantly my money. This is absolutely ridiculous… IF something cannot be done please do not “direct” me and “misinform” me only for me to find out that I have only been chasing ducks for 2 months. Time is valuable and do not waste it here. I should have listened to the warnings down below… the terrible service, the horrible rates, the scheming little ways that First Data will reap all the profit they can from you is horrifying!! Do not be fooled for I have been…
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I do not understand that when someone uses a Debit card with the chip, they(FIRST DATA) are automatically processing it as credit, giving me no option to let the customer input pin number. The customers are telling me they have a debit card, but the transaction always charges me credit card rate and prints a signature receipt for customer to sign. My question is: At the top of the receipt it says Credit Card trans. but under it says Chip card: Visa Debit… Am i being charged Credit or Debit rates??? If credit I’m being ripped off because these are Debit cards customers are using with the pin. First data is telling me only Credit cards have chips now, that no debit cards have the chip….Please someone explain….
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Zach,
To understand this, we first have to distinguish between regulated and unregulated debit. Regulated debit transactions (made with cards from banks that have over $10 billion in assets) will cost the same whether the PIN is used or not. Unregulated debit (banks with less than $10B) will be much less expensive to process when a PIN is used, as long as the transaction is over $15. Otherwise, it’s cheaper to process it non-PIN.
Debit cards can be processed through the credit networks or debit networks. For small-ticket businesses ($15 and under), signature debit (via credit network) will be less expensive. For large-ticket business, PIN debit will be less expensive.
For small ticket businesses, signature debit has the added benefit of convenience. Since small ticket transactions do not even require a signature (so they can just swipe and go), you save the added effort of having the customer enter a PIN.
For large transactions, PIN debit adds security and savings on unregulated debit. Fraud is much less likely on PIN debit transactions, which is a huge plus when you are running big ticket items.
Of course how much you actually pay for all of this will depend on your processing rates. If you have interchange-plus, you would have the savings passed on to you.
Whether the customer will be prompted to enter their PIN, sign, or neither is dependent on the programing of your machine. If you feel there is an error or if you would like a better explanation, you’ll have to contact your provider.
-Tom
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I had been told a few bits of information that wasn’t entirely true when i sign up with First Data. Then having to pay the annual service fee 4mos early which over drafted my account causing $1400 in overdraft fee for each transaction on my card machine through them. When the and failed to deposit a sum of $342 in my bank account due to a $1.24 in processing fees they hadn’t collected due to the $132 annual fee that I was told that there wasn’t one. I provided to them that I had a working account once I brought it out from being overdrawn and the following Monday they cancelled my account and been giving me the run around about it. I was also told by the one that signed me up maybe I use someone else instead of them until it gets fixed and he don’t have time for my issues he would rather deal with a company that is doing a few hundred if not millions a day in sales. I will not be using this company anymore and will not recommend them to anyone, if nothing else i would discourage any small business from using First Data. The customer service there is very poor and all it is is a big run around causing lose of sales and possibly customers.
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This company is horrible! Stay away! They are impossible to get on the phone. They lie about their contracts. They all have different stories and are slow to fix their mistakes. They have crazy undisclosed fees and once they get access to your account you can kiss your money goodbye.
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Our customer paid $ 20,000.00 bill which was moved to our bank the next day. GREAT
Several days later same customer paid $ 20,000.00 which F D held. ” flaged ”
This was on Nov. 11, 2014 today Nov. 19th. F D still has funds.
I now understand F D s policy. O K.
question I have are:
1. why if F D knew they were NOT going to forward funds WHY did they take them? 2. why is F D still holding the funds?
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Wow,Terrible customer service. I just spent an hour on the phone with First Data trying to see if I could use the AMEX number they gave me for my ecommerce site as well as my storefront location. The representative didn’t answer my question, got extremely rude and told me that that she was done answering my questions.I tried calling in again to speak to a different representative and got almost the same response. I will never do business with First Data Again! Awful customer service/support, and a limited product make for a terrible experience.
