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(866) 435-9401Company Overview
Established in 2000, Leaders Merchant Services is a merchant account provider that serves businesses of most sizes. The company specializes in retail credit card processing and e-commerce merchant accounts, enabling merchants to process “swiped” card-present transactions as well as “keyed” card-not-present transactions. Leaders was acquired by iPayment (now Paysafe Group) in November 2017. Leaders Merchant Services is a First Data (now Fiserv) reseller.
Leaders Merchant Services Point of Sale
Leaders Merchant Services prominently advertises Clover as a POS solution. The Clover family of products serves most common retail needs, including swipers, mobile solutions, terminals, and virtual terminals. Clover hardware can only be used with First Data/Fiserv merchant accounts.
Payment Acceptance Capabilities of Leaders Merchant Services
A key service offered by Leaders Merchant Services is its capability to process multiple forms of payments. This includes all prominent credit and debit cards, along with eCheck processing. The company also has the technology to handle mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Mobile Payment Processing Feature
In terms of mobile payment processing, Leaders Merchant Services provides mobile card readers and applications, designed to accommodate transactions in different settings, even outside traditional brick-and-mortar scenarios.
E-Commerce Payment Processing
Leaders Merchant Services also facilitates online businesses through their e-commerce payment processing services. The company provides secure online payment gateways, virtual terminals, and recurring billing features for businesses that have subscription-based models.
Pricing Structure of Leaders Merchant Services
In terms of pricing, Leaders Merchant Services adopts an interchange-plus pricing model. This aims to provide clarity and transparency in fees, helping businesses avoid hidden charges.
Reputation and Ethical Issues
Leaders Merchant Services ranks among the poorest-scoring credit card processors in the merchant account industry. Its acquisition by PaySafe group does not seem to have repaired many of the issues reported by current and former merchant services clients. We encourage readers of this article to pay special attention to the “Reviews and Complaints” section below.
Questionable Marketing Tactics
There are numerous “merchant account review” websites that list Leaders Merchant Services and other Paysafe subsidiaries as industry-leading credit card processors and “best” picks. These review websites appear to be owned by, or heavily influenced by, Paysafe or possibly under the control of Paysafe’s Canadian subsidiary IA Digital Marketing Inc. It appears that Paysafe may also be buying “top ratings” for Leaders Merchant Services on other “pay-to-play review” websites wherein top rankings are sold to the highest bidders, often without disclosure of such activities. Most of these websites appear to saturate the “sponsored” results at the top and bottom of search results pages when researching Paysafe subsidiaries and competitors. The following websites appear to be owned or heavily influenced by Leaders Merchant Services or Paysafe, or offer pay-to-play rankings:
- thetop10sites.com
- idealcomparison.com
- top10.com
- best10creditcardprocessing.com
- compareguroo.com
- toppaymentprocessing.com
- best-ccp.com
- comparisun.com
- websiteplanet.com
- topcreditcardprocessors.com
Sister Companies
Leaders Merchant Services is a subsidiary under the umbrella of Paysafe Group along with the following U.S. merchant services brands, most of which have poor reviews:
- Flagship Merchant Services
- Openbucks Corp.
- Paysafe Merchant Services Corp.
- Paysafe Direct LLC
- Paysafecard.com USA Inc.
- Paysafe Payment Processing Solutions LLC
- Paysafe Capital, LLC
- Skrill USA
Location & Ownership
Leaders is located at 30721 Russell Ranch Rd Ste 200, Westlake Village, CA 91362, and is a registered ISO/MSP of BBVA, an Alabama State Chartered Bank. William Teleau is the Director of Sales Operations of Leaders Merchant Services, and Michael Wolfe is listed in some places as owner.
Video Summary
Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers a three-year contract with an early termination fee of up to $350 and…
- Complaints & Service: Has received more than 250 public complaints regarding…
- BBB Rating: Currently has an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 70 complaints and 29 reviews about…
- Sales & Marketing: Hires independent sales agents and has received a moderate number of complaints about its…
Leaders Merchant Services Pros and Cons
pros
- Approves Most Industries
- Quick Application Approvals
cons
- Hidden Fees
- Junk Fees
- Misleading Marketing
- Expensive Rates
- Numerous Client Complaints
- Cancellation Fees
Leaders Merchant Services Frequently Asked Questions
See details to all of these FAQs in our full review below these questions and answers.
Leaders Merchant Services is a merchant account provider offering a wide array of payment processing services, such as credit card processing, mobile payments, and point-of-sale solutions.
Leaders Merchant Services caters to businesses of all sizes, from small businesses to large corporations, and across multiple sectors, including retail, restaurants, e-commerce, and more.
Leaders offers a variety of payment solutions, including countertop terminals, mobile and wireless processing, online payment gateways, and point-of-sale systems.
You can apply directly on the Leaders Merchant Services website. They’ll ask for details about your business and financials to assess the risk associated with your account.
Yes, like most merchant account providers, Leaders Merchant Services charges various fees including transaction fees, monthly service fees, PCI compliance fees, and potentially others. The specific amounts will depend on the agreement you sign.
The Leaders Edge Tool Suite is a collection of tools provided by Leaders Merchant Services to help manage your business. It includes services like advanced reporting and analytics, online reputation management, and social media management tools.
Yes, Leaders Merchant Services offers a mobile payment solution that allows businesses to accept credit card payments using a smartphone or tablet
Yes, Leaders Merchant Services provides customer support. The availability and quality of this support can vary, so it is recommended to check recent reviews for the most up-to-date information.
Yes, Leaders Merchant Services provides payment gateways for online businesses, which include shopping cart integration, virtual terminals, and more.
Leaders Merchant Services is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, CA, and complies with PCI DSS standards, ensuring that all transactions are handled securely.
Leaders Merchant Services Customer Complaints & Reviews
Here's What Users Think
Complaint Summary
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Total Online Complaints
250+
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Live Customer Support
Unknown
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Most Common Complaint
Hidden Fees
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Recent Lawsuits
Yes
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High Complaint Total
In the time since this review’s original publication in April 2012, it has received over 200 comments, the overwhelming majority of which are negative Leaders Merchant Services reviews. In addition, we were able to locate over 100 complaints filed against the company on other consumer protection websites. These Leaders Merchant services reviews have been posted with regularity over the past three years. Common themes expressed by complainants include misrepresentation of rates, nondisclosure of fees, unreachable customer service representatives, unauthorized debiting of accounts, and funds held without notification. Even for a large company, this is a higher-than-average complaint rate. If you have your own Leader Merchant Services review to make, please do so in the comments below.
Leaders Merchant Services Lawsuits
Leaders was the defendant in a major lawsuit that was settled with prejudice against the company in July 2021. According to Pacific Coast Business:
The complaint alleged that Leaders violated California laws against unfair competition and misleading advertising when Leaders’ sales personnel didn’t fully disclose the company’s fees while signing customers up for payment card and electronic payment services. Leaders’ sales presentations were made to customers including small to medium-sized businesses and nonprofits throughout the country.
Under the settlement, Leaders is under a permanent injunction banning future violations of the law and must pay $1 million in civil penalties, $250,000 in cost recovery to the District Attorney’s Office and more than $800,000 in restitution to customers. Leaders did not admit guilt in agreeing to the settlement.
Dissatisfied clients who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.
Leaders Merchant Services Customer Support Options
The company’s website lists a dedicated phone line and an email form, although it’s unclear whether the phone number goes to customer support or to sales.
Leaders Merchant Services Customer Service Number
- (866) 436-5589 – Toll-Free General Customer Service
Other Support Options
- Customer support form
Leaders Merchant Services Reviews Online
Our Better Business Bureau Profile Assessment
BBB Summary
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BBB Reports
99
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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.
Over 50 Complaints
As of this most current update, the BBB is showing 70 formal Leaders Merchant Services complaints and awards the company an A rating. Only 9 of these 70 complaints were resolved to the satisfaction of the merchant.
Earlier updates to this Leaders Merchant Services review have listed submissions totaling as high as 213 complaints in the last 36 months.
What Merchants Say
Leaders Merchant Services has also received 29 negative reviews on its profile. A recent negative review describes fund-holds:
We started using Leaders, The Merchant Services Company in May-2021. In those 2 years our account has been under “REVIEW” twice and credit card charges were blocked from being deposited into our bank account. The company that is in charge of the “REVIEW” is called PaySafe Group. The current “REVIEW” started on April 10, 2023 and is ongoing. We have not had any credit card charges deposited into our bank account since the “REVIEW” started. We did not know our account was under review until May 4th, 2023 which was 25 days after the review started. We learned about the “REVIEW” when we received an email from PaySafe Group requesting documentation, which we forwarded on May 5th, 2023. We was told on May 8th the review was complete and the money would be deposited into our account. On May 16th, 2023 We contacted PaySafe Group because the money was still not deposited into our bank account. I spoke to someone named Steve that worked at PaySafe Group (he refused to give me his last name) and was told that my account was still under review and our company would need to forward 3 months of bank statements. When I complained that our money had already been held up for 36 days S**** told me that our company was a liability to Leaders and that PaySafe could hold our funds for up to 6 months. During my conversation with S**** he was curt, rude and unprofessional. The trend that I notice with PaySafe Group is they tell you the review will only take a couple of days and request documentation. When the couple of day has expired PaySafe Group will request more documentation. In this manner PaySafe Group drags the “REVIEW” process out making it take longer than expected. The process could take could take days, weeks or months. When you deal with PaySafe Group expect to be lied to by their employees. Any company dealing with PaySafe Group should expect to as treated as though you are guilty until proven innocent.
Canceling a merchant account could result in exorbitant early termination fees. Businesses facing that issue should research how to cancel their accounts without paying a fee.
A “D” Performance
In light of these figures, we are adjusting the BBB’s rating to a “D” for our scoring purposes.
