Merchant Lynx Reviews & Complaints

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How did they treat you? ▼

Overview

In this article, we provide an insightful overview of Merchant Lynx Services, dissecting both its service offerings and the controversies it faces. Merchant Lynx, known also as Groundhog Enterprises, has been a part of the credit card processing industry since 1994, but with some founding year discrepancies. We'll cover their various services including credit and debit card processing across multiple sectors, Point of Sale (POS) systems, e-commerce solutions, and cash advances, as well as check and wireless payment processing.

Critically, we also examine the company's customer complaints and legal challenges, focusing on issues like hidden fees, misleading contract terms, and aggressive sales tactics. The efficacy of Merchant Lynx’s customer support is scrutinized alongside a detailed review of their contract terms, pricing, and fees, especially in the context of their partnerships with iPayment and First Data (now Fiserv). This article aims to provide a balanced perspective, offering essential insights for anyone considering Merchant Lynx's services.

About Merchant Lynx

Merchant Lynx is a merchant account provider based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with offices in Massachusetts and New York. Merchant Lynx also goes by the name Groundhog Enterprises and claims to have entered the credit card processing industry in 1994, but the company's Better Business Bureau profile reports a founding year of 2006, and we have located no complaints filed before 2005. Merchant Lynx uses iPayment for its payment processing network and First Data (now Fiserv) for its equipment leases.

Merchant Lynx Payment Processing

Merchant Lynx processes major credit and debit cards for a variety of business types, focusing especially on B2B, e-commerce, education, healthcare, government, financial services, auto, retail, and hospitality.

Point of Sale (POS) Systems

Merchant Lynx provides businesses with POS systems, which are used to manage sales transactions, inventory, and customer information. It appears they offer Clover solutions, though they may also offer others.

E-commerce Solutions

For businesses that primarily operate online, Merchant Lynx provides various tools and systems to facilitate secure online payments. This can include payment gateways, shopping cart integrations, and secure hosted payment pages. They also provide mobile payment solutions for businesses that require the ability to process payments through mobile devices.

Gift and Loyalty Card Programs

These programs are designed to help businesses improve customer loyalty and encourage repeat sales. Gift card programs allow companies to sell prepaid cards for future purchases, while loyalty programs track customer purchases and provide rewards based on spending.

Cash Advances

Merchant Lynx offers what are typically called “merchant cash advances”. Businesses can receive a lump sum of money upfront, which is then paid back via a percentage of future sales. This form of funding can be used to manage cash flow or fund business growth, but terms and rates can vary.

Additional Services

Merchant Lynx offers additional services like check processing and wireless payment processing, as well as fraud prevention tools and guidance on PCI compliance.

Location & Ownership

Merchant Lynx is a registered ISO/MSP of Esquire Bank NA, Jericho, NY, and its headquarters are located at 348 Hiatt Drive, 2nd Floor, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. John Kucyk is listed as the president and CEO of Merchant Lynx.

Merchant Lynx payment processing
Merchant Lynx offers standard payment processing services
Pros & Cons
Pros: Cons:
Cash payment discounts Aggressive sales tactics
E-commerce solutions available Misleading contract terms
Diverse service offerings Unauthorized account deductions
EMV and check services Poor customer service
Gift card programs High equipment lease costs

Merchant Lynx Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 100+
Live Customer Support Unknown
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees
Recent Lawsuits Yes

High Complaint Total

We are currently able to locate approximately over 100 Merchant Lynx Services reviews, and the majority of these complaints outright accuse the company of being a scam or a ripoff. Common issues include nondisclosure of contract terms, misrepresentation of rates, expensive contracts and equipment leases, aggressive sales tactics, and poor customer service. Some of these complaints appear to have received very unprofessional rebuttals from company representatives, but most have not received any sort of response. If you have your own Merchant Lynx review to make, please do so in the comments below.

Merchant Lynx Lawsuits

Merchant Lynx is currently the defendant in a federal civil suit filed by Liberty Salad, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Merchant Lynx charged unauthorized rates and fees following a sales agent’s nondisclosure of the company’s program guide. This case appears to be in settlement talks.

Merchant Lynx was also investigated by the office of the Florida Attorney General in 2014 in response to allegations that the company “violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act” and “engaged in telemarketing without holding the telemarketing license required by the Florida Telemarketing Act.” As a condition of the investigation’s termination, Merchant Lynx paid over $40,000 in fees.

Merchant Lynx is also the defendant in an ongoing suit filed by Paysafe Payment Processing Solutions, LLC, which was filed in January 2020. This suit alleges that Merchant Lynx exploited a partnership with Paysafe in order to steal high-value merchant accounts from Paysafe.

2023 saw a class-action suit brought against Merchant Lynx by a fur cleaning company. The suit alleges that Merchant Lynx clients are presented with a simplified contract at signing but are actually attached to a contract with higher fees.

Merchant Lynx Customer Support Options

The consensus among complainants appears to be that Merchant Lynx Services does not offer reliable customer support, and many clients report instances in which they were unable to reach any representatives at all for extended periods of time. It is unclear at this time whether the contact information on the Merchant Lynx Services website leads directly to a customer support staff.

Merchant Lynx Customer Service Numbers

  • (866) 873-2200 – Toll-Free General Customer Service
  • (844) 200 – 8996 – Office
  • (561) 683-7456 – Fax

Other Support Options

This supports our decision not to include Merchant Lynx in our list of top-rated merchant account providers for great customer service.

Merchant Lynx Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
BBB Rating 4.22
PissedConsumer Rating 1.4
ComplaintsBoard Rating N/A
Average Rating 2.71

BBB Rating Analysis

Merchant Lynx Services has an average customer review rating of 4.22/5 stars on Better Business Bureau based on 210 customer reviews. The company has closed 45 complaints in the last 3 years, with 11 complaints closed in the last 12 months. Common themes in the reviews include issues with unauthorized charges, contract disputes, and dissatisfaction with customer service.

Negative Feedback

Merchant Lynx relies on their representatives/account managers for most business activities. The representative forged my signature on contract documents that Merchant Lynx is now trying to hold me accountable to, even though their representative that signed me up with this merchant processing business stated completely different terms. ******************************* (Merchant ************************* informed me my agreement would be $0/monthly fees, 3% customer paid ********************** ‘fee’ as part of the cash discount program. Merchant Lynx has not followed that agreement. They have charged me 4 different times in varying amounts. After about 2 months of consistent issues, ***** offered a ‘newly released’ device that would help with some of the issues for no charge. It was at this point that he switched merchant processing companies without informing me, forged my signatures on the new contract with *******. I only found out what had happened about a month after ***** had switched companies because I was receiving yet more unauthorized charges from this new company. When trying to investigate the charges ***** was no longer responding. I called Merchant Lynx spoke to multiple reps in customer service and fraud and pieced together what had happened. Now Merchant Lynx is still trying to charge me for a cancellation fee that was never in the documents I was given by *****, the contract I got a copy of from the company has pages that I did not sign. ***** said as long as the terminal was returned to the company there would be no charges to cancel. Merchant lynx states that the contract signed states otherwise and that ***** would have to approve the waived cancellation fee. I’ve been waiting over 3 months for resolution on refunds and the approval for waived cancellation fee and no one can get a hold of ***** or has ever responded or called me back for resolution.Unauth’d charges approved for refund: $61(aug1),$39.95(sep5),$51.91(sep5)I placed a stop payment oct5, $287.95 taken nov2.
– Complaint from November 2, 2023

This Company will go into your Bank Account & steal money whenever they feel like it. They give you no warning. They Took $500 from my account because they say I left the contract early. (I didn’t) Then just recently STOLE $199 dollars for PCI compliance even though I cancelled their service in January of 2023. They claim that if I use the service for any part of the year, I will be charged. NO ONE told us this…they just stole the money. Any honorable company would have refunded that money!! BEWARE!!
– Review from November 16, 2023

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Merchant Lynx Services on the Better Business Bureau website.

Source: Better Business Bureau

PissedConsumer Rating Analysis

Merchant Lynx Services has a 1.4-star rating on PissedConsumer, based on 12 customer reviews. The company ranks 79th out of 199 in the Cards category. The majority of reviews are unfavorable, with common complaints focusing on customer service issues, misleading promises, and communication problems. Customers express dissatisfaction with the company’s reliability and the additional fees charged.