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Firstdata should be honored that they even got a star on their ratings.The worst company ever to deal with, they scam everything there is. Rep tells you this, and you get something else. You are never going anywhere trying to resolve an issue over the phone. 2-3 hour on the phone being tossed around different reps, and be hung up on them is no surprise. I never will recommend anyone to sign up for Firstdata.
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First data merchant solution is my worst company to deal with.Customer service is terrible.Specially charge back department.Do not try them,Unless if you want them to take all you money.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I first signed up for First Data when I opened my first Hair Salon with a partner in 2013. I figured that since they were through my bank (Huntington) that it would be my best bet. That has not been any farther from the truth! I am getting SCREWED ROYALLY!! I am paying over 5% for fees (including terminal rental) which I just found out that at the end of my lease I will be paying $1920 for a $200 machine! I just got off of the phone with another credit card merchant who was 100% up front with me about everything and they are one of the top companies and don’t go through a bank. My cousin uses them for her Auto Repair Shop and pays 2% with them. 2%!!!! Granted they run higher numbers than me, but still 2% compared to 5% is a HUGE difference! Ok, so let me tell you that as of June 2014 I separated from my business partner and went on to open a Salon by myself, thus cancelling my First Data account with my old salon with my partner (she kept first data, I just cancelled my account), I KEPT First Data for my new salon, however I went with them through Forum instead of Huntington. First Data is now charging me a $500 early termination fee from the old account. EVEN THOUGH the rep who set us up said we would NOT be under contract. He illegally signed my name electronically and is no longer with the company, so they have been fighting me to the bullet and are absolutely refusing to waive the ETF AND has sent me to collections even though I am STILL using their services at my new salon. BEWARE OF FIRST DATA I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM! I will be going with another company very soon and will just let my contract run out and do my minimum monthly if I have to.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Thanks everyone. I do gaming/sci fi conventions. I use PayPal Here (2.75%, no monthly fees). I am looking for a cheaper option.
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hi,
Am using first data gateway for my call center for us client ……..we provide norton antivirus support to client, for this we charge to the client on first data gatway, now one of the client has raised chargeback for the amount of $ 300 which he has paid to us……
1)will first data gateway will hold our all sales done in the month or they will hold only $300
Kindly help
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Gaurav,
They should only hold the $300, but don’t be surprised if they hold more than that, but not the entire amount.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
The BBB profile for First Data is here: http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/credit-cards-and-plans-equipment-and-supplies/first-data-merchant-services-in-atlanta-ga-3001650
They have an “A” and you put the wrong link to it.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Sebastian,
Thank you for the correction. Not sure how that happened. The link and rating are now updated.
Thanks again,
Tom
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Worst Company to ever deal with. One of my two credit card machines went down and they sent me a replacement the next day. This new unit was programmed improperly with wrong bank account info (two location were backwards). They stated that was not possible as I am reading and looking at the statements and they had copies as well. To correct it, they apparently opened a third account with the proper info and started billing me since April 2014 $65 month for this third account. They said that was impossible too but here I am 6 months later being billed for three accounts and if I want close out the one THEY opened, I will have to pay a termination fee. Do not use them as they will not return phone calls or emails.
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Has anyone ever succesfully been able to get out of their contract with this conglomerate of companies without paying huge cancellation penalties?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Barry,
Early termination fees are very hard to get around after the contract is signed. One of the only ways to get out of paying it is to find a new credit card processor who will pay off your existing termination fee in order to gain your future business. Let us know if we can help further!
Good luck,
Tom
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Do you know of a company who pays off contracts? I’m looking at suing for breach of contract. Has anyone done this?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Kelley,
Many providers will be willing to pay your existing early termination fee if you sign on with them. The downside is that they will usually ask you to agree to an early termination fee in the new contract. This is because they don’t want to pay off your fee and they have you cancel service immediately after. You should talk to rep from our preferred providers. While it will depend on your specific circumstances, most are willing to help you out with this in order to win your business.
