Electronic Merchant Systems 2023: Reviews & Complaints
(800) 615-1330 Company Overview
Electronic Merchant Systems is an Ohio-based merchant account provider that first opened in 1987. The company specializes in providing a variety of merchant services to U.S. small businesses. Electronic Merchant Systems is owned by or appears to also do business as the Francis David Corporation, and it seems that one of the two entities is a direct processor. In 2018, EMS acquired Total Touch POS, and in 2022, they purchased a majority interest in Paysley.
Payment Processing
EMS provides payment processing services that enable merchants to accept credit and debit card payments. They offer a range of processing options, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile payments, and online payment gateways. EMS supports a variety of payment types, including credit and debit cards, e-wallets, and gift cards.
Payment Gateway
EMS’s payment gateway is a secure platform that enables merchants to accept online payments. The gateway supports a range of payment types, including credit and debit cards, e-wallets, and ACH payments. Merchants can customize the gateway to match their branding and accept payments through their website or mobile app.
Online Payment Processing by Electronic Merchant Solutions
EMS offers payment gateways for e-commerce businesses, enabling them to securely process credit and debit card transactions online. The service is designed to work seamlessly with many popular e-commerce platforms.
Virtual Terminal Service
For businesses that operate over the phone or via mail order, EMS’s virtual terminal service allows them to process card payments without the need for physical equipment. This service involves manually entering card details into a secure online system.
Mobile Payment Processing
EMS provides mobile payment processing solutions. This enables businesses to accept payments on the go using a mobile device, which can be particularly beneficial for businesses that often operate outside of traditional retail environments.
Customer Loyalty Programs
Apart from payment processing, EMS also offers customer loyalty and gift card programs. These are designed to help businesses increase customer engagement and loyalty, potentially boosting overall revenue.
Electronic Merchant Services Point of Sale
EMS offers POS solutions, including the Total Touch and MaxxPay countertop terminals. Total Touch is specifically for restaurants and bars and features open table management, online and mobile ordering, employee scheduling and timekeeping, cloud-based reporting, and tab management, while MaxxPay offers cloud-based software, inventory management, employee permissions and timekeeping, transaction reporting, EMV, and NFC.
Location & Ownership
Electronic Merchant Systems is a registered ISO/MSP of BMO Harris Bank, Chesapeake Bank, Esquire Bank, and Merrick Bank with headquarters relocated in 2018 to 250 W. Huron Rd., Suite 400, Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Previously, headquarters were located at 5005 Rockside Road, Penthouse 100, Independence, Ohio 44131. Dan Neistadt is listed as the company’s CEO.
Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers an 18-month contract with…
- Complaints & Service: Has received more than 70 public…
- BBB Rating: Has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau. It has received…
- Sales & Marketing: Hires independent sales agents and has received…
Electronic Merchant Systems Customer Reviews
Here's What Their Clients Say
Key Points |
|
|---|---|
| Total Online Complaints | 70+ |
| Live Customer Support | Yes |
| Most Common Complaint | Hidden Fees |
| Recent Lawsuits | Yes |
Common Complaint Themes
We are currently able to locate over 70 negative Electronic Merchant Systems reviews, many of which outright accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam. Common complaints among clients include misrepresentation of rates, expensive contracts and equipment leases, high-pressure sales tactics, poor customer service, high termination fees, and poor treatment of employees. Although the company is technically showing a moderate number of complaints for its size and time in business, the consistency of the issues noted by complainants has lowered its grade severely. If you have your own Electronic Merchant Systems review to make, please do so in the comments below.
Serious Cause For Concern
There are several complaints from merchants stating that Electronic Merchant Systems hiked their monthly fees without notification just as their contract renewed for another term of anywhere from one to four years. Businesses were forced to continue with the higher fees or cancel and incur a large cancellation penalty. One merchant also reported that he had to pay a $1,500 cancellation penalty for a terminal lease because Electronic Merchant Systems threatened to sue if he didn’t. In another complaint, an Electronic Merchant Systems representative responded publicly and condescendingly to a client complaint by accusing the business owner of being a liar.
Electronic Merchant Systems Lawsuits
In March 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint against Global Payments, Electronic Merchant Services, Frontline Processing, and Pathfinder Payment Solutions in connection with a “phantom debt” scheme that allegedly attempted to collect nonexistent debts from consumers. The CFPB’s complaint alleges that these four payment processors facilitated transactions for multiple debt collection companies owned by Marcus Brown and Mohan Bagga. According to the complaint, these debt collection companies used robocalls to target millions of consumers, who they then threatened in order to obtain debt payments that were not actually owed or that didn’t even exist. The CFPB further alleges that Global Payments “ignored numerous red flags of the debt collectors’ illegal conduct, including consumer disputes that described the scheme and communication problems with the debt collectors.” A federal judge dismissed the case in August 2017 due to the CFPB’s failure to adhere to his instructions.
2015 saw EMS involved in a lawsuit concerning the use of a third-party calling service to a small business, which alleged that the practice engaged in violated the Washington Automatic Dialing and Answering Devices Act. The judge ruled that the calling company was exempt from liability under the TCPA, ending the case.
EMS lost a lawsuit in 2019 that was brought against it by one of its selling agencies, Choice. The judge in the case ruled that EMS had broken its contract with Choice in regards to residuals owed to Choice and EMS was ordered to pay $5,527,791.29 to Choice.
In 2020, an additional lawsuit was brought against EMS by an individual over the alleged infringement of patents. The case seems to have been settled out of court.
OHVA, Inc. filed a 2022 lawsuit against Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) for breach of contract and fraud in a dispute over credit card processing services. OHVA alleged that EMS violated their agreement by failing to provide certain services and charging excessive fees, among other claims. EMS denied the allegations and filed counterclaims for breach of contract and defamation. The court ultimately ruled in favor of EMS, finding that OHVA breached the contract by failing to pay for the services provided by EMS. The court also dismissed EMS’s counterclaims for defamation.
Electronic Merchant Systems Customer Support
The Electronic Merchant Systems website lists a dedicated phone support number, live chat, and support email all listed as available 24/7, but EMS clearly does not do an effective job of resolving merchant issues in-house.
Electronic Merchant Systems Customer Service Numbers
- (800) 615-1330 – Toll-Free General Customer Service
- (866) 472-2141 – Sales
- (800) 726-2117 – Information
Businesses can expect better assistance from a top-rated credit card processor for customer support.
Electronic Merchant Systems Online Ratings
Here's How They Rate Online
Online Ratings Summary |
|
|---|---|
| BBB Rating | 4.32 |
| Trustpilot Rating | 2.1 |
| ComplaintsBoard Rating | N/A |
| Average Rating | 3.21 |
BBB Rating Analysis
Electronic Merchant Systems has an average customer review rating of 4.32/5 stars on Better Business Bureau based on 82 customer reviews. The company has received 90 complaints closed in the last 3 years, with 34 complaints closed in the last 12 months. Common themes in the reviews and complaints include issues with billing and collection, as well as some customers expressing dissatisfaction with the company’s response to their concerns.
Negative Feedback
Risk department turned my account off after 2 months. This is crazy. We are a brand-new company. We were just getting started. We didn’t know the rules. They do not help small businesses. The issue is/was we have 2 chargebacks in 2+ months – less than 1 a month. They both were erroneous chargebacks. The risk department refused to listen. We have turned in the paperwork both chargebacks. Details: Chargeback #1 was for: $922.16 – August. This is a customer of mine. He was one of the first charges of our new account. We had REFUNDED this chargeback 10 days before the chargeback. The customer knew he had a refund and the bank knew this and EMS certainly knew this. The reason for the chargebacks/refund is your Risk Department called him(with out letting me know) and scared him. He did not know who EMS was and did not know the charges because of EMS. I am not sure what they said to him. We refunded the charges the next day after speaking with risk. Then 10 days later his bank charged back the charge. EMS has records of this. Obviously we won the chargeback. This chargeback NEVER should have happened. We still speak with this customer and he will pay us again. Business to business charge. We turned the paper work in showing this was a good charge. The Risk Department caused this. Our money was returned from the bank. Chargeback #2 for: $746.16 – September. This was a good charge as well. The issue is the company’s Office Manager/Account did not recognize the charge on my customer card. She charged back the fees without confirming/asking about the charge. This is a good charge. We turned in the paperwork. We will win the chargeback. All we are asking is you give us another chance. This is highly unfair. I know we need to get our rate down – however it’s 2 chargeback in 2 months – both were initially good charges. This company does NOT help small businesses. We want our account or new account and given a second chance. These we two erroneous chargebacks – the risk depratment refused to listen. We want to hear from the corporate offices – they need to know what their risk department is doing.
