Advanced Merchant Services Review

Sales Complaints

Advanced Merchant Services appears to market its services primarily through a combination of telemarketing and independently contracted sales agents. This marketing strategy is often linked to elevated complaint rates within the credit card processing industry, and Advanced Merchant Services appears to be no exception. We are currently able to locate dozens of Advanced Merchant Services complaints that describe aggressive telemarketing tactics and deceptive conduct by the company’s sales team.

Slamming Allegations

Specifically, a large number of merchants have claimed that Advanced Merchant Services is engaged in a practice called “slamming.” Slamming occurs when a sales agent calls a merchant’s place of business posing as the merchant’s current credit card processor in order to convince the merchant to open a new account with that agent’s company. In Advanced Merchant Services’s case, multiple merchants claim to receive calls from Advanced Merchant Services reps claiming that the merchants need to update their credit card processing machines due to the new EMV regulations. The following complaint describes a typical exchange:

Company claims to be Advanced Merchant Services and says that our business credit card machine needs to be upgraded to new one. We are on the national Do Not Call List. They still call almost daily and hound our staff about us needing a new machine. They finally faxed us paperwork that must be filled out so we can get new machine. Paperwork needs bank account number and is thru a different bank than our usual bank who already had our credit card merchant service account and who already knows our bank account number. Liars, as they appear to be from your same card merchant company, but they are NOT. They try to trick you into filling out/signing their forms, which will switch your card business to them instead of your usual merchant company. Sorry way to do business!! Don’t give them info. Don’t deal with them.

The reports of Advanced Merchant Services using this tactic are consistent from merchant to merchant and can be found across multiple online forums. This makes it less likely that this issue is simply confined to a few agents.

Ensure Your Provider’s Identity

Merchants who are contacted by Advanced Merchant Services (or any credit card processor, for that matter) should make absolutely certain that they are dealing with their actual merchant account provider before signing up for any “upgrades” or “rate reviews.” Additionally, If you suspect that Advanced Merchant Services is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden costs.