Leaders Merchant Services Fees and Rates
A Closer Look at the Contract
Cost Summary
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Processing Rates
Tiered
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Monthly & Annual Fees
Yes
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Cancellation Penalties
Yes
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Equipment Leasing
Yes
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Three-Year Contract
The standard Leaders Merchant Services contract is a three-year agreement with a yearly PCI compliance fee of $129, a monthly service charge of $7.95, a $40 monthly non-compliance charge, and an early termination fee of either $350 or $250 depending on when a client cancels. Some Leaders Merchant Services fees appear to vary—a few businesses report a monthly minimum between $20-$25—but most of these figures are consistent across all complaints. As noted above, clients also report paying higher rates on their swiped transactions than they were originally quoted. While the company advertises rates as low as 0.15% plus $0.18 for transactions, many client complaints reflect those figures as being deceptive and being charged as high as 11%. The company also advertises a multitude of payment processing equipment options, include Clover POS systems. It is not disclosed on their website whether the company sells these terminals or leases them; however, in the 2021 lawsuit against Leaders, it is mentioned that they lease equipment and part of the lawsuit was over undisclosed fees for doing so. It should be noted that most credit card terminals can be purchased for under $500. Non-cancellable, long-term leases mean a business can pay thousands for that same equipment making them a contract term to avoid.
Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing
In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Leaders Merchant Services also dedicates a portion of its website to advertising its virtual terminal and payment gateway services, provided by Authorize.Net. A typical merchant agreement through Authorize.Net includes a transaction rate of 2.90% plus $0.30, a gateway fee of $25 per month, and a batch fee of $0.15. However, as a reseller of its services, Leaders Merchant Services reserves the right to alter these terms and conditions.
Negotiate for Better Pricing
Because the company relies on an independent team of sales agents, it is likely that some contract terms are negotiable depending on the agent servicing the account. Leaders’ standard pricing is about average for the industry, which prevents it from competing with the cheapest merchant accounts. The company also appears to do a poor job of communicating these terms to its clients, so we assign Leaders a “C” in this section. We also encourage business owners to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.
Leaders’ services and contract leave something to be desired
Leaders Merchant Services 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
Yes
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Discloses All Important Terms
No
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Outside/Inside Sales Agents
Leaders Merchant Services appears to utilize both telemarketing and independent sales agents. The company likely also maintains an inside sales staff and engages in traditional advertising, but most merchant complaints describe a telemarketing/independent agent approach. This practice seems to have resulted in numerous complaints (on this website and elsewhere) citing nondisclosure of fees and aggressive sales tactics by agents. The primary source of complaints, though, appears to be the use of deceptive rate quoting by agents and in the company’s official marketing materials. This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
Phony Review Websites
As mentioned in the company overview, PaySafe Group appears to have created several phony review websites where it ranks Leaders Merchant Services and a few of its other poorly rated subsidiaries as “top picks.” These review websites often overtake all of the sponsored placements at the top of Google search results when users research the company, its subsidiaries, and competitors. We find this method of marketing to be both deceptive and intentionally misleading. See our PaySafe Review for our most recent list of suspected phony review websites.
Deceptive Rate Quotes
At the time of an earlier update, the home page for Leaders Merchant Services prominently quoted “rates as low as 0.35%.” As of this update, the company is advertising “rates as low as 0.15%” on its rate quote page and in Google search results. These advertisements make no mention of the higher “Mid-Qualified” and “Non-Qualified” rates that clients will pay for the vast majority of their transactions. In addition, the company’s “rates” page previously offered an explanation of Qualified, Mid-Qualified, and Non-Qualified rates and stated that “the rate you should receive most frequently” is the Qualified rate. For most businesses, this is simply not true.
Expensive Statements
We have reviewed several merchant account statements from Leaders Merchant Services clients. In nearly all cases, these clients were being grossly overcharged for credit card processing service. In all cases, the clients were under a “tier pricing” scheme that lack clear transparency and included numerous junk fees.
Tiered Pricing Explained
Tiered pricing is a credit card processing pricing model that groups transactions into different “tiers” or categories, each with its own rate. Typically, there are three tiers: qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified.
Qualified transactions are those that meet certain criteria, such as swiping a customer’s card in person. These transactions are charged the lowest rate. Mid-qualified transactions are those that don’t meet all of the criteria for a qualified transaction, such as manually entering a card number. These transactions are charged a higher rate than qualified transactions. Finally, non-qualified transactions are those that are deemed the riskiest or most expensive, such as processing a rewards card or a corporate card. These transactions are charged the highest rate.
The problem with tiered pricing is that it lacks transparency. Processing fees can vary greatly depending on the type of transaction, and it can be difficult to determine which tier a transaction falls under. This can make it challenging for businesses to accurately compare processing costs across different providers or to understand the true cost of each transaction.
Furthermore, because tiered pricing allows processors to charge different rates for different types of transactions, it is nearly always more expensive than other pricing models, such as interchange plus pricing or flat-rate pricing. This is because processors may have an incentive to classify more transactions as non-qualified or mid-qualified, which allows them to charge a higher rate. This can result in businesses paying more in processing fees than they would with a more transparent pricing model. Overall, tiered pricing can be the least transparent and most expensive credit card processing pricing model because it lacks transparency and can result in unpredictable costs for businesses. Our review of Leaders Merchant Service statements indicates that the company may be taking full advantage of the lack of clarity to charge businesses excessive processing fees.
Legal Action Due to Deceptive Rate Quotes
Part of the 2021 lawsuit detailed elsewhere in this review was over deceptive rate quotes given by Leaders’ sales agents. This is a further strike against the company, as we already deemed their sales practices as deceptive even before the lawsuit.
Don’t Blindly Trust Your Agent
We consider this type of rate quoting to be deceptive because it is likely to give merchants an unrealistic expectation of the rates they will actually pay. Many publicly available complaints confirm this to be precisely the case, as clients report their sales agents quoting them the Qualified rate and never mentioning other possible rates before signing. If you suspect that your sales agent snuck extra fees into your account, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden fees.
Suspicious Positive Reviews
Finally, there is some evidence that positive reviews of Leaders Merchant Services have been copied and pasted on this site and elsewhere, possibly by fake accounts or reputation management firms. Business owners are advised to take this into consideration when searching for Leaders Merchant Services reviews.
Leaders Merchant Services Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts and Opinions
Leaders Merchants Services rates as one of the worst credit card processing providers in the industry according to our criteria. The factors that harm its rating include a history of unethical sales and marketing tactics, deceptive promotion via questionable review websites, documented proof of excessive processing fees and other costs, and expensive early termination fees and lease agreements. The company can improve its rating by better regulating its sales agents and by removing deceptive rate quotes from its sales pitches. Additionally, the company could benefit from working to lower its complaint rate. Business owners are advised to carefully examine the complete terms of any Leaders Merchant Services contract they are given, as the company currently ranks among the worst merchant account providers we’ve reviewed.
Related: Comparing The Best Merchant Accounts of 2023
If you found this article helpful, please share it!
Mike Bellon
They hijacked my deposit claiming that since I was new with them my account is being reviewed. I provided all transaction paperwork that they requested and still have not have not had money deposited into my account. I have been in business for over 20 years….big mistake switching to leaders. Thank God I kept my old processing account active
Sheila Russon
If I could rate Leaders Merchant in the negative I would. Leaders Merchants corporate office is I Payment Inc PO Box 3429 Oaks, CA 91359. These companies go together so don’t get tricked. My sales rep Josh Couglin completely lied to me about my contract. He was extremely pushy to get things going. He called me to sign up for merchant services on Nov 9, 2016. I told him I needed to make sure that my booking software I used on my website would accept them as my merchant. Josh told me I would be receiving a call before anything was finalized but I needed to sign three papers to get it going. Next thing I know I get a welcome letter on Nov 10 saying my account was set up. I never received any phone call. Josh also said it was a month to month contract with no cancellation fees. . I told Josh I had to make sure everything was going to work together before finalizing anything. Besides again I was told there was no cancellation fee and it was a month to month contract.
The next day I found out I could not use a third party merchant with my booking service. I called the number Josh gave me on Nov 11, 2016. They were closed over the weekend and would open again on Nov 14, 2016. We are now talking one day but now I had to wait the weekend. I called first thing Monday morning explaining their merchant services would not work with my program. They emailed me a cancellation form to sign and send back. I signed the form and sent it back. The form did not process through their system until Nov 21, 2016.
Next thing I know I get a charge for a cancellation fee of $350.00. I had not even received anything or hooked anything up. This was so wrong. I called the company to ask for them to return my money and they denied it. I searched for the contract saying something about the cancellation fee. Guess what, it was sent to me three days after I signed those three pages on Nov 10, 2016. They get you by not giving you the info until after. I trusted my sales rep and he went over details verbally with me. Still to this day Josh has not answered one email of mine. He told me a whole different story then what was in the big packet I received after the fact.
When I called the Leaders Merchants and spoke with a supervisor he told me I signed the contract and that is all that matters. He did not care if the sales rep lied to me. He did not care that I had not received the packet until after the fact. He did not care that the email I got said this was not a final approval and someone would be calling me. He only cared about the three papers. This company has no human decency. Leaders Merchants and their corporate office I Payment Inc denied my refund.
I HAVE NEVER FILLED OUT A REVIEW IN MY LIFE!!! I know reviews can really hurt a company so I don’t participate. I feel this was so wrong I cannot just sit back and say nothing. I WOULD NOT USE LEADERS MERCHANT or I Payment Inc FOR ANYTHING! IF I CAN SAVE ONE PERSON FROM BEING RIPPED OFF THIS IS WORTH WRITING. If I had looked at the companies reviews, I would have never even talked to them. No wonder Josh wanted to do everything right then. They have terrible reviews. I hope this helps anyone who is considering this company.