In my experience, lawsuits against processors are not fruitful. Especially against big processors like First Data. This is because these providers have excellent legal teams who write rock-solid contracts that gives the processors a lot of leeway and control, and the merchant almost no power for legal action. So in general they don’t want to or need to breach their contract terms, since they have already secured the power they need upon your signing of the contract.
But that said, this is not intended as legal advice, nor a replacement for it. This is just my perspective based on the many merchants who I have spoken with. If this is just about an early termination fee, you can probably find a new processor willing to pay it off for you. Unfortunately if it is an equipment lease issue, there is rarely a good outcome.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re stuck in the middle of this. A lot of payment processing companies have very unfair practices that are, unfortunately, technically legal. Another possible course of action is to file a complaint with the BBB. Sometimes this will result in a refund. Otherwise, please do get in touch with our preferred providers. They all use honest sales practices and fair contract terms.
Good luck,
Tom
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
First Data is crap… I’m HERE TO GIVE YOU ALL SOME DECENT ADVICE! BEFORE SIGNING ANY CONTRACT WITH ANY COMPANY IF YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN THE LAWYER INDUSTRY GET THEM TO READ OVER IT! They will do your homework and tell you about all the hidden fees in any company! From Canada, First Data combined with Pivotal Payments and you have to pay 2 separate cancellation fees… Tom i dunno how you can say this is site has the lowest negative feedback for First Data… But it is pretty bad my friend… EVERYONE STAY AWAY FROM FIRST DATA!!! Anyone has any good reccomendations? I heard HELCIM AND DHARMA WAS GOOD (i’m in canada btw…)
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Terry,
Can you elaborate your experience with FD. I am thinking getting Clove POS system through Wells Fargo merchant services. FD bought Clove two years ago to expand point-of-sale platform to small/medium sized businesses. So, most likely if I use Clove, FD is credit card processor.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
My first 4 yrs with this company actually was really good….until recently. I was having my credit card terminal break down about every yr and a half. Finally, I got annoyed and asked for another solution. I was told that a global gateway (online) would solve my problem and since I was an existing customer they could get me the same low fee I was currently paying AND could have me up in 24-48 hrs (since I was existing client).Almost 3 weeks later, I am still without credit card processing and have heard the promise of “tomorrow” way to many times. At the point of 2 weeks, I was getting pretty demanding and wanted real answers. My emails were not getting returned like they usually did and the Denver Office was not answering phones. After calling and calling last week for hours, I finally called my rep’s cell phone. It was listed on all of his emails and it was during business hours. Scott answered and was annoyed with me, for calling, because he was at home. The office assistant also left early and their boss was on vacation. My rep told me to call Customer Service for any further needs.Customer Service cannot assist with Global Gateway issues, and if you call the number my rep provided, they do not talk to members of the public, only sales reps. Finally, the next day I get a call from the assistant saying she called in some missing information, my account was boarding and I should be up and running in 30 min-1 hour. This was Thursday last week. She then sent an email with store number and password. I told her I would call back by 3:00 if it still was not up. It never worked, and the assistant yet went home early again. I then decide to call the 800 number on the login page, for global gateway assistance and the guy tells me to wait till morning, just because it can take up to 24 hrs. The next day comes and I call back. The account is still sitting in a status with error messages on it. I call the Global Gateway tech support and they tell me I need to talk to Merchant Services. Merchant Services says “I can’t do this, I can’t do that, I don’t have access…” So I ask for a supervisor, who tells me a form has to be submitted to have it re-board. I send an email to my rep and his assistant, who still do nothing today.Today I called Global Gateway tech support and got a lady named, Meredith, who called the right people to find out was information was missing. The missing information was from my reps office, and not myself. There was a lot still missing and she reviewed it with another office to be sure nothing else was missing and supposed to re-board tonight. Supposed to…. I really felt like she got to the bottom of the problem, but nobody else made an effort in this 3 weeks of frustration and as an existing customer this is a huge insult. If its not working tomorrow at 10:00 eastern time, I am demanding a refund and taking my services somewhere else.
