Sam’s Club Merchant Services Review
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- Date Established
- 1983
- Location
- Bentonville, Arkansas
Pros
- Offers a full line of Clover products
- EMV-compatible mobile card reader
Cons
- Primarily offers tiered pricing plans
- Standard multi-year contract
- Undisclosed early termination fee
- Deceptive sales tactics
- Poor customer service
- Limited pricing disclosed online
Overview
Sam’s Club Merchant Services (SCMS) is a merchant account provider headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. As you might expect from the name, it’s associated with Sam’s Club, the chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned by Walmart. While Sam’s Club has been in business since 1983, the merchant services division has only been operating since the early 2000s. SCMS has provided services to over 50,000 merchants since inception.
Much like its rival Costco (which operates the very similar Costco Merchant Services), Sam’s Club seems to be trying to use the reputation of its retail division for low prices to entice business owners to sign up for an account, under the belief that they’ll save money over more traditional merchant account providers. Just like Costco Merchant Services, however, SCMS is merely a reseller for mammoth processor Fiserv (formerly First Data), the largest processor in the United States.
Fiserv has a reputation for high prices, and, unfortunately, you won’t get any discounts by signing up through Sam’s Club. With a few exceptions (which we’ve highlighted below), SCMS uses the same equipment, pricing, and — very likely — contract terms as its back-end processor. Because it doesn’t provide any additional features or services beyond what’s available directly from Fiserv, there’s no reason for us to recommend them over signing up with Fiserv directly.
The primary difference between SCMS and Fiserv is that SCMS offers at least a few pricing disclosures on its website, while Fiserv does not. Unfortunately, the rate plans disclosed are deceptive tiered pricing plans where you’ll usually pay much higher processing rates than the ones advertised. From our investigations into customer comments/complaints, it appears that it also offers a much lower early termination fee than Fiserv. But since it prominently claims “no early termination fees” on its website, we can’t give SCMS much credit for this policy.
Ultimately, SCMS earns a very average score of 3 out of 5 stars. The use of the Sam’s Club name to suggest that it’s more affordable than a traditional merchant services provider is very misleading. We’ve seen a steady flow of complaints from merchants who signed up thinking they would save money but eventually paid far more than they thought they would.
Large, established businesses that can afford the high account fees in exchange for lower interchange-plus pricing are better off signing up with Fiserv directly and eliminating the middleman. Smaller businesses should steer clear of both SCMS and Fiserv. Instead, we recommend taking a look at Payment Depot, one of our favorite providers. While Payment Depot uses Fiserv as one of its back-end processors and features many Fiserv products (including the popular Clover line of equipment), it offers interchange-plus pricing for all merchants, month-to-month billing, and far better transparency on costs. You can also check out our Merchant Account Comparison Chart for an overview of our other top-rated providers.
Table of Contents
Products & Services
Virtually all of the products and services offered by SCMS are Fiserv-branded (note that the website still uses “First Data”), although the product lineup isn’t quite as extensive as what Fiserv can offer. Nonetheless, SCMS covers all the basics and can provide everything a retail or eCommerce merchant would need to run their business. These products include the following:
- Merchant Accounts: As noted above, Sam’s Club is merely a reseller for Fiserv, who will be underwriting your account and processing your transactions. Unlike many other merchant account providers, however, Sam’s Club openly discloses the relationship with its back-end processor on the company website.
- Credit Card Terminals: Sam’s Club offers Fiserv’s product lineup here, including the First Data FD130, a wireless, EMV-compliant countertop terminal with a color touchscreen. Pricing is not disclosed, but the FD130 typically goes for around $340. We highly recommend that you buy your terminals outright rather than getting stuck in an expensive, long-term terminal lease. Because Fiserv basically handles SCMS, we expect that the leases would be handled by Fiserv’s leasing subsidiary, First Data Global Leasing, which, unfortunately, is one of the worst credit card terminal leasing companies in the industry.