Mietek
I am really regretting setting up the account with Leaders for my small non-profit organization.
It started all good where their sales rep was promising me some good rates and the account without any fees back in Feb 2016. Then a month later I have noticed a fee of $2, which I have complained about. During the complaint their manager waved my $2 fee and told me not to worry.
He also mentioned $350 early termination fee that was attached to my contract ,which was never disclosed to me during my phone conversation with original salesman, but apparently it was hidden in the small print. After a few months of interactivity I was charged “Compliance Fee” of $40 plus $2 fee that was back again.
I filed the compliance form, but they still wanted to charge me the compliance fee, so I have put stop payment for those fees ($20 fee from my bank).In total I have paid 3 times $42 in “compliance fees”. Then about a month ago they have closed my account and slapped me with a fee of $350. When I have complained about this ,they said they have done nothing wrong. Overall I have been ripped off with almost $500 and they havnen’t provided any services for me , as I ended up of never using their services.
Please stay away from them as far as possible. I wondering why state of CA still gives them license of credit card processor. – very bad experience.
Joyce
These people are crooks. Bad customer service. They lie to your face. Do your research first. Go through your bank for merchant services. Use them if you want you will regret it later! Just read all of their negative reviews.
kate
I opened an account with this company on 9/28/16 and after reading all the negative reviews closed it on 9/30/13. Yet I was charged a $45 gateway set up fee for anywhere commerce. Leaders states that I signed a form for “ACH Authorization” and sent me a copy. I printed all the forms I THOUGHT I had signed and this “ACH Authorization” was not in them.
I have dealt with Sekure and Cayan and they never charged me any such fee.
Dealing with these merchant companies is scary!
david booth
My small business was growing, processed a payment of $14000, they declined to approve the transaction, but still charged me a incoming charge and a outgoing charge, TOTAL CROOKS, no one apology, just pass the buck pass the buck, no help, wait on approval, we will review, will raise my glass when these guys are no longer!!!
Bryan Polinski
We used these crooks last year for our retail shop. Ran a special that brought people in the door and they HELD OUR MONEY FOR 30 DAYS! because they thought there was suspicious activity on the account. This was detrimental to our business at the time as the sale wiped out our inventory and we didn’t have enough money in the business account to cover any significant new orders of product.
After this happened their customer service was even worse about the subject. They directed us back to the contract and that they we signed the paper that allows them to do that and it was standard practice. No resolve to the issue until they released the funds after almost a month and they ensured there were no chargebacks.
We are a retail store with swiped transactions! How could an influx in sales seem suspicious…
Anyways… We are not great fans LEADERS, and I hope that others read this before making a decision.
Brandon Price
Used for a Christmas tree retail business which only operates for 6 weeks during the year. Leaders Merchant Services was withdrawing $90 per month to keep the account open, even with no transactions. Was extremely difficult to get the service stopped.
Lindsay Lockhart
Not sure about these other reviews but I had and continue to have an overall good experience. Easy way to integrate mobile pay.
CPO
Hi Lindsay,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!
Leonard Habel
I’ve worked with them in the past and had no problems. The machine they gave me was pretty new and it was exactly what I needed. No company is perfect but Leaders will definitely do the job.
CPO
Hi Leonard,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!
Leonard Habel
Red Star Productions
Encinitas, CA 92024
Cindy Judkins
I just signed up for a mobile credit card account and it was one of the best experiences I have encountered. My sales rep is Jake, [REDACTED – contact information] and he has been a total straight shooter with me. There are no hidden fees, I will make no monthly payment and will only be charged a per transaction fee of .18 and .15% on a debit card transaction and 1.55% on a credit transaction. How can I go wrong with that? I will have to pay a one time fee of $20 for the reader that attaches to my iphone or ipad. He went over the entire application with me, so no surprises and there is NO early termination fee. So we will see how things go when I receive my card reader and actually start using it.
CPO
Hi Cindy,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!
Cindy Judkins
Judco Creations, Bastrop, TX
Frank Schmidt
Very deceitful company. Don’t waste your time even listening to them. Tolled me I would pay $7.50 a month, then started taking $40-50 a month out of my checking account. Called them, they said it was the credit cards who charged this. What a lie. Then they withdrew $350.00 from my checking without without authorization. Had to go to my bank and fill out paperwork to get my money back. Don’t use this co. J
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Sean
All the reviews are correct. This merchant service is horrible! I signed a contract with them that clearly states they can’t charge an early termination fee or regulatory fees. The still did anyway. Customer service is horrible and even the manager gives you an attitude. Stay away!
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Lowrey
I have the same complaints as all. The service and web site lie to you. One is required to ‘read-the-fine-print’. Once I decided this was a hoax I cancelled. Cost me a few hundred but all was returned. This business sucks!!
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K Collins
Terrible company. Overcharges, hidden fees, representatives lie to get you signed up. Stay away.
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Patricia Darin
The Sales rep’s for Leaders lie to sign you up. They tell you it’s “NO CONTRACT” you can go month to month. Then they falsify a contract with a “electronic” signature and never send it to you or tell you about it until you want to CANCEL the account. Then they tell you if you cancel, you own them $350 for release the “3” year contact you signed.
It took 6 phone calls just to see a “CONTRACT” I never signed or saw or did ever appear in my email. The company sub contracts everything out, so to get any answers on anything is impossible. Every invoice had charges that were different from the month before. They deactivate your account saying it’s inactivity. Too bad if you ran a charge card before you saw that notice… your money is now tied up until you sort it out.
TOO MANY HIDDEN FEE’S, RULES, AND CONTRACTS. Leader’s Merchant Services is nothing but a “Bait and Switch”.
Leader’s, the SMALL BUSINESS people of this world DO read the small print on contracts if they are ever presented to them. Especially if it involves giving you access to their BANK ACCOUNTS. They are giving Wells Fargo a bad name!
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Lizbeth Falsetti
I will NEVER recommend this company to anyone… better yet… I will go to every single website and make sure people know the major scam they have going on. I will definitely report them to every organization. I will dedicate an entire day to raise awareness of the terrible company they are. They have the WORST customer service and the amount of hidden fees they have is ridiculous. This is absolutely the WORST company ever.
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Michael Beem
They are crooks stay away!!! Robbed me and still owe me hundreds of dollars.. Their software malfuctioned they say?? They couldn’t make it work and robbed me. Then robbed me again.. I’ll make it to Camerillo to meet with them in person… I’m going to steal as much office supplies as I can carry lol…
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Yezenia Flores
This is the WORSE merchant services I have encountered in the past 4 years they keep taking money out of my account that does not belong to them. BEWARE DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. THEY WILL TAKE YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE. I HAVE BEEN ON HOLD FOR A SUPERVISOR FOR OVER 30 MINUTES. DEREK ACTS ALL HELPFUL BUT DOES NOTHING. I DONT KNOW HOW THIS MAN IS A SUPERVISOR. I ASKED TO SPEAK WITH HIS SUPERVISOR AND NOTHING I CANNOT GET A HOLD OF SOMEONE ELSE THAT CAN HANDLE THIS. I WANT MY MONEY BACK. THIS MERCHANT IS A SCAM.
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Liz
Leaders is a dishonest company that definitely pulls a bait and switch on you. This company lies during the sales “job” and their customer “service” (and I use that term VERY Loosely) are so cool when you call exasperated at the exhorbitant and forever climbing fees, that you KNOW they deal with this every minute of every day!!! So I say, bring it on Leaders, just try to collect that fraudulent $350 “termination” fee, you thieves! I closed my bank account. Let’s go to collections! I can’t wait to comment about you on my credit report. I thought there were laws governing these companies about proper disclosure. But I guess it doesn’t matter what they SAY… BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!!!!
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Chaffee County Search and Rescue - North
Our experience to date has been that the sales department does not represent their products honestly (appear to be a bait and switch situation), the fees they charge are excessive and not what quoted and their customer service is horrible. We have processed a total of approximately $400 dollars in transactions and have been charged over $200 in charges and they are saying it will cost $350 to cancel the contract. We are an all volunteer non profit organization and knew that we would only use card services 3 or 4 months out of the year. When comparing companies we specifically asked if there were monthly service charges or minimums required and were told that the only charge was the percentage for each charge. After receiving our statements and seeing charges their Customer Service department was contacted. After being transferred to two different representatives, I was told that we needed to pay the monthly charge and that there was a cancellation fee if the account was closed. This fee was not disclosed when talking to the sales representative. When I asked to speak with a supervisor or manager to escalate the issue, I was informed that they were all in a meeting but someone would call me back. A return call was never received. A second contact attempt was made and again no supervisor or manager was available but I was assured that I would recieve a call back. No call back, a third attempt was made and we were transferred to what we were told is the “only person that can help with this type of issue”. After repeating the circumstances, I was told that I would get a call back. Again I didn’t receive a call back and had to start the process with a new set of representatives. To date the problem is not resolved to our satisfaction.
Sylvia
I had a horrible experience too. Registered 2 businesses because I needed to keep the funds separate, and that was back when the fee to cancel was $250. It cost me $500 to get out of that mess. Awful. What is REALLY bad is that it has happened to non profits. What a blow. When you are trying to help people/pets/vets etc and you get hit with high fees and huge cancellation fees it is devastating.
PLEASE, if you are looking at a merchant company, DON’T use LEADERS. It was the worst experience I’ve ever had.
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karen collins
I advise anyone considering Leaders Merchant Services to stay away! After 3 years of service, with no chargebacks or any issues, THEY sent me a letter saying they were cancelling my account in 30 days. No explanation. Then they ACHed my account for a $250 early termination fee! I’ve been attempting to get it reversed for a week, calling every other day. Problem is that, once you become a client of Leaders Merchant Services, all Customer Service numbers you have go to their PROCESSOR, not them. And they have no authority to do anything unless they get permission from Leaders. So their hands are tied while they wait for their requests for reversed fees. This page shows them with a D customer rating — I would give them an F.