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Wells Fargo Merchant Services totally misled me and tricked me into this scam! I am a one person glass artist who may or may not make money each month, especially since I am disabled. I am now told it will cost me $700 to get out of my lease. I’ve used the machine 3 times
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These guys are a bit of a nightmare.I terminated my accounts 2 months ago because they could not provide me with an exact amount they were holding as a security retention (it’s approximately £20,000).They had also promised to review this amount at 1 year, but when one year came around, they said they couldn’t review it for another 6 months.Having closed my accounts 2 months ago, I called them to check when my £20K would be returned and exactly how much is is because I’m trying to do my end of year accounts, only to find they didn’t actually closed all my accounts, they just closed one.Yesterday I had a debit from my bank account for £120 by FDMS despite not having used them for 2 months.I’m now in a cycle of calling them, being promised calls back, not getting them and not having any idea when I’ll get my money back.My next action is to contact the FCA. Not really what I want to be spending my days on.Steer well clear of FDMS.
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First Data the most disgusting company on this planet with rude/unprofessional employees. BIG scam their agents/resellers like Bank of America get you into a contract stating there is absolutely no commitment and later you will find out that you are on hook for 5 years. I have there junk CC machine that I used only few months of my business and when I called them to close this account I was surprised that you can close the account but you cannot get red-off the equipment lease and I will have to pay the lease for 5 years. I do not have that business and I am not processing anything on that machine but I have been paying for that piece of junk First Data equipment for last 3 years. They take money from my account without letting me for other craps like fee/tax which I never heard. Please if you hear the word FIRST DATA run as fast as you can and never do any business with them or their resellers. You will be doing yourself a huge favor.
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DO NOT USE!! THEY CLOSE ACCOUNTS DOWN FOR STUPID REASONS! After numerous calls from a representative from PaymentSense i decided to change over to them and they signed me with First Data. My company has been running for 2 years but somehow First Data said it was a risky company( i sell clothes btw) and that they would hold each payment for 14 calender days and then it would take 3-5 days to get to me so basically most times i would wait about 20 days(3 weeks) to get my money. I should have turned away here but we had already been setting it up for almost a month and since there was no urgency in receiving the funds i agreed. After 2 months and having over 300 orders they close my account because i had 3 chargebacks which i had not even gotten a chance to fight! Before i could even send proof of dispatch the account was closed and i was furious! Even if i had 3 chargebacks and i was somehow at fault thats nothing! Chargebacks are normal! They have no regards for SME! The idiot i spoke to on the phone told me i had to wait 60 days to get the remaining money (£8,000) still stuck in there! Fortunately im a very good saver so their stupid scheme did not affect my business but im sure they’ve done this to many companies! I would absolutely NOT RECOMMEND first data to anyone!
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Terrible company. They will not cancel my account and are charging me $50 per month. I showed my bank my cancellation attempts and the bank stopped allowing the deductions. Now First Data has sent me to collections. DO NOT USE THEM!
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my salesman slipped in a contract under my signed month to month agreement, which I refused equipment when arrived ,data systems.trying to get funds from my bank .I stopped all bank withdrawls ‘anyone starts class action suit, ill be glad to add my name. this company is a big fraud, which works from both ends . salesman and first data rip offs
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We definitely need to bond together and stop this awful company. Does anyone have lawyer who would look at this case?
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This company has been terrible to do business with, nothing but headaches from the start. The agreement was supposed to be set up through Sam’s Club & First Data but the Account Executive never created it this way and strung me along for several months saying he would correct the problem. They even still owe me money for the month of May! I finally moved onto dealing with a new executive who informed me that I was being scammed by the other First Data employee the entire time… Not to mention, I have experienced missed sales many times since the upgrade to the new terminal and software.