Negative Feedback

2009 and it is almost April 2010 and they continue to take money from my account when I canceled my contract because of their continued rate increases. They hit my account for $350 for early termination fee even though my contract had a no early cancellation fee clearly stated. Merchant Lynx had me fax the contract to them showing there was no cancellation fee, which I did. Didn’t they have a copy of my contract? It was just a tactic to stall for time to keep my money. On my contract, I noticed a phone number for Wells Fargo, and I made a contact with them. They got my money back in my account today. My account was charged $65.68 for PCI compliance fee. I have not used Merchant Lynx since Sep 2009, so here we go again. I have written them letters to stay out of my bank account. Shouldn’t this be illegal? I have notified my bank, Bank of America, in person with Merchant Lynx account numbers to stop any transactions from them. Bank of America tells me they can only stop transactions if they have the dollar amount to be debited. This is nonsense. With the technology the banks have, surely something can be done. Also, on a business account, you only have 2 business days to report a transaction in question. Wow! I monitor my account daily, but what about people who don’t utilize the internet for banking? How would they know? There is no protection for small businesses. What’s to stop Merchant Lynx from taking a few thousand dollars out of my account? These credit card processing companies need more regulation. – Review from Mar 27, 2010

Merchant Lynx should be put out of business. They are preying on unsuspecting legitimate businesses by lying and very unethical practices. Their representatives are trained to omit all of the details. After receiving very poor service and forced to look elsewhere, we are still having our bank violated by them. They use every underhanded tactic to take your money. What they do to sell their machines/service and outrageous charges is next to criminal. They are very difficult to reach on the phone, and you cannot get a return call. This is our worst business experience ever. We would like them to stop taking our money and return our money. – Review from Feb 09, 2010

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Merchant Lynx Services on the PissedConsumer website.

Source: PissedConsumer

ComplaintsBoard Rating Analysis

Merchant Lynx Services has a range of customer reviews on ComplaintsBoard, with common themes including dissatisfaction with customer service, issues with sales representatives, and complaints about the terms of service and equipment.

Negative Feedback

I signed a contract with Merchant Lynx Services for credit card processing. The sales rep was very convincing, but after signing, I realized the rates were much higher than promised. The customer service is terrible, and I’ve had numerous issues with the equipment. I feel misled and trapped in this contract. – Complaint from January 15, 2021

I was approached by a sales rep from Merchant Lynx Services who promised lower rates and better service than my current provider. Unfortunately, the reality was completely different. The rates are higher, and the customer service is non-existent. I’ve tried to resolve these issues but to no avail. This has been a frustrating experience. – Review from March 10, 2021

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Merchant Lynx Services on the ComplaintsBoard website.

Source: ComplaintsBoard

Merchant Lynx Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Cost & Fees Summary
Cancellation Penalties Yes
Monthly & Annual Fees Yes
Processing Rates 1.00% - 4.99%
Equipment Leasing Yes

Merchant Lynx Pricing

The standard Merchant Lynx terms and conditions describe a three-year agreement through iPayment with automatic renewal for one-year terms and an early termination fee of $495. Multiple businesses also report a PCI Compliance fee of $159. Other fees, such as a monthly minimum fee, a statement fee, or a rate schedule appear to vary from business to business and can be found on a separate document known as the merchant application. We would encourage potential clients to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Merchant Lynx also dedicates a portion of its website to advertising its virtual terminal and payment gateway services. However, pricing is not disclosed on either of those services. Additional rates and fees, including gateway fees, technical support fees, batch fees, and additional transaction rates may apply to these e-commerce services.

Contract Complaints

There are currently a high number of client complaints about most of Merchant Lynx’s contract terms, from the expensive early termination fee to non-cancellable, 48-month equipment leases through First Data Global Leasing. Responses to client reviews from the company confirm that there is a $99 application fee to be paid upon submission. Though the fee is refunded after approval of the application, some businesses have reported difficulties securing that refund. Client reviews also detail a monthly lease payment of up to $85 over that 48-month term. Some business owners also report other undisclosed fees and higher-than-expected rates, such as being charged in excess of the flat monthly rate they were initially quoted. Overall, there is no information online that suggests that Merchant Lynx Services offers competitive contract terms. Public reviews of Merchant Lynx’s pricing and fee structure are consistently negative, so businesses are more likely to see savings with a top budget merchant account provider. See the Merchant Lynx program guide.

Merchant Lynx e-commerce payment gateway
Merchant Lynx offers e-commerce solutions including access to a payment gateway

Merchant Lynx Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

Jobs & Marketing Summary
Uses Independent Resellers Yes
Telemarketing Yes
Misleading Marketing No
Discloses All Important Terms No

Outside Sales Agents

Merchant Lynx Services appears to utilize telemarketing and independently contracted sales agents to market its services. These practices usually result in a high complaint rate, as they are structured to motivate sales agents to sign clients up for the most expensive contracts possible. Merchant Lynx appears to be no exception, as we are currently able to locate numerous Merchant Lynx reviews that describe deceptive sales practices by the company’s agents. This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors.

High Volume of Sales Complaints

A number of business owners report nondisclosure of contract terms, misrepresentation of rates, and high-pressure or aggressive sales calls and practices. We have also located multiple reports of unprofessional behavior by sales agents, including leaving a sales meeting suddenly to avoid providing specific information and engaging in fake phone calls with their employer to reassure a client. These types of negative Merchant Lynx reviews have remained consistent and have possibly even intensified over time.

Definite Red Flags

Taking into account the high total of Merchant Lynx complaints that echo similar frustrations with the payment processor’s aggressive sales tactics, we have assigned the company a “D”  in this section. If you suspect that Merchant Lynx is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden costs.

Our Merchant Lynx Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

Merchant Lynx Services rates as a substandard merchant services and credit card processing according to all available information. The company offers expensive contract terms through iPayment and appears to sign clients up for costly long-term leases through First Data (Fiserv). Additionally, many businesses have reported behavior by the company’s sales agents that ranges from unethical to rude. The high volume of complaints filed against the company has earned Merchant Lynx a place among the worst merchant account providers. Business owners are encouraged to read their contract terms carefully before signing up for this company’s services.

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Which is Most Important for You?

If you had to pick one, which quality would you say will be the most important with your next credit card processor? Tap or click your selection to register your vote:

  1. Low Transaction Fees
  2. No Monthly Fees
  3. No Contract
  4. Reliable Customer Support
  5. Quick Signup

Testimonials & Complaints

How Did Merchant Lynx Treat You?

113 User Reviews

  • Mya Johnson

    Youmop, LLC

    My name is Mya Johnson, I have a class lawsuit against merchant lynx and first data. I went though a horrible situation with them as well. I lost my small business as a result of them. Please give me a call immediately my phone number is 248-343-2013

  • Mya Johnson

    Youmop LLC

    My name is Mya Johnson, I have a class lawsuit against merchant lynx and first data. My situation is similar to yours, please give me a call immediately my phone number is 248-343-2013

    • sandy

      Road Radio

      I opened an account with them and they actually opened 2 accounts in my business name and for over a year charged me 2 sets of fees and one for my current account and 1 for the account opened by mistake took us over a year for a representative to figure out 2 accounts were opened and even after I closed my account they continued to withdraw fees until I had to eventually close bank account to stop charges

  • Elizabeth

    Loving Hands Grooming

    DO NOT sign up with these people.
    they auto renew without sending you notice for additional 2 plus years increased my rate from .06 transaction to .26 transaction and if you want to cancel your so called renewed contract bec. you refused to be financially RAPED ! THEY will charge you $495 cancellation fee. DO NOT TRUST – if youre stuck check your statement every month. I was their customer since 2018 and this is how they treat their long term customers. By the way they process almost $400,000. of sales for me. I guess my business is not that important to them. I am considering a class action lawsuit for abusive rate increases, etc.

  • Elizabeth

    Ebenezer beauty salon

    Very thief, please don’t trust this company are thief, they will steal all your money in bank. Lies, and hungry for money don’t trust them. Evils and thieve. Don’t go for this company. I give them zero I sign contact with them to pay $40. Every moth for fees, but they taking in my account $667- $700 in one month. Plus when you talking to them and ask them they tell you that is chargers your supposed to pay. And the money will take 3-4 days before it will be reported in your account. Also they if the total sell is $2100, they will deposit two dollars and one cent. They will keep your money. After you call and they realize you note something deferent next day they will deposit the rest of your money back. So for any one will read this Msg please look for something else not Merchant lynx. Avoid them as much as you can.