Seasun Passmore
WORST COMPANY!! They deserve an “F” not a “D”. I signed up with them over the phone with an agent who didn’t disclose any information about the hidden fees. Within in a month I was charged $130 for opening my account with them. I called to cancel and it took them 3 months to send me the cancellation paperwork (I called numerous times). I was charged $75/month for not being PCI Compliant while waiting. When I did cancel my account I was charged an additional $250 for Early Termination. If you cancel anytime within 3 years you fall under this. I spent a total of $605 and never even used the damn thing.
jesus
LEADERS ITS THE WORST MERCHANT COMPANY,
The worst company I’ve worked, the customer service is lousy I canceled my account without notice and held me over $ 1000 for 3 months,
are anti professional not recommended.
They treat you as if you were to ask them a favor
NOT RECOMENDED , BAD EXPERIENCE, CUSTOMER SERVICE WORST AND SARCASM….
Nitu R.
We have been very happy with Leaders Merchant Services. Our rep. is always courteous and responds to our questions in a timely manner. We look forward to continuing our partnership with them.
Phillip CPO
In order to authenticate your testimonial, please reply to this comment with your business name and location.
Ken Rishel
In June I contacted Jeffery Swepp at Leaders to inquire about an account. I am a one man business that process less than $500 per month. An agreement was made and fee schedules were agreed to which specified there would be NO monthly minimum discunt fees charged. I suffered a heart attack I June and was unable to conduct business until October of 2014. At this time I processed $112.00 in credit card fees. I received a statement from Leaders in which they deducted $31.98 in Minimum Discount Fees. I contacted them and they said I was notified in September that they could no longer honor the $0.00 fees. I did not receive the notice. They then informed me that since I had not processed any cards that they did not send statements out and that was why I did not receive the notice. They refuse to honor the agreed on fee structure claiming that they have the right to change those fees with a 30 day notification and me as a subscriber has no recourse except to cancel the contract at a high cancellation fee. This company is a complete ripoff and a thief to boot.
Ken
got a call on how I could save money compared to the cc processor I had. After a few invoices and extra fees I found out that was not the case. Also found out we had signed into another 3 year contract which I had told the agent we didn’t want. now the fees are any where from 1/4 to 1/2 of our monthly cc income. they want 250.00 to opt out early stay away from these guys very expensive.
Daniel G
DO NOT USE LEADERS! They are a scam, have enormous fees, and the customer service could be the worst out there—even worse than COMCAST.
I am a board member of a very small nonprofit organization operating on a military installation. I did a google search for credit card processing on iPhone and found Leaders to process our donations and fees. I filled out a form to find out more about it. After talking to Jeff, my salesman, over and over and over, we finally committed. This was after I asked him about the fees several times; we were very uneasy to commit to a contract when the fees were not clear. Jeff assured me that fees would be around $12-$15 per month plus a percentage every transaction.
I took that information to the board of directors of our nonprofit organization. After a lengthy discussion about the fees and how high they are at $15/mo (again — we are small), we finally agreed to sign up. After our first month, we were charged the ~$15 I was expecting PLUS $25 in “Min Discount” I didn’t understand. I called and they said NO REFUNDS. I explained that these charges are not what I discussed with Jeff. Then another month went by and again these unexplained costs. We decided to cancel since we can’t afford these high, unexplained fees. Then we were charged a $350 cancellation fee! This is a MASSIVE hit to our annual budget. I distinctly remember Jeff telling me there would be no other fees and no cancellation fee. These fees have cost us the ability to give back to the military community in which we serve.
Marcal Souto
Sending a complaint to our State Attorney Generals office. We were lied to about everything. .We were asked to try and process a $1 transition, when we did we were later charged $41 to do this. Also $350 cancelation fee ( we were told there was no fee to cancel) $50 for not returning the device( we were told it will process chip cards and tape, It doesn’t. We asked for a return stamped envelope still waiting.Soo we had the device that didn’t work on specific chip cards that we needed it to work on, for one week and sent a $1 charge through as requested. All this nothingness for only $441 dollars.
What a scam. I was lucky in finding one customer serrvice agent to was very sympathetic ( don’t want to mention her name because she probably be fired) out of the fourI spoke to.
Toby
VERY MISLEADING COMPANY! READ THE FINE PRINT! VERY OVERPRICED & HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! We are a small business & when we started out we signed up this company due to good online reviews. We very quickly found that even on our slowest months they were charging us over $600!! We were told twice when signing up that there was no contract but when we tried to switch to a different company they told us we were under contract for 3 YEARS! The new company saved us $400 a month but these guys keep charging us $45 every month despite the fact that we have cancelled their service. We sent back our equipment & a cancellation form twice but these guys claim they never get it so they can keep charging us. After multiple calls & emails WE ARE STILL GETTING CHARGED!! When you call they just take a message & promise to call back but you never get a call back. This is without a doubt the worst company I have ever had to deal with & customer service means nothing to them apparently! If I ran my business the way they run theirs I would have been under years ago. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE!!!!
Lori J
I trust Leaders Merchant Services simply because the entire time I was just throwing away money from a lot of rip off companies, they had pulled me up and offered lesser fees. Compared to other merchant services, Leaders has great and working terminals. The only thing I called them up was for a fee I did not remember being disclosed to me. Fortunately, the rep was able to explain it pretty much clearly so I didn’t bail out. But so far, this one’s for real!
Cynthia
Lori J…wow didn’t remember a fee being disclosed, that is because it Never was disclosed…wait until you need to cancel your account and they hit you with a $300 cancellation fee that was also….NEVER DISCLOSED.
Bobby
I am very happy with leaders merchant services. took a little extra time because they asked for additional documentation but other than that I haven;t had any surprises.
Cynthia
Cannot leave enough BAD comments for this company. Leaders was MISLEADING to say the least. First of the customer service representative offered to walk me through the set up process online. He did NOT at anytime explain that there was a $350 cancellation fee. I was told this was a month to month service. When I cancelled my account I received an email informing me of the upcoming cancellation fee. I called customer service and put a stop payment on the account. WHILE Leaders was in the process of reviewing they went ahead and charged the cancellation fee under a different name than all of the other charges had been processed, thus avoiding the stop payment.
After much complaining they agreed to refund 1/2 of the cancellation.
There charges were originally touted. ALONG with a $175 fee several months after starting up. I was notified of this “governmental” charge in miniscule writing on one of my statements.
I tell everyone that I know that is considering a credit card processing company to STEER CLEAR of LEADERS.
Cynthia Killion
patty robbins
cynthia, i went to my bank and i changed my account number so the thieves couldnt take any more money from me after they took a annual fee that i was told by jake downes there wouldnt be, they continue to send me email and phone calls and have blocked them from being able to email me or call me any more
Lowrey
This has got to be he worse credit card processing business I have been associated with in my life. Not only was I charged a fee to set up the account I was charged $350.00 to cancel the account that has been in use for less than 2 months, a lot of that time was used by Leaders to process my close of account. I have used my cell phone to accept credit cards for several years and have never paid for the service outside of the interest I pay on each card. I believe Leaders is a SCAM and I will report this to the BBB.
Arnold Berry
Leaders has been working fine for me. Had some minor hiccups when it comes to fees but could really be solved over the phone. Overall, it has stand with my business for almost 2 years now.
Cherie
I filled out an application with Leaders but it got hung up in their underwriting. So I told them to stop working on it I was going to go elsewhere. I sent them this in writing. They got it through underwriting and are now wanting me to sign a document to close the account. I said what account? All I did was submit an application … I never signed a contract with them and I informed them prior to them approving via underwriting that I didn’t want to go forward with them.
Do not use this company. They are trying to make me sign a document to close the account that they never should have started. I don’t trust them and I won’t be signing anything else from them.
It will really piss me off if I have to change my bank account info because of these crooks. I’m going to take all the emails I sent them to the bank tomorrow and ask if they will be able to stop any charges by them.
Lise Schiffer
This company uses duplicitous practices to do business. When I attempted to cancel my account, after discovering the hidden and undisclosed charges they impose, I was told I had a 3 year contract! I would NEVER have signed a 3 year contract and I asked them to produce it for me. They did not. They told me I had to pay $350 per year to cancel. Only after threatening them with a law suit did they finally cancel my account. PLEASE do not do business with this awful company.
patty robbins
I signed on with leaders per a trusting phone conversation with Jake Downs, I explained to him I was a small mom and pop and I told him what I did for business. I did not want any fees at all and I didn’t want a monthly service charge. he told me any fees he would waive. the first time I try to process a transaction it wont go through, I call leaders and I get laci nordman on the phone and she tells me to try a transaction. it don’t work, she tells me to try it again and this time I get a confirmation. the next day I get a settlement report as well, I look at my bank account and both transactions actually did go through. I attempt to void one and that don’t work so I call. they tell me to credit one of the transactions. I do just that. about a week later I look at my bank account and there is this charge on there from them. I have no clue what its for, I call and im informed that its a annual fee as well as misc charges for each transaction as well as their percentage of the transactions and im told very rudely to look at my statement which I never received. I was told by jake downs that he was submitting a email to have the fees reversed. I haven’t seen that happen. I have sent several emails and I have contacted them with no avail. I called and asked for jakes supervisor and im told that is either monica Zamora or Courtney Meyers and they are in a meeting and one of them will call you within an hour. that never happened. I finally chat them today and I was told someone would contact me. I get a call from Courtney and all she wants to do Is argue with me and I was told that they have reviewed my phone conversation with jake and they tell me the conversation is the exact of what actually happened. so today I spent the afternoon closing my bank account, the moral of my story is, don’t trust someone based on a phone conversation where some jerk talks you into trusting him based on a phone conversation. and DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING WITH OUT READING IT.
