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Company Overview
Elavon is one of the largest merchant account providers and credit card processors in North America. The company was formed in 2011 from a merger of NOVA Information Systems and euroConex and is part of U.S. Bank’s (U.S. Bancorp’s) payment services division.
Payment Processing and Merchant Services
Elavon offers credit card processing to conventional business types but does not appear to approve accounts for “high-risk” industries. This processor also acts as a back-end processor for a very large number independently branded subsidiary merchant services providers and reseller partners. The company claims to serve over one million businesses worldwide with a primary focus in North America and Europe. The company also leases processing equipment through a poorly rated subsidiary called Ladco Leasing, a supplier of credit card terminals and point-of-sale systems. Numerous Elavon reviews complain of deceptive sales practices by Ladco Leasing, which has negatively affected Elavon’s rating in this review.
Elavon’s online payments services utilize its own gateways called Converge and Fusebox, and can integrate with other payment gateways such as Authorize.net. For international businesses, the company offers multi-currency merchant services with settlement in 16 currencies, authorization in 85+ currencies, and conversion into the cardholder’s home currency in 48 different currencies. The company also offers its own point-of-sale systems, contactless payment, e-commerce solutions, digital wallets, PCI compliance, Safe-T branded security, and data reporting and analysis.
Location & Ownership
Elavon is headquartered at Two Concourse Parkway, Suite 800, Atlanta, GA 30328. The company has been active in the credit card processing industry since 1991. Jamie Walker has been the CEO of Elavon since 2017.
Industry Specific Merchant Services
Elavon offers tailored merchant services for several different industries in an effort to provide them software, integrations, and POS systems specific to their needs.
Healthcare Credit Card Processing
Elavon offers a range of payment processing solutions and services for healthcare businesses. Some of the specific services include:
Patient Payment Processing
Elavon provides healthcare businesses with the ability to securely process payments from patients, including co-payments, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses.
Mobile Payment Solutions
Elavon offers mobile payment solutions that allow healthcare providers to accept payments on the go. With mobile devices and the Elavon MobileMerchant app, providers can securely process payments from anywhere, including at the patient’s bedside.
EMV and PCI Compliance
Elavon helps healthcare businesses stay compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards and the EMV (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa) chip card technology standards. They offer solutions that help prevent data breaches and ensure that patient information is protected.
Reporting and Analytics
Elavon provides healthcare businesses with reporting and analytics tools that allow them to track payment activity and identify trends. This information can be used to improve financial performance and patient satisfaction.
Point-of-Sale (POS) Solutions
Elavon offers POS solutions that are specifically designed for healthcare businesses. These solutions include terminals that can accept chip cards, contactless payments, and mobile wallet payments.
Restaurant Merchant Services
Elavon offers several payment processing services that are specific to restaurants, including:
Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems
Elavon offers restaurant-specific POS systems that are designed to handle high-volume, fast-paced environments. These systems can help streamline ordering and payment processes, reduce wait times, and improve the customer experience.
Mobile Payment Solutions
Elavon provides mobile payment solutions that allow servers to take payments tableside. This can improve efficiency and reduce the risk of errors or fraud.
Online Ordering and Payment
Elavon offers online ordering and payment solutions that can help restaurants take orders and process payments through their website or mobile app. This can improve convenience for customers and reduce wait times for orders.
Gift and Loyalty Program
Elavon offers gift and loyalty programs that can help restaurants build customer loyalty and increase revenue. These programs can be customized to meet the specific needs of the restaurant.
Reporting and Analytics
Elavon provides reporting and analytics tools that can help restaurants track sales, identify trends, and make informed business decisions. This information can be used to improve operational efficiency and profitability.
Elavon Review Video Summary
Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers a multi-year contract with an early termination fee of…
- Complaints & Service: Has received more than 500 public complaints regarding…
- BBB Rating: Has an “A+” rating despite having received 126 complaints and 33 reviews about…
- Sales & Marketing: Hires independent sales agents and has received a low-to-moderate number of complaints about its…
Elavon Reviews and Complaints
Here's What Their Clients Say
Complaint Summary
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Total Online Complaints
600+
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Live Customer Support
Yes
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Most Common Complaint
Poor Customer Service
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Elavon Has Hundreds of Complaints
It is important to keep in mind that Elavon is a huge credit card processor and should therefore be expected to have more complaints than a small merchant services provider. With that said, we have found over 500 Elavon complaints in the comment section of this review and over 100 on other sites, with many more filed against Ladco Leasing. This is an average amount of complaints compared to other processors of Elavon’s size. Elavon complaints from its customers report problems with poor customer support, sudden holds and freezes, unexpected fees, billing disputes, and equipment lease problems.
Elavon and Small Businesses
The common theme to Elavon’s complaints appears to be that small businesses have a the harder time getting problems resolved. This means that Elavon may perform better as an enterprise-level merchant account provider. To its credit, Elavon does offer 24/7 customer support to all of its users. You can read actual merchant complaints in the comment section at the end of this review.
Elavon Lawsuits and Fines
Cisero’s Lawsuit
In 2012, Elavon was sued by one of its merchants, a restaurant named Cisero’s, for PCI compliance fines. The problem started when U.S. Bank (Elavon’s parent company) was fined $90,000 by Visa and MasterCard, who alleged that Cisero’s had not secured its network and experienced a data breach that resulted in fraudulent transactions on a few of its customers cards. In reaction, U.S. Bank debited Cisero’s checking account of $10,000 without notice and then filed a lawsuit against Cisero’s owners to obtain the remaining $80,000, stating that their merchant account contract makes them responsible for such fines.
Civil Suits
A 2019 suit involved a small merchant suing Elavon over misplacing funds and was settled out of court.
Class-Action Lawsuits
Additionally, there is a class-action lawsuit pending against Elavon in California as of the writing of this review, which involves contracts.