- Point Of Sale (POS) Systems: Sam’s Club offers Fiserv’s popular Clover lineup of POS systems, including the Clover Flex, Clover Mini, and Clover Station models. Again, we recommend buying your equipment outright, but you can also buy them from Clover through an interest-free installment plan. Be sure to read the agreement before signing on the dotted line, so you understand the length of the installment plan and whether there is a penalty for paying the equipment off early. Note that the SCMS/Fiserv merchant accounts aren’t compatible with third-party POS systems. So once you get Clover, you’re pretty much stuck with Fiserv as a processor, unless you’re fine with buying new equipment when switching processors. On the SCMS-specific pages of the Clover website, the pricing as of this writing are listed as:
- Clover Flex: $499
- Clover Mini: $749
- Clover Station: $1,349
- Mobile Processing: The company uses First Data’s Clover Go mobile processing system, which consists of the Clover Go app and the Clover Go card reader. The app is free and available for both iOS and Android. The Clover Go reader supports magstripe and EMV payment methods as well as NFC-based methods, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. It connects to your smartphone (or tablet) through Bluetooth, allowing it to work with newer phones that don’t have a headphone jack. As of this writing, the SCMS price for the Glover Go reader is $69.
- eCommerce Support: Sam’s Club is primarily aimed at the retail sector and doesn’t offer much for eCommerce merchants. It doesn’t advertise the availability of a payment gateway or virtual terminal. However, it does provide the Clover Online Store, a web-based product that integrates with apps from the Clover Marketplace to allow retailers to make online sales. eCommerce merchants who only sell digital products are pretty much out of luck.
- Security Features: Sam’s Club merchant accounts are protected by TransArmor®, a third-party security service that uses both encryption and tokenization to protect your customers’ payment method data and reduce the scope of your PCI compliance requirements.
- Marketing Services: Like many POS systems these days, SCMS offers various marketing services to Clover users, including rewards programs, gift cards, and business/customer analysis. These functionalities can be selectively installed as apps on the Clover POS platform.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Clover, we have an article that gives a more detailed look at the Clover equipment and POS software as well as an article discussing recommended merchant account providers who carry Clover.
Fees & Rates
Unlike Fiserv, which doesn’t disclose any pricing information on its website, SCMS offers two basic pricing plans for merchants to choose from. You can select either Value Rate Pricing or Simplified Pricing, depending on which option is a better fit for your business. Here’s some more information on these two plans:
Value Rate Pricing
This plan is advertised as being best for merchants who want a low cost per transaction rate. Terms of this plan include the following:
- Processing rates starting at 1.29% + $0.15 per transaction
- $5 monthly minimum
- No early termination fees
Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Whenever you see the phrase “rates starting at” or “rates as low as,” you should immediately be suspicious. This common sales gimmick is very misleading, and a good indicator that you’ll be enrolled in a tiered pricing plan. Here’s what the fine print has to say about this pricing plan:
Rates are valid for Sam’s Club members only. Rate and authorization fee applies to retail card-present transactions with an average ticket up to $350. American Express transactions priced separately. Some business types are subject to different rates. Rates listed are for qualified transactions only. Rates and eligibility are subject to change without notice. All merchants are required to complete a merchant application and are subject to underwriting and approval. Additional fees may apply. All rates and fees are subject to change in accordance with the terms of the Merchant Agreement. Processing services provided solely by First Data.
Sure enough, that 1.29% rate is for qualified transactions only — a sure sign of a tiered pricing plan that will also include much higher mid-qualified and non-qualified rates. Worse yet, this advertised rate is probably for debit card transactions only, as it’s less than the interchange rate for most Visa and Mastercard credit card transactions. No processor is ever going to charge you less than the interchange rate, as they have to pay that amount to the card-issuing banks before they can take their cut.