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I wish I could give them no stars. The is a terrible company. I cancelled them three years ago and signed up with someone else who was significantly cheaper. Today I found out that they never cancelled the service and has been deducting $85 buck out of my account per month for the last 3 years and they have no record of the cancellation letter (go figure). So I sent in another cancellation letter after speaking to a representative (this is the only way to cancel) and they deducted another $75 bucks as a cancellation fee. It has been over 6 years since I’ve signed anything in regards to doing business with them and yet somehow even though there has been no charges ran through that machine I’m still under contract? They are a bunch of crooks. Find another merchant preferably a local company.
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This company is by far worse than the Government with nickel and dime fees. I do not understand why people use them regardless of what they offer. I had to call to have the fees translated one month because we had about twenty of them. They keep a lot of your money and I had to pay to leave early because of it. Just absolutely ridiculous. I would not recommend them to anyone.
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This is by far the worst company I have seen in any business exchange. Do NOT use this organization EVER if you have an alternative. This group will not help you and is impossible to get any customer service help with. I started my service and asked for help to begin. I didn’t hear back in 72 hours so I called to cancel my service all together. They wanted to charge me an early cancellation fee. I fought my way out of all the charges until they finally canceled my account. Or so I thought. Ten months later I find out I have been paying into this account the whole time. More than $500 to have an account that doesn’t work. Don’t bother even talking to them. They refused to help and told me it was my responsibility. Find another route. I know I will NEVER affiliate with this company ever again.
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Avoid this company like the plague. I cancelled my account early with First Data in January 2014. They charged me £803.10 termination fee (even though the sales manager said there would be no fee as a sole trader). This fee also iuncluded a restocking fee (for a leased terminal). The fee was paid around 20 January and I was told this was the final bill and the account was closed. I subsequently cancelled the direct debit thinking the contract had been terminated.
On February 5th I received a bill from First data Merchant Services for customer care line fees and PCI management fees. When I contacted them regarding this and informed them the account was closed and the fee had been taken from my account.
To my horror and surprise I was informed that there was two agreements and that First Data and First Data Merchant Services were different companies. I was told it was my responsibility to know that there was two agreements to which I pointed out that I am not psychic so how am i supposed to know there are two agreements, and supposedly two different companies if they do not inform me.
Having looked at the details of the sales rep I discovered she works for First Data Merchant Services (the company that is still billing me). This company splits the services it supplied you, fails to tell you this and then claims you are responsible for not informing the other company.
With this in mind I am making a complaint against the company and if they do not resolve the matter satisfactorily I have been legally advised to take this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
Hopefully they will sort this shambolic shower of a company out.
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NEVER SUBSCRIBE SERVICE TO THIS COMPANY, YOU WILL BE PAYING SO MUCH FEES YOU NEVER IMAGED. My company subscribed to them 4 Years, we leased the terminal which we have to pay min. fees of $50 and all other service fees (over $50) which you will be charged at least $100 per month. We were unable to cancel it because termination fees is like $1,800. Thus, we had to stick with the terminal for 3 years. Finally, we cannot stand it, we return it last year with paying over $500 termination fees. However, First Data never told us we have to call another department to perform ANOTHER cancellation to the service, and they continued to charge us on our checking account with monthly service fees. The service representative Debbie and her manager told me that they will not refund for the account like ours. We supposed to read OVER 60 pages and remember EVERYTHING (we signed 4 years ago) because they stated in the agreement that we need to call another department to cancel our account, otherwise, they have the right to continue charging our checking account. The manager also said FIRST DATA GLOBAL LEASING COMPANY is totally a different company than their FIRST DATA SERVICE COMPANY which means they can totally ignore customers from one to the other.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Dear Emma
I have just seen your complaint regarding claims the companies are different. I have just had exactly the same thing except mine was First Data Global Leasing being a different company to First Data Merchant Services.
Global Leasing charged £803 to cancel the account even though I was told that If I cancelled as a sole trader then all I would have to do is return the terminal. Merchant Services subsequently charged me and claimed it was my responsibility to know there was two seperate companies involved.