Elavon Customer Service Options
We have located multiple Elavon customer service phone numbers:
- (800) 725-1243 – Toll-Free Customer Service
- (877) 938-0317 – Sales
If you a looking for top-rated customer support from your merchant account provider, see our best customer service merchant account provider list.
Elavon BBB Rating and Report
Our Better Business Bureau Profile Assessment
BBB Summary
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BBB Complaints
106
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Response Rate
100%
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Resolved
15
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Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.
Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.
Over 100 Elavon BBB Complaints
As of this update, the Better Business Bureau is awarding Elavon an “A+” rating despite the fact that the company has received 106 complaints in the last 36 months. To the company’s credit this is down from 120 as of our last update. Elavon has responded to 100% of the complaints but only 15 have been resolved to the satisfaction of the business owner.
What Elavon Customers Say
The company has also received 34 informal Elavon reviews totaling a rating of 1.13/5 stars. A recent customer review from the BBB website states:
As I write this review I’m on the phone for the 3rd time with Elavon trying to close my account. When I call them to close it they tell me they need to notify some other department to get the account closed and that they are sending the email as we speak. After telling me they have sent an email to the representative to close the account i get a bill for the minimum monthly charge and have to call them again and get told the same thing. I tell that isn’t working and I’m being charged and their reply is that it is all they can do and that they can not close my account without the 3rd party approval. This is ridiculous. I just want my account closed and for them to stop charging me but they say they cant do it? What a scam. I’m now on eternal hold trying to talk to a supervisor. The last time they put me on eternal hold it eventually hung up on me. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!
A “C” Performance Overall
We have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C” for the purposes of this review based on how our criteria would have scored Elavon.
Elavon Fees and Rates
A Closer Look at the Contract
Cost Summary
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Hidden Fees
Yes
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Monthly & Annual Fees
Yes
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Rates & Fees
Negotiable
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PCI Compliance Fee
Yes - Negotiable
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Elavon Fees Overview
As a payment processing company, Elavon charges various fees to its clients for the use of its services. The specific fees that a client will be charged can vary depending on the type of service or product they are using, as well as the specific pricing plan that they negotiated. Some of the fees that Elavon charges may include:
Transaction Fees
Elavon charges a fee for each transaction that is processed through its payment gateway. This fee may vary depending on the type of transaction, the payment method used, and the client’s specific pricing plan. It appears that Elavon prefers to sign businesses up with a tiered pricing model instead of Interchange-plus. In general, business owners will experience higher Elavon fees under tiered pricing.
Monthly Fees
Most Elavon pricing plans may include negotiable monthly fees. These feed may cover various features and benefits, such as access to reporting and analytics tools or customer support, or may just be “junk” fees that can be removed if negotiated.
Chargeback Fees
If a client receives a chargeback from a customer, Elavon may charge a fee to cover the cost of the chargeback process. Chargeback fees typically range from $15 to $35 per incident depending on the negotiated fee.
PCI Compliance Fees
Elavon may charge a fee to help clients maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards. PCI Compliance fees can often be removed through negotiation.
Termination Fees
If a client terminates their contract with Elavon before the end of their agreed-upon term, they may be charged a termination fee. However, it appears that Elavon has removed its termination fee for most accounts. Client’s who lease equipment through Ladco may still be subject to lease cancellation fees.
It’s important to note that Elavon’s fees can vary depending specific services, negotiation, and the pricing plan that a client selects. Business owners should carefully review their contract and pricing plan to understand the fees that they will be charged. Additionally, clients may want to compare Elavon’s fees to those of other payment processing companies to ensure they are getting the best value for their money.
Elavon Fees and Pricing May Vary
The company marketed two different pricing models in our previous Elavon review. The first quote was for a counter-top point-of-sale terminal and the second for its mobile payment alternative. Both contracts charged a swipe rate of 2.65% + $0.19 or a keyed-in rate of 3.50% + $0.19 per transaction. Both of these quotes are high in comparison to other well-rated competitors.
Elavon previously charged a convoluted early termination fee which its contract lists as “greater of the total fees paid by Customer during the twelve months immediately prior to termination, or the total fees that would be payable by Customer during the twelve months immediately following termination.” It appears that Elavon is no longer charging any early termination fees. However, Elavon resellers may include different terms regarding cancellation fees, so business owners are encouraged to read their contract. To avoid early termination fees altogether, see our list of merchant service providers that do not charge cancellation fees.
Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Fees
In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Elavon also dedicates a portion of its website to advertising its virtual terminal and payment gateway, called “Converge.” There is also an additional payment gateway for hotels and restaurants specifically called “Fusebox.” However, pricing is not disclosed on either of those services. Elavon customer reviews indicate that gateway fees range between 0.75% to 3.5% plus $0.30 as well as a $25 monthly fee.
Previous Early Termination
Prior to February 2013, the company’s standard merchant account contract included a three-year service agreement with a $295 early termination fee if canceled within the first year, or $195 if canceled within the second or third year. Elavon also formerly charged PCI Compliance fees that varied from $29 to $59 per month; however, the company’s recent promises of no more “hidden fees” would seem to indicate that it has abandoned this practice. Please let us know if Elavon or a Elavon partner has charged you an early termination fee in the comment section below.
Long-Term Equipment Leases From Ladco
The company continues to own and operate the equipment lease provider Ladco Leasing for hardware and point of sale leasing. Ladco has an abysmal reputation among numerous Elavon and Ladco reviews.
The standard Ladco Leasing agreement is an expensive, non-cancellable 48-month equipment lease that often costs up to ten times the actual price of the equipment if bought outright. Elavon seems to go to great lengths to conceal the relationship between Ladco and Elavon, probably due to the fact that there are very few positive reviews of Ladco to be found online. In most cases, we recommend that business owners buy their equipment outright. In the event that a business needs a complex point-of-sale system with a need for dedicated support, we strongly encourage you to negotiate the terms of your lease to avoid expensive surprises.