    • Mya Johnson

      Youmop llc

      Merchant Lynx services has a class lawsuit filed against them myself and my company has a lawsuit against them. They do everything wrong you can call me I know who you can report the crime to. Call 248 343 2013

  • William McIvor

    INTEGRATED ENERGY SOLUTIONS USA LLC

    Filed a complaint with BBB. You need a lesson in customer services and new management that can come up with a better model. This one is not working by looking at your massive complaint record. Good luck

  • wang

    I warn everyone, stay away from Merchant Lynx. We tried a couple of time to terminate our relationship. They made it very difficult! We finally did last year. we had accumulated more than five years with Merchant Lynx at the time yet they showed no mercy for $495 early termination fee. It was a nightmare for us dealing with them and still it is now though we closed our account with them a year ago. They have our bank account info due to previous business relationship. They have charged us $199 twice Oct. 2021 and May 2022 after our account was closed. Their sale rep bad mouth competitors; they charge you fees nondisclosed i.e. Nyce Annual, Accel Annual. Pulse Annual.Star Annual. They change the rate any time they want to. Their customer service is awful, does not help at all. I am in contact with offices of our congressman, state representative and the State AG. We were advised to collect all relevant evidence. DO NOT provide your bank account info to them.

  • Tammy

    Market Street Denture Center LLC

    This company is a scam the sales rep told us that we would be charged $19.00 a month for each terminal that we have which would be $38.00. We have 2 offices and every month they take over $250.00 a month out. And then they popped us with over $1,100.00 for annual and PCI fees that the rep did not tell us about. Been calling them for months trying to close the acct with one of our offices and it’s once excuse after another. Went to our bank to put stop payments on the ACH withdrawls and then they go and change the $ amount after it has been the same for months. Spoke to Christian a supervisor this morning, he gave me a number to contact the IOS dept for our office and that number states that it’s not a working number. This company is the worst merchant services acct I have dealt with.

    • Wang

      We were with Merchant Lynx for 5+ Years, the bad mouth competitors, tried to stop us from closing account. We finally closed our account a year go. Its sales rep sent us nasty message, charged us $495 early termination fee, after 5+ years giving them our business! We requested that close our account completely and no more fees due to them after they took the $495.00. We have never heard a word but they ACH charged us $199 twice after our account was closed. The latest was on May 10, 2022, (by Groundhog Ent d/b/a Merchant
      Lynx), a year after we closed our account!!! It was a nightmare!! We wonder there the law is, where the rules are. Who can help us and prevent others getting into the nightmare like ours.

  • JUNE BENSON

    incredible clips ll

    I HAVE A SMALL DOG GROOMING BUSINESS IN NJ, I SIGNED ON WITH THIS COMPANY FOR A FRIEND AND HE BAMBOOZELED ME, WE ARE NO LONGER FRIENDS AND I AM ALREADY OVER 4 GRAND INTO THIS S*** COMPANY.
    IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR SMALL BUSINESS GO UNDER THEN THEY ARE THE WAY TO GO…
    THIS IS THE WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DELT WITH, THEY MISLEAD YOU, AND FLAT OUT LIE TO YOU ABOUT EVERYTHING.
    I WANT OUT AND IN ORDER TO DO SO IT WILL COST ME THOUSANDS.THEY ARE NOT SMALL BUSINESS FRIENDLY THEY DO NOT GIVE A CRAP ABOUT YOU OR YOUR BUSINESS,
    RUN LIKE HELL DO NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

  • Ronald T Martin

    Martin's Central Vacuum Systems & Aerus Electrolux Store

    You have acquired Banctek according to your website now I am getting billed by both you and Banctek. Why do you think you can just start billing someone with no explanation at all??

  • Johnny

    In the 31 years I’ve been in business I’ve never ever associated myself with a business like Merchant Lynx or Logical Lease another associate with this band of crooks – their salesman misrepresented the truth about fees & the outrageous fees that logical lease is still trying to collect from me by harassment – I had to close a 30 yr old business acct just to dis associate myself with these liars – I am currently planning on seeking legal action against this band is of new age thieves – any attorney n the palm spring gardens area that wants to help me with this case can reach me at [email redacted]. I not only endured loss of business revenue with this company & it’s associates – but was & still am being tortured by their collection practices over an outrageous card machine fee.

  • Jennifer Wilshire

    Bozeman Pediatric and Sports Physical Therapy

    This company has consistently been a nightmare to deal with throughout the process of closing my account. I have repeatedly called them, received the same rote response and when asked there never seems to be a supervisor available. A month after terminating the account, I’m still fighting with them and they still are deducting fees and refusing to discuss it with me. The latest was an “early termination” fee but there has never been a contract, so how can there be an early termination fee when there is no termination date? Once again, when called there is no supervisor available. The reason for termination in the first place is that they have very high hidden fees that only make sense to them. I switched to the square and am so much happier.

  • Rhett Radford

    When my business was forced to close in 2020 it is clear now they would work to fleece me and not at all help me return this year.
    1. I was threatened to be charged $495 if I did not return a machine
    that I had already paid for. 2. A non-compliance fee of $420 was to be added for 2020.
    3. The initial idle fee (non use) had increased over %600 for my seasonal business originally offsetting their lousy higher rates.
    5.Charged $495 for a 1 month early cancelation on a 3 year contract.
    …thanks Merchant Lynch!
    6. Their services were last used in 2019 and finally canceled in August
    of 2020 with many fees, on May 6/th 2021 however, they just decided
    to charge me $199 for nothing! no explanation other than it is for year 2020 but did not answer or mention when directly asked multiple times and multiple ways if their were any more charges from them back in 2020 after the cancelation was complete.
    Sooner or later this will catch up with these turkeys, and when they
    go down, I just want to be there to help them like they helped me! ! !
    … Rhett Radford 🦃 ⏳

  • Natalie Botticello

    Merchant Lynx should FIRE STEVE KHYM for being a POS, a LIAR, being unethical, having no morals. Not returning any calls or emails is his MO. Trapping the small business with his lies like saying Merchant Lynx is a NO FEE PROGRAM and then finding FDGL FIRST DATA on your bank statement and calling them to find out you have a 24 month lease (that you did not know you signed up for) and no one can get out of because First data only cares about the mighty dollar not the customers. Merchant Lynx is a nightmare please do not do business with them and do not do business with First Data and when a representative of Merchant Lynx shows up at you door put up your close sign and turn your back on them.

  • Teri

    I processed my first transaction in April 2021. It was a large amount $7360.00 with Amex card. They flagged the transaction but deposited the money into my bank right away. When I saw the documentation they wanted I decided not process it with them and they charged back the deposit from my bank and got their $7360 back. Fine.

    However for the last 3-4 weeks I get the phone calls about reconciling the transaction. so I called back, spoke to Raymond and was told that it was still open on their end and I needed to put through a refund. Sounded weird and said no. Then I speak to Mike Zavala in Florida, and explained situation with him. He agreed with Raymond that to close out the transaction I needed to process the refund for $7360.00. I very explicitly stated that if I did that they would be taking the money a second time. No No No they both said, it is just a bookkeeping transaction.

    Well I did it last Thursday 5/2 and by Monday 5/6 my account had a $7360.00 debit for the refund again. Went to my bank and they found this highly unusual, and were able to stop payment. Then 2 days later they charged my $19.00 twice and $99.00. Then upon further review they charged me $789.62 last Friday 5/3 the day after I did the “bogus” refund. When I called them again today to question this $789.62 charge, I was told that I had processed over $14,000.00 and the charge for that was $457.64 plus suddenly I get a $199 annual fee and other unidentified charges totaling $789.62.

    I had a lengthy conversation with Mike Zavala that was anything but pleasant. I was threaten with “any and all charges that he can bill me and termination of contract fee” and to report me for unpaid fees and that the problem was all my fault.

    The only way to stop further charges was to close my bank account. I want to report this to the Attorney General any advise or direction? I was able to stop payment of most of the charges but not the $789.62. Oh as a side note Mike said that legally they can hang on to my money for 6 months.

    • Mike Doyle

      Retired

      I can tell you this No visa /Mastercard processing company has anything to do with American express card fees or transaction amount!! American express is their own entity and appears your complaint should be with American express.

    • Wang

      We had the same pain as yours dealing with this company and the same Mike, so nasty. We closed our account last year. Merchant Lynx still put debit through our bank account through a different name Groundhog as yesterday. Email inquiries always got ignored. Who can help to stop this company from rippling off small business owners, hard working people without any consequences? Who can bring this company to court?

  • F$%# MerchantLynx

    These are the biggest crooks I’ve ever encountered and they continue to be allowed to get away with it. I’m trying to put a stop to that! I’m gathering up everybody that has been scammed by these worthless pieces of human waste. Please reply to my comment as I’m working with other merchants to file a class action lawsuit as well as having everybody report them to the Attorney General and BBB. Let’s put these a-holes out of business!