If that’s not bad enough, consider that processing rates also vary according to your monthly processing volume. The lowest rates are reserved for businesses with the highest volumes, so for most merchants, you’ll never see that rate when using your merchant account. Needless to say, we encourage you to take a close look at the qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified rates disclosed on your contract because that’s what you’ll actually be paying. The only good news here is that Sam’s Club does disclose the fact that your expenses will be higher, even if the company buries it in fine print that they’re hoping you’ll never read. Some providers using this sales gimmick don’t make any additional rate disclosures on their websites.
Simplified Pricing
This plan is advertised as being best for merchants who want to pay the same rate for all types of cards. It includes the following main features:
- Rates starting at 2.29% + $0.19 per transaction for swiped (i.e., card-present) transactions
- Rate starting at 3.29% + $0.19 per transaction for non-swiped (i.e., card-not-present) transactions
- No early termination fees
- Includes credit/debit transactions and network access and assessment fees
You’ll notice that this plan also includes the “rates starting at” language that indicates a tiered pricing plan. As with the Value Rate Pricing option, there’s also some fine print that you’ll want to review carefully:
Rates are valid for Sam’s Club members only. Rate applies to processing annual processing value between $50,000-$200,000 in Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express transactions. Higher flat rate pricing available for businesses processing at a higher volume. Rates and eligibility are subject to change without notice. All merchants are required to complete a merchant application and are subject to underwriting and approval. Additional fees may apply. All rates and fees are subject to change in accordance with the terms of the Merchant Agreement. Processing services provided solely.
The first thing you’ll notice is that smaller businesses processing less than $50,000 per year can’t sign up for this plan. If your business falls into this category, we recommend using a payment service provider (PSP), such as Square. They’ll offer true flat-rate processing rates and won’t add any additional fees just to maintain your account. If, on the other hand, your business processes over $200,000 annually, you’ll certainly want to skip this plan and negotiate an interchange-plus pricing plan that’s customized to your needs.
Besides mentioning that “additional fees may apply,” Sam’s Club doesn’t make any more disclosures regarding account fees. So, in addition to the need to maintain an annual Sam’s Club membership (although Fiserv will pay for your membership if you process over $50,000 a year), there will also be other fees associated with your merchant account. These fees seem to be highly variable, so review your contract documents very carefully so that you’ll know in advance what fees you’ll have to pay. For a more in-depth explanation of these fees, see our Complete Guide To Credit Card Processing Rates & Fees.
Sales & Advertising Transparency
As we’ve noted above, SCMS employs some misleading sales gimmicks on its website. Other than that, the site is pretty basic and doesn’t offer much concrete information. Most of the site’s content consists of empty marketing fluff, although some of the links to Clover equipment are fairly informative. While we’d certainly prefer to see some information about interchange-plus pricing, it’s unlikely ever to be included as long as Sam’s Club is trying to set you up with a more expensive tiered pricing plan.
Besides the website, the company also appears to sell accounts through an in-house sales team. We couldn’t find any evidence that it employs independent sales agents. While in-house representatives generally have a much better reputation for honesty and professionalism, we did see quite a few complaints alleging the non-disclosure of important account terms. Our best advice for dealing with Sam’s Club — or any other provider — is simple: never fully trust a sales representative. It’s up to you to read your contract and ask the appropriate questions before you commit to a multi-year agreement. We see too many complaints from merchants that could have been avoided if the merchant had simply read their contract ahead of time.
SCMS has no presence on social media. While Sam’s Club itself has accounts on all the major social media sites, its merchant division does not. It appears to us that the company is content to use the name and the reputation of Sam’s Club for low prices to lure in unsuspecting merchants.
Contract Length & Early Termination Fee
For this update, we could not find a contract anywhere on the SCMS website, even though the “fine print” on the Pricing page mentions a Merchant Agreement. What follows, then, is our best-educated guess on contract length and early termination fees, all of which are based on what we do know of the standard Fiserv contract as well as what we’ve been able to gather from customer complaints.