– Complaint from September 28, 2023
Positive Feedback
I had an issue with with the service and they had takin care of it.
– Review from September 1, 2023
Source: Better Business Bureau
Trustpilot Rating Analysis
Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS) has a 2.1 rating on Trustpilot, with a majority of the 21 reviews being negative. The common themes in these reviews include complaints about poor service, bad communication, undisclosed fees, and issues with fund holds and payment processing. Many reviewers express frustration with the company’s practices and customer service.
Negative Feedback
I wish I was more educated on worst payment providers in USA as EMS made the top 10 in many lists, and I surely know why. Pathetic service, bad communication, cancellation fee undisclosed, payment scrutiny, money on hold, late payment fulfillment… You keep naming it. They are working out of a boiler room and have only got a few reps. Only person I spoke from risk ever, Patrick, who is an unreliable, dishonest, and extremely narcissist, and will not care if your business is bled dry…They never funded any one of my payments for months. After requesting to cancel immediately, they waited a week to send an email to me asking $575 to cancel. This happened at the end of the month, so you are sure they just did it to charge you the monthly fee as you go. What a good bye and a good rip off. I can’t believe banks such as these are allowed to operate. They are worst than scammers. Don’t choose them, go with your local bank instead. – Review from November 1, 2023
Not worth it. They charge some pretty absurd fees that are random, and they also charge a massive contract cancellation fee. Of course, this fee is written in very tiny fine print at the bottom of page 5 of the contract, so that you won’t actually know about it until the time comes. Very disappointed with the company. – Review from October 17, 2023
Positive Feedback
Thank you, Joy. I had some negative experiences, but after talking with a woman named Joy from Nigeria, I have to say that she turned it all around. – Review from July 26, 2023
Source: Trustpilot
ComplaintsBoard Rating Analysis
The complaints page for Electronic Merchant Systems on ComplaintsBoard.com features several customer complaints. These complaints highlight issues such as poor customer service, difficulties in resolving account problems, and dissatisfaction with fees and contract terms.
Negative Feedback
Today, on 4/19/2022, I attempted to resolve an alleged balance with Electronic Payment Solutions. The representative was rude, cutting me off multiple times. I offered to pay $150 of the $250 balance, but the representative questioned why I wouldn’t pay the full amount. Previously, this representative had been disrespectful, doubting my intention to call back and complaining about his efforts to reach me. This lack of professionalism and customer service is unacceptable.
– Complaint from K. Kulas
My business has struggled to resolve an issue with Electronic Merchant Systems for weeks. We’ve been ignored by the retention department and customer service. We wanted to end our relationship with EMS due to poor service and high fees, but faced an early contract termination fee of around $700 and were told a new credit card company would have to pay approximately $1400 to take over our account. The fees are outrageous, and the service has been terrible. I will never work with this company again.
– Complaint from J. Howell
Positive Feedback
There are no positive reviews published about Electronic Merchant Systems on the ComplaintsBoard.com website.
Source: ComplaintsBoard.com
Electronic Merchant Systems Fees, Rates & Costs
A Closer Look at The Contract
Key Points |
|
|---|---|
| Processing Rates | 1.00% - 4.99% |
| Monthly & Annual Fees | Yes |
| Cancellation Penalties | Yes |
| Equipment Leasing | Yes |
Costly Contract Terms
The standard Electronic Merchant Systems contract is an 18-month agreement with automatic renewal for another 18 months, an early termination fee of $595, a monthly $50 PCI non-compliance fee, a semi-annual “technology upgrade and update” fee of $75, a monthly minimum fee of $25, and tiered pricing. The “technology upgrade and update” fee likely takes the place of a PCI Compliance fee, but it is poorly defined. Overall, these contract terms are very expensive when compared to industry averages and are far from competitive with the cheapest merchant accounts available.
Avoid Equipment Leases
We have also located a handful of business complaints indicating that Electronic Merchant Systems signed them up for expensive equipment leases through Lease Finance Group, a DBA of Northern Leasing. Although it may be that independent sales agents were responsible for this rather than the company itself, any partnership with Northern Leasing should be a red flag for business owners. Northern Leasing and its alternate names have a very poor reputation within the industry. It should be noted that most credit card terminals can be purchased for under $500. Non-cancellable, long-term leases mean a client can pay thousands for that same equipment making them a contract term to avoid.
We would encourage businesses to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.
Electronic Merchant Systems offers access to virtual terminals
Electronic Merchant Systems Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs
Should You Work For Them?
Key Points |
|
|---|---|
| Uses Independent Resellers | Yes |
| Telemarketing | Yes |
| Misleading Marketing | No |
| Discloses All Important Terms | No |
Sales Complaints
Electronic Merchant Systems appears to utilize telemarketing and an ISO/Independent Agent program to advertise its services. These hiring practices tend to generate reports of poor training and a focus on high commissions, and EMS is no exception. We are able to locate numerous Electronic Merchant Systems reviews that accuse agents of neglecting to disclose important fees and contract provisions such as service agreement length, cancellation fees, and lease terms. Some clients also report aggressive or high-pressure sales tactics by agents.
This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
What Agents Say
There are a few comments posted by current and former employees of the company who claim that these practices are allowed (if not encouraged) by the company. Taken as a whole, these factors warrant a “D” rating in our opinion. If you suspect that an EMS representative has snuck hidden fees into your contract, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit.
Our Electronic Merchant Systems Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts
Electronic Merchant Systems rates as a substandard credit card processing provider according to our rating criteria. The company has a moderate number of complaints outside of the BBB and a high number of complaints with the BBB, but its expensive contract terms are the largest factor lowering its score in this review. Business owners are advised to read their contracts with great care to ensure that they will not be paying excessive or bogus fees. As EMS is one of the lowest-rated payment processors on CPO, we advise signing up with a reputable provider to get the best service and rates.
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Barry J. Lind
Stay away from this company! You have been warned. Their risk deprtment is a joke. They called one of my customers and scared him – he didn’t know who EMS was. It turned into a chargeback – we refunded it before that(long time customer) and they closed my account. This has been a horrific experience from the start. This is a third rate credit card processor.
Larry Monroe
DO NOT do business with this company!!! WARNING!!!!! Horrible processor. HIgh rates. Mabe me take a rserve. One big scam. There must be something wrong with this company. Not sure how they stay in business. I am filing a complaint with the Ohio atornet generals office.
Sandy
Ems horrible processing company beware!! I’m contacting better business bureau, they have over charged me for the last time their cancellation fee is horrendous. Customer service is uneducated I must have 8 names to this company just to answer a few simple questions. Worst mistake in my 32 year career.
B CHAMBERLAIN
Couldn’t agree more! Business owners BEWARE!
Pilar Ortiz
I am having the worst experience with EMS. I opened a small business, and all my client transactions were never sent to my bank account. I have been trying to cancel my account, which has been impossible. I won’t recommend them.
Ashley
This is been the worst experience ever. First – I signed up for an account with a payment processing and gateway company for my online business named Bankful. The rep for this company is excessively delayed in responding to my questions and does not provide key details about THEIR process. I complete two site verifications (surprise) – two separate visits because of the company’s mistake and misinformation – only to get to the last phase of the process and my account is still not active to process payments. On top of that – NOW they have me calling ANOTHER gateway company to set up the portal – which is what they had led me to believe they do themselves. And this third-party company has no account of my business at all. I would never recommend them to anyone. I’m currently searching for other alternatives.