    • Liquorworld Newhaven

      These are blood suckers and all they do is charge your account for non sense things that they say this is part of the contract. I have been charged a year after I disconnected them paying huge cancelling fee. They have all kinds of fees, which they don’t communicate with customers in advance. They kidnap the customers and hold the bank information and just keep charging the account.

    • Tammy Roosma

      Country Dental

      Same thing is happening to me. They bought the business I was going through, and then started charging $19 a month. I cancelled their service in October, and I am still getting charged the monthly fee plus they just charged $199 for nothing. I am so angry. There also was a $460 credit that they never credited to my account.

    • Diane

      Pitman Party Rental, Inc

      Can you tell me if you are still trying to get a class action lawsuit or are in contact with Florida’s Attorney General? I have been screwed by Merchant Lynx and they do not care. It’s as if this is an everyday complaint with them. Also, they keep telling me they are going to send me a copy of my contract and they have not. High Fees, too many fees, I had two accounts and they charged me $495.00 twice for early cancellation fees when I cancelled in July 2021, which they acknowledge. They said they emailed me a cancellation that needed to be signed. It auto-renewed in August, therefore when I figured out they never cancelled, in October, they charged me the Two $495 fees. After that, in November, December and I think January, they continued to charge my account fees.
      They also charged enormous fees during COVID for me not putting through enough transactions. I have a Party Rental company. No parties, COVID!!!! They didn’t care, nothing they can do and that is why I asked them to close my account in July. I have pleaded with them, spoke to several different people, managers, supervisors, a sales agent. One told me he went to the executive level and they still denied the refund. I feel like I’m in a communist country where Merchant Lynx makes the rules, they take your money and you just have to sit down and shut up and let them do what they do. I can’t believe that this is okay and they continue to do this over and over again. I can not let them continue to hurt people like this. I am shocked that they have been allowed to. Oh, and by the way I would never sign a contract that says there was an early cancellation fee. The sales rep that came to my house said I could cancel anytime. That to me is the most important question. When I cancelled in July, no one told me there was going to be an early cancellation fee because it was going to auto renew next month. I was told just today, that if the account was closed in July, it would not have auto renewed. Then I was told I had to cancel 60 days in advance, and then 90 days in advance, otherwise it will auto renew. I’m going to search for my contract, and I will find it. So when they try to photo shop my signature on another contract, (if they do that, nothing would surprise me at this point) I will have the original and it will be an Aha moment.

    • Kim Allen

      Vintage Charm

      I’m in. They called and said that they had bought out our credit card processing company and that they’d reviewed what our plan was and there was a cheaper plan. Apparently not true because my credit card company charged me $375 for early termination. Now no one will return my calls. A federal investigation needs to be instigated. I’m quite sure they’ve violated many federal laws.

    • Mya Johnson

      youmop LLC

      I am filing a class action lawsuit against merchant lynx. As well as the attorney general’s office needs to hear your complainant, it will help any case of yours and mine. Please call me, my name is Mya Johnson 248-343-2013

  • Maia Gilleo

    This is the worst company even. Cancelled there service months ago. Payed the the 495.00 termination fee then they continued to bill me 19.00 a month now a 199.00 charge for what I have not used them for over 6 months. Found i much much better company that charged 1/2 the price and no lease fee. Customer service is absolutely horrible. My next step will be is to contact my lawyer.

  • Ryan

    Terrible, terrible company. Deceptive sales practices, coerced a person at our company to sign someone else’s name electronically on the agreement, and astronomical fees. When you want to get help from customer service to terminate the relationship, they ignore you completely. The only thing that got their attention was telling them our next step was going to be to file a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and have our attorney get involved. I would not wish this company on our worst competitor. STAY AWAY FROM MERCHANT LYNX.

  • Bhritta

    Business account ((( HACKED))) by Merchant Lynx web payments, I just discovered this con artist last evening ….starting the dispute process with my bank….an first thing this morning they hit my account again last night…sheeesh….I have never heard of this company an already have a Montana based cc processing system. This is a NIGHTMARE!!! Beware they are thieves in the night….

  • Tharmalingam Annamalai

    Don’t ever sign up for this company’s credit card services. They will call and come to you and sign you up with all wonderful promises but you end up paying around 16% from your total amount processing.The name of the agent who signed me up is Elner Davis.He promised that the processing rate is 1.85% but ended with 16%. As a small business I do not know what to do but to cancel the service. Now on top of that they want me to pay an early termination fee of $495. See the transaction list attached and the amount I ended up paying. They keep taking out money from your account. Customer service is horrible. Anybody want to see the details see the attached data. They are just cheats with no ethics. Also see the agreement signed.

  • X Wang

    Your review on the company is accurate according to our experience with it. Major issues with this company are Poor quality customer service and deceiving sales practice. To be exact: 1. Put charges through our bank account or add fee not listed in our contract without notice/invoice/explanation. 2. Incompetent. for one same issue/problem, if you speak to three different people, you get three different answers. Our account got charged extra fees. We called and got the answers like “unknown fee/call back next months if it shows up again.” 3. absolutely no response to emails/phone calls from sales unless he wants to sell you something. Never trust what sales say, 4. Promise on phone conversation never got delivered. We followed up, received no response. 5. Makes your exit difficult. We spoke with three different people about the process of closing our account. We got three different answers. Thank you for putting this company on the top of your list. It will be greatly appreciated and will save a lot of peoples’ troubles. We will file complain soon.

  • Heidi Coates

    This company is unreal! DO NOT USE or fall for anything they tell you! They are thieves! They charge the customer AND the actual business owner! We were told NO CONTRACTS, NO EXTRA FEES!!! Forget it! They will cost you more money that as they say “save you money”! They need to be off the streets!

  • Randy Jacobs

    Merchant Lynx Services in my opinion is 5 star company. With 24/7 customer services support, helpful and courteous staff members. The staff is always prompt. I have been with other merchant services and none compare to this company. They have great rates and next day money guaranteed. Keep up the great work. I would recommend this company to everyone.

  • Concerned Citizen

    Merchant Lynx should not be trusted! They set businesses up on illegal surcharging programs — They convince business owners that they’re allowed to surcharge every card type by 3.99% when you’re really only allowed to surcharge credit cards. This puts businesses at risk of being banned by card brands! They also push businesses into signing outrageously expensive, non-cancellable equipment leases. They are dishonest swindlers. Do not trust them!

  • Gardens Grille

    My experience is bad.
    I was advised by sales manager John Dill to give up my 2.49 % fixed rate for V M D , surely when I got my May bill (open interstate) rate ,I paid about 3.6 %
    It’s been one month that I am asking John Dill and his Staff at merchant lynx to change it back to the 2.49% one month and they ignore me don’t call back
    Many deposits into my accounts were short, and often I had to fight them on no deposits day after.
    I can’t do business with those guys. Bad experience. When I told them I may be interested to buy Pos they were visiting me almost daily. When I changed my mind about the Pos treatment changed
    Stay away save your money


    This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Restaurants

    -Phillip

  • Dave C

    Ive been a client of MLS for nearly 4 years now and am looking forward to another great year with them. They have gone above and beyond to provide me with consistent and accurate funding without issue and provide additional features through their processing that help me grow, and grow fast! They are great for small businesses and will accommodate your needs from top to bottom. Thank you MLS!

  • Cherri Van Aken

    I’ve asked this company to remove us from their calling list, but they rudely refuse. They are not “Merchant Link Services”. Merchant **Lynx** Services is a similarly named company riding on the reputation of a decent company. Really, if you have what it takes to compete in the same market, make a real and unique name for yourself. I’m not going to the grocery store to buy Foldgers coffee. I want Folgers. I don’t understand why anyone would trust their business to a company who tries to scam them from the very beginning of the relationship.

    From The Editor
    This Post Might Help: How to Shut Down Sales Calls

  • Jon

    I don’t have the service but the harassing phone calls trying to solicit my business is ridiculous. I’ve asked representative to take me off list numerous times and they still keep calling and calling 2-3x a day. I will not use or recommend the service.


    From The Editor
    This Post Might Help: How to Shut Down Sales Calls

  • marcelo semblat

    the worst merchant services in the world they put some transaccions on hold to verify and its been more than 2 month then and i didnt recive it yet
    I sent them all the information they needed to release it and they did not incluided the customer stataments the worst customer service does not return calls, they lie to you, william who is superbly the manager does not do anything to help you they treat you like a spam instead of realizing that you are a customer of them it is incredible how they can hold you money for 2 months without anyone claiming the transactions and with all the information they asked me to send.
    Finally I already changed merchant and they told me to sue them because they can not keep the money for so long without justification and probably want to keep it


    From The Editor
    This Post Might Help: Why Credit Card Processors Hold Funds

  • Igoromelkin.