Having checked my details again I have noticed that it was Merchant Services who signed me up to the service. With this in mind I am seeking legal advice about claiming the £803 cancellation fee back from Merchant Services as they entered me into the contract. Have you considered this as an option to get your money back.
I assume because you refer to the fees in $ that you are in the USA whereas I am in the UK. Over here we have an organisation called the Financial Ombudsman Service and I have been told they may be able to investigate my complaint and determine any compensation I may be able to claim. Do you have such an organisation there? If so I would suggest you contact them and see if they can assist you.
I think it is about time this company was stopped from doing this.
Good Luck in any action you take
Adrian
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Stay away from resellers. I am dealing with Cornerstone Credit out of Anchorage Alaska who WILL NOT ACCEPT CASH, CHECK, CREDIT CARD, OR MONEY ORDER. What’s left you ask? They require an electronic withdrawal from a bank account. I was in a three year contract with them but my business ended after 2.5 years. I closed my bank account because of the fees they charged to keep it open and offered to pay my bill anyway they wanted. They refused my money and demanded I reopen my bank account just for them to withdraw from. Of course I wasn’t going to reopen an account just for them. I offered to pay 1st Data directly. They sent me back Cornerstone. When the bill for the month was late, 1st Data sent me to their collection agency asking me to pay by check. No problem I say but now I have to deal with late fees from 1st Data all because their supplier Cornerstone wouldn’t accept my money.
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How do you rate 4 out of 5 with a list of only negative comments?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Larry. We use the input from our readers as one of many sources for information about a service provider. When there seems to be a recurring complaint, from our readers or elsewhere, we address it in the review. In comparison to the number of merchants First Data serves, their complaint volume on this site is actually fairly low. I should also note that in this review I focus on merchants signed up with First Data processing directly, not through an ISO, which certainly helped their rating here. It is also difficult in some cases to assign blame to First Data based on brief comments without greater context. Still, I do agree that they are barely a four-star processor at this point and could easily slide down the scale during our next update. Thanks for reading and thanks for the question!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
first data has been (without authorization) 19.95 each month, for non-compliance fees, for years now. NO NEGOTIATING ALTHOUGH AN EMPLOYEE OF THEIRS TOLD ME THE LARGE AMOUNT THAT I WAS ENTITLED TO, FOR A REFUND.
PATHETIC THAT ANOTHER REP. ONLY HALF OF THE ORIGINAL AMOUNT MENTIONED !
PRETTY SAD. I HAVE BEEN A CUSTOMER OF THEIRS FOR ALMOST A DECADE AND I AM PARTING WAYS AFTER I HIRE AN ATTORNEY. HELP !
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
stay away from this company, will make up charges as they go, worst company I have ever used, wish I read these review before/
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This company is a disaster. A corporate claim of a debt of $64 from five years ago(which the company now agree was paid in full at the time the claim was made) was transferred from a company at which I served as director (and therefore had to list my personal address) to my personal account. That claim of $64 due is holding up my ability to re-fi my home. It took three people, the patience of Job and tenacity to get it solved. Everyone involved was greeted with terrible customer service.
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First Data is the epitome of the corporate greed that gives small businesses yet another hurdle to overcome. Small businesses have no chance of fighting against such a big bank. So, they can act badly, forge documents, steal (hold) people’s money; and there is no accountability!
Don’t let this company get close to you.
NEVER sign a personal guarantee
Buy your equipment…don’t lease!
First Data is a major rip-off and crooks too.
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OH m an do I hate the company … they over charge . They are just out to take advatage. American corporate greed at it lowest base.
they suck
I too am trying to get out of the contract and it will cost me $3000 to pay off an obsoltete Hypercom crdit card machine. what RIP OFFS
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Agreed. They are the epitome of corporate greed and fraud too. Have them send you a copy of your contract. Mine had changes made to it after my signature!
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This company should be avoided at all cost!
Overnight they have destroyed our business. We were running fine ‘ticking along’ as they say and then we had a christmas rush over the seasonal period, they didn’t like this and decided overnight to put a hold on our account. They stopped all money coming through to us altogether holding £50,000 from (previous income) in total. Of course, this put a delay to getting merchandise out, we missed buying stock etc and that’s when the spiral downfall started.