Sherry
This company steals money from you. I started selling my artwork online as digital downloads. This was clearly posted in the listing and under terms. I got a message from EMS that they were cancelling my account because I had accrued more than 4 chargeback. I had a heart attack right after opening my store, followed by COVID. The rep that I spoke with was rude, yelling at me, saying that I had not supplied the products. When I explained to him that they were digital downloads so there is no way that they didn’t receive their orders. I also post in the listing that if they have issues with their downloads to notify me, and I will make sure that they receive their order. When I told him that he shut up. He had nothing to come back at me with. However, I got a letter from them that they are withholding my funds, thousands of dollars for 210 days until the complaints were resolved. 210 days is 7 months. Noone else does that. It’s a scam. They probably keep your money and invest it, and then give you your money back after they have made a big profit. I recommend this company to NOONE. They dishonest and do not help merchants at all.
Bianca Hallett
This processor is AWFUL! They’ll hold your money for months on end just trying to figure out their own mistake! Jake Barnhart “Account Executive” who is apparently the “highest person you’ll ever be able to talk to” is useless and spineless. No one takes responsibility for their mess ups and they just blame others. The fees are significantly higher than any other processor also. Overall, waste of time and money.
DO NOT USE!
James Smith
WORST CEO OF 2022 Daniel Neistadt. WORST CEO
Benjamin
Worst company ever stole $37k from my comapny and hangs up phone, rude, will not respond, they play fumble football with the phone and cover each other lies. Email to start a legal battle to get our money back! [email protected]
Jon Payne
Absolute worst company I’ve dealt with. I process very few credit card transactions but they continually increased their pricing and then tried to charge my a $600 cancellation fee. They’re a joke.
Kara Clay
Worst company ever! Customer service is horrible! Don’t even have an email for customer service. Can’t get problems resolved. Horrible!
Pam
Absolutely the worst credit card process company we have used in our office in the last 20 years!!!!!!
Jack Kodar
Stay damn far from this company btw what’s there legal name seems like there hiding it lol
They did not explain anything regarding the 2 year contract and monthly fees which makes this place a scam!!!!!!!! Crazy fees to cancel!! They should be ashamed
Cindy Blackwelder
If you’re looking for a Merchant CC processor, This is not the company you want to deal with if you’re a new business. Except you want your funds held for an unreasonable amount of time for any reason as their RISK department so wishes. Their rules are not spelled out, and they will give you any amount of time as a wait period while they hold onto your rolling reserve for as long as they want. Nothing this company says, is ever on the agreement you sign.
Their chargeback processing fee is the highest I’ve seen $45 per chargeback, that is besides the % charged on CC and as monthly fees.
You need to steer clear of this company if you wish to grow. they’re still holding my reserve funding for 210days. I’ve never heard of that from any cc company whatsoever for chargebacks, I’ve asked other people who uses different companies, and the most i heard was 120days, some 90days, 60days. but this crooked company with their rude Customer service Representative in Risk Department Emma, they will frustrate the life out of you. I’m currently seeking help to get my funds with them with the consumer protection agency, Any other assistance to get this good for nothing company to operate by the book is welcome.
Sadique Mahbub
Opened an account, was told $29.95 monthly subscription fee, however they charged $75 per month. When I was frustrated, wanted to close the account, they want termination fee $595.00. This company is fraud.
Casey Farrell
Trying to close my account cost over $600.00 in fees.
Then they tried to push it out one more year.
Feels like fraud when you send in a document then they say it’s for 2022 not 2021. Stay away!!!!!!
Sarah Bradley
Steals money from you without telling you!!! Money that is not in the agreement!
Kafoa Tamini
EMS is the worst Merchant service I’ve never deal with. They keep stealing my money from my bank account without my consent. This company is not helping small companies. They are the biggest scam. They are all lying and very contradicting each other. I’m currently shocked and I’m in pain. They are still holding 15% of my money. They’re me a lot of money. The little money I’ve saved so I can feed my kids for the rest of the week is gone. EMS took my money from bank account. I can’t even sleep.
Karl Whiteside
They are the worst! A predatory company. As new businesses we already have cards stacked against us without companies like this betting on and looking to profit from our defeat! Avoid this company at all costs!!!!!
Clifford Hoffer
This was the worst possible experience I’ve ever had with a merchant processor, they started us out with a 25k monthly limit in Oct 2020, it was increased every month to 200k by February 2021, there was zero chargebacks for 4 months, a few chargebacks came in as expected, most if not all were card holder fraud, and on top of it 80% of which were reversed. EMS did not care, did not work with us at all, they just closed the account and is holding over $60,000.00 of our money, stating that we went over the 2% chargebacks, that’s 98% satisfied customers, yet they blamed it on the bank and closed the account, now I’m stuck waiting for my money which they say will be returned in 211 days from my last batch, its ridiculous as there is very little risk as dictated by our history. On top of that since the account has been closed the chargebacks we won are supposed to be credit to our account or god forbid be returned to us, they don’t even acknowledge this, so I’m left in the dark wondering if Ill ever get my money back.
I warn every company that is thinking about working with EMS to be very cautious, they do not stand by their merchants and will close your account and keep the reserve as long as they see fit.
Also I am taking a big risk by sending this review as EMS has the capacity to put our company on MATCH, but I don’t care, these thieves need to be exposed for whom they really are, we wary and think twice before you engage with this dishonorable, morally bankrupt entity called EMS.
Chris Pederson
Thanks for explaining that a standard contract for an Electronic Merchant Systems is an 18-month agreement. I think this is a good way for clients to test out if it works for them. They’ll go through a full year and then some to make adjustments.
susan labish
After a fire destroyed our place of business, I notified them that I would be closing my account. It took them 28 days to get back to me with forms. Then they charged me for the PCI fee, knowing I was closed. After being with them for years, I was highly disappointed in how they handled this.
CPO
Susan,
Sorry to hear about the fire and the consequent closing of your business. This article should help you address your account closure: How to Cancel a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee. Hopefully, that offers you some relief.
-Phillip
Andrew
Just started using these guys and was recommended by authorize.net. Im very disappointed and have been charged more in fees than I have made in profit. Stay away from this company.
Rita
This company has lousy customer service and high bogus fees. Consumer BEWARE !
This post will help: Best Payment Processors for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Rachel Barndt
I was on the phone for a solid 30 minutes just now with this lady. She probably could tell in my voice that I am younger (18), and must have assumed that due to my age I am simply incapable of using my brain correctly. I have never left a bad review anywhere but I felt genuinely talked down to by this woman. I did not catch her name although I wish I had. I felt very dehumanized and treated with INCREDIBLY low respect–which was upsetting. Maybe she had a bad day, I’d love to give her the benefit of the doubt. But she seemed VERY disappointed to be on the phone with me and that she had to help me with something my manager asked me to do. I feel very belittled and frustrated right now through how she spoke to me.
This post will help: Best Payment Processors for Great Customer Service
-Phillip
Candice Cooper
Company charges crazy fees and will not deposit any transactions to your account if you have had a charge back. They also keep a “Reserve Fund” which the only way you get back is if you close the account. I can not wait until my contract is up so I can cancel. I am currently using another provider while I wait for my contract to end.
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Patricia Eaker
This company has a clause in their contract that it auto renews every 18 months without notification. They also raise fees without any warning. They charged me a $795.00 cancellation fee. Their contract says $595.00 but if they loan you their equipment it jumps to $795.00 even though you return the equipment. If you don’t return it you are charged another $300.00. Customer retention is unwilling to discuss anything with you. It’s your fault if you do not remember that their contract auto renews. They also charge PCI non compliance fee of $50.00 per month. It’s your problem if you have trouble renewing your PCI compliance on the website. They charge a $75.00 software upgrade twice a year and a $10.00 monthly access fee as well. After pricing other services I found that they are charging fees that other companies do not. Customer service is poor at best. They are unwilling to work with their merchants. I’m glad I left them but losing $795.00 in a very small business hurts. I would not recommend doing business with them to anyone unless you want to overpay for poor service.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Pet Suppliers
-Phillip
Linn Cannoy
This company is totally crooked. In January we had a chargeback – over $1900 was deducted from our account. We disputed the chargeback. Then in May they deducted the same amount AGAIN from our account. Was told it would be refunded in 48-72 hours. NOW we are told that EMSplus closed our account and we have to wait 180 days to be refunded our monies. This for a deduction that should have never been done again. Do not use this company for any of your processing needs!! There are better companies out there!!!!