    Have my own restaurant business, and started to use this company about 6 month, I wouldn’t recommended to some businesses have contracts with Merchant Lynx, My experiences to have business with this company bring me to many troubles, service they provided terrible bad, still waiting money from my customers 10 days, can’t operate my business with service Merchant Lynx provided, Never recommend to sing contract with them, highly risky to your business.

  • Bernard's Jewelers

    We are a family owned business in Grand Prairie, TX since 1969. Signed an agreement with Merchant LYNX Services on 12/09/17. Equipment never showed up. They began auto-drafting what they termed as a “Customer Service Fee” from our business account on 12/18/17 and again on 01/18/18. I called, explained the situation on 4 different occasions. Couldn’t get them to respond had to call our bank to cut them off our account! We were never reimbursed us for the fees they took. I would not recommend this company to anyone!!

  • Sovannthan

    I was new to the whole Merchant processors. I first signed up with my bank. It was going well but the rates were incredibly high. The good thing about my old merchant account was that every year they deduct the early termination fee. (5 year contract)
    When a representative came in and mentioned that my processor is a big rip off and cost way to much that I should sign up with Merchantlynx, (not knowing that I just got sucked into a wormhole). They promised and guaranteed that they will buy out my contact with ( I will call it) Merchant A. Mind you that never happened. When Merchant A charged me an early termination fee, I contacted MerchantLynx, they told me they do no such thing. I tried contacting the representative that came in, he completely fell off the Earth. Of course I was debited $295 from Merchant A even though it was a 5 year contract and I stayed with them for a year and it didn’t dry me out.
    Anyways I finally made a decision after 2 years that I was going to close my business. On my contract it stated that I will not get penalized if I decided to move on from MerchantLynx. I contacted Customer Service and was told that if I have proof that my business is closing that all fees will be waived. I signed all required documents and even sent in proof my business was closing on said date. 1 month later I was charged the Early Termination fee of $495. I called to try and clarify why I was being charged when all required documentations were sent. They told me that it didn’t matter, they saw fit to still charge me the fee. Even though they had explained that if a business is no longer active it voids all contract.
    I thought this was the end with MerchantLynx sure enough they charged me an annual fee of $179 for a new year! (Pending chargeback)
    Avoid MerchantLynx if possible! Your contract means nothing! And if you terminate they will still try to suck up your last dime!

  • Todd Nappi

    I cant accuse these people of stealing however I can say that the company culture is to mislead the customer into thinking they will save money and have smooth transactions.
    My first few transactions went through without an issue, then, I posted some larger transactions. Not only were the larger transactions withheld, without any official notice (you have to notice on your own that your money is not coming through, they do not notify you at merchantlynx, nor do they tell you clearly which transactions they are hoding back nor do they tell you when they will release the money, nor do they ask for all the supporting documents at one time, such as a copy of invoice from customer, a letter from you bank stating your account is able to receive ACH withdrawals….These people actually tried to REMOVE funds from my account a week after the funds were deposited. The customer did not chargeback, they simply wanted to hold the funds until they finished review.
    So, they were holding about $12K of my money, before we signed on we made clear that we usually earn about $25K to $50K per month in credit card payments, and I showed them my past statements, showed we never had any chargebacks too.
    They called me on the cellphone while I was in traffic, I said I could not talk at the moment but the “William” a risk assessment employee proceeded to tell me he was going to hold my money until I came up with various paperwork and he was unhappy that the money he tried to pull out, my bank would not allow him to withdraw. My bank saved my butt because this guy tried to take our entire monthly earnings only 3 weeks after we signed on with merchantlynx. In ordee to sign on we were already scrutinized, already submitted paperwork and all was reviewed.
    I could get nothing in writing as to how much money they are holding, when they would return it. Then they wanted the names, phone number, credit card numbers of my customers…information that was already input when we processed the charge.
    I began using “Square” while this was going on with merchantlynx and Square has excellent service, a great website that can generate invoices online…merchantlunx tries to scam you with a $70.00/month terminal some old school, bulky thing with a receipt roll that no one uses anymore.
    I never want to hurt anyone’s business. I have to tell you though. You simply cannot trust merchantlynx. Call and ask for supervisor…you wont get one.
    I promise you, you will have serious aggravation and seat of pants policy making from merchanlynx. The company will take your money and if you do not notice, the money will be gone until you pursue them. After half hour on the phone, they will give you hours of homework like no other bank, card processor or service requires. William asked for one or two documents every few days, not all the items at one time, so he dragged on the delays in receiving my hard earned funds. I nearly gave the money back to customers and asked them to send checks. Then when he finally released the money, it was with a stern warning that they better have access to my funds to take them whenever they want them. Now, merchantlynx does not even process the credit card, they use “Authorize,net” another company actually runs the car. Merchantlynx is only a middle man charging you a redundant fee. This is NOT a credit card processor but a nickel and dime monthly drain on your bank account. Say, for instance you are a very small business like a plumber and you just processed a customer payment for 10K. You might have $15K in your checking account. You spend $7K on materials, have $8K left…well, merchantlyinx, just on a whim, will pull back that $10K charge, leaving you with a negative balance in your bank account! Then hold you hostage until you submit all kinds of redundant paperwork. They will not put in writing what they are doing. It is all heresay.
    I can prove this, I am happy to. One day this company will get what they have coming and be punished for their actions. I hope that I am called upon to support whoever it is that will serve merchantlynx their death sentence. There are several services out there Do Not use merchantlynx you will be sorry. Wehn a cheesy salesman from Merchantlynx calls you and wants to come to your business, tell him NO!

  • BODY SHOP

    This is the WORST 3rd party rep for statefarm glass claims!!! Hopefully statefarm can get someone that knows what they are doing. I had a rep from this company try to get me to put in socials of my employees

  • Frank

    Worst company ever. Fees went off the roof after just a coup,e of monts depiste their promesses. Costumer and tech support are awfull… If any! better off with Square, at least you you exactly what you are going to pay.

  • Doreen McClurkin

    This merchant is horrible. The sales rep promises you savings per month. When you get done paying fees for not one but three accounts there is no savings. They charge you multiple fees then promise reimbursement. The reimbursement takes weeks to get and they tie up your money when they took it right away from your account! I would not recommend them and if they take any further fees that require reimbursement I am going to report them to a governmental agency.

  • Andrew Brooks

    We used this company in 2012. They are the worst that I have had to deal with CC in over 20 years in business. Slick salesperson but after that not good at all. I point blank asked if there are ANY hidden charges and the answer was no. The early termination fee is hidden on page 3 in the small print. Make sure to look for it because it is also a 3yr contract. The PCI charge of $159 is charged when ever they want to charge you. RUN from this company.

  • Jon

    JUST DONT! 1 Star is too much credit. They will sign you up even if you do not want their services. We decided not to go through with this company when the representative advised us we will need a new terminal as ours “was not compatible.” We paid for our system and did not want to lease one from them. The representative still opened the account and we were charged a monthly fee even though we do not receive any services through this company. They are even trying to charge the 500 cancellation fee after we called about this unwanted account. Of course, the representative who came to our location can not be reached and no one ever returns our calls as they tell you when you call. Just avoid the headache and do not provide any information to this company.

  • Alize

    This company is the worst. They are the type that will add little charges here and there just hoping that most people won’t notice. They added a $4 monthly fee and said it was directly from master card so there is nothing they can do. This is a total lie as I am a smalll business bookkeeper and work with many merchants and no one else had this charge from MasterCard.
    They give you the run around and work on trying to drive you crazy just to get you to go away. I will be canceling and I don’t even care if it costs me hundreds of dollars to do so. I am worried about this 4 year contract with first data for the machine. Ugh

  • Charles Francis

    Call to cancel and told them not to bill me a $99 fee for EMV fee would no longer using system and closed account. Been customer since 2012. Not only did they bill me but charge early termination fee. Took 8 phones calls and Everytime put on hold promised they would look into it. Send this send that all it was bull last call two supervisors and the final was too bad contact your bank. Last people I would do business with and will tell every business owner I know to stay away. Just bull

  • MGOW

    The biggest mistake we made is using this company as our card processing company。 We are dealing with a service provider who is so awful, unfair business practices and deceptive sales tactics, bad serves, hidden fees, bad business ethics, all bad things, you name it. Complains about this company are all over the internet. But ML is still in business and continue to rip off merchants. I wonder under what law this company is operating. We need to keep calling State Attorney Office. This company needs to be shut down by authority to avoid any more victims.