Customers (quite rightly so) got annoyed wanted refunds putting charge backs through etc.. (This all coming from our business and not the £50k they were holding.)
They risk assessed our business and decided to hold all income for 10days and we gradually got our money back. Ok we thought, we cam manage that.
Although the amount we were refunding people was so high this was just destroying us, and caused a knock on effect through the next few months.
Then just as we started to get back on our feet again, first data got in touch saying that a company similar to ours had just gone ‘ bust’ (probably because of these cretins!) And we needed to be assessed again. So off we go, giving them all the information they wanted taking time out for phone meetings etc… The guy on the phone (more bs coming out of his mouth than a cows backside!) Said not to worry and he will be in touch. Day later we had this letter stating they were going to pull the plug on our site and that they will not be releasing any of our money for 180 days. This was a complete kick in the teeth. At no point did they really give us a reason why, just that we were high risk.
So just using paypal (with a 30% reserve) and them holding all of our income over the previous 20 days, we were refunding customers who wanted to cancel for one reason or another, through our usual terminal with first data (thinking it would come out of the funds they were holding.) But no, they took all the refunds that were pending out of our current bank account! They are a complete joke, not only do they cut your legs off for no reason, they then kick you in the teeth when you really need the help!
Please please please….if you are thinking of using them please think again! Even if the charges are a little higher with another merchant or you have to pay them to cancel don’t do it to yourself, especially if your a small starter-up its really not worth the grief! We still don’t know what’s going to happen, but thanks to them we have some serious issues to deal with!
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Lots of fees, I only did about $6000 in CC volume last year and paid about 8% in fees. This doesn’t include my PCI compliance fee! I initiated the service through Sams Club, I expected lower fees. The basic rate is fine, but the interchange fees are very high.I cancelled last month and went to square up. I have never had a charge back and don’t need a lot of customer service. My fees under Square will be 2.75% for any card with no minimums or interchange frees.
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First Data is the worst merchant I have ever dealt with. If you dont like stress in your life do not go with this company. The rates look good but the service is ridiculous! They will take your money and cancel your account. I am so sorry that I ever looked them up. I am paying the price now.
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they took my money neaver got anything to take cards on line out 6000.00 in sales 5 buyers and now having a hard time canceling my acct with all fees the took and waveing the canceltion fee also
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I would like to know how you can justify a 4 star rating. Have you read the reviews?
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I HAVE NEVER DEALT WITH A WORSE COMPANY: UNETHICAL, TIMECONSUMING, EXPENSIVE – ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR A WONDERFUL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP.ADD YEARS TO YOUR LIFE AND STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY
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Do not get involved with first data . You have been warned. They can and will hold your money for absolutely no reason what so ever. I was told many reasons including their fax machine does not recieve faxes after 2 pm, that they need need a copy of the contract before they considered releasing funds, they cannot call there own customers to verify payment to be made, and there contract for merchant services can ‘t be canceled. Do your self a big favor and get the tool for your smart phone to get paid ,with no rental fees ,no monthly fees and no cancellation fees. In my opinion first data is on the way out in light of the easy access to get funds thru smart phones that they have a contract that is non cancelable. Watch out !!!!!!!!!
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Switched to Square Up, I like it a lot and I am saving lots of $$$
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This company is a nightmare to deal with. They lie and misrepresent their lease terms. I have had their equipment for a month and can not use it because they programed it incorrectly. I have called numerous times and they refuse to fix it, yet they TAKE THEIR MONEY out of my account. They are nothing but SCAM ARTISTS. Sam’s should be ashamed of themselves for using these frauds.
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Do not do business with this company! They are deceptive, have too many hidden companies, and are not helpful or customer service oriented. Your billing comes from someone and somewhere you never heard of, and try solving a problem by telephone, 4 different times,4 different sub companies in one day, no resolution. Man at top of food chain was rude, and not interested in solving my problem. Tough toenails…..