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
yidel
As mentioned in the review they are full of hidden fees, which ended up costing me over $1700 over one year without account activity
This post will help: Find and Eliminate Hidden Costs In Your Monthly Statement
-Phillip
Patty
I have been with them for about 4 years…..no other company has been able to beat their rates….Angie Adkins is great…very helpful…..great company.
CPO
Hi Patty,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!
John B
Stay away from EMS. After having to cancel my two merchant accounts, they’re requiring me to pay $1200 even though we processed zero dollars and the accounts were open for 13 days total. Mike T was a complete jerk, threatened me with collection agency referrerals if I didn’t pay EMS the $1200 to terminate. I would not recommend this processor to anyone, I’ll be leaving honest reviews on EMS on every site I can find!
From The Editor
This Post Might Help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
Steven
Same experience. I made no sales in 2 months (that involved credit card processing), and found out EMS has a $50 monthly fee (that was never mentioned anywhere), in addition to $25/mo for Authorize.net. I had to pay $595 just to terminate my account. (It also took me 1 month just to get approved for EMS)
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Bob
Had problems every time we use it always delays in payment . We did a charge on over a week ago and still haven’t received payment . And when you call you get an answering machine They have bad reviews and over 100 complaints at the bbb. Calling the states attorney today..
From The Editor
This Post Might Help: Best Merchant Accounts for Contractors
Maria arends
Very rude customers service..especially JESSE from technical support…as costumer services you should help costumer with they are problem..not yelling and no give costumer to explaining they are problem. Very disrespectful..
I like the company but very upset every time got problem have to fight with costumer service…
I think EMS has to train they are costumer service to be nice and helpfull…i
From The Editor
This Post Might Help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
rosa
today i talked to a nasty lady at the help desk from ems
i was just trying to get help bec my account transactions was getting error, and got help from a friend next door bec i dont speak english too good and she got nasty with him too, very reluctant to help not nice at all with customers,and she even hanged up on me.about 12:pm on 6/3/18
i didin”t get her name she should be fired.
Jesse
EMS used to be a decent option for small business owners to use as a cc / payment processing company. Unfortunately the free reader has limited compatibility, their fees are no longer competitive, and their customer service is abysmal.
There are several better options out there, I do not recommend wasting your time with garbage EMS.
Carl H
We had an account with EMS for 6 years with no problem at all. Then our gateway screwed up some subscriptions, raising our chargeback rate to 2% for one month. EMS immediately froze our account with no notice and shut down our merchant account. I explained the problem, that we fixed it (it wasn’t even our fault) offered a way to get our chargeback rate under 1% and they didn’t care. We lost six figures a year because of this.
EMS also told me they hadn’t processed any of our chargebacks for at least one year. We faxed them, they received them, but they never handled a single chargeback for over a year. So we lost all our chargebacks due to their failure to respond to them using our responses we sent EMS.
Laura Y
EMS is a scam! Stay away from this dishonest company. They wanted to keep my money from 90 days!! before releasing to me?? I cancelled and they still charged for the money I never received. Shame on you EMS!!!
tuscl founder
Very unhelpful after abrupt termination of my adult high risk merchant account. Could not provide a letter in writing explaining the exact reason for termination.
I was with EMS for 5 years. Chargebacks < 1%.
I would never recommend EMS to anyone.
April
Could you please tell me who you ended up going with?
ashley dougan
I had this same thing happen to me, I am in the same industry. Do you have and email?
Jordan
Ems cheated me.They took my reserve 4500$ and still showing I owe money.Ems is fraud.
Beware of that.
I owe about 5000$ of ems what can they do if I won’t pay to them?
George
This is a horrible company to deal with. Their customer service is unpleasant, fees are outrageous, and they are extremely misleading. All around this is a very shady company and I would not recommend doing business with this company.
SMK
I have been with your company for many years and have never had any chargebacks. This was one time and the Client tried to fix it and said she made a mistake and misunderstood. sent documentations to show this but you terminated my services after suspending my account. You then told me i had to process more before you would release my other money??!!I I will never use your company again and have warned all of my hundreds of associates and thousands of Contacts. Upon doing a search I found many people complaining about your services as well. I have gone back to my original company a big Bank whom I trust and have also done business with for longer than yours. I will gladly pay the higher fees for their honesty and great well known customer service in all communities. Your stars on reviews are not accurate, you may want to check the internet reviews, its horrible! You have a lot of bad reviews. + 23 negative reviews on the Better Business Bureau and a Federal law Suit. Need I say more….
Sue/Dove MK
I’ve been with EMS for many years and have had issues with them in the past, however i stayed with them. The last straw was when a Client of mine reversed her cc payment because she misunderstood and did not wait for the report in the time on her contract and assumed i did not do the work. I provided all documents to her and her company. She called her credit card company to release the hold. EMS said they will continue to hold my account and that i need to also process more above what was held before the “might “release my hold on my account. I asked why I was being penalized for a Client’s mistake and who tried to clear it up on her own. I might mention this has taken a loong time to get fixed after i sent documentation. In the meantime, I cannot process cards for my business. SERIOUSLY!! Bye Bye EMS…
James Misenti
Watch out how they set your account up! We a had a main swipes as well as 5 phone swipes. They set it up with 6 separate accounts with fees on all 6 as well as quietly raised our rates every year. Now that we want out, they want 600 x 5 early terminations. I am contacting my lawyer!
tim
Worse credit card processing EVER! Do not go with this company without reading ALL the fine print. They are a major SCAM!!!!!
Your contract AUTOMATICALLY renews without even signing anything so no matter when you try and cancel they hit you with a whopping $595.00 early termination fee. I guess thats the last ram in the rear before you leave and actually go to a legit company. STAY AWAY!
Jason
they will please funds on hold with no notice
YourExCustomer
Horrible service. Horrible offers. I would never recommend to cooperate w/ them.
Brad U
Stay far away from this company. They are so crooked in their business dealings. I have reported them to the CFPB to look into. I was processing with them for 45 days through a virtual terminal. Everything was fine. I was told on a Tues that there was an error on their end and that I would have to start swiping. I called into EMS to discuss. They told me that was an error and everything was fine. I kept processing as normal. I spoke to both customer service, a manager and risk.
Then out of nowhere Thursday they completely shut down my account. Without warning and almost killing my business. They gave me no time to switch my business over, get a machine. NOTHING.
They are complete crooks. Do NOT do business with.
Barbara
This is the worst company for accepting credit cards. If you refund an amount they still charge you the fee. They don’t tell you this when you sign up- Although they clearly advertise no hidden fees. I’ve used other POS services and none of them charge a fee on a refund of moneys. They flagged an amount… told me I had to refund it then charged me the fee too. So they refuse to give you the money but they process it first so they can charge you then tell you to refund it because they are not giving you the money. Yeah I know sounds crazy right. Very shady company. .Then they send a 1099 which includes the money that was not released to me(refunded).SAVE THE NIGHTMARE AND HEADACHES DO NOT USE.
Sam kurabi
EMS is a big time rip off !! Think twice before you register your business with them .
You can never get hold of any one who can solve your concern .
They took my $$ and told me I had a 500$ limit to charge my customers monthly !! Really ???
Then they said they have to hold on to my funds up to 90 days .
I will report them to FTC asap .
Lei
The worst credit card processing ever. I had swiped a charge last week and it’s been a week not receiving funds and they charged me a fee without depositing our money into our account. Risk Management is on vacation so when they are on vacation, you have to be on vacation and out of business as well. So there’s no way anyone can help me until they come back from vacation. I was promised last Monday that I will get my money in 2 days, none. Customer service sucks, will cancel after this and would never use them again or recommend them to any businesses out there looking for credit card processing.
Andy
I have a website, my website is considered high risk. These people first run your credit then they look at the website and say, oh, we don’t cover this business. Why the heck you didn’t look at the website first!!! Stay away from these people.
Tim Newberg
My experience with EMS is an F-
I quit after 4 days.