  • Oscar

    1910 Distribution Co
    Acct #: 4228997200040926
    Contract Signed:7/28/16
    Equip Installed: 8/2/16
    1st Trans Date: 8/8/16
    ML offered great rates & we changed our previous CC provider. What they didn’t tell us is that their cust serv is horrible, they hold initial deposits for weeks & they dont offer assistance with PCI compliance in effort to add fees. My overall experience has been that they treat customers as a foe rather than a commercial partner.
    1st sign of bad service was on Aug 8th when we filled out the PCI compliance questionnaire. Its a complicated process filled with a ton of very tech terms. We tried working through this process yet we didnt have any prev guidance from ML or knowledge that we would need this. I called & after an hour on the phone I still had no hands-on customer support & or solid answers. We spoke to a person in PCI compliance that instructed us to answer all the questions YES. We did that & submitted then received notice that the test failed & we had to make changes to our server & operating systems. If we dont make these changes we will be subject to heavy fines & fees.
    Our business is mostly cash, check & terms but we use CC processing to bill ONE customer. Their transactions are charged wkly & avg around $30,000 a month. Our first wkly transactions totaled $6863. After a couple of days we noticed that the funds had not been deposited into our account, at that point we called cust serv.
    I had sensed a culture of bad serv but the second call confirmed my suspicions. Everyone that we talked to was rude & not helpful. Their hold times are very long & we were transferred to various depts before finally being told that the risk dept is who we should talk to. We were not able to immediately able to reach somebody. I finally received a call from Ben Grimes & he said the transactions were over our avg. This didn’t make sense considering that our monthly avg is well above that amount. They requested 3 months bank statements & copy of 1 invoice. We sent this info over to them the next day expecting that our funds would be released. They came back needing with more info which we sent. Days later Ben states that its still in investigation & that he had trouble contacting our cust. This is odd since we called them numerous times through the process. Keep in mind that we have been dealing with customer for 6 years & have never had any issues. You might think that this is an isolated issue yet my colleague is going through the exact same problem with his company Texas Stone Creations. His charges are closer to $20000 & his money is being tied up exactly as our is. Seems more like common practice rather than an isolated incident.
    I called to cancel the acct on Thurs 8/18/16. After a very long time on hold & various transfers we finally got a hold of the cancellation dept. They stated that we would get a call from corp in 24-48 hrs. I didn’t get a call & called back the morning of Mon 8/22/16. The person in cancellations stated that I had made a call at noon & they still had 3 business hrs to contact me. The day passed & I received no call. On the morning of Tue 8/23/16 I called again. I spoke to Cristina in cancellations & she said that they had 48 hrs to call me from the previous Thurs. I told her that time period had expired the previous day. She then said that it might take them about a week to respond to my cancelation notice. I was speaking to someone in the cancellation dept yet she stated that she could not help me. I asked to speak to her supervisor & she said that there were none on site. She also said that nobody in her office would be able to help since only someone in corp could call me. I then asked for the number of someone in corp & she said that that number was not available for her to give.
    We have sent all of the paperwork requested & they have made contact with our cust. On 8/23/16 we still have not received funds. I also have $20,000 that are ready to charge yet I can’t process ML.

    To make matters worse I received a nasty email from Ben Grimes stating that we were in this situation because we had made charges we were not authorized to do. Unauthorized? We have been dealing with our customer for 6 years and have never had any issues until I mistakenly signed up with Merchant Lynx.

    • Xw

      I repeated that it was the biggest mistake to get involved withML. The rate they charged Avg. 3.7% while out contract rate is 1.85%. It is very difficult to find one to talk to to clear questions and issues. The sales agent disappeared as soon as we signed paper he provided. He never return calls. It is a horable ripoff, scam company.
      We got charged $99 on sept. 11 for no reason. I called dust serv and was told to get refund in 5-10 buz days. There has been issues(s) every month. We are so exhausted dealing with ML. If you can, get out, the sooner the better.

  • xw

    As I wrote before that it was our biggest mistake to get involved with Merchant Lynx. There is not service at all. At the beginning of each month, we have to call or email Merchant Lynx to clarify the fees charged to our bank account. There have always been over charge than the contract rate. On June 9 its sale pushed us to sign a 36 month leas contract for chip card reader device, It cost $150 to buy it. Merchant Lynx charge $32 per month and told us it would start working in two or three business days. Now it has been two month. The device as not been active and now one called us or show up to tell us what to do. Its customer services promised us to contract them as soon as we could they would take care of it. We emailed them many times for over charged fees for April and June. No idea how long it will take for the customer service to have hands on our issues. For the chip card reader, its customer service kicked the ball to First Data which we never had contracted. It has been a very, very painful experience dealing with
    Merchant Lynx and it is exhausting. This company should be out of business so no more victim. We still have to keep fighting with it until we get ourselves out of jail.

  • xw

    This is a very, very back company. Authorities should shut it down to avoid more victims ripped by them. All the reviews told the truth. We had fee and other issues outstanding for four months. We email them and called them. They always had excuses, either not feeling well, sick or away from office. We spent tons of time dealing with them. Problems have not been resolved. Now they are going to charge a one-time fee for the chip card which is not in the contract. Please never get involved with this company. We made a big mistake and got stuck.

  • Jim

    I’m glad I took the time to review this company and I’m glad I found this website. At the same time, I feel bad that all of you who signed with Merchant Lynx, thinking you were doing what you thought was best for your business, turned out to be the wrong one. I wish you all good luck with resolving your issues but know that because of your feedback, one small business owner isn’t going to fall for their b.s. I called the guy who came to see me and told him about all of the bad ratings of who he works for and all of the complaints left on this website. I also told him I have known one of the guys in the video above for about 6 years now, so I called him and my friend told me to stay away from Merchant Lynx as well. He was friends with one of the two owners, Phil, from when the company started and that’s why he was in the video. Good luck to all of you small business out there. Just know that your efforts of feedback have helped someone and there will be one less victim for Merchant Lynx to feed off of.

  • ramiz sinanaj

    I signed up with this Merchant Lynx about 4 months ago. What a mistake, they didn’t send card processing hardware they didn’t process a single transaction. they just cancelled the account and charged me $500. and the customer relations department isn’t in anyway considerate. this company is a scam.

  • Charles Brauer

    They lie, they cheat, they steal. My original contract was an enticing 1.7 on MC/VisA. Within 1 year it is 2.75. The sales rep is MIA. My addendum says month to month processing. They claim 3 year contract with $495. early cancellation penalty. I have sent the addendum to them 3 times, yet they have no record of it. STAY AWAY FROM THESE CROOKS!

  • Mike

    This is a scam 100%.
    We signed for on account they fraudulent created a second account. And then they start to take money from my banking account.
    We even did not start to do business with them but they were stealing money from my account.
    With a lawyer I forced them to give part of my money back, but the rest of my money was gone because they said they use a third party and was this thirth party responsible for the rest of the money.
    Of course they did not know who were this thirth party.
    Be careful with these thieves

    • G

      Mike, what is the name of your company? I’d like to speak to you about your experience with MLS. I had a similar experience, and I think if there is evidence of MLS doing this to more than one person, our case will be stronger.

  • Leah

    Their claim of “NO FEES” is just a big fat lie. They have fees for EVERYTHING. I recently got a $189.00 “enhanced security package” fee in the middle of the month that I never asked for or agreed to. There is a monthly $14.95 iaccess fee to get into your account–and since they went paperless you basically have no choice but to pay it. A $99.00 application fee, a $10.00 signature fee–yep, a signature fee! A $5.00 monthly statement fee, a random $25.00 fee that I have NO idea what for….and in March 2016 a notice that all my promised percentages (1.99%) were all increasing. I used the Waltham, MA office and the account executive, was Karen Druziak. The last time I looked (May 2016) their rating with the BBB was an “F” and not a “C” as it states on here. BEWARE!! Do not use this company. I wish I had looked before I signed.