Elavon’s payment gateway options
Elavon Jobs and Employment
Hiring Standards and Ethical Marketing Assessment
Key Points
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Uses Independent Resellers
Yes
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Telemarketing
Yes*
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Misleading Marketing
No
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Elavon Rate Quotes and Advertising
Elavon relies heavily upon resellers, sub-ISOs, independent agents, and partnerships to market and sell its credit card processing services. This marketing strategy is common among large merchant account providers and can often prove harmful to a company’s reputation, as it appears to have done for Elavon. This processor has received a large number of complaints related to undisclosed merchant account fees and point of sale hardware leasing terms by independent agents and resellers.
Processor For Costco Merchant Services
One of the company’s most notable independent partners is the grocer and retailer Costco. In fact, Costco Merchant Services is often mistaken as its own credit card processing company. However, it is really just acting as a sales and marketing arm of Elavon. Several Elavon reviews regarding Costco Merchant Services complain that they expected to receive the usual wholesale costs that Costco is known for, but were surprised with high rates and fees. In our estimation, Costco and Sam’s Club do not rank among the best low-cost merchant accounts.
Elavon Marketing Practices
Elavon does not publicly disclose its merchant account fees or credit card processing rates. This indicates that rates and fees are set on a per-account basis and will vary based on numerous factors including a business owner’s knowledge on how to negotiate low merchant account fees, the industry of the business, and the agent or partner marketing the merchant account. As of a previous update to this review, the company added a pricing page that quoted 2.65% plus $0.19 on swiped transactions and 3.5% plus $0.19 on keyed-in payments. These quotes have been removed as of latest Elavon review update. Please let us know what Elavon is charging you in the comment section below. For a list of companies that provide transparent rate quotes upfront, compare merchant account providers here.
Elavon Subsidiaries and Partners
A large portion of Elavon’s merchant accounts are marketed by partnered resellers and subsidiaries who use their own sales and marketing strategies. Based on our research of these resellers, it is apparent that some of them are using misleading tactics. The company and its resellers are also notorious for signing merchants up for expensive, non-cancellable equipment leases through Ladco Leasing as part of their merchant services packages. Elavon appears to often enforce the terms of the lease agreement even when merchants claim that they were deceived by an agent.
Elavon Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts and Opinions
Decent for Large Businesses, Poor for Small Businesses
Elavon, a large merchant account provider and credit card processor, a high number of Elavon reviews complain of numerous things such as poor customer service and high fees. Although the company has numerous complaints, the company claims to serve over one million merchants globally and is bound to have a few unhappy customers. Due to this processor’s large size, we have set Elavon’s rating to a “C” since most businesses processing less than $100k per month would be better served by smaller providers that are able to supply better customer service for their size. Very small businesses are encouraged to check our picks for the best merchant accounts. Elavon can improve its score by enacting more favorable leasing policies and by resolving complaints before they become public.
Dick
Theifs! Steel your money!!! RUN!
Ryan Richards
🛑 Lies! All lies!This is a rip off don’t waste you time it’s all a lie 25 dollars my ass sons of bitchs charged me a 130 in the first week then the s.o.b. froze my account with zero complaints. And are now with holding up to $2000 dollars of mine. I was unable to pay my bills as of yet because of this con.
PM
Today I dropped Elavon. I’ve had them since 2019. At that point in time I would have given them 5 stars. They had/have a small business plan similar to Square: flat rate: 2.6% + .10 per transaction. Unfortunately, last year, in September, they started adding on all these annual merchant fees even though it’s a flat rate plan. You had to pay $35 to $45 a year to process Discover, $35 to $45 a year to process AMEX, $35 to $45 a year for MC, etc. You even had to pay an annual fee to take debit cards.
Last year when I questioned it, they refused to return the over $160 in fees they had taken out of my bank account, but the rep promised me it would never happen again. They had changed the name of the program to BAY and something must have gotten lost in the transition. So,I signed another FLAT RATE contract, and double-checked for annual fees.
This month it happened again, I noticed the extra fee. They had started in March vs. September. Strange for an “annual” fee to start in March vs. Jan. When questioned — I spent over 2.5 hours today with 12 reps — no answers just lots of “we understand your frustration,” and transferring me to the next rep. The last one said they sent a letter. I never received a letter. Then he said they put a notice on my statement. But the notice didn’t give you a chance to reply.(In other words, they put it on my February statement, but I didn’t don’t look at my February statement until the beginning of March. They took the fees out of my account on March 1. Again, no time to question. No time to drop their services. And once they have your money…
To me this is fraud — unauthorized charges from my account. Now I’m trying to do a chargeback. But again, it used to be you could get a good rep and start a charge back. Now you just get people that are like “a chargeback?” I’m not sure I can do that, let me “transfer you.” All this, even when you’re calling the tel # that’s listed on their website as the number to call.
John captain
I was abused and ruined by the nonsense That I got from my #costco #usbank ELAVON merchant account.
I had them over 10 years but after this I would recommend to any small business that they consider other more fair and honest options.
As a business owner in Portland when I had to apply for a new bank account number I assumed send them a voided check but I was wrong
11 pages and worse they tell you 1-3 days even as they can’t ever get it done ok that timeline. Mine took me 35 days and lost tens of thousands after that wait to get paid
Jay Hall
I don’t like putting businesses on blast but Elavon is one of those companies that shouldn’t even exist. There is nothing about their platform which exemplifies what a business should be like.
Their operations are a mess. They themselves don’t know where half of their charges come from. If I had to listen to one more rep say, “I’m not sure. I’ve never seen that charge before” I think I was going to break my phone.
I was with them for a total of about 18 months and in that time I ended up with 7 reps. The first guy seemed great then he just disappeared. They kept assuring me he was just in a different department. After 10 seconds or research I discovered he left the company.
Why lie, you might ask? Because that’s what they do. They lied to me constantly and cost my company thousands of dollars. Their sales reps will talk about the 1.7% rate until they’re blue in the face but in reality their all in fees are closer to 4 – 5 %. When it works out in the wash, they are more expensive that Stripe!