The standard Fiserv contract is a multi-year contract. It also includes an automatic renewal clause, which will extend the term for successive one-year periods after the initial term is complete.
While SCMS specifically advertises “no early termination fees” on its website, this apparently only applies if you close your account within the first 90 days of opening it. Beyond that, you’ll pay an early termination fee (ETF) of $90. While this is much lower than what other providers usually charge and also lower than the prorated liquidated damages clause in Fiserv’s standard contracts, it’s still pretty disingenuous considering the company’s advertising claims.
The lengthy contract term and possible early termination fee are reason enough not to recommend SCMS. More and more competing companies are waiving or eliminating their early termination fees and switching to month-to-month billing due to complaints from merchants. So there’s no reason for you to settle for those kinds of terms in today’s market. However, you might be able to negotiate a waiver of the ETF and possibly a shorter contract term. In any event, be sure to review your contract documents thoroughly before signing up. You’ll want to be very clear about how long you’re on the hook for and also how to terminate your merchant account without being charged an ETF.
Customer Service & Technical Support
SCMS advertises 24/7 telephone support, available 365 days a year. This support appears to be provided by Fiserv through its Clover division. (This type of arrangement isn’t unusual when two large businesses work together.)
Live chat is also available from 8:00 AM to 9:30 PM (ET), Monday through Thursday, 8:00 AM to 7:30 PM (ET) on Friday, and 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM (ET) on weekends. Unfortunately, we’ve seen many complaints alleging rude or incompetent customer service, so be aware that you might be in for a rough experience if you have to deal with something other than a simple technical problem. Fiserv also has a bad reputation when it comes to customer service, so this is no surprise.
Unfortunately, the self-help options are minimal. The company provides a link to Clover’s knowledgebase, but that’s about it. This site might be very useful if you have a technical problem with one of Clover’s products, but it obviously won’t help you if you have a more serious issue, such as an account freeze or a billing problem.
User Reviews
Negative Reviews & Complaints
SCMS does not have its own BBB profile, which makes assessing complaints difficult. You’ll find over 1,000 complaints against First Data/Fiserv on BBB, but only a scattered handful of them are specific to SCMS. Likewise, the BBB profile for Sam’s Club is filled almost entirely with complaints about the main company’s wholesale operation. Confusion over the First Data (Fiserv)/SCMS relationship has also muddied the waters on Ripoff Report, where we found only four complaints.
Fortunately, we’ve found plenty of other complaints in our own Comments section below and comments made on other review sites. Taken together, several trends emerge, including the following issues:
- Poor Customer Service: This was, far and away, the most common complaint. Merchants noted that customer service representatives were often rude, indifferent, and lacking in knowledge. Experiencing difficulty in even contacting a customer service representative was another common complaint.
- Excessive “Hidden” Fees: This is another all-too-frequent complaint against traditional merchant services providers such as Sam’s Club Merchant Services/First Data (Fiserv). There’s plenty of blame to go around here. Providers leave themselves open to this claim by failing to disclose all their fees on their websites, with some even claiming “no hidden fees” as a means to entice merchants into signing up for an account. At the same time, merchants who fail to read their contracts thoroughly before signing up are also at fault. All fees that you will or could be responsible for should be disclosed in your contract documents, even if those disclosures are buried in pages of fine print. Unfortunately, we’ve found very few providers that fully disclose all fees on their websites. Reading your contract ahead of time is the only way to protect yourself from this issue.
- Withheld Funds & Account Terminations: Fiserv provides every aspect of the merchant services for Sam’s Club clients, and the company has a bad reputation for being quick to withhold funds or freeze an account at the slightest hint of fraud. Your best defense is to learn how to avoid account holds, freezes, and terminations and minimize chargebacks.