Joe Bateman
This company is our credit card processor. We were notified several days ago that they had put a hold on releasing our funds because of a risk issue. We have made several sales to the same customer within a month which were paid for by credit card. The processor has determined that they are at risk if the card holder disputes the amounts. They requested copies of the actual invoices, which were provided. We provided them with personal contact information for the card holder. The processing company contacted the card holder and he verified that they were legitimate charges well within his credit limit. The processor still refuses to release our funds. Additionally, the processor will not provide us with any time line for releasing our funds. Those funds are critical to our daily operation. The customer has the merchandise and we now need to pay our suppliers. The processor’s actions are crippling our business.
Tim Dods
the only way out is to go to your bank and show them the bad revues, then get your banker to cancel your account and open another one. this will stop “leaders” from continuing to take money without authorisation.
LARRY OLIVER
Leaders, requires a rating lower than minus 10. First of all they operate under three names. When I joined I was told that there was no cancellation fee. What I was not told was that even though I was approved and setup with Authorized.net, the actual company I used for card charge services, was that I had link to a certain hyperlink through Leaders and verify data I had already supplied or there was a $ 40.00 per month penalty on top of a $ 50.00 dollar monthly fee, even if I did not run one card.. Between a lie and failure to explain a penalty obligation no way should they be ranked as the number ! provider of Credit Card Providers. Today they tell me I have to pay a $ 250.00 fee to cancel the contract. I will devote hours over the next weeks finding all the review sites the will allow me to review them. I have never written a review that was negative until this experience. Their charges have offset almost all my credit card income. Please read all the negative reviews on Yelp. I have never seen as many negative ratings as there are for this so called business. I want a COMPLETE RELEASE and a settlement that waives the closing fee. Larry Oliver
CPO
What are the other business names that Leaders is using?
Cameron Johnson
AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COST!!! These people will lie and mislead you to get your business. I signed up with them because they offered what I thought was great rates only to find that it was all smoke and mirrors. They have charged me as much as 5.8% on transactions and then added various fees that, when all said and done, added up to be a total of 14% of my credit card transactions. Currently they are holding over $5000 worth of transactions which they are saying are under “review” because unknowing to me, they set my single purchase limit at $200 and refused to raise it even after we completed all necessary paperwork to raise it.
patty robbins
I had to go to my bank and close my bank accounts, thank god I did it in time as they sent me a statement for 40.00 for misc fees. they are bastards and I plan on filing complaints with who ever will accept them
Sherry
10/9/13 DO NOT OPEN n account with Leaders. They lie about fees. Service, Charges and more. I unfortunately believed Jake Downes. I was told they had a product library similar to Square. Fees sounded fine. Went forward for 2 weeks. The first bill was outrageous. A credit card charge of 14.41 and fees of 4.01. Customer service gal was a total bitch!! Decided to cancel. ARLENE said basically tough as I used the service so the 60.00 they charged my account for shipping the terminal (thats right) was lost. They sent me a new mobile swiper as one didn’t work. Supposed to be free and I was charged. They said they would pay for return shipping. OOPS another lie! I was told I would receive a partial credit for the high charges and nothing! ARLENE stated that because I used the service its tough. I would never of signed up if I had known they had no product inventory in the first place. I was asked if I had this in writing. They were all recorded calls but of course they can’t listen to those and that particular conversation wasn’t an email. All in all. They lie, steal your money. Will not refund you and there is nothing you can do about it. BEWARE!!!!!
John Weber
Total rip off! They promise you one thing on the phone and then rip you off with the hidden fees in fine print for the monthly charges. Then, after 1 month when I didn’t even use them yet, I talked to an agent to cancel and he promised me to wave the $350 cancelation fee if I signed the cancelation form. After I did, I was charged the $350. Leaders said that “someone above him didn’t approve the waiver”. He should have told me that someone else was going to make the decision. My bank was smart enough to do a charge back with my statement on the $350, that it was an unauthorized charge, but Leaders Merchant Services still sent the $40.90 first months charge to a collection agency. (Originally promised me only a $10/month maximum fee if I didn’t use the card.) Bait and Switch!!!!
P L
John, your experience with Leaders mirrors my experience. Complete lies from Leaders. I took in $2500 in revenue and paid Leaders $760 in fees. I’m now using Square and not a problem one. .
ken
This company is a rip off. Did not disclose all the fees and charges they withdraw directly from my checking account, charged me over $400 in just a few months when I was not using the service. Then after many attempts to work out something reasonable, they charged me $350 just to close the account. Of course they deducted that from my checking account as well. DO NOT SIGN UP with Leaders!!! Many other better options.
Rick
This company has crooked practices.
They lie, misrepresent, withhold information, etc.
I have never paid a pci compliance fee untill now.
They do not email you reminders to do do your pci compliance
like my previous merchant service.
After 60 -90 days they will take $129 and bill you $40 per month
if you do not fill out the pci compliance form which they do not
inform you when and where to go untill it is to late.
I was told that it is on the statement. Thw statement does not tell you where to go
to comply. This company is about steeling your money anyway they can get it
and keep legal so they cannot be touched
Mike LaVigne
We had a problem with the $250.00 fee from another merchant. We went to Leaders because they told us they were the leaders in their field and that is how they got their name. So we took down the date our contract
expired for future reference. After around 1 year, our accountant called us and asked us what was going on
with our charges. She told us we were being charged a lot of money for the amount coming in. We looked into our account and agreed. We decided to try the square. However, we had 7 months before our contract
expired. So we kept Leaders and got the square too. When we had to key in an amount we used leaders and
for just a swipe we used the square. We noticed the difference in the cash flow right away.
We were happy to see the increase of money because our fees at Leaders came down dramatically. We
were learning the square but it was not easy to learn because there was no help! We called Leaders
to remind them we were cancelling and telling them we had confirmation that they did receive our request to
not re-sign. We also told them there were charges on our bill for August anyway. They old us these were the
last charges we would receive and their would be not charges in September. However, we got a $250.00
charge on August 19th. We called and they told us to fax in everything again and she would fax it to the
appropriate department. Once received, we would have a refrdund in 1-2 days. It is now September 3, 2013
and we have not received our refund. We called today and they connected us to the wrong department
twice and their telephone numbers seemed to have changed. I can not belive these people are allowed to
stay in business. Aren’t they regulated?
Nick
Wish I had read these reviews instead of the glowing crapfest on other so-called merchant services review sites. Lies, omission and misinformation are just the start. Their quoted fees are for the best of all possible circumstances. Get the “wrong” card and your fee could be upwards of 6% by the time they jack up the rate and add a host of extra fees and charges. Never once was I told of a minimum monthly fee, even after telling the sales rep that I had a low volume and often had months with no cards processed. He also “neglected” to mention the THREE YEAR CONTRACT or the hefty CANCELLATION FEE to buy your way out of their extortion ring. Used their service to process TWO transactions the first month. After seeing how much they charged (over 6% on one transaction alone), and then getting socked with another $37 for NOT having any transactions the following month, I cancelled my account and had to pay yet more, a hefty $350, to buy my way out of this scam. After Leaders, Square looks real good – never had a problem with them and always know how much it’s going to cost in advance. STAY AWAY! STAY VERY, VERY FAR AWAY!
Lara
Stay away from this company! They will get you bankrupt in three month. Horrible customer service. Many many hidden fees, they will hold your funds forever. They will close your account when they want and then reopen. Then they will charge you for all of this. i lost thousands of dollars and we are now in the process of suing this company because we have to file a bankruptcy.
STAY AWAY FROM LEADERS.
Lynell Comer
The absolute worst Merchant company I have experienced, in 10 plus years of using these services! Watch out for their so called low fees….they will charge you MANY extra fees and charges.
BEWARE of the PCI Compliance test….I Got huge Debits out of my bank account even before ever using their system! Then their compliance test won’t let you in to take it. Once taking the test, the system won’t advance to completion. No help on the weekends either…online or by phone! ALL THE WHILE YOU STRUGLE TO COMPLY….THEY STEEL MORE MONEY OUT OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT! Leaders HAS TAKEN OVER TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS FROM ME SO FAR!!!
Walt
Stay Away. I was charged over $80.00 a month in fees.
They told me there was a $40 month fee for PCI. All I had to do is fill out a form and they would not charge me.
Did they tell me it of course not. I was told that all I would have to pay is a low monthly fee of 10.00
They LIE to get any business than you are stuck in a year contract and to break it they ask alot.
STAY AWAY.
YOU BEEN WARNED.
Rex Ross
The sale rep stated the per swipe and transaction fee’s. Stating there are no additional or hidden cost. I then get invoiced for $32.95 per mont for service and Regulatory fee. I said they misrepremsited the cost and they replied that they would charge me $350.00 to cancel and that I had a three year contract. Total new news to me.
A total MISREPRESENTATION and a RIP OFF. I am going to tell averyone I come in contact with about this.
RBMotorsprots
worst company ever, total money grabbers, feesfor everything, no support ,350 dollar cancellation fee.
Ron Watson
This the worst experience and deception I have ever had.
1. They did not tell me about all the monthly charges that amount
to $37.50 a month before using the card.
.2. I was told it was a Two Year contract. Now I find out it is a Three Year contract.
3. Was not informed about the $129.00 a year to be “compliant” . Was told if I was not
“complaint” the charge would be $40.00 a month.