Not only have they not deposited the 5,000 dollars our store has run but they say I have a 1,000 dollar limit per month. No where in the agreement does it state that. No one will talk with me. No one returns calls or emails. I have reported them to the FTC. Very bad company.
EMSplus user
EMSplus is the worst company that I have ever dealt with. They hold my money for no reason. They do not return phone calls as promised. What a joke and rip off. I should of used Square.
Robert
BAD BAD BAD AND THIS ALL I HAVE TO SAY !! $595. Cancellation charge!
Brian Hougland
I wish i had read this before doing business with these guys. I’m a new business and was taken advantage of because i didn’t know better. I got screwed by a sales rep just trying to make a sale. I didn’t read the fine print, now am stuck with $595. Cancellation charge! High fees for everything and they didn’t explain anything! Live and learn I guess. Starting out in the negative, this really hurt. Any suggestions to get rid of cancellation charge, I’m all ears.
Joe Smith
You don’t have to pay the $595 cancel fee. File a complaint with the BBB and they will waive the fee as soon as you do. Works every time!
Alex
STAY AWAY from Electronic Merchant Sytems (EMS). They are completely unethical and in my opinion crooks and thieves. They will tell you one thing, do another; place a hold on your account, basically freezing your bank account, and when you call, that is a hassle in itself. Once you do get someone on the phone, no one has answered and they are completely unwilling to help. Save yourself the hassle and do not do business with this company.
Kate
We were customers with ems for over 5 years. Worst company ever. They also froze our account after we stopped payment on a reverse charge of $275 which had been processed and resolved 5 mos earlier. They had sent paperwork to be signed and returned which we didn’t do because the issue was resolved. We contacted them about freezing our account and were scolded and belittled for not returning the form. Our resolution to this issue was to find a legitimate processor, change our bank account and file a complaint with BBB. THEY WON’T SEE ANOTHER DIME OF OUR HARD EARNED MONEY!
Adam LeComte
I am filing complaints of possible fraud against this company. After 4 days of holding payments of customers to my company, they will not explain why. I have called daily, and even asked for persons in charge. Nothing but hours of being left on hold, or messages left for supervisors. I suspect this company is not releasing funds unless pressured by law, in hopes that individuals will give up. It’s a scam.
Michel
It’s the worst company ever , I will never recommend it to anyone they’re horrible doing business with them , I closed the business and I returned the machine and they k pt charging me every month , they said they never receive my closure paper but when I call couple month before they said they received it , do they tried to charge me and the bank also and they didn’t care and dint do nothing about , never never go with them
vr
EMS Blackwood NJ has fraudulent marketing practices. Nothing is disclosed regarding any sort of fees and you don’t receive a contract. When you ask about fees they so NO FEES are involved only transaction fees. Do not sign up with these people or you will waste more time with them than your own business. Contact the Federal Trade Commission, BBB and New Jersey States Attorney office.
Ghae
STAY AWAY FROM THEM! They are a scam. I opened a merchant account, received the swiper. Started doing sales. After a couple of days I called them since I still did not get my funds transferred. They told me I have to provide them with two invoices of the first two transactions (approx. altogether $140) I did it. I’ve been also told to ask for an MVP increase. For that I had to provide a lot of other documents and information. Did that. After a week I tried to get in touch with them, left them messages on the phone and sent them emails. What I received were two sentences in an email that they won’t release my funds, I should refund all the transactions (we are talking about almost 60 transactions here) and/or cancel my account.
So the bottom line is, that I have to wait 6 month! Yes! Half a year before I can get my money. We are talking about almost $4,000. Thieves!!!
Joe Smith
File complaints with the BBB, Attorney General and FTC.
F W
EMS is the worst company to do business with.
My rate has changed 3 times in a year from 2% to 4.5% without any written notice from EMS. I just spoke with a rep who advised that it is very abnormal for a rate to change that many times in a year. She advised that they have a slight rate change once a year but that is it. She was unable to provide me any explanation as to why this has happened and why I have not been notified. Per the customer associate “The rate change MAY have been in very small writing somewhere on a statement received.” I demanded to speak with management and was advised that she can put in a REQUEST to have someone call me back. I find it hard to believe that there are not any managers on duty that I can speak to regarding my issue and have some refunds and explanations provided. I do not have 48 hours to wait to see if or when someone calls back if they have a resolution or not. EMS is unorganized, provides unethical billing practices, and has violated the law. I have exhausted all options with trying to resolve this account with EMS. I have spoken with the retention department many times about the unethical billing practices of this company and their solution to the problem is to offer me to cancel the contract and pay them $595 which they hold my funds in the reserve account for 7 months. Yes you read that correctly pay them $595 to cancel & allow them to hold our funds for 7 months. The customer service reps are nice but unhelpful and the online system is useless.
Joe Smith
There is no such thing as a “slight” rate increase with this company. Every year on Jan 1st, they will raise your rate by .30% and then they deceptively add additional .90% on Mar 1st on the Mid Qual/Non Qual card types hoping that you won’t notice because they add on the back end. You will also need to pay attention to your statement to see if they are sneaking in their Non-Compliance fee of $50 a month which is also nothing more than a money making scheme for this joke of a company. The only way to fight back is to file complaints with the BBB, Attorney General and FTC and demand your money back for these outrageous fees from this unethical company.
Sierra K.
They are a scam and set up products you don’t need and will not refund charges for services you never requested.
Ted
Stay away from EMS and if you get Sales Rep Miles Davis then just hang up First they told me that I on contract for 2yrs and at the end of 2yrs when I tried to cancel they mentioned I have another yr because we got free terminal(it is not free we have to return it after termination). They did not inform that contract is up and automatically renewed it for another 3yrs. I am going to terminate my contract in two weeks when I get my new CC up and running and pay their cancellation fee
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Kim Calhoon
After 5 years of using their service I was offered a better rate by a competitor. I informed them I no longer needed their service. They automatically signed me up without my consent for another FOUR years and I was facing a $795 fee! I did not authorize payment but they stole the money out of my account.
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Tim Shi
These people are the worse. Had tons of transactions and only a few chargebacks due to buyer fraud and they canned me. I submitted every document imaginable to the point where I had to get Congress to sign them just to prove validity. What did they do? Flat out ignored it and refunded the buyer.
Ya, thanks EMS for screwing my company and tons of others that use you.
Honestly, I would rather give my money to a Nigerian than to these people. At least I will know where my money is going.
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Jordan
IF I owe ems money and I won’t pay back what they can do If I don’t wanna use their services?
vince
SUCKS. Support is clueless. They want you to process your first transaction before you can set up web access. Why? So they can hold the $ of the first transaction in an account to make them extra money. I never would have known this unless I called into support 3X. I’ll stick with square.
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EP
Worst customer service, no support, the reader does not work most of the time, they will double charge your customers and try and steal money, this is a scam
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Christina
My mom passed away in December. We have a small business that I ended up taking over because my dad was very depressed. Her death was sudden and not expected. In May I called EMS to make them aware of my mother’s death and asked about the terms of the contract, I wasn’t happy with all the fees they were charging us in addition to the processing %. The said I needed to sign another 3 year deal with them and had there sales rep call me. I did not like the terms they wanted me to sign and wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to 3 years of a contract. The business wasn’t doing well and we were debating on closing. I work a fulltime job teaching and didn’t want to be financially responsible for the business. I was just helping my dad until he felt well enough to make financial decisions. I never heard back from the sales rep after the one conversation in June (it took her 2 weeks to contact me) In August all of sudden my credit card transactions stopped going into my bank account. I called them they told me I committed fraud because I would not sign another contract with them and they were holding my money until I did. In fact at this point I wanted no relationship with them. I advised them the contract was in my moms name and we did not want to continue doing business with them. They currently still have my money and are billing me monthly for fees even though I have a new payment processing system and haven’t used them since they stole our business money in August. If I shouldn’t have been processing payment they should have stopped taking them in may when I notified them of her death. Instead the continued to debit my account for their fees and continued to charge me for the machine. I just got a bill with a $148 upgrade fee for a service I haven’t used since August. They were mean and rude and unsympathetic to someone struggling with the loss of their mother and trying to figure out finances that were not in order at all. Never ever use this company.
Gardner
EMS Prospects and Clients Be Warned!
