Global Payments Review

I am a veteran independent software engineer and developer who has integrated dozens of different payment systems into sites from small to huge. I have never seen anything as bad as Global Payments.

The company seems to be a disorganized collection of acquired companies. We signed up for a GP test account, and as we get deeper into the online documentation, the actual payment service involved is a 2015 acquisition called RealEx Payments. As we started writing test code, we had a few questions. Several phone calls later, I am told that the only support channel is through an email address. Fine. I sent email, waited several days, and received an adequate response. During this delay, I discovered several more issues. Their documentation is incomplete, and often simply incorrect — what’s written does not match the real-world requirements or results at all. Worse yet, the API is full of gaping holes – basic functionality you would expect to find is absent. When you ask them about it, they just stop responding.

I’ve dealt with many payment processors over the years, so this is not completely unheard of, just the first of many “red flags.” I end up calling Dublin Ireland, trying to track down the RealEx people, who are initially responsive and helpful in solving one problem (out of ten?). As the number of problems begins to increase, though, they refer me to someone at another company in the US, Heartland. This guy is nice enough, but I’m still not getting answers. Turns out, he is relaying my questions back to Dublin! So, I email them again. Almost a week later, I get a response that reads basically, “read the documentation and xxck off.” The message apparently being, “what you see is what you get, and we’re not going to help you.” Thanks.

So, I’ve wasted FOUR WEEKS doing what should have taken 4 days. Now we’re pushing the whole thing back to the corporate client behind this project and we’ll see what happens. My recommendation is to avoid Global Payments at all costs. It is definitely not worth the trouble.

I have never left a review before, this is my first one… that’s how fed up i am with GP and it’s only been a month!! It took them 3 weeks to figure out how to correctly configure my account with my gateway provider. In that time, my customers were getting error codes when trying purchase things on my online store. That means i was missing out on money to pay my bills, on top of that, batches were not getting settled. My overall experience with GP has been a nightmare! i look forward to canceling my subscription.

** DO NOT DO BUSINESS with Global payments.**
If I could give a negative number, I would. We have had nothing but issues with them from the beginning. It should have been a huge warning sign when we were finding “mistakes” with fees in the contract versus what had been quoted to us. Fees not listed in the contract are constantly being added. These are not just nickle and dine fees. The added reoccurring monthly fees are hundreds per month. Then there are the quarterly added fees and the annual added fees. We were also incorrectly charged PCI noncompliance fees for over a year when we were in compliance. We have made numerous calls to try to find out what fees were, corrections that needed to be made, and follow-ups from credits due.

When we initially signed with Global payments (also know as Open Edge), we were told and shown that we would save on average about $200 a month in fees. When doing a cost comparison, we found that in 2019 our overall credit card revenue went down from 2018 by 2.6%, but our fees went up 12.6%!!!

The absolute worst staff ever! my Debit machine isn’t working, they said it was my internet provider, I called Cogeco, my internet is fine because all my other devices are working perfectly, then they said it was my router and on their advice I bought a $180.00 dollar router, and still the debit machine isn’t working.

But the worst thing is Global Payments thinks I should pay for something I don’t own $150.00 dollars for a technician to come out and fix their machine.

And the other worst thing one of their Technician John that I last spoke with said I wasn’t allowed to talk with a manager, disgusting, and towards the end of the conversation I was in the middle of speaking and John just hung up on me. What a way to treat your clients. Global Payments you should be really proud of yourself, I gave you a 1 star because you without doubt deserve it.

Unethical & poor business practices. Large increases on monthly miscellaneous fees without proper notification. Huge rates on transactions. Unwarranted fees. Upon trying to cancel the service they charge a $875 fee per account, one per currency one per Visa/MC. This company has access to your deposit accounts and should not be trusted. Other services have lower or no monthly charges.

Terrible customer service, incompetent staff, overpriced and hidden fees. Terminal cash/ disconnect every week. This company should be rate Z- not C- . I will switch as soon as my contract is over!

[AVOID AVOID AVOID] Business located in Calgary – This company overcharged us about $9,500 in fees over 1 year and 3 months. Initially, you start out paying the average collective ~5% for processing credit cards (including monthly fees, and their thousand other fees). Then they increased it (by adding more fees) June 2018 to 8-9% of our sales. Apparently, they gave us “notice” through back page on our month statement that does not get mailed out (you can only access through website, and my parents are not tech savvy nor is their primary language English). AND THEN, they added MORE FEES AGAIN in March 2019 to collectively equal 10-12% of our total credit card sales. THIS IS ROBBERY. If you don’t refute within 3 months, it means you’ve accepted the rate. My parents only started taking notice when their bank account balance seriously began to dwindle then I came in to investigate. They have offered to lower the collective rates to about 40% of current 10-12% charge, but that’s still higher than other major merchant rates. We are going to change.

WATCH OUT everyone. They’re scam artists, they tell you to go get a lawyer if you want to try to get your money back. Terrible. They will keep increasing your fees if you don’t take notice and they will singlehandedly BANKRUPT you. Also, there is a $700 cancellation charge because your contract “auto” renews, so even if you’ve been with the company for 6-7 years, and they havemade a fortune off you, they will still do this. Check their 2018 earnings result – RECORD HIGH – at the cost of their customers.

Totally disappointed with Global. We cancelled our contract. We had been using them for years and they were charging us, by the time we paid fees, admin…. 4.79%.
This is totally wrong and when the machines crashed, they didn’t answer their phones.
NEVER AGAIN

This post will help: Best E-Commerce Merchant Accounts

-Phillip

This company with holds money until you call them. Then they tell you it will be two to three business days before you get your money. They do not resolve your issues. I will not recommend this company to any one. Stay Away

This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money

-Phillip

We have been connected to Global Payments by intermediary company called RMS.

Global payments charge £44.60 inc VAT just to be PCI compliant (if you have multiple accounts it will be more)

And if you are unlucky and were non compliant for a month it is £150. Extortionate.

Their customer service is non existent, they will take 45-60 minutes to answer the phone and will not hesitate to put the phone down on you if they dont like your tone.
A very bad blast from the past – you’d think this level of service doesnt exist in 2019….

I paid my way to disconnect any contact with them, and wouldnt recommend them to anyone.

This post will help: Best UK Merchant Services Providers

– Phillip