Deb
FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD………..do not use this company. there are hidden fees……they get into your account and take unauthorized fees. I was never told of these fees…….I put a stop payment on my account and they used another number to get into my account when they couldn’t get it with the original. I am not in the process of closing my account………
FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD
dennis abernathy
After 1 month with company, i have to cancel my contract. I was informed about a charge per swipe and a % fee for each transaction. My question next was “are there any other hidden fees”. I was told this was my only fees. My first statement showed 5.89% was charged per transaction. And all the hidden fees showed up, which i was informed that they did not exist. Upon asking to cancel I was told that a $350.00 cancellation fee was in my contract. Again, I was told I could cancel at any time without a service charge. This company was not up front on service fees and charges or vital information when ask. I would give them a “F’ for salesmanship of there product.
Ali Elouassini
same as what others before me said. total scam. knowingly untold hidden fees from sales representatives. charged $ 104 and never even used the service. they said it’s the yearly fee of $89 plus a monthly $15 dollars and i was told specifically by sales rep that there are no hidden fees whatsoever besides the interest charged on the sales and the monthly fee of $15. on top of that they wouldnt even accept the cancellation over the phone they said it has to be written and faxed. now that i did that to avoid any more illegal withdrawals from my account, they said we received it but it will take 30 days to actually close the account , and there is no guarrantee that there wont be any additional fees charged between now and the actual closure of the account :) funny company . funny monkey business.how can a company like this with such malpractices even exist , let alone get a B+ from BBB . i lost all respect and trust in BBB frankly.
David Rosenfeld
Do not use this service Sales rep explained to me that my account was to be charged a percentage of the ticket and a processing fee .. no monthly fees to be on my account .
To date Monthly fees are close to 800.00 and I cannot reach customer rep on the one occasion when I was able to reach customer service after multiple multiple attempts …they agreed to cancel my account and sure enough this month another 110.00 billed directly out of my bank account . Once they have your routing number and account number you are almost powerless to stop them from reaching into your account.
pete lardy
I was not informed upon the sales call about the $129/yr PCI fee billed once yearly in March. I was informed about the $7.95/ month charge for service but to ad in an extra $10 (for PCI prorated) a month makes a difference.
Also, the fact that I’m on a three year contract never came up in the sales calls and that the termination fee is $350. I understand that all of these numbers are in the contract that I signed but wow, they could easily be disclosed by the salesman “Jake”.
Jerry C
Leaders Merchant CC services= BAD!!
Bad service, all about the instant sale! Watch your back.
Had the account rep “Chris Lopez” mentioned no cancellation fees, lowest swipe fees, etc.
Not even close. HIS swipe never worked when he PROMISED it would on an Andriod, it didn’t. Called him 2x, never returned calls. Left messages, never returned messages….AGAIN, all about the SALE!!
tried cancelling, VERY difficult….BUT…I will. Scum!
Flor S.
Got a small bakery at South Coast Plaza and leaders has been my partner for 26 months now. No major headaches whatsoever except for some customer reps that I had spoken to sometimes.
Phillip CPO
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to verify your testimonial. Thanks!
Asif
Hi Everyone
Please stay away from these THIEVES and ROBERS. I was told that there is no contract or early termination fee and rates are best in the industry. I ended up signing with them but they couldn’t process my first transaction and held my money for a month+ and at the end I had to refund that money back to my customer because these BEST in the industry couldn’t do what they promised. I signed up with “SQUARE UP” to process the transaction its been great and very smooth with SQUARE and I am very happy. and two months later these thieves have charged me $350 early termination fee and it suppose to be contract free. These are BIG RIP OFFS, please STAY AWAAAAAAY.
Paul Wilcoxson
Our small company has used this credit card processing company for over two years. Since we signed up, facts have been misrepresented. Fees charged that were not mentioned in the beginning. More and more fees have been added. Our small bank account has been drained dry. We can’t get out of the contract without paying $250, which we can’t afford.
It has been a total headache for us from the beginning. We have fought with people over and over.
I urge others to stay away and not get involved.
Bryan Kilmer
Never had any problems using leaders as my credit card processing company. When I first switched to them, the customer rep explained the services I will be getting out of my subscription. I read the terms and it was agreeable and worth a shot so I tried it. Customer reps aren’t the best in the world but the chances of landing a rep who doesn’t know what they’re doing is lesser compared to other companies out there like my router phone provider. No major hassles experienced so far unlike these other people are experiencing. I am hoping that these negative things are only sporadic though and isn’t a known issue.
Phillip CPO
Hi Bryan,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to verify your testimonial. Thanks!
Quang Le
I have couple transactions on beginning of Feb-2013 and it’s been 2 weeks but i still not see the money of my transaction transfer to my account, so i decide to call them but none of them know what the answer for my money so they keep transfer me to another department and they keep asking me all the information all over again and again till they hear my question they will put me on hold, then there a guy name William pick up the line and said they are reviewing my account so right now just send him “whatever i have”, he said, to him, so i ask what do you mean by “whatever” he said “whatever you could fax to me, like receipts”, i’m a personal small business seller, all of my transaction was by phone swiper so probably i cannot have receipt to fax to him but i tell him i could provide a picture of my transaction that i access on the website that they provide to me. They cannot access to their system to see transaction on my account, i think. After all, he just give me his email to send pictures but he just said [email protected] without spelling or anything as my request, and when i’m trying to send email, it’s not a vaild email. This is such a ridiculous customer service ever. They not like that when i applied to used, but after i have problem, nobody care!
b
Complete liars and thieves!!!! Told me I would pay 1.9% plus $25 a month for gateway and statement fees. My effective rate came in at 10%….. Complete robbery and liars!!! Never a mention of ticket size so my large ticket charges were held for 3 months. I had to deal with the risk department because we are a new company and after they tell me they will finally release the funds a month ago I had to call back today because still no posting. The lady tells me it was an oversight.
Crystal Lemmons
I rushed into an agreement with Leaders Merchant Services in October, 2012. I was looking for a transaction-based fee system that had no minimum fees, etc. I am a board member of a small non-profit children’s museum and we were having a fund-raising activity the weekend that I called them. The salesperson I spoke with assured me that there were no monthly fees and very competitive pricing on transaction fees. Since then they have charge us over $394 for four months, $307 in FLAT FEES and $87 in actual transaction charges. We have only processed $1048 in transactions with them, so their rates are definitely not competitive even without the outrageous
Greg Bradley
So far, hadn’t had any major problems regarding its services. Except of course for customer service who at times does not really fully grasp the problem at hand and will just proceed to selling you something. All in all, I’ve been satisfied with their service.
Phillip CPO
Hi Greg,
In order to verify your testimonial, please reply with your business name and location. Thanks!
Zach
This company will lie to you on rates, percentages and other fees. You will ultimatley have to cancel, and they will make you jump through hoops to do so. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!
Dan
The worst company I have ever had to deal
with in my 31 years of business, The customer
Sevice is horrible, The sales reps. Mislead you.
I was told it would be 0.49 per transaction, they
Charged me over 5% on 4800.00 When I asked to
Have it refunded 3 days later they charge me another 5.plus %
I payed 577.00 on a 4800.00 charge. I will be getting
Intouch with the BBB and the Feds.
I would not recommend this Company. Go to
Your local bank don’t waste your time and money
With these folks.
Greg Wood
I specifically asked the REP that I talked to if there were ANY OTHER FEES, other than the $8 monthly access fee and the per charge transaction fee and he told me there were NO OTHER FEES….HE LIED! They have charged me over $215 worth of fees, and I have NEVER gotten the reader to work even once! SCAM!!!!!!!!!
Michael
I also posted on 8/30/2012 below.
Leaders tried to charge me a second fraudulent cancellation fee today even though I never cancelled them once (they cancelled me due to a fraudulent charge-back claim, which I won). This is a blatant attempt at intimidation at the end of the year as they try to book more revenue.
Please do not do business with them. The charges from them and their pyramid of associated “partners” that you never agree to will continue against your accounts long after you cease doing business with them. I had to file a claim with my bank to stop processing the charge.
M Burns
Leaders has been very reliable for my business. I have a small business I run with my cousins and so far Leaders has been the best business upgrade we ever made. I had to call customer service from time to time but just to confirm certain things with them. I believe that the best credit card company will provide you all the services you need at a reasonable price. This company is not only after their profit but their customer’s satisfaction as well. Happy Holidays everyone!
Phillip CPO
Hello,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location to verify this testimonial.
Jeff Slinkard
Run don’t walk away from this company. They are the biggest Bait and Switch Rip Off company around. Here is how the system works:
They offer you an incredible deal, but you have to respond ASAP, in our case completey free service, no annual charges and no monthly charges, but you have to sign a 3 year agreement.
A few months later you get hit with the first of many monthly or anual charges. But they do offer you a way out, simply pay them $250 to get out of your free deal.
RUN, RUN, RUN way from these people.
Kim Riddle
I JUST got done setting up my account with Lenders, after reading this i am calling my rep (Chris) back to get some disclosures in writing just to be on the safe side. My experience so far has been OUTSTANDING! I will warn merchants, please please please educate yourself before opening an account so you KNOW what questions to ask. I feel a lot of these people complaining didn’t know what to expect and probably signed up for a LOT more than they truly needed (hence all the fees).
I took the time to explain to my rep what my business is, how much I expect to run per transaction and per month, HOW i expect to run transactions (face to face of via the web) and some other small items. He allowed me to set up my account (no up front cost) for a total of $7,95 per month + (.35% + $0.18) per transaction. It is written in my agreement that there is NO early termination fee (ETF) and no additional charges. He is also overnight shipping my card swiper free of charge due to the urgency to begin. I would say that’s a great deal! He also educated me on what disclosures to put on my transaction receipts (All Sales Final, 30 Day Money Back Guarantee) so i am not at risk of loosing any potential disputes.