Full disclosure I clearly work in the industry. We all know what to look for when competing with certain processors and ISO’s. Interchange inflation, line items, backbilling, daily discounting, tiered pricing, etc etc. There are competitors that for the most part are fair, and then there is EMS. I’ve reviewed maybe 30 statements in my short 2 year carrer and everyone of them misrepresented cost in multiple ways.
These practices tarnish our industry and it blows my mind how these folks are able to sleep at night. Come on folks don’t be drawn to the flame with “free” terminals and “free” paper. I feel obligated to warn anyone and everyone I can about EMS. They represent the worst our industry has to offer and I’ve been cleaning up as many of their messes as I can one by one.
For example:
Recently when auditing a small single location restaurant, I highlighted inflated interchange, pointed out erroneous EIRF charges at 2.7% to nearly 30% of the total volume every single month, and even a hidden .39 transaction fee. When I helped them call and cancel, the service contact asked why they were leaving and if there was anything they could do to help. That was to be expected, but when I overheard them being told “they were currently paying cost..” I saw red. This confirmed it’s not just the representatives on the street misleading clients, but these unfair business tactics permeate throughout the entire organization.
Jason Knight
Horribly Bad experience.
I have a business that runs transactions in the thousands daily. I had been processing payments with EMS for about 6 months with no problem until July of 2014. I had a transaction in the amount of $11,597.00 I successfully processed and was waiting for the funds to be deposited into my account. Low and behold I get a call from EMS saying the funds are under a “security hold” and will not be available for 180 days! I was dumfounded and had and still have no idea what this “Security hold” even is. I went ahead and reversed the batch and refunded the buyer fully as soon as I could as well as lost out on a few thousand in profits. This merchant is NOT FOR BIG BUSINESS! Don’t plan on using them if your transactions will be in excess of $5,000 USD as they WILL NOT RELEASE YOUR FUNDS!!!
Do not give this company your money. You have been warned.
David
Bad experience. About three months ago, EMS contacted me, so we set up an appointment at our store for the following Friday at 10 am. Well, that time came and gone, no phone call to say that they were unable to make the appointment. Then about a month ago, EMS called me again and I told the caller about the other call and what happened, so, we scheduled another appointment. A sales rep showed, about an hour late, gave excuses why he was late. He needed a credit card statement of ours so they could see if they could save us some money. He comes back the next day to get the statement, said he will be back next Friday at 10 am. Well, to my SURPRISE he did not show and we did not receive a call about his absence. Well, the following Monday I called the local EMS office in Phx, AZ, and ended up speaking to the manager (Andrew Anderson) that’s what he said his name was, after speaking with him, voice mail, and going to give me a Smoking deal, which I believe was not good at all. He was going to call me back later in the same day. Well, to my SURPRISE, no phone call. So, I waited for the following Monday Called Corporate, given Ed Grahams’ name and voice mail, left message. No return call for the entire week. Called the following Monday Ed Graham was not in, given an excuse that he travels alot, so customer service forwarded me to a John Socorro (last name maybe mispelled), He was going to check into what happened and get back to me later in the day. WELL, to my SURPRISE NO Call back. This tells me that they DO NOT care about possible clients. Definitely NO Respect for people. I WILL NOT in any way, shape or form recommend this company. I WIll stay with Square and PayPal.
fustrated
I was happy to be approved by EMS because I have a high risk business, and it was hard to overcome that with other merchants.
Most of my interactions were pleasant, until I had an issue about documents that I sent them, and they claim they never received them. I verified the email and also have a read report, but was told that it was never received and the representative refused to review the read report and the forward of the email that showed the day date and time that it was sent. I was told that there was not an manager for me to speak with, and that no one else could help me. I was then put on hold for 45 mins. During this time I was able to call back and get the operator to provide the information to me regarding the managers name and email address.
I am very disappointed in their performance.
Andrea
BEWARE!!!! I wish I have read this before signing with EMS! I am forced to get an attorney to get out of my auto renewing contract. I am a small business owner and EMS has double charged my clients and blamed it on me double swiping their cards. When my batch detail shows the charge once they claim on their end it was charged twice. So they are stealing my clients money! Finally they admitted to their MISTAKE after I had to get a legal consular to help me. Here I am stuck in a so called self renewing contract with a company that stole money from my clients, admitted to it being a mistake and want to charge me 1000. Cancelation fee. I am contacting BBB and calling the news. This company is a complete SCAM!!!
Patrick
Fantastic service. Excellent support. Great price. 5 years of experience.
Adrienne
EMS+ didn’t notify me that they needed my banking information until a month after my first charge. Now, they’re telling me that they’re putting my funds on hold for another 2 weeks because I surpassed my $1,000 charge limit, a limit that was nowhere advertised, nor is explicitly stated in the user agreement.
Do NOT use EMS+.
cathy
Bottom Line. I have had EMS contact me again, even after I left a negative review and dispute with the BBB, saying that have changed, Beware a leopard rarely changes their spots. BEWARE
Jon
I have been using EMS+ for almost 1 year now. It’s no frills, and simple like Square, PayAnywhere, PayPal, etc. I’m paying the disclosed rate of 2.25% no per swipe fee. No monthly fees. Manual key rate is higher, but I never use it. I just try one of my other companies. All these negative reviews are old and outdated. The company has changed a lot in the past 2 years.
sam
Hi, guy if you think to deal with ems, then you gone be rob not only one way they rob you all ways, first thing never trust them rate what ever they say, I deal with the sales rep his name is dave weber, he is give me the rate .03 cents per transaction and batch settlement fees .03c and only 10 monthly statement charges, and no pci compliance charges then they charge me $50.00 on everty month and after I pci compliance then they charge me monthly 100k data and breach protection for $5.00 then they charge me tech upgrade and update fees $75.00. and from first month I had the wrong rate they charge me intstaed of .03c per transaction they charge me 0.55% per dollar so how wrong charges you guys think that, they are very bad company my personal expereice they are robber, they rob me up so never trust on them guys again.
Barbara Gruetzmacher
Sorry to hear all the bad reviews on EMS. I was looking at them as they are slightly cheaper. Glad to find these reviews. I’ve had past problems with credit card processing companies and had suffered many of the same things being reported here that EMS does. I have used Square for years now with not a SINGLE issue other than I’ve had to replace the reader a couple of times. Never any fees, monies not deposited, or charges to my bank account. Not a single problem! I’ll stay right where I am and pay the slightly more rate just to avoid the hassle. Thank you to everyone that has shared their experiences so that others can avoid the same scam.
CorporateUser
We contacted this business for more information regarding their credit processing. Upon going to the website and emailing (to which they did not respond) we used their chat system. We were connected to a representative named Daniel. We asked several questions regarding volume ability for business and restriction on business types. Mr. Daniel’s response was we do not do a one size fits all on our customers like Square it depends on volume of the business and the sales however there is no restrictions. He then told us for more information we would have to submit our last 3 months of credit processing. I told the representative that being a corporation that grosses well over 250k a year we are not willing to divulge our exact numbers and statements without some sort of idea of the parameters in which Plus By EMS was thinking. We told them the amount in which we sold per month and our average sales price. Upon not being willing to divulge corporate information they said and I quote and have screenshotted, we do have restrictions on business types and that we suggest you try our competitors.
The fact that this business will not give numbers based on the average without seeing our corporate information and they lie about having restrictions and even more so tell people to use their competitors really makes me question what kind of business this is.
I would very much be skeptical and weary of this company!
Something fishy or maybe just a horrible representative I dealt with.
Being a fairly large corporation and to be blown off by this company makes me wonder how they treat small businesses.
Cherie Burnham
Les see. My name is Cherie new owner of Hair salon in Mulberry. I am really kicking myself for signing up with this company. EMS called me few times to hook me up with a credit machine. I refused and hung up few times. Second or third week they called me again. I tried to get out of it but then offer me a free website. So I agreed to talk to the sales person. They scheduled an appointment with me at 10 am in the morning. I told because I get busy in the afternoon time with walk in. The sales guy didn’t show up till 3pm, telling me that it was written on his paper that the appointment was at 3pm. I had a bad feeling about these people. You know the little voice in the back of your head telling you this is not right. I believe they came to me at that time because It would be easy for me to sign because I would be under more pressure.