I never even could set up this service, too complicated to use, and poor tech support. Never sold anything, and was charged fees …UNREAL BAD EXPERIENCE…..Still waiting on my contract…and my account is closed. Also told to keep something that was charged to me and was supposed to be free.
Sell it on Ebay! I was told…… Problem started with WEB.COM…. a pieces of the same
bad company. They may have good marketing reviews, because they write them………………………Pitiful,,,,
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I agree with all of the above comments. First Data is HORRIBle. Calling customer service is a joke – expect to spend over 1 hour for any issue, and then it won’t be resolved.
It is in my opinion criminal to treat clients the way they have treated me. Do yourself a favor and do not do business with this company.
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Any comments on First Data’s Emerging Market fee structure. On face, it looks better than Interchange Plus (I don’t have a hard quote yet). Are they likely to make it up on Billback? How would Billback appear on the contract?
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Being that First-Data uses ISO’s you find that a lot of people have bad experiences and put the blame on First-Data as a whole. I work for a First-Data ISO called Cardservice International and I can testify that you will not only talk to someone in the US, but also that you will have a positive customer service experience.
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I have tried – they only refer you to Merchant Services and WILL NOT CORRECT ERRORS ON MY ACCOUNT. Despite calling repeatedly over ONE month, I can unable to accept credit cards. I have yet to speak to an employee with integrity that works there
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We recently entered an agreement with FD at Kohls for our retail credit card. The system is terribly flawed with so many things that don’t work or are not available that should be. Example: issuing a new card to a customer fails everytime and gives a reject reason of “Customer not found”, this system is not convenient at all, I hope Kohls switches back to their own system which was a lot more productive and user friendly.
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We figured using Sam’s Club Merchant Service would be a good and safe NOT. Don’t do it, the rep misinformed us, now we are stuck in a terrible 4 year lease, customer service not very helpful. Do your home work before using Sams and First Data.
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Tried to close my account with merchantlane.com It’s been 3 months of BS and it’s still not closed. Of course they continue to charge me 20.00 every month. You email them and maybe you get a response maybe not. If you ahve lot’s of extra time to deal with them and check and double check everything along the way then this is the company for you. But remember if you push them to actually be a responsive company and do the right thing you get the “vibe” instantly that you have crossed the line. 🙂
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I am having the same trouble trying to get out of my contract. They take $30,00 from my bank account every month and the early cancellation fee is very high. However it is cheaper than 5 more years of monthly payments.
Has anyone had any luck getting out of the contract?
Thanks
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First Data-horrible!I have been dealing with this company for apx. 1 year and 5 months, during which time they have denied that I ever applied to them, ever set up an account with them, etc etc. I have probably spent 60 hours on the phone with non-american people trying to download my credit card machine (at home) driving back and forth.I’ve been repeatedly hung up on,cut-off after waiting on hold for hours and today was the last strraw-I called to try to give them info. they were demanding for the 6th time to become IRS compliant and they again denied that I was the nameholder on the account-even though I was responding to a letter written by them to me and my company.I was assured that I would be transferred to the retaining dept. because they didn’t want to lose my business(at the same time they were denying that I was a business) and was given the run-around again and placed on hold for a huge amount of time 3 seperate times.I have finally given up-they know my number if they were really concerned about saving me as a customer (or not).Not only has this company been incompetent, they have lost me hundreds of dollars for a crashed system that I finally had to settle and lose several sales because I really needed some of my money to go into my bank account.I wouldn’t trust this company. They have done nothing but lie, take my money and waste hours of my time.They are actually jeopardising my restaurant business.I want far, far away from this company.I urge you to stay away also.I guess actually that shouldn’t be too hard since they keep telling me I’m not one of their customers anyway!
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It is so unfair. Why doesn’t this BANK get held accountable for bad business? I’m mad. So sorry to you and everyone…so many, that have had horrible dealings with this ‘so called’ company.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.