Their 3rd party vendors like Mondo are absolute trash. They debited random amounts from our account and the amounts kept increasing with no reason. When I called them on it, they hung up on me and never answered my calls again.
The weird thing was that they were solid for 24 – 48 hours and then we would spent 8 – 10 hours a day on the phone trying to get tech or account issues answered when we had time. All in, we wasted over 400 hours trying to get support.
When their service went down and it cost me clients they had nothing to say but “that’s tech for ya”. So they cost me thousands and then I leave and they sent me a credit letter for $50 while also still trying to take money out of my accounts. I had to run a stop payment on my accounts just to get them to stop.
I’m a reasonable person but the fact of the matter is I was too patient with these jerks. I never get mad but I found myself screaming at their reps because they don’t solve for anything, they just try to deflect.
I could go on forever, and I have the emails/recorded calls to backup everything; liars, thieves, asshats, and useless policies abound at Elavon.
Oh, one more thing. I had a list of over 50 issues with them and they tried to blame us for each and everyone. Switched to Stripe and haven’t had A SINGLE PROBLEM in months. That should be all you need to know.
I wish I was a billionaire that could buy them just to shut them down just to watch their entire C-Level do the walk of shame.
Absolutely disgusting company.
CCA
I’ve been with this company over 23 years. I am a sole proprietor. Their 2023 upgrades are hideous, overpriced, and they have horrible service.
I’ve had a total of 5 chargebacks, at most, in 23 years, and this company treats sole proprietors like excrement.
Run don’t walk to any other processor.
Horrible pricing, horrible service, and the web interface is a joke.
O.T.
TL;DR You will have a better experience with, quite literally, ANY processor other than Elavon. Stay clear!
For the most part what I see in these other comments is true. We run a company doing about $1.5MM a year. Elavon is now owned by US Bank and we have been a great customer of their’s.
We set up Elavon, charged $19,000+ (one large transaction and a number of smaller ones) and then waited. It took days for the transaction to auto-batch (no one told us we had to manually batch transactions during setup, like it’s still 1980). Then, they told us our account was in review. This isn’t uncommon for a new payment account, so we waited. Then they told us that our account was being cancelled due to risk.
No explanation for the risk. Stripe and Paypal have no issue with our “risk”. US Bank has had no issue with our “risk”.
I have used dozens of payment processors in my life and Elavon is the absolute worst I have ever encountered. Their sales are dishonest. Their processing is expensive. Their software sucks. Their team has less than no concern for your business. Their hardware is antiquated.
For those of you that have been through a similar experience, I am sorry. I know the headache, the loss of revenue, the loss of customers etc. that come from a bad payment processor and I only hope that this review and the others prevent anyone from having the same experience.
C.S.
Same thing happened to me. I will never again deal with Elavon and their lies.
C.S.
I am absolutley sick of dealing with the same thing time and again. I run a small business with less than 8 card transactions a month.
Elavon was re-recommended to me by my bank when they started claiming *no more hidden fees* (I had used them previously, but started charging me $100 every year for no apparent reason, so I left years ago)
More Recently,
I needed a service with no monthly fees because it just doesn’t make sense for the low volume of transactions, and my current provider at the time was still charging a small monthly fee of around $8/mo.
With my bank manager, we talked with Elavon on the phone to discuss the new plan. Elavon stated: *there is no monthly fee for this particular plan*
This was a plan that has high per-transaction rates. However, I was okay with that because it didn’t have a monthly fee. I remember specifically asking: “Will there ever be a monthly fee? Because I don’t want to start this and find out there’s a monthly fee all of a sudden.” They said “No, there won’t be any monthly fees.”
Keep in mind, I remember this very clearly as I otherwise would not have gone with the service had they not said that.
For the next 5 months it was great. Exactly what I needed. There were no monthly fees, and I didn’t have very many transactions.
Then, 5½ months later they send a letter stating that there will now be a minimum of $25 every month. Yep. That’s right. A plan where there will *never be any monthly fee* has a minimum transaction fee of $25 per month. Sounds about right for a company that tries to get every cent they can.
I closed my account immediately. I will never again *ever* do business with them or any other card company that has ever had monthly fees. I’m 100% going with Stripe. I’ve had a Stripe account for over 10 years, never used it, and never had a single fee charged to my bank just for having the account.
I give Elavon 0 / 5 for lying through their teeth, and for taking advantage of me as a customer twice now!
P.S.
My bank manager also was very shocked about the situation and will no longer be recommending his own bank customers to them anymore.
Looks like Elavon just made another big mistake which just cost them a lot more customers than they probably bargained for.
Grady
In October 2021, I switched to Elavon, bought a new reader and used the talech mobile app for all of 2022. I got a letter saying I’d be charged a minimum $25/month. When I signed up, there was no minimum. My transaction volume will never support this. I had to close the account and go back to PayPal. As a 40+ year customer of USBank and its predecessors, I am more than disappointed.
It was bait and switch.
Lilliam
Please do not trust this people they really take your money and they never give it back to you they are not responsible and they workers the same do not trust this guy his name is Christian Vernaza they always lie to me for 3 month they stole my money they even told me will send it to me and then they lie,never do business with them please. I have all the emails he send me telling me that his problem should never happen and then they keep me like for 3 month and then at the End they stole everything.
Troy Normand
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!! They ROB YOU BLIND, and once you catch them they give you the runaround and try their hardest to not give you the REFUND THAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO!! This is the second time that my boss has been charged for an entire YEAR when he shouldn’t have been! I am fighting with them right NOW to give him the second refund, but because they just recently gave him a refund for 7 months for a different year, they are refusing to give him the refund that they owe him for 2019-2020!! This is a bullshit ass company and a scam! If you choose to go with this company after reading all of these NEGATIVE ASS reviews then you’re crazy! I wish my boss would have noticed this years ago when he started with this BS ass credit card people!! CLOVER is the WAY TO GO!!!