Positive Reviews & Testimonials
You’ll find a handful of very brief testimonials from Sam’s Club clients scattered throughout the company’s website. While they appear to be authentic, they’re simply too short to be very convincing. We prefer to see testimonials that clearly identify the merchant and their business, as well as providing contact information. We also like to see the merchant mention specific features or services that were helpful to their business. Unfortunately, we couldn’t locate any positive reviews of SCMS outside of its own website. If you’ve had a positive experience with the company, please leave a review in the Comments section below. Thanks!
Final Verdict
In assessing Sam’s Club Merchant Services, it’s impossible to separate the company from its relationship with Fiserv. In fact, it is highly likely that, other than the Sam’s Club branding on the website, Fiserv runs everything else, including sales and customer support. Note that while you must be a Sam’s Club member before you can sign up for the SCMS processing services, the SCMS website explicitly says that Fiserv will pay for your Sam’s Club yearly membership as long as you process at least $50,000 of payments per year (along with other additional qualification requirements).
If you’ve read our First Data/Fiserv review, you’ll know that we don’t recommend them for most small or medium-sized businesses due to the high overall costs. Unfortunately, SCMS deliberately markets its services (which are really Fiserv’s) to small businesses, using the Sam’s Club name to suggest that you’ll obtain merchant services for a far lower overall cost than the industry average. Nothing could be further from the truth. The only potential savings over going directly with Fiserv is its lower early termination fee — a fee you should never have to pay in the first place. With the same lengthy contracts as Fiserv and an emphasis on “simplified” tiered pricing plans, you could actually pay more than you would if you had just signed up with Fiserv directly.
Overall, the company’s use of a multi-year standard contract, expensive tiered pricing plans, and numerous undisclosed account fees add up to a potentially costly experience for a small business owner. We’ve read multiple complaints from dissatisfied merchants who lost thousands of dollars from doing business with Sam’s Club Merchant Services. Our advice is simple: stay away. If Fiserv is right for your business, you’re better off signing up with them directly and eliminating the middleman. If not, you’ll have a much more pleasant (and less costly) experience with a highly-rated provider, such as Payment Depot.
Sam’s Club Merchant Services earns a disappointing score of 3 out of 5 stars due to its high costs, onerous contract terms, poor customer service, and numerous complaints about its sales practices. For some far better alternatives, check out our Merchant Account Comparison Chart.
Frank Kehl
Frank Kehl has been writing about merchant services, payment gateways, and international money transfer services since 2015. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State and a Juris Doctorate from the Ventura College of Law. After a long and enjoyable career of traveling around the world as an Air Force navigator, he’s comfortably settled down in the wine country town of Paso Robles in California’s scenic Central Coast region. He enjoys reading, photography, hiking, and numerous other outdoor pursuits.
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Organization Name: Obrian Healthcare
I agree when comparing merchants services for our business Sam’s has a lot of hidden fees, they try to get you in a lease and at the end of that lease you’ve paid $1800 for a piece of equipment that only cost around six or $700 and you still don’t own it. we looked at Square but Square is only good for small businesses that do less than $2000 a month, they don’t charge a transaction fee but we found that if you did $10,000 a month or more they can hold your money for 30 days not to mention they are 1.50% higher than Banccard who we chose.? We chose Banccard because they had lower rates no rate increase, no contracts and no termination fees and they didn’t lease equipment. They sale brand new equipment which is chip enabled around $350 and our local rep can always reach him on his cell phone whenever we had an issue or question. Once Coby looked over our volume that we were doing each month he was able to save us around $150 a month and we’ve been with him for three years now with no rate increase. I’m not trying to sell Banccard or Coby Hunt our rep but if you want honest pricing, no scams or contracts then contact him at chunt@banccard.comAnd let him see what he can do, if nothing he will at Least be. Honest and explain the pricing and not rip you off like these other guys.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Tried calling customer service took 9 different people and several hours to get my questions answered. Seems when my rep who sold me this service quit so did customer service. Now I’ve got charges that I shouldn’t have. Will probably leave after the holidays as anything that says Sam’s is not customer friendly. Should’ve known better.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Please do not fall into that trap. When I signed that horrible contract the price was competitive and they offered free membership. Later on they removed the free membership, increased the fees and there was no way to get out of that contract. I called and was given specific instructions on returning the equipment and cancel the account when the contract was finished. If I canceled when when I called, I would have to pay for services until the end of contract. After I returned the equipment First Data stopped charging me, but Sams Club continue to charge my account for months for a service that I did not received on a machine that I returned. I have been trying to get a credit, but the nastiness have been terrible, not the same tone that I was talked at when they wanted my business. I have bought many things at Sams Club personal and business, but I feel very discontent with the customer service. It is a shame! A fraud!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
THANK YOU TO YOU ALL. I was just short of signing the paperwork. Now because of your efforts to inform, I will be saved much hassle. Thank you again for taking the time to inform others.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
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My experience with Sams Club Merchant Services has been a nightmare ..the lack of customer service at First Data is staggering ..