  • Raed Ayoub

    Where do I begin, a Merchant Lynx salesman came into my salon with the promise of having my cc fees reduced dramatically, showed me an example of what my bill will look like. Everything looked great and signed on with them, first 3 months everything was perfect, exactly as Steve Kim(sales Rep in NY) presented, then on the 4th month everything changed, all of a sudden , i got bombarded with all of these extra fees adding to a total of $200 – $300 a month extra. Now my statements were higher than before i switched, i curse that day i signed on with Merchant Lynx. Have you ever called the customer service #, you are on hold for a good 45mins to an 1hr, i cant tell you how many hrs i have spent on hold and every customer service rep i got in touch with said there is nothing they can do and they will have my sales rep contact me or someone from Merchant Lynx. months passed i still i have never received a call or email from either one, so i just bit the bullet and dealt with them. After a yr goes by, Mr. Steve Kim walks through my door as if nothing happened and i explain to him exactly what has happened, he smiles and says why didn’t you try to reach me, at that point i wanted to choke him. He tells me that i need a n ew chip terminal and he is going to make sure i get the rate that i was promised, this time i have him write everything out, word for word, months go by and nothing has changed, not only am i getting charged the extra fees but now my rate has jumped from 1.7 to 2.7. I call and email Steve Kim and no response, i also receive a nice bill from First date telling me i signed a 48 month lease. I am now involving a lawyer and would like to see if we can start a civil law action suit against this company. I did after extensive research get the Merchant Lynx headquarters in NY. I went to their office and demanded i speak with someone, Vic the VP spoke with me regarding the matter, he was polite and spoke with me regarding everything but his only resolution was that rates go up and there is nothing he can do, so then why have me sign a contract, if the contract i sign is not upheld, looks like i need to go to court bc First Data wants $4000 for me to cancel the terminal, i now have been using a different processor and they are great and honest. Here is the information: Vic Fattore(VP os Sales & Marketing) [REDACTED – contact information], 411 Theodore Fremd Ave, Rye NY 10580, just in case if anyone needs to get in touch with them directly and not be on hold for hrs. If anyone has any advise on how i can handle First Data, i would be greatly appreciated.

    • xw

      I had similar nightmare experience as yours. Same pain…. In my situation, on top of the 48 month contract, ( I am in the second year), thye added a chip reader machine lease contract with additional monthly charge of $32 for three years. The First Data chip reader only costs $149 online sale… I have read so many complaints about Merchant Lynx。 I hope for a class action….

    • Jay

      I am going through the exact same nightmare. In fact, my sales rep was also Steve Khym (he uses Khym not Kim). This scam-artist made me sign a non-cancellable lease contact with First Data, while Khym insisted that I am signing a cancellable contact – no disclosure and I don’t even have a copy of the lease agreement. I thought I was the only victim and Khym made a mistake. No response to my many many emails and phone calls. Their Customer Svc Desk is absolutely helpless – they are all the same scam artists. How do we stop this company ripping-off these poor small merchants? Can we initiate a legal action? BTW, did you resolve the lease contract with First Data? I now owe close to $5,000 to First Data due this scam-artist, Steve Khym’s fraudulent sales. I am thinking to bring these cases to public media, like New York Times, Newsdays, ABC, NBC and CBS etc.

      • Raed Ayoub

        Hi Jay,

        I am going to court to nail these scam artists, A court date will be set within the next 15 days, i wanted to make sure i get as much as evidence as i can how they scammed me before i took it to court. Now its on! Im suing them for
        $5,637.05 , that includes all the overcharges, cancellation fee and the terminal rental. Every month i pay the stupid fee for my terminal and i dont even use the terminal, i switched to another company because i was sick of the overcharges and my rate kept going up. I hope one day i get to see Steve Kim, on all my contracts thats the way he spells it, Karma is Karma. Where are you located?, Shoot me an email so we can discuss this further, [REDACTED – personal contact information]

      • Joe

        Hi Jay,
        I too am interested in what action you had taken. I too have been scammed by Steve Khym and was told the same pitch. I’m sorry I did not do my research beforehand. I was tired of my old credit card companies rates but in all honestly they were better than what fees I am seeing with this company. Any news or updates you can provide me with would be great. Thank

    • Lee Ann Barberis

      This guy Steve Khym scammed me also, I did sign the lease and he was going to give me a copy never came back, (haha and an free iPad also)I cancelled with them and paid the $495.00 fee, what a rip off, If I would have has the lease I would have had my lawyer check it out and would have 2 business days to cancel……I was with BOA with no monthly charges, why would I sign this….he filled in the amounts later….

    • Court

      Steve Khym also came to my business. He was very friendly, knowledgable and low pressure.
      He reviewed my credit charges and showed where he could save me money. Every question I had, he answered properly. I was very interested but was too busy to complete the transaction at that moment so I asked him to come back another day to finish. He returned on that Friday with the contract so I started to review the details. The contract he showed me was poorly copied, the top was blurred out and impossible to read. I asked him why the contract didn’t have the Company name on it. He acted nervous and immediately circled some small print in the middle of the contract “the name is right here” he said. I put my glasses on to read this ridiculously small print and showed him he had circled the wrong words. Actually the name Merchanlynk Services did appear elsewhere on the contract but in tiny letters and not as if Merchanlynk was the originator of the contract, but more like it was subordinate to some bank.
      Steven Khym got more and more flustered as I quizzed him on why the company name wasn’t on their own contract and he stammered that no one had ever asked him that before.
      I continued to read the contract and pressed him on several details including why I couldn’t read his handwriting where he itemized the “no charges for equipment” and “1.99% on all charges“.
      Finally, he got so nervous that he said he felt insulted that I was questioning every little detail. I repeated that the fact that his company hid their name was worrisome and made everything else suspicious.
      I asked him to erase the pictures of the checks he had taken to start the process and crossed out my signature and told him that with all due respect, I was not comfortable doing business with him or his company. He left in a huff and I then looked up his name and found this site.
      VERY DISHONEST, DECEITFUL, AND A SHAM!!.

      From The Editor
      This Post Might Help: Top-Rated All-Purpose Merchant Accounts

  • Alico Market LLc

    I never got past the application stage and they set up an account and charge my checking account monthly even though they have never processed a payment. I have spoken to them on the phone , have faxed and mailed correspondence and they still charge may account for monthly fees and more They charge my checking monthly anywhere from $10 to $90 to $495.


    Are you with Merchant Lynx? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Richard Karlen

    Merchant Lynx Services should be shut down by the authorities! They took unauthorized fees from my checking account. Merchant Lynx Services does not provide their phone number on either their account application or their client statements, but, instead the phone number of their processor, ipayments. ipayments, which takes the funds from my banking account says they can not assist me with the account nor can they provide contact information for Merchant Lynx Services. I have filed complaints with the BBB and Massachusetts Attorney General. Do NOT DO BUSINESS WITH MERCHANT LYNX SERVICES.


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  • cindy

    I cannot believe this company is still in business. I switched from one processing company to Merchant Lynx. I was told they could save me over $100.00 per machine, I have 2. It ended up costing me about 200. per machine each month with all the hidden fees. I cancelled the contract 2 months later (Sept. 2015) and am still getting bills for any little thing they can think of. This month was 179.00 twice for annual fees. This company is a RIP OFF!!!!!!!!!!!


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  • Max Gow

    My biggest mistake for starting my restaurant business was to sign a contract with merchant Lynix. My business account keeps getting charged with fees that are not in the contract. Emails to the company got no response. I don’t understand under what law this company operations. Hope no one repeats my nighmare experience. Never sign up with this company. They should go out of business


    Are you with Merchant Lynx? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

    • Gow

      Thanks to CPO! Merchant Lynx took my case very seriously after I posted comment on CPO. My case was put in the capable hands of a lady. Her first name is Tyana. I sent her a spreadsheet with all the fees charged, dates, amounts and ref and marked the items I had questions. She reviewed my spreadsheet and identified the root cause of the issues immediately. She corrected all errors by Merchant Lynx, cleared all confusions and answered all my questions. She is outstanding. I am quite happy now.

  • Mark Barton

    I thought I had a similar resolution but I just got charged $ 189.00 twice for compliance fees. It’s been 3 months since I thought this was resolved. Now it’s starting all over again. I’ve never delt with such a corrupt company. Beware!!!

    • max gow

      my account got charged the fees are not enough in the contract. They opened a 2nd account for my business without my knowledge and they kept charge me. If has been three months that the problem was reported to the company. They funded me a small fee but the main problem still exits and I am still getting charged the fees I don’t even know what they are. Under what law does this company operates?


      Are you with Merchant Lynx? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Mark Barton

    This company misrepresent their rates and fees in order to get me to sign a contract. Once I began to process cards it came to my attention that they had established a second contract at a higher rate. They used the signature page from the original contract to establish the second contract. That is fraud and forgery which is a federal crime. Then they had the audacity to send me a copy of that contract by email. That is mail fraud and also a federal crime. I immediately requested that both accounts be closed. They were not they dragged their feet for more than 90 days in order to justify charging me substantial termination fees. I am currently in contact with my states attorney general.