Charlie McVay
How do I post on this Facebook page about my customer service with Elavon?
Brad
Stayed at a hotel that uses Elavon for card processing. They didn’t charge my card until 2 weeks later and then charged a 2nd time (apparently along with 2093 others after speaking with the hotel) on Sep 2, 2021. As of 9/9/21, only 25 cards in total have been refunded the double charge. 1.2% in 4 days clearly shows a lack of consideration for the customer. How are you still in business?
Pete
They’re a scam. 2 months after returning their card reader I still see equipment charges on statement. Refund is taking forever. Now a new $50 charge for PCI non-compliance, well after I thought I’ve cut ties with them. But no, returning card reader not enough, gotta call them and tell them you want to close your account. They still refuse to refund me the $50 non-compliance. Elavon is a scam!
G. Chaize
Elavon provides extremely poor services and is a risk to small and medium size businesses.
We regret having used Elavon for our market place. Merchant onboarding can take several months! Elavon’s poor performance is affecting our image.
davina
Do NOT use Elavon they can block your account with no notice. They will hold ALL of your funds and not tell you they are doing this. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Chris P
Elavon SCREWS THE EVERLOVING HELL out of Small Businesses like mine. I’m a simple house painter. I have tried many times to resolve this “PCI” compliance issue, yet I have no “I.T. Dept” and no officers to sign off on this, so they have me in a product that is not a fit for me, and because I refused to make up BS to complete the hours long task, theyve had me over a barrel, and STOLEN OVER $500 from me in fees! I sent an email to formally cancel my service last month, and today, they stile more!
I’m not backing down, and I’m getting my banker involved, and calling the GA debt of commerce et al.
Robert
“No dirty tricks” isn’t my experience. Elavon advertise with a £29 one-off fee in the UK, plus 1.75% of transactions, which sounds like a good deal. When you sign up however, they drop on “PCI product and non-compliance fees” of £29 per month. After scrolling through page after page of information it’s very easy to mistake this for the one-off fee they advertised and not query it until too late. Foisting this on a very small start-up which may only do one or two tradeshows per year is unforgivable.
Robert
Another “hidden” tactic I’ve discovered is that they charge a £30/month fee if they do not make £30/month as a minimum from their 1.75% transaction fees. In other words, if you do not sell over £1750 of goods every month, you’ll be charged £30. So if one month they make £29.50, they’ll charge another £30 on top. Also, unless you are using their product every month you will be paying a £30 monthly fee when their advert expressly says no monthly fee. This is not a suitable proposition for a small hobby business and has been reported to the Advertising Standards Authority.
jose lapa
the worst company, never do business with this guys
Adam
Worst experience of my business career of 25 years. They overbilled me by literally 5x the amount they were supposed to take out… I only hope to alert others so they don’t make the same mistake and do business with such an unethical company… they just literally just debited my account for $400 10x.. 4k and I have barely processed with them… compare that to wonderful companies that I use where I have processed hundreds of thousand of dollars and they are extremely fair… do not ever think of doing business with this unscrupulous group..
Bahram Forouzandeh
I have been overcharged for several years and every time we objected they had an excuse to justify their outrageous charges which is supposed to be 4 percent of deposits using their device.
Finally we decided to cut off our financial relationship with them because they are not trustworthy.
zachary kelman
Mike Peterson with elavon Out of Montana, Will flat out lie to you
$14 a month 7cents a transaction
Equates to $2000 for 2 years of business.
12k+ in fees later
He’s sorry for the lack of clarification.
DO NOT USE ELAVON.
THEY WILL SCAM YOU TO DEATH!
we are a small business father and son run, we have less than that percentage of mark up, we signed up with him because our bank recommended him as the person.. after researching what he had told me for fees he sounded great.
Usually when somethings too good to be true it is
When you ask for them to explain it to you why it’s raised so much vs what he originally told you he can’t clarify anything. “Will have to ask his processing team”
He is the salesman and knows nothing about the fees associated. He just knows how to line his pockets and make himself look successful and the down fall of small businesses like mine.
He is a horrible person!
Will never do business with them as long as I live.
F elavon!!!!
Hudson
I see these are comments from people who use their services but for me it’s much simpler. Why do we need to make a company rich off of transaction fees? My DMV fees are already high. I work 2 jobs so going to DMV is out of the question so I must renew online. Attached to an already overly charge for new tags is this elavon charge for $6 and change more ontop. Just to transfer money. This charge is a legal scam and just more proof that if you’re legally criminal you can do whatever you want. F elavon and state of CA!
delia small
Please find another company than getting Elavon…i had a client made a payment but it was an error and tried it again but it’s the same error….(i asked my client to pay cash instead because the machine doesnt work) but my client came back to me the ff day that the error we made it turns out that was deducted from her bank account twice…(as a business owner i paid her the money right away, as i will collect it from Elavon…but honestly for the amount of $56.00 Elavon wont even pay me back for the sake that i am good customer for about 4 years…
Rod Foster
Do not ever deal with Elavon. I have been trying to contact someone for 4 months about my account and left NUMEROUS messages. Nothing pisses me off more when a voice message says “I will return your call shortly”, and no one EVER calls me back. Worst customer service I have ever seen!
Steve
Elavon suspended payments to my business because they were hacked and allowed someone to make small deposits to my account as a probe for a stolen credit card number. I’ve tried to call customer service to have my account restored, but have been on hold for over an hour. Contacting them via Twitter gets a “we’re so sorry. Keep holding is your only option” reply. How a company like this stays in business is a wonder to me.
AVA
THEY ARE IDIOTS! MY BUSINESS HAD THEM FOR YEARS, THEN A CUSTOMER PAID A LARGE INVOICE, ELAVON STARTED HOLDING MY MONEY, CLAIMED THEY NEEDED MY CUSTOMERS INFORMATION. IT WAS OVER 14 DAYS LATER , AFTER I CHANGED CREDIT CARD COMPANIES, BEFOR I GOT MY MONEY!