I only registered for VISA and MasterCard, face to face transactions using the swiper (that is what MY fees entailed), however he did let me know there are A LOT of additional add on options and services that DO get quite expensive. So if you accidentally registered for more than you need, of course you will see ridiculous fees! My suggestion, call customer service and get registered with an account executive to assist you. Don’t try doing it by yourself.
Kim Riddle
I take back ALL of the above comments i made a few months ago (i never followed up, but SHOULD have). After my great conversation with my rep (basically him selling me on everything i WANTED to hear) i could never speak with him again. He TOLD me he overnight-ed my card swiper (that never happened) and he told me to call him back at a certain time to confirm everything was set up properly and we were good to go, he never answered the phone or returned a call again… Other staff members claimed he “went home sick” early on in the day, then at closing time another rep told me he had JUST left for the day? Talk about a bait and switch!
This was all actually a blessing to have turned out this way – i was later educated by another service provider that Leaders is commonly referred to as “Mis-Leasders” due to all the BS they throw at you. The rates i was quoted are actually only given for certain types of cards (which are NOT commonly used) and IF i was to run something other than that specific card i would get CRAZY penalties! Turns out, i would have gotten these penalties on almost every transaction run – when you add that all up it makes the Square look like a GOD SEND.
Long story short – i would NEVER refer anyone to use Leaders! I would recommend Flagship (look them up) they actually do what they say and don’t mislead….
Cathi Richardson
I opened this account I was guaranteed a monthly fee of $10.00 plus 2.7% on any charges and that would be it. I was told several times there were NO OTHER ADDITIONAL CHARGES. However, since I opened this account on July 5 I have had a total of $307.55 of charges taken from my checking account and have only processed a total of $214.00.
When I called to close this account the first time in August after having discovered that apparent fraud was taking place, I was told that the account would be closed from further service fees but would have to remain open for 30 days due to the fact that there could be charge backs. Yet, 30 days later this company has managed to not only take money from my account yet again. When I called to inquire what was going on and why I was charged these fees on an account I was told was closed I was told that there was no way they could close an account without written notice. How convenient that was considering the next month, 3 days prior to that 30 days from date of written notice, they managed to take another $164.90 claiming that was some yearly membership fee and that it would be reimbursed because the account had been closed! Now, 60 days after having closed the account this company is still stealing money from my account for another $65.90 and I have yet to see anything reimbursed as promised. All after being guaranteed that there were no additional fees outside of the $10.00/mth plus 2.7% on any charges.
My bank has advised me to file a local police report for fraud and file complaints with the Attorney General’s Office within my state and California. All of which will be done today. This is pure fraud in its finest form. Apparently there are several other complaint of the exact same; I’m sure this will get the attention of the Attorney Generals in these states as this practice seems to be widespread.
Sylvia Holtman
Finally got it closed. Wow. While attempting to get my account canceled (BTW, it will take you at least a month after you call to have it closed, meanwhile they charge you more monthly fees) I called back at least 3 times trying to find out when they were going to charge my early cancellation fees so I could plan for the massive amount of $500 since I had 2 accounts. They were polite but the information on when it would close and the fees withdrawn was not correct and it basically put my business account in limbo.
I had started trying to get it closed in early August. It was finally closed in October and the final fees were taken at the end of the month. It was a nightmare. Many fees that were not clearly disclosed when I signed up, expensive early cancellation fees, expensive PCI fees and monthly fees added after I signed up. For my little business it was an expensive mistake. I hope others fare better. I would not recommend this company. Please take the negative reviews seriously if you don’t have extra money to spend.
Chris
I had a great experience working with leaders as our primary merchant company. Never really had a problem working with them. Doesn’t have the slightest idea why some people have bad experiences working with Leaders. Just make sure folks that you ask everything before signing up and make sure to not subscribe to other add ons which companies normally do. Just stick to what you truly need and there shouldn’t be a problem. Have a great day everyone!
Phillip CPO
Hi Chris,
The link you provided with your name goes to an unavailable website. Can you reply to this comment with the name and location of your business in order to verify your testimonial?
J. Hopkins
My wife sarah and I started our small bakery business at orange county. We couldn’t cater the expanding needs for our business hence we looked for a suitable partner that would carry and deliver the services we needed in terms of credit card processing. Sarah did a little research on the internet and she found out about this. So we discussed whether it would be the best solution and since it’s comparatively low price is quite attractive, we tried it out last March and so far everything is doing well. We’re definitely not experiencing any problem at all and for us, Leaders MS has lived its name as one of the top, perhaps the number one, cc processing companies that one can see out there.
Phillip CPO
Hi J. Hopkins,
The link you provided with your name goes to an unavailable website. Can you reply to this comment with the name and location of your business in order to verify your testimonial?
Marvin Adams
I am probably a newcomer for leaders since I just joined the band since Feb of this year. I am not going to sugarcoat anything but I just wanna say that I am indeed satisfied with what I am getting for the money I paid them for. It’s kinda hard to look for other cc processing companies whose going to be there really for you. Trust me, I’ve tried a couple cc processing companies and they were a nightmare. Anyway. the rankings can show that Leaders is still number one choice of over a 100K clients. Just check it out for yourself. Cheers everyone!
Phillip CPO
Hi Marvin,
In order to verify this testimonial, please reply with your business name and location.
Elias Gomez
This has been one of the frustrating experiences with a merchant processor, the agent mislead me with the fee’s and he also said i can cancel at any time if they weren’t the right fit for our business, after paying all kind of excessive fees including a $150.00 PCI compliant fee (with other processors $50) i decided to cancel, surprise surprise, they charged me $250.00 early cancellation fee, when i spoke with a manager she was sarcastic backing up her agent that sing me up, saying that i can cancel at any time with a FEE, but that wasn’t what the agent and i discussed during the enrollment. To summarized, BAD company, be careful and ask for cancellation fees and all kind of fees they don’t disclosed. I sign up with another processor that gave me no contract and the fees are about 40% less expensive.
anuar
LEADERS took from my checking account with out AUTHORIZATION $267.00 six months ago and never returned.
we never use the service because from the beginning we have problems with them.
leaders is abusive,liar and thieves…
I would not recomment this company to anyone
Barry Kratzer
I just had the unpleasant experience of dealing with Leaders. The agent told me all about the low 0.49% rate for debit cards, and the 1.79% for credit cards. Well, according to their website, these rates apply to swiped (0.49%) and manually entered information (1.79%) These are nice rates compared to Intuit’s GoPayment’s 2.6%. However, he then said that there is a $0.27 per transaction fee. Surprise, surprise!
Well, it gets better than that. After going through all the signup BS, and trying to get my card swiper sent to me, when I finally got logged in (that is another fiasco) I saw on their agreement a monthly charge of $10.00. They call it a Gateway fee. This is when I told them to stick it where the sun don’t shine!! Now I had to get a form requesting the closing of my account, fill it out, and fax it back to them. A person would think I was trying to break into Fort Knox, with all the rigamaroll I had to go through!! Also, after talking to the agent I received an e-mail from Verifone PAYware, of whom I have never heard, wanting me to sign up with them.Well, it turns out that PAYware is part of Leaders, but ther was no such indication whatsoever in the e-mail! I thought it was a scam company. My advice to anyone would be to avoid this company at all costs!They are very devious, their customer service is all messed up…dropped phone calls, etc., you name it.
Kirsten Holmes
I am deeply getting concerned about the negative comments for Leaders Merchant Services. But their pricing is so tempting I had given it a try and to be honest, I did not have any regrets of some sorts nor did I experience these alerting concerns by other people. I certainly am not getting alarmed whatsoever since they are actually doing great for me and still able to deliver the services I paid for. I hope all these negative concerns will be addressed with properly and timely so it would not tarnish your company’s name.
Phillip CPO
Hi Kirsten,
Can you reply to this comment with your business name and location including contact information? We would like to verify this testimonial.
Kevin Marshall
I have been using Leaders Merchant Services for as my credit card processor for just over a year. I was using a different merchant account provider but Leaders merchant services was able to reduce the cost of my processing by over 1.4% and my transaction cost dropped as well. I have had a few customer service calls for billing and equipment (they got me a mobile credit card processing machine for events). Each time Leaders Merchant Services has always been helpful. If you processing credit cards I would suggest to look into this company as they have saved me a bunch in processing fees.
Pamela Scott
As a marketing professional, all I can say is that this company is able to efficiently deliver its services at least for my business. I have been privately employed as an accountant for roughly 12 years. Everything was good back then until I settled down and had 2 kids of my own. :) I felt that with all the bills coming in and just enough income to cover family expenses and a little savings, I am unsure if I will be able to still survive the harsh realities that I need to find another source of decent money to still enjoy all the things I wanna do. I started a small coffee shop business way back early 2000 and it actually flanked. It’s kinda ironic that I was major in calculation of profit, earning, and all those stuffs yet failed to deliver all these learning on my own business. I studied and studies, feasibility studies here and there, and I manage to survive my boutique. As early as 2006, I already have two outlets. With the dramatic changes brought about by the internet lately, I started to go online for visibility. This was the same time that Leaders came in. My merchant account is well protected and I can guarantee you that. Although at times, it takes longer than usual for my tech concerns to be resolved, it seldom happens and it’s tolerable. As much as I am growing concerned of extra charges being disclosed by people, I haven’t encountered it though. With thousands of people currently subscribe to Leaders, there will still be holes and some left unsatisfied. I am hoping this should be addressed as Leaders has built a very credible impression at least for me. Cheers and Regards!
Phillip CPO
Hi Pamela,
Due to several recent attempts we’ve had from different providers trying to post bogus positive reviews about themselves, can you please reply to this comment with you business’ contact information in order to verify that its a legitimate review?