First of all the guy filled out all my paper work. I didn’t get to read any of it. I got offer a 39.00 monthly fees for free website design and credit card machine with no contract. Sounded great to me. That was March 11th 2014. Seems like an honest person. Told me he would save me lots of money. I told them that right now I am using Square and its hassle free for me with no contract. He told me I was actually paying more with Square and that I would save more money by signing up with them. I was excited about the free website.
He filled out all the paper work and handed it to me to sign, not disclosing to me any fees nor cancellation fees. the only fees he disclosed to me was the 1.95 % + 20 cents transaction fees, $15.00 monthly access fees and $15.00 dollars monthly 100k data breached protection. Those were the only fees that were marked which led me to believe that those were the only fees I was paying. When I looked at it. I told him that these fees are the main reason I was with square. He then put a line into the $15.00 and brought both down to $10.00 each. Now I’m thinking $20.00 per month is not bad so I tried to get him to lower the terms down to 1 year. In my mind I’m thinking, they came in here with no term now I am signing a contract. (That voice were telling me.) He went outside to talk on the phone and came back with he can’t lower it because I am a new business. I told him I didn’t know them either. To make long story short: With in a week I got the machine and someone called me the next day to set it. I didn’t use my machine the first and second week because I wasn’t sure I would know how. By the second week I went into my bank account and notice they had took out 46.00 dollars plus out of my account. I called them to find out what the fees were. Guy couldn’t even tell me. all he said it was monthly minimum fees which I have no clues what it means. I called him few more times to find out how much sales do I have to make to avoid the monthly minimum fees. Still cant tell me. I looked at my contract and told him that on this contract it says average monthly sales is $2000 which is all a lie because I told him I make about 1500 per month. I told him if that was the case I will never avoid the $25 dollars fee. He told me that wasn’t the case and that it was just my average monthly sales.
2 days later I made 2 different sales of $45 dollars and $53 dollars. They took out $4.61 cents out of my account. That doesn’t add up to 1.95% plus .20 cents transaction. Also, to this day my website has not been put up and its going on a month. This is what led me to this site. Now with everybody’s complaints, I don’t want to wait till a lot more is taken out of my account. I am trying to find out how I can cancel the contract with less then a month into it.
I like Cathy’s idea and I just might go that route. If anybody out there knows how I can get out of it, please give me some ideas. Thanks.
Cherie
Andy
$45 x 0.0195 = 88¢ + 20¢ = $1.08
$53 x 0.0195 = $1.03 + 20¢ = $1.23
$1.23 + $1.08 = $2.31 Total Processing Fees (EMS Fees)
$4.61 – $2.31 = $2.30 Interchange Fees (What the credit card companies charge)
$4.61 / ($45 + $53) = 4.7% Effective Rate (1.95% higher than Square)
The rate they put you on is a little high.
$1500 with an average ticket of $50 would yield 30 transactions.
$1500 x 0.0195 = $29.25 + 20¢ x 30 = $35.25 which would put you over the monthly minimum of $25.00 provided the $1500 was all in credit card sales. If your processing fees equal $10 for the month, then they should subtract that from $25 and charge $15 to make up the difference from the monthly minimum.
If it weren’t for the monthly minimum, you could process with someone else until the contract expired, but the monthly minimum will cost you $300/year.
Bill McGann
Garbage, utter garbage. They sent me a card reader for my Android phone, but it doesn’t work properly. Once I install it, the app tells me the card reader isn’t installed correctly. I remove it and insert it again and I’m STILL told the card reader is mis-installed.
BUT, if I try to use a different app, such as Square Up, my phone no longer works and I have to do a master reset. This has happened all 3 times I tried to use EMS+ : it both refused to work AND seized up my phone.
I refuse to do any further business with this company.
Drew
I have extensive knowledge of this company and how it operates behind the scenes. You are all correct. It bombards merchants with multiple charges that are all for profit even though many are given names to seem like industry charges like PCI non compliance, Semi Annual Tech fees…all just additional profit centers.
All the charges are buried in less than 1 point font on the backside of a contract. Ignore whatever rate you are initially quoted…there are accelerators you will never find in the contract that jack the rates up pretty much right away. I just saw a merchant pay over 6% in his first month when he signed for a 1.95% rate.
Only chance to get out is threaten with BBB. Company is trying desperately to increase their BBB rating…not by changing biz practices, but by satisfying only the customers that catch them in the act and file a complaint. Trust me…his company’s business model is to take whatever it can from customers before they somehow find a way to cancel.
JCheng
Avoid EMS by all cost… This company is the worst and most expensive. They you money for everything and you are committed to a longgggg term contract. This company is a Scam. I run a small business and been with EMS over 3years, but there service keep getting more expensive, they charge for everything and bad customer support. Now, that i find a better provider i wanted to cancel my service with them. They want to charge me over $1500 for early termination…. This is a life commitment once you are signed up with them, unless you want to paid the cancellation fee.
Ryan Goida
I am with Filler Up Financial who currently runs processing thru EMS. EMS truly goes above and beyond due to the level of training they provide. Tim Shank is the training agent who has been sent to our offices twice. Tim has always been willing to assist on any question, any deal, any time of the night. He and EMS are fully committed to not only our success as agents however the merchant’s success as a business. There is true care given to each merchants’ success as well as each office/agent. I would highly recommend EMS to any merchant/agent.
cathy lehner
EMS is by far THE WORST company to have process credit cards. All they do is lie and when asked to provide documentation supporting those lies, they can not. I was locked into a four year contract with them starting in 2007. When it was over, I immediately noticed a huge increase in their processing fees up to 9% per batch from the contracted 1.79% plus all the other erroneous fees that they could never explain.When I called about this matter, they informed me that the rates went up because I was out of contract. I immediately started looking for another company. When I found another company, I called to cancel services and was informed that there was a $300 cancellation fee or I would be billed $98 per month fee for not using them for processing. How can they raise the processing fees nearly to 10% because I was out of contract? Then bill me $300 for an early cancellation fee?Their contract enforcement seems to be adjustable to suit their needs. According to the complaints on the BBB website ( up to 102 with mine) this seems to be common practice. Backdooring your account for whatever they can get away with.
Not to mention First Hudson Leasing, (which EMS states has nothing to do with them even though they have the same address and I was instructed to return the equipment to EMS), overbilling for faulty equipment for the last 6 years.
Jcheng
Hello Cathy,
I am having the same issue. I want to cancel the contract with them but they are charging me $475 plus $795 a huge amount of non-sense money. Did you paid them? How did you solve the problem? I need help!!!
Please,
mariion
I’m currently having this problem. I”m going to contact corporate to see if this can be fixed. If not , I’ll have to contact the news.
Ryan Wall
I too have the exact same problem. I wanted to cancel a year ago but they said I had to fulfill my 18 month. Finally my 18 months are up so I tried to cancel what they told me that I cannot because My 18 month contract just auto renewed. $595 cancelation fee.
cathy
Dear Ryan. What I did to cut EMS out was : I got another company and equipment. and started using the new company immediately. I stopped using EMS returned their equipment and put a stop payment on my bank account through my bank after the last deposit was made. End of story. I filed a complaint with the BBB and EMS answer was that they forgave all fees. After all, without access to my account, how can they deduct fees anyway?
I have read many complaints at the BBB, all the same about EMS. Cancellation fees etc……. The resolutions were all the same. EMS will just back off. They know they are wrong for what they are doing, so they just forget about it. I never heard another word from them.
You can absolutely get out of the self renewing contract that is a crock. Just cut them off from your bank account.Worked for me an I didn’t miss a beat with credit processing. I now use Groupon Processing. 1.8% fees and .15 a swipe. No hidden fees or tiered card fees. What a dream. All you need is an IPad and their little mobile swiper.
Good Luck!
Cherie Burnham
Hey Ryan, Did you ever get out of contract with EMS? If so please give me some info on how you went about doing it. Thanks,
Cherie
dave
This company is awful i’m still stuck with them after 4 years if they come knocking on your door please run very fast from them
Example one
I’m a small start up business that bought out another business and I was stupid to go ahead and keep Ems as my processor easy transfer when to busy trying to start the business (figured that 2% wasn’t bad (warning danger danger) and could look for new better pricing later
The first 6 months was not bad I guess I was doing a major show at 6 months into business and I called their rep I was interested in their biz-funds program for this major show and needed to increase inventory for this show Their lying rep said that i could use this program to raise extra working capitol for business the rep said this program was short term loan to help sart up businesses the payoff was 20% a month over 5 months and 20% interest (my margins are 28% so i was investing in extra short term inventory still making 8 % and trying to build business
They lied, lied and then lied some more they started taking the money off the top (this was ok with me) after 3 months i had already paid 80% back when they they froze my account no warning then said i wasn”t paying enough back fast enough froze 3300.00 at that time then held it for 180 days and I still havn’t got it all back 3 years later they still owe me $191.00 that they say they paid me I have repeatally given them the proof that I haven’t been paid ad they keep saying there working on it I have had enough
Now if you borrow $5000.00 from them at 20 % simple math you should owe them $6000.00 total at end right!!!
(simplified for everyone to understand) why did i pay them $4500 on three months and then pay the remaining 1500. by month later and then some more after that. when It was paid off a month early and then when i was finally done the real interest rate for 5 months was over 66.66% not kidding here…..
for the next 18 months they continued to charge me a $10.00 a month Biz-funds servicing fee
Now the real problem with them freezing the deposits no money was going into my business accounts that they Ems are still trying to ACH my batching fees and monthly fees on an as needed basis BUT!!! if there not depositing in my account then no money is going in and there continuing to try to take it out of my account (my bank was and still is more than happy to charge me $35.00 every time Ems tries to ACH money from me) Ems excuse is your supposed to keep money in your account so we can take it for our fees. It is not our fault my bank says you need to go back to Ems for fee reinbursement. We the bank charge our fees accordingly and its not our problem (bank is chase) Its all about the fees people.
.
Now the real final part here because of all the fees for the ACH’s chase closes my business account for fraudulant abuses and reports me to chexsystems and now Ii cant open a new business account at any other bank because chase says i abused my account.
Thank’s Very Much Ems !!!! it’s their fault and they dont care..
so now for the last 3 yrs i”ve been using my credit union account to run my business
I tried to get rid of them at my annual contract and I get told that I have to give them a 90 day notice in advance
or pay a cancellation fee of over $1000 dollars so I was stuck at this time and when I tried a year later this time in the correct window of oppurtunity they say they got cancallation notice 2 days after it was due (please send it registered people reading this)
now it’s 2013 and they have froze my account at the end of march and here we go again only this time its my credit union account being affected and there charging me $30.00 per transaction
so now I am contacting the office of comptroller US goverment, State of NH attourney general and the banking commission for credit unions (no money from my credit cards being deposited bank feeing me to death again
and cash transactions not being enough to keep bank positive)
EMS is going to succeed in bankrupting my business and me personally and the best part is the lease on the 2 credit card machines i have thru first hudson(ems) that cannot be canceled for another 2 years so when they
finish destroying me and my business i’m still gonna owe them more money.
They do a yearly rate increase at Ems on there percentages(they call them discount rates) (warning its automatic) d will be a small line on your monthly statement that it will take effect on xx/xx/xxxx
PLEASE ANYONE READING THIS DON’T USE EMS (you’ll be sorry)
Ted
stay away from miles davis. he is very sweet talker he will promise the world and when you get your first montly statement you will realize all these EXTRA fees. always remember rates are always different for different cards like points card, business card. dont believe when the rep says that there is no cancellation fee. ask about all the fees and get everything in writing in email. JUST stay away from ems corporate
Cody Swank
I have been using ems for 6 months now and just realized the poor business prectices they use. first a guy comes into your place of business trying to relate to you like hes your best freind. No big deal i can see through that. But then with the promises of lowering your merchant payouts he smiles the whole time your signing that false contract. I was told my fees would be 40% less and yes the initial fee is less. But what they do not tell you is they are going to hit your bank acccount every business day with a 25-35 dollar fee. So when I was paying 475$ a month in fees im now paying 950$ a month. Total crap they can lie to you and switch things around to fool you. Oh and by the way when you try to call that smiling face that said theyll be there if you need anything they dont return calls. So you become forced to eat the high cancelation fees and move on. THANKS EMS YOU SUCK! Hope you guys get put out of business. Im a small business owner and that extra 450 would be nice to have in my pocket and not yours.
Sincerly
The guy you screwed over
JCheng
Hello Cody,
I am having the same exact issue… I cant stand this company no more for the over fee. Did you paid them the 475$ cancellation fee? and move on? We, as a small business try to survive and hate it for some stupid company screw us up…. Cant stand….
Chelsea Whitmore
I have had many bad experiences with several different card processing companies!! Some of them have the same names which is also frustrating and confusing. I understand pci compliance fees and regulatory comp fees but many card processing companies lock you in to an agreement, hide fees or you can never reach anyone. There are a few companies called EMS Merchant Services, I have found one that has awesome customer service no monthly minimum for little guys like me. No contract and they have 24/7 tech support. I dont remember their location but I spoke to a really nice girl there, [redacted – promotion]. She seemed to really care about my issues and concerns. A lot of companies have screwed me they haven’t yet, been with them 3 months now. By now I would have noticed a raise in monthly rates but everything is as she explained. There rate is only 10 bucks a month! Google them they may be hard to find they are a small company but have been around over 20+ years. [redacted – contact information] (who i delt with may be spelling her name wrong)
Phillip CPO
Hi Chelsea,
In order to verify this testimonial, please reply to this comment with you business name and location.
Scott
I had been processing for a couple of years with EMS without major issues until a few months ago when they froze all my transactions(near $30K). I was told the reason for freezing the transactions was my website was not secure. I informed EMS that we were not using our website but were using a 3rd party website that is secure for all transactions. They released almost $20K but refused to release approx $9K for 180 days. Yes, you read that correctly 180 days. The customer doing the charge had a conference call & offered send a letter to EMS authorizing the transaction. They still refused to release the funds for 180 days. I refunded the customers $9K as instructed by EMS & they took an additional $9K from my account. They also charged me for wire transfer & will tell you they are going to do something then change their agreement. I plan to file a formal complaint in VA & OH for the unethical business practice.
Vince
I personally could not be more upset with this whole process. As a starting business the last thing you expect is that something as simple as a system designed to assist service providers with drafting and monies from clients accounts wouldn’t be such a big headache. We used them in our bankruptcy practice and over time noticed additional fees. The numbers just weren’t adding up. We had a month of inactivity on our account and were hit with an aditional $50 inactivity fee for not charging enough on the account. Then the $15 non-compiance fee. Then the $75 semi-annual technology upgrade fee. All the while I sat and looked at my account month after month watching EMS deduct $80 out of my bank account while I waited for the contract period to end so we could finally cancel. Mind you, we have other solo practictioners who are using Pay Simple and Squared without having to deal with their bank account getting raided each month.
I know that starting a business means making mistakes and bad business decisions along the way. But signing up with them by far has been the DUMBEST thing we ever did.
Kelsey
They actually have been in business for longer than 20 years. And If the company is such a scam then why are they still in business and getting new cliental on a daily basis? EMS has helped a large amount of businesses with saving money. I have heard nothing but good from the current merchants whom are doing business with EMS.
Rich
EMS Electronic Merchant Systems aka Francis David Corporation is a sham. In the above review they blame it on agents/iso. That is a false statement. Corporate employees are trained the same way. They focus on getting statements and rate reviews. Then comeback showing how much money the merchant can save on the rate review. They fail to mention the $125 fee to set up. The $75.00 semi annual technology update. There are more charges than I’m going to mention. You will need to use a microscope to review the fine print on the contract. The contract auto renews. You have to notify them 90 days prior to the year. I suggest doing it certified mail with return receipt. They will say you never notified them. This company has zero ethics. As soon as you sign they will bleed you dry. Stay far away from EMS as you can.
Phillip CPO
Hi Rich,
Thank you for your your review. Are you are merchant that used this company, or are/were you an employee?