TRUST ME , THERE ARE ALOT! ALOT! BETTER PROCESSORS OUT THERE, CHEAPER, EASIER TO DEAL WITH. DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE & GIVE THEM YOUR BUSINESS OR YOU WILL REGRET IT!
John Sheehan
I am surprised you gave Elavon three stars as they do not deserve any and should be minus five instead. From the top, including Jamie Walker, to the bottom they ignore everything you say to them and do not answer the questions. That to me makes them totally ignorant as they always ignore you and the truth. They do not deal with genuine complaints at all and in fact have avoided telling the truth at all costs not to admit their mistakes. They have written, emailed and avoided the truth even on the telephone. Do not touch Elavon with a barge pole if you value service and honesty. Their Customer Services will not treat you as a customer and will not give service!
Dianne
Do not deal with Elavon – they will not treat you fairly. After switching to another service provider, Elavon continued to take funds from our bank account. When I questioned what they were doing, I was told that they would bill in perpetuity unless I called in and formally closed our account. When I attempted to do this, I was put on hold while they ‘pulled my file’ and left there for 75 minutes – until I finally gave in and hung up. Further attempts to contact them have met with promises of callbacks that don’t happen and infinite time on hold. They get your merchant number up front – they know who is calling and why! Beware of this company – they are unprofessional & unscrupulous.
Morad Elkamraoui
This is the worst company you can choose to work for they are cheap for a reason they came to me made it looks good start the process with them they had some problem connecting my equipment to theirs my system crushed because the guy had problems and used something he shouldnt use . i wait it on them to call or come and fix no one want to deal with it and they start charging me fees 2 times a month i dont know why .. When i called everyone passes me to another no one returns my calls no manager had email or try to fix it i lost 5100 when finaly got someone they said they ll only give me 600 what a joke .. They field to provide me a service but they still charge me for it . i am handing to a lawyer just for the principle on it this company is just bunch of theifs stealing people money be aware and i ll always review them so people can know . and i ll never recommend them to no one .
Suzanne grube
Horrible credit card co. Bad head personal if u want to call them that ! Sharks ! Be very carful they are not for small business
morad elkam
thsi is the worst company i ever seen they are taking my money after i told to close the account and i have been charged monthly fees for a year an half with 0 transaction i am trying to get hold of someone but no one give a shit in here i ll never recommend them to any i ll handle it to lawyer because i cant fix it on my own . causing me alot of stress
CPO
Morad,
This article should help: How to Cancel a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee.
-Phillip
Anonymous
ELAVON RUINED MY LIFE! AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!!!
I started using Elavon about half a year ago, I decided to switch to them from Stripe because they offered faster payout times. The onboarding process took months and seemed very weird, the customer service appeared to be just as confused as I was and it was very primitive compared to payment providers like Stripe where you could just get going within days. When I was finally able to make the switch from Stripe to Elavon I was running high volume on my store. A few days later I got an email from their risk team asking for some information, I totally understood as I started using them while running high volume and almost all of my transactions were the same amount as I was mainly selling the same product. I submitted the information that same day and even though I thought about switching back to Stripe until it was all cleared I thought “I will just stick with Elavon, all my sales are completely legit so I will be fine”. The review took very long and I found out that the guy that was reviewing my case had gone on vacation! Finally, after waiting over a week while still running ads and processing transactions to Elavon, they came back to me and said they could not verify that my transactions where legit and they would REFUND ALL TRANSACTIONS TO CUSTOMERS WHICH AMOUNTED TO OVER $10,000! I could not afford to lose that kind of money as only a small portion of it was profit and it would instantly put my company I debt! I had no doubt that my transactions were legit as 1) I could see that I acquired them all from running Facebook ads 2) the fraud filter in Shopify, which is the e-commerce platform I used, gave almost all my transactions a low-risk rating 3) my previous payment provider Stripe never raised a single red flag and neither did PayPal which I was using alongside Elavon. I tried to get them to review my account again and give them additional information, but they did not change their mind and they suspended my account and proceeded with the refunds. I had to stop all my ads and completely set my store on pause, I tried to recoup some of the sales by emailing my customers and notifying them about their payment being refunded, but I was only able to get back a small fraction of the sales and I received a lot of bad reviews from customers about not getting their order because they hadn’t seen the email. I later come to find out that Elavon had also registered me into credit card blacklists as a SCAMMER, this made me unable to get a new payment provider and I had to completely shut down my store. They refused to remove me from the list because 1) I had disabled 3DS as it did not properly work with Shopify, 3DS was not a requirement at the time and all my customers were from the US and Australia where 3DS is not a thing so it wouldn’t matter. Customer support told me that it would be no problem to disable it and did it for me, and 2) because I sold product from another category that I told them I would (I told customer that I was selling all kinds of stuff, but I would start off by selling baby products, so they told me to just write that I sold baby products, but I ended up selling fitness products as well). Now I have started a new store with a new company on a new address so that I could get a new payment provider, I just started making money with my new store and I were excited to finally be able to pay off the debt Elavon had put me in, but now my current payment provider found my personal name in the credit card blacklist and immediately suspended my account. THIS MEANS THAT I CAN NO LONGER RUN AN ONLINE BUSINESS PERIOD! Several years of learning about running online businesses just out the window because of Elavon! I will try and contact them again to get me removed from the blacklist and if they refuse again, I will not hesitate to take legal action. I have spoken to my lawyer and he told me that it looked like they had mishandled my case and I could potentially sue for damages. All-in-all this is by far the worst experience I have ever had with any company and I would strongly advise you to stay away!
Chris Stumpfegger
Stay away. Canadian POS talked me in to signing up with promises of cheaper fees. First time I tried to charge a card on line it did not work, so I asked them to close my account. They keep charging my account and I might have to close my bank account to get rid of them. Between Canadian POS and Elavon, they keep pointing the finger at the other. These guys are scammers!