  • B Ryan

    This company charges way too much for processing. They charged me a $159 annual fee in December after I dropped the company in august. They charged me a PCI compliance fee in May of $159. The new company only charges $30 for PCI and no annual fee. When I called Merchant Lynx to ask for a better processing rate they raised my rates. Do not do business with these people.

  • Julie

    As of today, I believe Merchant Lynx owns me $4,154.65 in overcharges for my two business locations. I was double charged for PCI fees and annual fees. I was told it would be refunded. It was not. I was sent wireless terminals which I told them I did not want. I sent them back and continue to be charged for them. The company that provided our online ordering cancelled the service, I was told by Merchant Lynx that they would not charge me a cancellation fee as I was continuing to use them in my stores; they charged me $495/location. I was charged fees for 5 months of service which they did not provide while I was still using my old credit card provider. I talked/emailed my contact at Merchant Lynx and he has refused to respond to these claims. I asked for a copy of my contract, which I didn’t remember signing; I was sent the contracts-the signatures are not mine nor is my address mine. My attorney sent them a letter outlining the problems/overcharging to which they refuse to reply. I have since switched to another credit card processor but continue to be charged by Merchant Lynx. I have filed a complaint with the Attorney General, will follow up with a complaint to the BBB and will go with all the other options listed on this website under “How to Report Bad Credit Card Processors”.

  • Lori

    WORST company I have ever dealt with. I’ve only been with them since December 2013, but it has been a nightmare. The only month the fees were as stated in my contract were the first month. Since then, they have overcharged every month. There are add on fees that were not agreed to and are not in writing anywhere. When I speak to the sales rep (look up slickster in the dictionary and you’ll see his pic) he promises me I will get a call from corporate to fix everything. Weekly calls to him and nothing back from corporate. If you call the toll free number on the statement it’s only a call center. They don’t have authorization to refund fees, although the can see our contract and know that I am being overcharged. BE WARNED – STAY AWAY FROM THESE FRAUDS!

  • Jay

    Be careful about this company. We signed credit card terminal lease; lease clearly stated 36 months and after 36 months we owned terminal. After 36 months, I was told by Merchant lynx that it is not true. What a rip off. How can I file a law suit in small court against this company. I have everything in writing. Please help.

  • Julie Swanson

    We just had a salesman come in and get my husband and I to sign up with Merchant Lynx. He told me on the phone and in person to my husband that there is NO Contract and now we have a lease with the credit card machine company that my husband did not sign for. He forged his initials afterwards. I am trying to figure out how to get out of it. I already put a complaint into the BBB. I am waiting for a call from their office in NY which I will most likely not get. I am thinking of changing bank accts which is a PITA but I don’t want to have money taken out for the machine. It is such a scam and I am going to get to the bottom of it. There are so many complaints online about them. I am pissed!!! Any other suggestions??

  • Pawel Hanczaruk

    Merchant Lynx services was the worst business decision I ever made. The sles rep that walked in my door blatantly lied to my face. She gave me a break down of all this money I was going to save by switching, I didn’t save anything. The one time fees became monthly fees, and you have to fight to remove them. The “easily transferable” lease I am still paying for three years after selling my business. It was a very frustrating experience that put a bad taste in my mouth. I advise any one to do your homework when considering merchant services, and stay away from this company.

  • Jason Pack

    This company is horrible. As noted in the comments above they have hidden charges, misrepresented lease agreements. There really is no working with this company. If you are looking for a merchant… go somewhere else.

  • Jacob

    I have been trying to get away of merchant lynx for over a year and still have not been able to. They opened additional accounts I did not approved, been charging my checking account on additional fees, checking service fees and other issues.

    Never completely settled our compalint with BBB and now I still have to deal with the fact they will not reinburse all money;s owed.

    Pass it over, never do business with this people.

  • Michael

    Outright lying and deceit. If you sign with this company you just have to hope you don’t go out of business because there will be a surprise waiting for you in the form of a lease termination fee. How the Pan Gregorian group that is suppose to be looking out for and trying to get good deals for restaurants can endorse this company makes me wonder what kind of payoffs are going on there. I’m sick one a representative of this company stepped into my store.

      • Eddie Kania

        Phillip,
        I was a victim of deceit also. Specifically, they set up 2 accounts for me, one for swiped cards, another for keyed cards, I only signed up for 1 account. The Customer Service rep aslo informed me that there was a steep termination fee if I terminated before 3 years. This was a one sentence blurb buried in 3 pages of fine print which I didn’t have time to read while the sales rep pressured me to sign, and I had customers waiting for me. No one should be scammed for months, when I received my 1st statement, I closed my bank account and they couldn’t withdraw any more funds. Don’t be fooled by these scam artists.

  • Marietta Business

    Merchant Lynx and First Data are bad companies to deal with. Merchant Lync came into my business
    and promised lower rates and a free credit card machine. Two weeks after starting with them I received notice in the mail that I had a 48 month lease of $79.95 a month which i never signed up for. I cancelled immediately and went back to credit card company I had been using. This was in 2007. I had to stop payments thru bank several times but did get them to stop and I never paid them anything. I was turned over to collection agency and they sold to another collection agency and now I am going to court with local attorneys who buy bad collection debts. They are saying I owe $7000.00 but settle for $5000.00. They produced contract that had my inititals on it. I had initialed a one time charge of $79.95. The salesman added the 48 months after he left my office. I am going to court because this is wrong. I will be going to court on April 30. This is so wrong.

      • Jmichael

        Same thing happened to my business.. Peter Rhee was the sales scammer.. Showed us in writing on paper he took with him how we woud save with their processing fees. He even suggested he could lower our rates to make up for the cost to replace our owned equipment with his equipment.. We owned our equipment and they showed up with two mismatching used units and TOOK our old units with them.. Then the free credit card processors turned into a 48 months lease costing us over 4500.00 for the term.. .. To make a long story short I filed an afidavit of forgery and then closed my bank account.. I presented the forgery document to the collections agency and they said they could not collect on my debt if the contract with First Data was signed on a Merchant Linx contract. I presented the forged contract that was filled in after we left and the collection agency sent the debt back to Merchant Linx and no other collector bought the case..

    • Mark Barton

      They used my signature page on the one contract I did sign for a rate of 1.7% and fraudulently created a second contract for a rate of 2.20% . They made some simple changes on the fake signature page in order to make it appier original but it is clear that my signatures are exactly the same as the original contract that I did sign. I would be more than happy to testify on your behalf.

  • sandy ahart

    This company has more complaints than you are aware of; many having to do with employee pay and the company’s flagrant failure to pay employees, especially after they have quit. One of the manager’s, [name omitted], is a disgusting pig who should be in jail for fraud. Don’t walk, run away from this company as fast as you can when they come calling.

  • John

    How are there no comments on this company? I have dealt with this company and can say that Philip is right on the mark on this one. Hidden fees out the wazoo, and their termination fee is actually around $600-700. I have taken credit cards since the late 90’s up till now and have never had a multi-year contract. All my processors that I had dealt with, up to Merchant Lynx Services, had offered me a month to month, no termination fee. Merchant Lynx Services also promised me the same, to match whatever offer I had prior to Lynx. But, my addendum was “lost” and they requested that I pay upwards to around $1600-2000 to leave them (termination fees+lost monthly fees which were undisclosed.) I tricked my salesman Joel Cardonick and got him to do a three way call to Merchant Lynx Services customer service. I told him that I was just checking on my account and needed his expertise in closing them. I got him, on record, to state that another addendum existed that stated that I was on a month to month contract with no termination fee. The rep told him to find the addendum and fax it, otherwise I was to be held to the terms with a termination fee. Needless to say, I never heard back from Joel or Lynx, when I would try to contact Joel, no one would pickup. Also, whenever their reps called you, their business numbers were always blocked. I have received notices from them about a few weeks after this incident, stating that they will, essentially, attack my credit if I do not pay them. I will tell you, if my credit is harmed, I will litigate and have more of a reason to do so after their illegal actions.

    Their promise to the BBB a few years ago, stated that they would disclose all terms of the contract, and follow up with their customers, to ensure satisfaction. They did not do this and I doubt they ever had. There are so many blogs about this company I lost count. And I have now took it upon myself to go after them personally, with the help of a couple State Attorney Generals and plan to bring about federal and state criminal charges against them.

    There is more to this story, but I will not bore you with all the details, all of which have been forwarded to law enforcement. If you have been contacted by this company or have done business with them, be vigilant, document everything, and be especially suspicious when it comes to the contract and the behavior of their sales staff.

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