a couple of issues I’ve had
My lease equipment from First Data broke down .. I was told it was too old to repair .. and First Data would not give me new equipment .. unless I purchased it ..
Sam’s Club customer service finally stepped in to resolve this issue ..
Also ,, Just to be sure you are aware .. it is against the policy at First Data for you to accept a credit card charge for an relative . . they can and will hold those funds for up to 6 months ..
they are currently holding an $8800 charge from a company that is run by my step son ..
Buyer beware with these guys ..
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Went with Sams for merchant services was told 1.95% with 10 cents per transaction. Got first statement from First Data total with fees almost 5%. First Data is stealing peoples money. Went with square only 2.75% NO FEES !!!!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
My sister is considering using Chase Paytech merchant services for her upcoming independent retail pharmacy since she banks with Chase. Chase site is offering for Retail discount rates + Auth. fees at 1.99% + $ 0.25 qualified; 2.68% + $0.25 mid and 3.75% + $0.25 non. qual; monthly fee of 9.95; set up fee $100 and monthly min of $25. How does this compare with Helcim which you rate so highly”
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Larry,
While I actually like Chase Paymentech in many instances, that quote is way too high. I’d much prefer to see a quote with no setup fee and no monthly minimum. You should also be sure that there is no PCI compliance fee, as this is a common fee and can add about $100 annually. Also watch out for early termination fees and non-cancelable equipment leases.
Helcim has no monthly minimums, no set up fees, no early termination fees, no PCI compliance fees, and no predatory leases. Overall, your sister can expect to pay about 2% or less (depending on her monthly volume and average transaction size), with no mid- or non-qualified surcharges.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Is there a company you would suggest using for credit card processing. I am opening a ladies boutique and after months of researching, I am more confused about who to use and I don’t know who or what to trust. Any advice would be welcomed.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Velvet,
Try our merchant account finder! All of our highest rated processors have been extensively researched and vetted so that we can vouch for their trustworthiness.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Use the Square. No FEES !!!!!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Fraud with a big happy we gonna get a lot of money out of you smile. Signed what i was told was a 2 year contract. It was a four year contract. Was told i would get a free Sams Club Membership, I did not. Immediately after signing the contract there were 2 rate hikes. Service was hell, no mail or email correspondence available. 2-6 hours typical phone time attempting to resolve an issue which may never be resolved to your satisfaction. They will overcharge you and will not compensate you for bank fees their actions incurred. How much? They withdrew over $1200 from my bank for not returning a terminal which WAS returned. They are masters of deception and here’s clear proof – upon cancelling the service they stated there would be no further charges. 3 months later they began withdrawing $66.95 per month from my bank account. I mistakenly ignored it specifically because the description of the withdrawal was “Deposit”. 20 hours so far on the phone and all i was able to accomplish is reducing the monthly withdrawal from $66.95 down to $12.00. They would rather drive you insane than give you a refund! DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi..We own a c store 19 plus years. We have never taken credit or debit cards. We were looking at Sams Club/First Data…based on these reviews we are now scared…What company would be best for us? Our average ticket is 12 dollars. Thank you!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Patti,
We have a great filtering tool that you can try here. I hope this helps and if you have further questions please let me know.
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I acquired a practice from a doctor whose CPA spouse was the manager. I assumed she made a good choice in merchant services. After several years of use and ignorance, Sams’ stopped offering a Sam’s membership fee waiver. This waiver made me look elsewhere, and thank goodness because I am now saving thousands per year by switching services. I was getting robbed and didn’t know it. There are many significantly less costly options out there. Avoid this one.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Sam’s Club switched credit cards on me without giving me any choice, and without providing proper equipment or training at the store to handle the new technology in the card. The first time I used the card at Sam’s it took an extra thirty minutes just to check out because after waiting in line I was told the machine at the line could not handle the new card and that I would have to check out at customer service. I used the card a couple of other times, but it was always slow to “communicate” and really seems to have not advantage over my Discover or Visa cards (without the chip). The way the new card was rolled out was a really bad and some executive at Synchrony Bank and/or Sam’s should get their ass chewed good. I switched to the plan membership card and am closing the Sams Mastercard account.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
This is the worst company to process cards. They do not live up to their contracts, rates and have the worst services. Please do stay away from them, they are frauds and do not perform.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Flat out FRAUD! Sam’s Club offers a “One Rate” plan to sucker you in and they get you used to paying the flat rate monthly fee. Just when you think all is well, they move you into an interchange plus fee schedule without telling you which will increase your costs dramatically. They increased my rates by 6X without even a phone call to notify me of any changes. I had no idea until I received my monthly statement with a ridiculously inflated fee schedule compared to previous months. When I called the agent in charge of my account to get things straightened out, she informs me that they were losing money with the plan that I was on and that they had to put me on a more expensive plan to make up what they had lost. When I asked for an explanation about how she could unilaterally change my plan with out notifying me, she said she’d email me the new plan and then hung up on me. I will never use Sam’s Club again, and will do everything in my power to inform anyone who might be thinking about using them about their bait & switch tactics. Save yourself a headache and take a pass on Sam’s Club processing…
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Very confusing pricing.Very poor customer service.Sneeky billing and hidden charges. You will NEVER get the rate they promise you and you will have a very difficult time actually figuring you what it is.I switched to a different company and found out how things should workSTAY AWAY FROM SAM’S CLUB PROCESSING!!!!!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
This was the WORST company to work with. I have been in business 20 years. I switched companies to save money. I only had their service for 2 months it was so bad. They repeatedly delayed funds quoting”security issues”. It was a nightmare! I have had a merchant account for 20 years and have never before had delays like this. When I went to close my account they charged me $90 as I was under a 3 year contract. I don’t feel they fulfilled their contract by repeatedly delaying funds.beware of using this company! It will not save you money it will cost you money by delaying your funds!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
THIS IS THE WORST SERVICE AND HIGHEST FEES OUT THERE. THEY ARE CROOKS AND SCAM ARTIST. YOUR FEES WILL NEVER BE WHAT THEY PROMISE AND THE CHARGES ARE HIDDEN AND THEY ADD EXTRA AND BLAME IT ON VISA AND MASTERCARD.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
They say you only get charged 1.8% but in reality it can be much much more. It turns out I was paying 3.95%. I found another company for half the price. Closing the account is a pain. Then they make you reopen it to get paid for transactions that happened before you close it. They were ripping me off just like the last company. I didn’t last a year with Sam’s Club. I will write to corporate & tell them about their ripoff
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Your operators are the most unreliable source of information,
For one week could not get to talk to a live person.
Cancel my account
Thank you,
PF
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Your service is THE WORST.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
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i have just signed up with company and very very disappointed….very poor customer service. I have many business card users and cannot get them to work through the service. I have called many times to get resolved and cannot. I will lose many customers. The last customer service person i talked to was very rude and when i asked to talk to management to cancel she hung up on me. I will keep trying until they handle this situation but i recommend not to sign up with company.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Thank you for your invaluable reviews and comments! You have spared me many days of frustration I am certain! My processing will definitely be contracted with a more reputable company than Sams/Walmart.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I am shocked to see all of the good reviews. Something is not quite right with that.
Be aware of this credit card processing agreement for the following reasons:
1. In my case, what I agreed to verbally, did not translate to the written contracts that come after you verbally sign up —which is how the process works.
2. In the event the credit machine processor breaks—you are out of luck. You are expected to send an exhorbitant amount of money to send it back for shipping, and you have nothing to use while they take their time fixing it.
3. After realizing you didn’t get what you paid for and cancel, they charge you $90 for an early termination fee. Even though their own agreement says no charge if you cancel within 90 days. In my case it has been months and I’m still fighting to get it back. The company loses the paperwork which supposedly says “I was approved to get the termination fee back since I cancelled it within 90 days.”
4. The lease buy back fees in the amount of $59 was supposed to be refunded since the credit card processor broke and I wasn’t able to use it. Still fighting for that and 3 months later and I’m told, “we made a mistake and we need to resubmit.”
4. Poor customer service—they are good about taking your money, but not good about refunding costs they charge against your account that they take by mistake. They are nice before they get your business, but head to the hills after they get it and you need help fixing their billing errors.
5. To protect yourself, you might think I should close my checking account so they can’t keep taking money from it. They trick you into keeping it open so you can get your fees refunded but instead they take more money. In my case the early termination fee of $90 which is in violation of their contract since I cancelled within 90 days.
6. Words of advice–beware. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you. They will not ware me down, I will keep after them until I get my money back.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I am a victim also of this and like u said u cant get answers or ur locked into something u didnt agree on… this is someone credit and livlihood ur dealing with.. the bad part is they never told me i was being finance through another company and that i was locked in a contract with another company also… all he told me is when i needed to close my account all i had to do is pay $90 to opt out and i tried and they dont no what im talking about then they tells me i signed a contract and thats not true but they tells me they have a signature… so who signed my name a federal offense… wow this is the worst company ever and im surprised Sams Club is help advertising this SCAM SCAM SCAM
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
most terrible people to deal with. It shows if you try to call and you wait an hour.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I have First Data terminal in my practice, acquired through Sams Club and its been a huge disappointment. Conveniently, the account executive from Sams Club Merchant Services who opened set up our account does not return phone calls or emails. I have even gone as far as to have many conversations with several analysts at First Data in an effort to resolve technical issues – No Such Luck.
Short of emailing the CEO of Sams, [edited: name removed], I would really like to contact a more senior level person at Sams Club Merchant Services/First Data in Marietta, GA. Does anyone know of any senior level management in this division?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I too am having similar problems with them. I had done business with them for some time and had just added another account 2 weeks later I discover that the sale lady Shawna had signed me up for a monthly lease of $40.63 for four years with another company or company branch of the same company FDGL. I smell fraud here. She will not return my calls and I have since cancelled all business with Sam’s Club Credit Card Processing. I am still receiving threatening letters from their FDGL branch which is also demanding I get insurance for their machine which I have already sent back to them. Filed a complaint with the state. Will see what happens. Am considering filing a class action and contacting the newspaper.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I had a Sams Club Credit Membership thru GE. I found it to be cumberson to process and not as useful as my regular credit card. I was doing on billing and when I cancelled the card & destroyed it could not get statements online because I didn’t have the ccv #. I call repeatedly and was promised a hard copy statement. I finally received one after 6 weeks. I paid what I had incurred and refused late fee’s. The rewards accrued were double the late fee’s but were never mentioned. If this cannot be resolved I will cancel Sams completely. Jack Cooper [edited: email address removed]
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.