Jeremy Michael Kemmerling
I should have sold my soul to the devil and done business with hitler and i would be a better person than having done business with Elevaon and ladco leasing. They are worse than cable companies and are outright thieves. 20 years owning a business this is the worst experience I have ever had. They will take your money and then some. It never ends.
Meghna
Worst customer service. I just joined 3 weeks ago… and needed some help and I found them to be very unresponsive. I was shuffled one department to another. My phone calls were not responded to. And I said I was looking to move to another merchant service they said sorry we could not help and let me go as if it didnt matter. Overall I’ve had a horrible experience.
Marta
The security department at Elavon’s should be trained in customer service, manners and proper procedures.
A very entitled woman, named Samatha Wyrick, closed my account because she “couldn’t access my web page” and because the street address I provided wasn’t my brick and mortar store but a UPS mailbox. I explained that I’m an online business and, therefore, the address that I provided is my mailbox. Instead of apologising for her mistake, she continued her rant telling me that my business was a “security threat” (very strong words if you consider her explanation) and that it was “under investigation” – LOL they close the account, put you out of business and then they investigate).
She never notified me about this, she didn’t try to contact me, she didn’t read my documents where I clearly say I’m an online business. Nothing, she just silently closed my account and left me to find out 6 days later. Thank god I have other payment options, otherwise, I would have been out of business for 6 days!!! When I asked where to escalate this issue, she told me I can only go through her!!
They are retaining my founds for 90 days for something that wasn’t my mistake… unacceptable! I didn’t do anything wrong, she was just incapable of reading my application to notice that I am an online business, she wasn’t able to access my website… which can’t be true because I have had sales every day on my site, I even had Elavon customer service employees access my store to check if the issue was on their side and they accessed with no issues… she is just illiterate and can’t use a computer or can’t spell my 4-letter website address right!
I should have read the reviews before working with them, there are horrible reviews everywhere. Do not work with them, this is just the drop that spilled the water, I had been considering changing to a different merchant because they never take accountability for anything, they blame the payment processor every time there is a problem. They take over 10 business days to process customer refunds!! This company is just horrible.
I have been trying to escalate this for two days and it’s impossible. Stay away from this company, especially if you are a small business like me, they will have no consideration and will treat you like garbage. Don’t believe me? google “Elavon reviews”!
Excalibur Exasperated with Elavon
We have dealt with Elavon, as our credit card processor, for many years. It is nigh unto IMPOSSIBLE to get a rep on the phone. We had an issue where a certain transaction would not “go through”. When we finally reached someone, were told there was a “cap” on our account. We are a fine jewelry store, and have expensive things to sell – no one told us about any “cap” that was in place. That, was resolved.
HOWEVER, in the last 2 years, we changed the name of the business. We told them to close our old account, and we opened a new one. Due to some unforeseen difficulties, we were not as “on top” of our bookkeeping as usual, and found out almost a year and a half later, that they were STILL charging us for the old account. In total, they took almost $3,000 out of our bank account, for the old account which no longer exists!
To top that, when we log into their “mypaymentsinsider.com” website, to check our account, the account number listed is still the OLD one.
I have emailed them, repeatedly, with no responses. I have been on the phone with them several times, each time getting a runaround. The first person I was able to speak with said she was only authorized to refund us back 3 months – but has done nothing. That was over a month ago. I have spoken with them several times since, and been promised a resolution. As I said – that was over a month ago.
I emailed them more than once, through their “Customer Service at Elavon” email links, and — no response other than an automated one.
We are not happy at all, with the service that Elavon is providing us, and warn others that they will promise you excellent customer service, and deliver – basically – none.
Very, very unhappy with them at this point in time.
George
I own a construction company that does about 1M a year in sales. I do no advertising all referral. This year one of my clients recommended I start taking credit cards. My average sale is 500-10,000. I filled out an application with Elavon…super nice sales people…they explained everything…they checked my credit, credentials and bank account information and approved my company.
I had my customer on one phone and their again super nice support person on the other phone for help with entering my first sale of 6500.00 on line. It was approved and I thought all was good.
The next day received email the funds were being transferred in my account. The next day I received an email from their Loss Prevention dept. that the sale was on hold. They asked me to call and talk to a designated person. (It took 4 days of phone tag to get in touch with this person never at their desk) I finally made contact and they sent a list of items they needed to approve the sale.
Most were reasonable like copies of business account statements etc. The last written request, I felt was totally unprofessional for a bank… they asked for pictures of my work trucks inside and out, and my home office! With all the bank breaches now days…. where are these pictures going? Giving cyber criminal all my bank info, address and pictures of trucks, inventory, tools, and home office etc. is not acceptable request. It borders on being very creepy.
They turned down the sale and I chose to close the account. This is going over line, they have your money but to get it… it they ask you for more information than was asked for in the first application and was verified by them. This asking almost borders on extortion. The loss prevention department and their supervisors could care less they were loosing an account that could make them a lot of money and pays their wages. They did not want to work with me alternatives to keep the account. Very sad!
FYI…I received the sales information from Costco they did take the complaint and apologized but did not do much to get anyone at Elavon to respond.
Take your business elsewhere!
Surengean Curtseit
I tried Elavon and the card processor didn’t work with my IPhone 6. Returned the card swiper and I didn’t received my payment back. Elavon has very unreliable communication, the account manager did not respond to my numerous emails, their software people are just kids that don’t know what they are doing!
This post will help: Best Mobile Card Processing Apps
-Phillip
Rafael K
By far the worst merchant card service company in existence. For a 300 dollar transaction they took out over 30000 dollars out of my account . No that is not a joke. This was all because of one customer who filed a dispute and I had proof she got her services but they did not care. Seriously stay away from them. They are tricky as you do not know you are working with them directly so make sure whoever you deal with does not work with them.