Tim Dods
I signed up for Leaders Merchant Services a little over 2 months ago, for the advertised .49% rate on debit. I was sent a verifone card reader, and have used it on only debit cards. None of these have been billed as swiped though and all of them were. None of them qualify for the low rate and additional fees and chages made the average for each month approximately 8% of gross card sales, one card in particular, with all charges togther, I was charged 13% of the sale, 26 times the advertised rate. I would like to take cards but these rates, fees, and charges are prohibitive.
Elizabeth Rago
Stay away from this company. They give you the bums rush, promise you everything and
deliver nothing, in particular, customer service. Transferred from one department to another, and
no straight answer. According to them it takes them up to 30 days to close your account, which
I immediately did. They do however, not have a problem withdrawing funds, fees, immediately.
I was charged 45.00 for shipment of credit card processing machine, which did not ship, since
I cancelled and told them in no uncertain terms to not send out. Well try and get your 45.00
back, fat chance. As they say maybe when hell freezes over.
asher barkin
Leaders has been a terrible experience for me. If you want to be ripped off then Leaders Merchant Services is the way to go. They just charged me 350 cancellation fee. the first monthe they charged me 15.00 next month apx 35.00 and it kept rising. Leader Merchant services is an arm of wells fargo. They are to big to fail (immunity) I would advise anyone to steer very clear of these guys.
asher
Id like to add that I charged only one cent ($0.01) to my terminal while I had merchant service through Leaders
Michael
I used Leaders for my credit card processing for a side business, and it was a horrible experience. There is a lot they rush through so you don’t know, and their agreement is intentionally confusing. I had fees in excess of 10% for some transactions, and their monthly fee is not the only monthly fee you pay. So when they say $10/month, it’s actually closer to $30 plus the percentages. I had one false chargeback, which I won, and they cancelled my account and held over $900 that was supposed to be deposited. And even though they cancelled my account, they took another $350 as a cancellation fee and sent my business account into overdraft (because they already took the $900 they owed me). My business lost money on a monthly basis because of their hidden charges. Their business model is short term – get a customer with false advertising, charge high fees for months, use an expensive cancellation clause, and then either cancel them or let them cancel and collect another $350. They seem to get away with it though.
Erwin Raff
I have been with leaders for 9 months and so far did not have any problems with their services and customer support so this kind of reviews really worry me. I trust leaders for my business and I never had any problems with that. I did not know about the cancellation fee charges but I’m not thinking of not finishing my contract before it even expires but its also good to be aware. My business is doing great with leaders and I just want to share that. They are not so bad good rates than the previous ones I had.
Phillip CPO
Hi Erwin,
Due to several recent attempts we’ve had from providers trying to post bogus positive reviews about themselves, can you please reply to this comment with you business’ contact information in order to verify that its a legitimate review?
Grader Payne
I have been with leaders for a year now and so far I have never had any problems with my account. I admit I had to call customer service several times to ask about the charges on my account and they have been very helpful with explaining to me the charges and fees. I don’t know if I got lucky with my the choices of customer service representatives I talked to but I sure did not have any troubles addressing my concern to them and getting it fixed. Leaders has been a reliable company for my business so far and I intend to extend my 3year contract in the future. Maybe they had a change in their system? I was getting a good service and I did not experience what the others had experienced with the company and hope it stays that way. Leaders is doing a great job helping me with my business needs.
Phillip CPO
Hi Grader,
Due to several recent attempts we’ve had from providers trying to post bogus positive reviews about themselves, can you please reply to this comment with you business’ contact information in order to verify that its a legitimate review?
Forbe Cooke
I have been with leaders 2 years now. I wont deny I did experience having to call customer service because of unknown charges on my account but they always fix it. I have experienced working on a company like this before and its really the system that’s causing the charges but their customer service is always there to assist and help correct those charges. I called them and they help me lower down my bill by getting rid of the unknown charges. I know sometimes it gets so inconvenient to have to call but they wont notice the system errors unless you bring it up to them. So far, that’s my only complains about leaders and my business is doing good with them so I dont plan in changing merchant service provider anytime soon.
Phillip CPO
Hi Forbe, Can you reply to this comment with your business contact information to verify that this is a legitimate review from an actual merchant?
Kim
User interface for iphone app worked as expected, and the sign-up process was efficient and easy. However, when I called to cancel service, the information provided by the sales person did not match the terms of cancellation. Two months after cancellation, I still am receiving charges for which it is not clear why… and their were additional charges that were not explained to me at the outset, even when I specifically asked for a list of all charges I could expect. The encounter with customer service was not helpful, as there is no “escalation” point for complaints.
Burner Blue
I originally chose leaders because its the best credit card processing company based on the internet. And so far I have proven it to be right. I have been using leaders for about 2 years now with just minor problems. Yes, I admit there has been some issues with the billing but they fixed it every time I file a dispute which is great. Never got to ask bout their ETF though cause I’m not planning to end my service before my contract ends I was actually thinking of extending. This type of reviews worry me as a consumer but so far based on my personal experience Leaders has been very accommodating.
Phillip CPO
Can you reply to this comment with your business contact information to verify that this is a legitimate review from an actual merchant?
Michael Petrushansky, CPA, PC
This company is a RIP-OFF many hidden fees, non-responsive customer service, charge of 1.95 just to inquire/complain about hidden fees when calling customer service. Use any other service but this one for credit card processing.
Rita
Leaders Merchant Servies is a BIG SCAM. They promise all this stuff to you upfront. Don’t explain the contract. Get you reeled in and then won’t process your money. They told us we couldn’t process more than a $3000.00 transaction per day. No more than $10,000.00 per month and cannot process the same customer more than once a month! They did NOT explain this to us when we signed up our company. DO NOT USE THEM! The people are rude and do not help you get your money by processing the credit card charge.
Sylvia Holtman
I too have had major issues with this company. They are hard to get ahold of, charge way more than I was lead to believe it would cost me and unfortunately, I didn’t read the fine fine print and there is a fee to cancel the contract. (I”ve had other merchant accounts and never even knew that they did that sort of thing…Guess I learned the hard way on that one.)
This last time they charged me almost $22 for a $240 credit card charge because they marked it as non qualified. I was amazed!! I think it was a Wells Fargo credit card too!! Wow.
I have 2 merchant accounts with them because they couldn’t do it in one for some odd reason so I have 2 cancellation fees to pay after my 1 year of $250 ($500 total) and then 2 PCI compliance fees of $129.00 each year and now they are charging me a new fee of $4.95 for each account for some federal fee that’s new. THEN I get charged if I DON’T use it of $7.95 per month for each account. I am just going to pay a STUDID TAX of their cancellation fees and continue to let everyone I know to never never never sign up for their merchant accounts.
It will be cheaper for me to pay the STUPID TAX to them to cancel the contracts than to continue to pay their huge fees. I will not be able to stay in business if I continue to use this company since I don’t run a huge amount of CCards! BEWARE!
Lana
I am on the phone with Leaders at this moment. I have been on hold for 20 minutes now. I am waiting for a supervisor to discuss a refund of unauthorized debits from my checking account. ( How they respond will determine whether I submit this form or not.) I faxed in a “Close Merchant Account Request Form” on 03/09/2012. Since then I have resent the form about 4 times. Since 04/03/2012 they have debited a total of $397.60 from my checking account. I am waiting now to see if I will be getting that amount refunded to my checking account. This is by far the worst company you could possibly choose for credit card services. There has been repeated overcharges and the customer service is horrible. I can’t even begin to express my discuss with this company! At the moment they are refusing to refund the charges because I cannot prove that I sent the fax on 03/09/2012. I was not aware that I would be screwed so I didn’t save the confirmation. Trust me…if you are considering this company…RUN…RUN and never look back! But if by some chance you do decide not to heed the numerous warnings you can find on the internet regarding Leaders Merchant Services, KEEP EVERY BIT OF INFORMATION YOU GET…ASK FOR CONFIRMATION NUMBERS…GET NAMES…AND KNOW A VERY GOOD ATTORNEY!! By the way…now on hold for 39 minutes and 20 seconds! And counting…..
I am actually emailing them and telling them to take me off hold! The last email resulted in getting disconnected!! CAlled back. The very nice lady who answered was appalled at the amount of time I
was on hold! Let’s just see how it works out this time!
Got disconnected again!! Calling back again!!!
Finally spoke with a very nice young man named Jason. He is doing what he can…being that I will get about $50 to $100 of the almost $400 charged to me since I closed the account. Not happy at all but what can I do…I’m just a consumer that paid for them to SERVE me!
Emil
Total waste of time, had 1 charge back and they closed my account keeping $2,000
John Reynolds
This company is a criminal organization! They give you a written contract with all the rates listed and then when you get the monthly statement the rates are doubled. When you call customer service it takes forever to reach someone and then basically don’t even bother to offer an explanation! Then I cancel, of course, and they continue to steal money from my account for totally bogus “fees ” for 6 months. Dealing with this criminal organization, I will not call it a “company”, was an absolute nightmare. The owners should be prosecuted for fraud and put in jail!
David
Total scam – promised no cancelation fee – no hidden fees- blah blah blah – I was charged $34 on only $441 taken in. Misc service fee- $5 Misc reg fee$4.95 – charged for 13 transactions when there was only 5 – Worst was they are the same company I left for hidden fees – IPayment – Leaders gets thier mail to the EXACT same adress – but every employee says Oh we share some business. WOW what an illegal scam they got going. RUN thay are htreating a $300 cancelation after one month and oh so many other hidden “I think I can steal from you” charges. When prompted by a service rep why I was leaving she suddenly could better my rate- “i should be paying this much” Then why was it set up this way – “She didn’t know. RUN FROM THESE FRAUDULENT scam artists
Steve W McLellan
Total agree with this. A total rip off. Took out over $1,000.00 in penalty fees in 1 month out of my account. So many hidden fees they dont tell you about. RUN.