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
-Phillip
Weng
They closed my account without transferring my money to my account. Only use the machine for 1 week, 2 weeks later and has not recieved the shipping tag. Funding department seems to know nothing on how to tranfer money. I was advised to wait 5 to 20 days!!!!
If you have a small business , dont even consider to do business with this [email protected]@
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Weng
July 16 , 2019 i started using Elavon machine. July 23, 2019 i closed my account because i did not receive the money that was processed at their machine. Until july 31, 2019, all the person i talked to said i provided the wrong banking information. The fact is i provided all the necessary documents including a void cheque. August 1, 2019 they charged my account with all fees and monthly fee, application fee, transaction fees etc. Amounting to $185.65. That is for using their machine for six days.
Still the funds were not yet transferred. Last week i was told my money will be transferred today August 12, 2019. I just emailed them and the reply was they misinformed me and i should receive my money next week, August 19, 2019.
The email also mentioned there’s nothing they can do to accelerate the process.
So please people in Canada with small business…stay away from this company.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Krista Schmaltz
Elavon has been nothing but a headache since they convinced me to transfer from my existing merchant. They have shut down my machine twice within a week stating they cant continue service unless I sign a second lease for another machine as I can not run a business that provides a service and a retail product without running the service through one machine and the retail product through the other machine. They state I will be fined for not doing this, just to bully me into leasing another machine. I have one business, under one name, do my taxes and banking under one account… under no circumstance should I be forced to have another machine due to their reasoning. Its bad business on their part and I will never recommend to anyone looking for merchant services.
This post will help: Best All-Purpose Merchant Account Providers
-Phillip
Casem
Company is garbage! After opening my 8th location with them, they hit my credit 3 times on the last location, even after paying in full for the machines.
Debit machine wasn’t up for my grand opening and they had a week to get it up and running. Customer service is CRAP along with their rates. This company doesn’t give a sh*t. Save your money and time!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Doug
My first transaction was a failure. To many Elavon staff involved and failure in paper work. Asked to return now. Going to regular banking now.
This post will help: Best All-Purpose Merchant Accounts
-Phillip
Erwin
Just had this payment process company for a week and still has not transferred my company’s sale to our account. I found out they mess up my banking routing number. Left messages to customer service and president voice mail but still no call back. Business owners in Canada stay away from this company!!!
This post will help: Best Payment Processors for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Steven C Skwarkowski
A complete mixed bag of ****!
I wish I could say great things about Elavon so Ill do my best. This is like the most toxic relationship you have ever had that ended in bitter divorce and you’re sitting wondering what you could have possibly done wrong to have to deal with people this incompetent.
The Good:
1. When things worked as expected, it all worked great.
2. They seem somewhat capable of resolving basic problems
The Bad:
1. They had the wrong legal business name on the account. No idea how that happened when I setup the account through my Bank which owns Elavon…
2. In the middle of the Christmas season where retail sales are almost always much higher, my account was “flagged” by there computer systems. That’s understandable, stuff happens even if it sucks. The issue couldn’t be resolved for nearly a week as they were snowed out of the office….We lost nearly $10K in sales since we couldn’t process.
3. They don’t actually do anything to help you during a dispute process. They simply hand off info, don’t actually do anything
4. The last and single most incompetent issue is a refund was supposed to be issued, which Im sure on there end shows it was issued. Yet, those funds never once are in my possession or even in my bank account. This took over 12 phone calls, multiple emails and countless hours of complete and utter butt-fuckery! Here we are now 75-days later and my last attempt to get anyone there to do there actual there fucking job….
This post will help: Best All-Purpose Merchant Accounts
-Phillip
KELLY CHOI
Bad customer service our e commerce account was blocked out due to non compliance security verification on the account. we have attempt to call several times only getting voicemail blocking e commerce is shutting down your business without advising customer with any circumstances. what kind a processor is this and they are affiliated with US bank card processor No one is trying to take responsibility just tell customer to call back.
terrible service this people needs to be aware it’s serious legal matter to close out someone’s account without default..
This post will help: Best E-Commerce Merchant Accounts
-Phillip
Jason Decker
This company is a scam & uses unethical & illegal practices. I have filed complaints with the BBB & FTC against them. Their rep Ian is a piece of human garbage & insults you over the phone, degrades you & feels like a real big man behind that phone.
He is clearly an incredible loser who only has a tiny ounce of importance when he is bullying people behind his phone.
This company stole money directly from me. Stay away from them & hope the BBB & FTC can take action to prevent others from having to deal with them.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Hyo Lim
They promise one thing….and deliver another!!!
We were excited to finally find a decent Merchant Account, we loved what we heard and we decided to make the switch. The first three months everything was fine, then after that, our rates changed and our fees were just as high or higher than our bank. PLUS we still had to pay for this expensive machine, locked into it for four years….We would leave messages for Carlton, with often no call back, finally we were able to get hold of Carlton’s manager David Williams and we had a conference call, and how did that end…it ended with nothing being changed. This is NOT the merchant for you until you want to pay more, wait two days to get your money, and never have calls your returned. We are currently looking to change again, but we had hopes that Elavon would call and explain what happened for the HIGH increase and make it right, but so far…..NOTHING. This is very disappointing especially because we only tried this because it was from Costco….HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Alexandra Glenn
Horrible customer service with rude and incompetent employees. i have been in the set up process for over a week, they have no sincerity to my situation and when they don’t like what you say they just hang up on you. This kind of service is detrimental to small businesses.
I will never recommend this company to anyone!!!!!
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Gregory Sims
My whole account is messed up, no customer service. Their fees are ridiculous. Stay away.
This post will help: Best Nutraceutical Merchant Accounts
-Phillip
Doug Davey
I have been in business over 30years and never dealt with a more inept company than Elavon.
We recently changed to a different provider and Elavon continued to take charges out of our account. I have spent at least 5 hours on the phone trying to get the money back with all sorts of excuses. 6 months have gone by and still no help. I highly recommend using anyone but Elavon as your provider. They will only cost you time and money.
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip