Merchant One Reviews & Complaints

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Overview

In this article, we provide an in-depth analysis of Merchant One, a key player in the payment processing industry, recently acquired by Fiserv. We'll cover Merchant One's range of services, including in-store, online, and mobile credit card processing, as well as their fraud prevention and software integration capabilities. Our review critically examines their rates and fees, contract terms, and customer feedback, including common complaints and industry ratings. We also assess their marketing tactics and customer support options. This concise overview aims to offer a balanced perspective on Merchant One's services and performance, catering to business owners and those interested in the credit card processing sector.

About Merchant One

Merchant One is a Miami, Florida-based independent sales arm of United Bank Card that uses First Data (now Fiserv) as its backend processor. Merchant One has recently rebranded its logo and revamped its website to make the claim that it serves more than 100,000 merchants. In December 2022, Merchant One was purchased by Fiserv, the largest company in the credit card processing industry.

Merchant One Payment Processing

Merchant One provides credit card and debit card processing services for nearly any need and has an iPhone app for wireless processing. They also offer POS systems, swipers, a virtual terminal, recurring payments, a customer vault, analytics and reporting, gift and loyalty programs, marketing campaigns, PCI compliance, check processing, e-commerce solutions including shopping carts, cash advances, B2B programs, and 24-hour support.

In-Store Credit Card Processing with Merchant One

For businesses with a physical retail presence, Merchant One provides point-of-sale (POS) systems that accept a wide variety of credit and debit cards. These devices are designed to quickly and securely process card payments, reducing waiting times for customers.

Online Credit Card Processing by Merchant One

Merchant One offers an internet payment gateway for businesses with online operations. This feature allows the processing of online transactions securely and efficiently. It's compatible with a range of shopping cart systems, enabling seamless integration with existing online platforms.

Merchant One's Mobile Payment Processing

To cater to the growing need for mobile transaction capabilities, Merchant One offers a mobile payment solution. This service allows businesses to accept payments from smartphones or tablets, providing flexibility to businesses that often operate outside a traditional store setup.

Fraud Prevention Measures at Merchant One

To maintain a secure transaction environment, Merchant One implements various fraud prevention measures. These mechanisms help protect businesses from fraudulent transactions and potential chargebacks.

Integration with Other Software by Merchant One

Merchant One's services can be integrated with other business software, allowing for the consolidation of sales data and the streamlined management of business finances.

Gift Card Programs

Gift card programs are an excellent way for businesses to increase sales and customer loyalty. Merchant One offers gift card programs that are fully customizable, allowing businesses to design their own gift cards and track sales data in real-time.

Merchant Cash Advance

Merchant One offers merchant cash advances to businesses that need quick access to capital. Merchant cash advances are an excellent alternative to traditional loans because they are easy to qualify for and provide businesses with the funds they need to grow.

Location & Ownership

Jim Saka is listed as the CEO at Merchant One, which is headquartered at 524 Arthur Godfrey Rd 2nd and 3rd floor, Miami Beach, Florida 33140. Merchant One is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, California, and Fifth Third Bank N.A, Cincinnati, OH, USA. The company should not be confused with One For Merchants, a wholly separate merchant account reseller.

Video Summary

Merchant One payment processing
Some of the advertised features Merchant One offers
Pros & Cons
Pros: Cons:
Dedicated account managers available. Longer payout times reported.
Quick account setup. Potential for hidden fees.
Low rates, cost-effective. Contract terms can be misleading.
Lenient application standards. Complaints of unresponsive customer service.
Supports modern hardware. High early termination fees.
Good e-commerce integration. Misleading marketing and sales tactics.

Merchant One Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 120+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees
Recent Lawsuits Yes

High Complaint Total

It is evident that the dispute resolution process at Merchant One needs improvement because there are over 120 negative Merchant One reviews across several consumer protection websites, and several of them accuse the company of being a scam or ripoff. This is a moderate-to-high number of complaints in comparison to other providers of its size. Most problems seem to center around businesses feeling as though they were deceived by the company’s advertising and sales processes. Many also complain of undisclosed fees and undisclosed contract terms during account setup and high cancellation fees. If you have your own Merchant One review to make, please do so in the comments below.

Merchant One Lawsuits

In March 2021, an individual brought a suit against Merchant One that alleges that they continued to report a debt to credit reporters despite his disputing it. The suit is ongoing. Dissatisfied clients who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

Merchant One Customer Support Options

To its credit, Merchant One provides a customer support number for businesses, but it’s unclear whether this line is serviced by Merchant One itself or by First Data (Fiserv).

Merchant One Customer Service Numbers

  • (800) 910-8375 – Toll-Free General Customer Service
  • (800) 610-4189 – New Accounts

Other Support Options

Merchant One’s support channels are currently not sufficient to qualify it as a top-rated payment processor for customer service.

Merchant One Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
BBB Rating 1.53
Trustpilot Rating 4.9
ComplaintsBoard Rating N/A
Average Rating 3.22

BBB Rating Analysis

Merchant One has an average customer review rating of 1.53/5 stars on BBB based on 45 customer reviews. The company has also received 82 complaints closed in the last 3 years, with 48 complaints closed in the last 12 months. Common themes in the reviews and complaints include issues with billing and collection, dissatisfaction with services provided, and challenges in communication with the company.

Negative Feedback

This company never charged us the fees they promised we would be charged for processing. They attempted to steal money from our bank account when they were explicitly told they no longer had permission to electronically access our account any more. We closed our account with them and stopped using them for processing in September 2023. They locked us out of seeing our billing for September online and did not get our September bill to us until October 12th, 2023. Yet they want to add $100 to our September 2023 bill as of October 5th for collections when we didn’t receive our bill for September 2023 until October 12th? That’s ridiculous! They need investigated for illegal business practices!
– Complaint from October 30, 2023

This company calls itself 4 different names. Left us, over the holiday, unable to do anything or pay anyone. Took payment for their services, but never provided any services. They had nine days for the first transaction that did not process and 3 days for the second amount to process, which neither ever processed. They did not inform anyone at our agency that nothing was being processed, which is why they were hired. But, yet they billed us twice and sent us a receipt that these transactions took place. After hours at our bank did we ever understand the occurrence of which our bank forced us to get another account and close out the account and we did nothing to no one.
– Review from November 11, 2023

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Merchant One on the BBB website.

Source: BBB

Trustpilot Rating Analysis for Merchant One

Merchant One has an average customer review rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, based on 7,607 customer reviews. The majority of reviews (94%) are 5-star, indicating a high level of customer satisfaction. Common themes in the reviews include appreciation for excellent customer service and efficient problem resolution.

Negative Feedback

There are few negative reviews on the Trustpilot page for Merchant One. The overwhelming majority of reviews are positive, with very few negative comments.

Positive Feedback

I had a situation with my account and my Customer Service representative Chantel went above and beyond to rectify and straighten everything out…. She took her time over the course of a week to work with me and follow up as asked… I would definitely recommend Merchant One to my fellow business associates.. thanks again
– Review from November 20, 2023

Lavina quickly figured out the problem I was having and walked me through the solution. She was patient with me as I worked on getting to the answer and carrying it out. She was very confident that all would be well. And she is a delightful face of the company.
– Review from November 20, 2023

Source: Trustpilot

ComplaintsBaord Review Analysis

The content from the Merchant One page on ComplaintsBoard.com reveals various customer experiences. The page includes multiple complaints, each detailing specific issues faced by customers. Common themes in these complaints include unexplained settlements from bank accounts, high monthly fees, and issues with contract transparency.

Negative Feedback

In late July 2023, we had 4 fraudulent transactions via our website web portal. The money has been returned via a chargeback. Merchant One is currently holding $60,000 plus in processed charges. Merchant One has not indicated when this money will be released. Our company does not have a contract stating funds will be held indefinitely. Funds have been held for 16 days as of today.
– Complaint from August 24, 2023

I had identified two separate settlements from my bank account that have not been identified by Merchant One. I emailed the department that had handled a previous complaint where monies were removed from my account that was later explained as being an error from the credit card company paying double the amounts and later removing the overpayment caused entirely by the CC companies, not me. So, I was told. The person who handled this investigation is a Felix in security at the Merchant One firm. I accepted his explanation on face value. However, I have since written to him on more recent settlements that he has not yet responded to. I have written three times beginning on April 20, 2022, April 21, and April 22, and April 29th, yet to date, he has not responded to my inquiry. The two deductions are as follows: April 19, 2022, $299.00 and March 28, 2022, $499.00. Neither of these deductions from my bank have been explained by Merchant One as to why they were deducted from my account.
– Complaint from April 29, 2022

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Merchant One on the ComplaintsBoard.com website.

Source: ComplaintsBoard.com

Merchant One Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Cost & Fees Summary
Cancellation Penalties Yes
Monthly & Annual Fees Yes
Processing Rates Variable
Equipment Leasing Yes

Merchant One Pricing

Pricing and fees of a Merchant One business account will likely vary by client based on business type, processing volume and the agent setting up the account. Merchant One’s standard merchant account contract can range from three to five years with an early termination fee of $25 per month for the remaining months of the contract term (known as Liquidated Damages), or $295, whichever is greater. This conflicts with the rates advertised on the company’s homepage, which lists an early termination fee of $0.00. Multiple recent complaints mention an early termination fee of $750, indicating that this amount could have gone up. The agreement also references a non-cancellable lease for the term of the contract. We encourage business owners to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant services.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Merchant One 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. The company does offer over 175 shopping card integrations to clients. Additional rates and fees, including gateway fees, technical support fees, batch fees, and additional transaction rates typically apply to these e-commerce services.

Nondisclosure Complaints

There are several complaints from clients saying that neither the contract term nor the cancellation fees were disclosed by the agents during the application process, so merchants should be sure to check the document below for the actual text of the ETF (found on page 38). The company also appears to charge an annual PCI Compliance fee of around $100, which conflicts with the PCI fee of $0.00 advertised on its homepage. We will hold the grade to its previous rating and update this section as more information regarding Merchant One’s contract policies becomes available. Business owners are advised to compare the company’s pricing to the cheapest merchant account providers for the best chance at savings. See the Merchant One Program Guide.

Merchant One early termination fee
Clients should be aware that the advertised $0.00 early termination fee may not be accurate

Merchant One Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

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

Misleading Rate Quotes

We have found a few instances of misleading marketing and reports of deceptive sales tactics attributed to Merchant One. In the past, Merchant One promoted processing rates starting at 0.39% on its homepage as well as through online advertisements we found. Currently, the company’s homepage quotes low rates “starting at 0.29%.” Not only do these quoted rates set unrealistic expectations, but only a tiny fraction (if any) of a client’s transactions would qualify for them. The site fails to mention what type of transaction qualifies for this transaction rate or whether businesses will experience additional fees outside of that rate. This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors.

Widespread Sales Complaints

In addition to the misleading rate promotion, Merchant One’s website used to state that merchants “will not be subject to any long-term agreement” and “are absolutely free to cancel their services with us at any time—for any reason.” Based on Merchant One complaints describing cancellation fees ranging from $200-$300, this claim was either a new policy or a complete falsehood. As of this update, these claims appear to have been removed from the Merchant One website, indicating that they might not have been completely truthful. Although the company has removed these specific claims, we are still awarding it a “D” based on the large number of complaints that the company has received and the rate quotes described above. If you suspect that Merchant One is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden charges.

Our Merchant One Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

Merchant One is a large credit card processing provider and credit card processor. Several Merchant One reviews complain of high fees and deceptive marketing tactics which has had a negative impact on its rating for this review. Although the majority of Merchant One’s customers are probably satisfied, this company has a high number of complaints compared to other processors of its size. That, coupled with the resounding themes of non-disclosure and misleading rate promotion, makes it tough to score this merchant services provider well. Business owners considering a merchant account with Merchant One are advised to thoroughly read and understand the terms of the contract before signing. Other business owners may feel more comfortable opting for a top-rated credit card processor.

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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 One Treat You?

131 User Reviews

  • Joanne M.Gosselin

    Jojo's

    I had to close all my bank accounts that were associated With them. They kept piling fees up months later and I never even Used the machine once! .. every time I called, nobody would help me. I got passed around like a rubber ball. I tried to return the machine and it was sent back to me and $450 was tried to ne taken out of my bank account. My bank alerted me at once! ALL DOCUMENTED Merchant One assured me that my account was in good standing and I did not owe them anything. Then months later they follow-up with trying to take random money out of my bank account for horrendous fees I owed. These people are Mind-boggling and how they even stay in business with all this Deceptive practice and fees I dont understand. I believe I had acquired ( they said) almost a $1000 worth of debt to them. When they approached me at first, I was happy with square. They convinced me that there wasn’t any charges except when I used the reader as Square does blah blah blah.. I wish I stayed with square. I am back to square. I never ever had a problem with square. Why did I switch? They had a good line, a convincing answer for everything.. why they were better.. And it was all lies. They are OK at manipulating but after you catch on to them you can see their game coming. I have been Sent emails recently from someone in the company of Merchant One saying that my account was closed again, in good standing again. I had written A bad review I’m not revoking. These people need to be stopped. I’m not falling prey to Them again in any shape or form. Read all the reviews out there because I’ve been through the same as most of the complaints that I’ve seen out there. Some worse than others.
    At the very least deny them access to your bank accounts, alert your bank. I have Sent complaints to people in authoritive positions that can do something Hopefully at least it’ll be Documented.

  • Joanne Gosselin

    Jojos

    I was happy and content with square for years and Merchant One approached me with so much rhetoric about a better deal. After receiving the card machine, it never worked, I never used it, I tried to call to get assistance with it and was passed around like a round like a rubber ball. I told them I didn’t want it anymore (useless if I can’t use it) and canceled it. I thought that was the end of it because they promised everything was free except for the charges for the credit cards. Now the nightmare really begins. They reassured me that my account was in good standing, it was cleared, everything was fine. Months later I noticed them trying to take $450 out of my account $238 out of my account $93 out of my account. I had a feeling they were a little sketchy so I only had a small amount in my bank account so when they tried to get the money it was sent back as unpaid. I since have closed all bank accounts associated with them. The charges that they have against me are these plus a whole lot more. I had sent their card reader back to them but it was denied and sent right back to me. They tried to charge me for the card reader that I had returned and they sent back to me. Now they tell me that my account is cleared again. They sent me a pre labeled address to send the card machine to which is the same address that I sent it to previously. They can not access my account anymore. I have it in writing now that they will reimburse me for all money that they have taken and I do not owe them any money…only after I wrote a bad review about them. My bad review will stay because I need to warn other businesses how shady these people are. I only got taken for about $94 and maybe $90 in fees From my bank canceling anything that they tried to put through. Compared to some of the other horror stories I hear about them, I’m doing okay. But I need to shout from the mountain tops for people to tell BBB, they’re senator, they’re governor, the Attorney General and anybody about these people. Stick with what you know. Stay with the people that are safe and honest. Record every conversation with these people get everything in writing. Or just stay away from them which would be the smart thing to do. This business was closed in December.

  • Linda wang

    Old liquor

    Merchant one is a thief, which keeps charging me after I closed my account.
    I closed my account in July 2023, in September, I was charged $17. In October I was charged $0.10, then November 2, I was charged $34.90. When I called customer service, they refused to refund any of those charges, lied all charges were from debit cards.
    The reason I closed my account from it, as found many of its customers complain that merchant one charges them years after they closed their accounts. Now it’s true with me.
    Twill report this mischief to the state government, close my bank account, and write the truth to the public, so that nobody will use this company again.
    Date of experience: November 08, 2023

  • steve dillon

    steve dillon's carpet cleaning

    I sent them photos of the cancelled checks from both closed and new open account as requested with routing and new account numbers. They deny this. Then i sent them a photo of new September bank statement with same info, they deny this to though admitting they have it. They requested my US BANK customer service send them a bank letter head letter with the routing and new account numbers, the agents printed name and written signature which she did twice but they deny this to though also admitted receiving it. My banker phoned them with the same info and asked by e-mail if they received the 2nd letter which they emailed back confirming it. The e-mail also said “this should be sufficient.” they have confiscated 19 transactions of $4,132 since August 21st. This isn’t a ‘we don’t know the new account number’ issue which their last e-mail admitted having, this is illegal embezzlement crime.

  • John

    Poppin tags llc

    Merchant One is horrible!!!! Nice as can be as they are selling you on going with them over any other said company. Once I had tge machine. Nope. My “rep” disappeared. The billing statements are misleading. They never once informed me about my iten # they were charging a fee the irs was charging me a fee. Tried calling to fix and nothing. Finally spoke w a person that said I should see a refund for all the months it was going on. Never have seen it. ASK for the contact info for the irs charges no info. They basically robbed me. I have a secretary whom sees a statement stating “amount posted to your account’. Clearly is going to file under something other than a bill I need to see and pay. They are thieves period point blank

  • sarina

    unique jewelry

    It’s worst service i ever have in my life
    when u get service they talk so nice professional and don’t mention about complaint fee $35 then annual fee $99 each location then $17 service fee annually as well . when i ask about they said i signe paper so they can’t return . when i ask is there any hidden charges they said No . Be careful from this shark

  • Joshua Powell

    Jps Pressure Washing @ Maintenance

    Merchant One charged my company monthly fees other than the $6.95 per month service fee that I agreed to. They also hold your funds and ask you to prove you have authority from your customer to charge the said amount, before they deposit Your Money in your account. If I fraudulently mischarge a customer, I deserve to go to jail. Robert, the person assigned to my account was unwilling to look into issues or refund their fraudulent service fees. This company does not deserve to do business with anyone. Don’t waste your time or your hard earned money on this theiving ass company.

  • John Holmes

    Hungwell Mtg

    Merchant one will hold your funds they suspect fraud. They will not contact if this happens. You have to call and beg them to get your money. Customer service sucks. Please do not waste your time.

  • Nicole

    Terrible customer service. My client cannot get an answer as to why it took 3 weeks for a batch to deposit, or why the deposit was less than the customer paid. Hours on hold, then get disconnected. Buyer beware!

  • Richard nguyen

    Full auto repair

    I’m new CU! But the 1st time and the last time is no more business with your Merchant One again! And I will talk to all of my friend who will on to be open acct with merchant one! Is very bad service and talk long time and hard to contact! Hard to resolve the problem! Only change bank and 2 transiaction is cost 1 month and not fund money to my bank! Or not return back to customer card also! Is never see any company is too bad service like that

  • Jerry

    Lucky Dawg Pet Resort

    absolute scam of a company. I inquired about using them, never used or even received a reader yet they started billing and continued to bill me. I call in many times to get it to stop and got “yes we will stop ” and yet the billings continued. I eventually had to put in a stop order with bank. Total scam company. Caveat emptor

  • SSS

    I thought I was paying high fees with my previous company. Merchant one said they could beat those rates, but they were lying. Well They did not disclose all the hidden fees. They told me these awesome rates on the phone but the first statement, they got more money than me. I called and the rates I was quoted were lies. And they said I did not meet the monthly $25 minimum. I started the account 3 days before the end of the month and I had no idea about a minimum. They make getting compliant an obstacle course that can’t be completed. I called to see how to get compliant well that’s a $36 fee. I processed 1 cc payment of $20 in December fees equal $185.00. $99 annual fee I knew nothing about plus another $18 annual fee for the CC company I never knew about. plus a noncompliant fee of $36.95 I knew nothing about. plus a $24.17 fee for not processing the minimum of $1200/ $1600 something I’m not ever going to make in CC payments per month. Each month I pay them more than I actually process. At this point it would be more profitable to only accept cash. But to cancel their services it’s $25 per month left on the contract. That’s about $750. I’m a seasonal business they are going to put me out of business.

  • Wendy Hellyer

    Hellyer Performing Arts Center, Inc.

    When I opted for Merchant One last year, they were highly rated on the internet. The Salesman said we were virtually a “start-up” following the pandemic that the monthly statement fee would remain at $5.00 until our volume increased significantly. Not only did this not remain true, but I had to call several times to get them to adjust the machine which was supposed to “auto batch” the credit card sales each night and Call about unwarranted PCI charges.
    Then during the holidays this year, a sale was not posted to my account for 7 days which cost me an overdraft charge from my bank. When questioned about it and the extra undisclosed $99 ‘annual’ fee that they withdrew, they refused to adjust the charges in any way and insisted that the annual fee was retro active to 2021 and would not refund it inspite of desire to cancel the account.
    This is not a good nor ethical company!

  • Got Screwed

    Just bed bugs

    This is a shady company from the sweat shop call center to the money grubbing ceo, this company is a small business nightmare they will hold your funds and if you agree to anything you will be at their mercy. So think long and hard before joining this company.

  • Gordon Beecher

    Why is this company in business? My company is a current customer but in the process of replacing them. We went through underwriting, were onboarded, but it became apparent that they were trying to sell our account to a different company, and we were ignored. They claimed we were onboarded improperly and they sought to sell us to a different funding platform. They wanted us to sign different contracts, all while assuring us that nothing would change. But, Jessica Hayes, our account manager, never returned communications (emails, voicemails, etc.) and even the director, Joseph Saka, ignored our requests for communication. Yael Zoldan claimed that she would help us, but also failed to respond to inquiries. And yet they keep collecting fees. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company is a front for some fraudulent activity.

  • Steve Korecky

    Sentry One Security

    This company is not for small business companies. hidden monthly fees, terrible customer support. Also was charged with a $450 early termination fee. Was with them for over a year and they said it was a 3 year agreement. When I signed up they told me it was a month to month and could cancel at any time. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

  • sissi

    www.liliummassage&spalife.com

    im here to write done those review because l wish everybody know this company was lair and customer for the resone!!all the fee will not keep they are words!!they are have any excuse to change you more then more !!3000$ credit !they change me $230 f*** this lair company!

  • Raymond Faria

    Factory Edge Sharpening

    Merchant one does not allow you to see your contract, they signed me up for 3 years without me knowing. They are worst than a snake in the grass. I am hiring an attorney and will look into all others that have fallen into this trap. I have found there tech support to be the worst. I just hope you not only see my review but others. There is also a program guide that set rates no one gets. Saying they are like pigs in mud would be to good for them. Do not worry I will have my attorney go through every file on record for 15 years back. Things are bad enough after the Covid problem all business should focus on service not being crooks.

  • David

    Merchant One is by far the most unprofessional company I’ve had to deal with. I would recommend literally any other company than merchant one. I’m not sure what is happening internally but it’s extremely unprofessional.

  • Danny Post

    I joined with Merchant One in June, 2020. I have never used their service(s). NEVER. That being said, they ran a test connection for $.02. They considered this a transaction and began pulling $79 a month from my account! They originally told me my monthly fee would be $6.95! Then, after sending in the cancelation, they pulled another $110 from my account!

    These are unscrupulous snakes!

  • Janet

    Very Poor Customer Support. Have been a customer for one month. They do not release funds as they state and when you try and get answers you cannot. I have tried to find out why they are holding funds, they say that all transactions are sent for review for new customers and manually released, Had a batch held for 6 days. They will not give me answers so that I can avoid this…the support person blocked my email!! I am very disappointed after one month.

  • Renee M Brandon

    I was also ripped off by this company Merchant One for credit card processing. The sales person I spoke with was very nice but refused to tell me that I was unable to use with Quickbooks! This is how they make their money by sucking people in and stealing from your bank account. Do not get sucked in by them! This is a company that will scam you!

  • Chris Beachley

    These people are the biggest rip off – If you tell them you are closing your business, the will not shut down your account – they continue to draft different amounts when nothing is going in each month. You will request forms to cut it off, you fill them out and then they tell you that you never sent them….. took me over a year with threats to many Federal agencies to get it done.

    DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THEM – YOU WILL NEVER GET LOOSE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

  • Ken Grigg

    Horrible company wasted 2 weeks of my time never got funding!! Never got clear answers as to why!!! Ended up having to refund all transactions and wait 3 business days for those funds to show back in customers accounts to run with a real merchant company!!!!! One of the worst experiences I have ever had with a company!!!!

  • karen

    MerchantOne has been holding my money from charges made for 30 days now for over $16,000. I had a charge back from a customer that caused MerchantOne to put me in handcuffs. The representative dealing with my account was rude and doesn’t respond to me for days causing this situation to drag on. I asked for his supervisor only to find out he put me with one of his co-workers. I have yet to be forwarded to a supervisor to get this situation resolved. They are telling me that in the end they may reverse the charges and I would have to go back to each customer and ask for their card information again. It has already been 30 days and they are holding $16K of my money making it very hard to do business without cash flow. I stopped accepting cards after 2 weeks of them obviously not wanting to give me my money.

  • Alexis obryan

    Long story short, this company does not respond and did not do what they said. We signed up with them and it is now going on day 5 our funds have still not been deposited and they continue to ask for additional things that we were not told originally. Not sure if once they respond they will need more things before they will release our money , but we will not be using them once we get our funds

  • Orson Kellogg

    After confirming the fees I would be charged more than once with Merchant One Sales, I was surprised at a $105 fee. They said oops, that was a mistake, then took weeks to refund it. Then I was hit by another fee I should not have been charged, not as much but different from what I had been told. I cancelled immediately and have blocked future access to my account by Merchant One. Definitely NOT recommended.

    This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Marketing Firms

    -Phillip

  • Benjamin

    There are so many hidden fees it is crazy!
    I started with them in September of 2018, and every single month I was on the phone with them because there were new random unexplained charges. I just canceled my account after 4 months.
    To start you will have to pay $20 for the swiper then you will pay the monthly fee of $4.99
    Then there is a $25 dollar minimum fee every month so on your first month alone if you start your service with them and don’t use your device at all it will cause you $49.99!
    If you switch your bank account info they will charge you $30. If you don’t do this crazy long online training they will charge you $25.
    Oh and there is a $99 fee per year that they charge you at the end of the year, It’s back dated so you have your hands tied.
    None of these fees were mentioned when I signed up over the phone.
    The costumer service is really unhelpful and slow moving. Not to mention if you are on the West coast the time difference is a pain in the butt.
    They say next day processing but I had an experience where I ran a large transaction (about $650) on Thursday at 4pm.
    It was past 5pm in Florida so it didn’t batch until Friday the next day and then you don’t get anything over the weekend so it ended up in my account on a Monday. THAT’S 4 DAYS!
    Please don’t use this service, the beginning was great but after the first month it all went down hill.

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  • Connie

    Don’t do business with them! One Christmas month sales were not being process at all even though the cards were being accepted on the retail end. So 8k sales were not deposited for the whole month. When we asked them they were saying it’s our fault. How is it our fault if the card was being process on the retail front. The payment was being accepted. So they gave us a list of all of the customer’s full credit card numbers and told us to enter it by hand one by one without the customer being there. Isn’t that illegal, giving out their full card numbers by email? Very unprofessional! Also, we have never won a charge back. You have to fax all of the dispute response to them. FAX! WTF. It was time consuming, we have to go to fedex, use and pay for a fax. They charge at least $2 per page. Our new company, you just email it to them! hello 2018 technology! And we have won all of our disputes.

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  • Brett Wyatt

    How much money can an update lose you – find out with MerchantOne! They updated their software on a Saturday morning and my card reader stopped operating. MerchantOne outsources their tech support on the weekends. It takes 7 minutes to go through the tech support menu options until going to hold for a technician. Four technicians failed to understand the problem, the fifth informed me that it was a host company issue – I was down until Monday. MerchantOne customer support – total fail!

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  • Jeff Fick

    I used Merchant One while I owned my drug testing business for 3 years. During this time I had issues with Merchant One on a regular basis. I found several instances where they did not credit my account when a customer used a credit card to pay for services. When I brought this to their attention they gave me the run around, however I had the signed credit card transaction to prove what I was saying was correct. After I cancelled my service with them they continued to bill my account for 4 months until I disputed it with my financial institution. After this I found a personal write off/charge off on my credit bureau. Like I said this was on my business account under my EIN number not my SOS. When I called them to dispute this they once again gave me the run around. This company was the worst choice I made.

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  • Alvonta Harris

    This company is terrible. On the very first transaction that I processed with them they did not process the payment within 24 hrs as I was told they would. When I called them they said that my transaction had been flagged by their security department. I told them if they had any questions regarding the legitimacy of the transaction, feel free to contact my client to verify the transaction. Not only would they not do that, they sent me an e-mail requesting an invoice of the transaction and two months of bank statements! To date, they have not released the funds to my account which I have verified that they have received! This is a rip off! Not only I am out of $1500 for services that I rendered, I have spent countless hours trying to get Merchant One to release my payment. I will never use them in the future! Please stay away from this company!


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  • Shelley

    Hi my name is Shelly . I looked into Merchant one sounds all good. Don’t go through his company. They told us that they needed a voided check to prove who we were. And that it would take 3 days for the application to be approved. It was approved in about an hour. They went ahead and set up an account. When we told them we were going to talk to another company the next Monday. But NOW I got a call from a lady in New York they sent my information to. We we not go with them. and there’s still open a account set up in my name. And that lady in New York has no idea where her information is. Don’t go with this company they’re not honest. She just go ahead and do what they want to do. Thanks for listening. And I again DO NOT do it.Its a big mess. I just feel like I was violated some took my information to other people. A stranger is got my information a stranger.
    Thanks Shelley

  • james westerfield

    We are SO incredibly dissatisfied with the poor service and lack of professionalism from Merchant One. We were told we would be set up to run credit cards within days. It took well over a week as we had credit card charges piling up to run. A week later, I still did not have anything set up with a card swiper not online and I had to keep hounding them. I had to end up paying $40 for overnight shipment of the card readers as we couldnt not keep waiting to run the card numbers we had. So I ran the initial cards online telling them that I had to do this now, but from then on, they would mostly be run as a “swiped” transactions. The representative said okay and that he would notify risk services of the situation. So, AFTER I paid for the card readers and was finally set up online, they canceled my account and all the transactions I ran the week before! No real reason, just that they were uncomfortable with us running high charges online (even though we had told them why) now, we are in a jam having to wait to get set up with someone else. STAY CLEAR OF THE MERCHANT ONE HASSLE AND HEADACHES!!!

  • Mehmet DOZ

    Stay Away!!!! I worked with those guys for several years every year they ruined me somehow. Truly saying they are not honest as they sound. go pay 5% to paypal but not to those guys…..

  • D L

    Dont do business with merchant one they WILL rip you off
    There rates are more than they will tell you they have a catalog of fees on top of the rate they will tell you about and if you close they pull 800 dollars out of my account

  • Kelly

    NEVER EVER USE THIS COMPANY! After making me prove I have enough funds to warrant them allowing me to process credit cards (which doesn’t make any logical sense on its own), they just cancelled me for making too much money. This company is full of illogical idiots. Never use them.

  • John Frank

    Disgusting sales technique, NEVER was told they would be charging me $31.50 PER MONTH, for doing absolutely no business, so I’m out that money for 3 months. They should be investigated and shut down. They lied to gain and they did for 3 months, biggest scams ever.

  • Harry M Gay

    Merchant One is without a doubt one of the worst credit card processers in the business. I am very surprised that they have a C rating. They are not up front with contract details, they may at their discretion hold funds for up to six months if you violate your per sale limit. It does not matter if you tell them upfront that you sell large items. They average your sales and come up with a per sale limit. We have had our funds held for 6 mos. and two weeks. This extra two weeks is a violation of the contract on their part. We did not receive a copy of the contract until after they had already held our funds. Beware of this company if you are dependent on your sales funds. This company should be rated with a D- or F.

  • Rachel

    The worst service ever! Merchant One’s mobile swipe was incompatible with my employee’s android phone. This was known form the start. After keying in my first two sales of a brand new business, I got a call that my account t was on hold for not swiping. Merchant One is holding on to the $600+ for six months. If you want to receive the income from your clients, do not use Merchant One.

  • Terry M Monlin

    stay away from Merchant one they have taken money out of my account that wasn’t authorized and their service and customer service are the worst the worst company ever go out with they’re out to take money out of people account that’s it after telling me I have a 30-day trial and if I want to cancel I can they still took $300 out of my account after I cancel within one week

  • Jason Gravelle

    When I contacted them I was VERY clear in both recorded conversations as well as email that I wanted to know ALL the fees I would be charged. They assured me I would be charged $6 per month for the account, and either 2 or 3 percent depending on the card. What they don’t tell you is that there are minimums that must be met with them. We kept getting bills when there were no CC processes being ran. When I called to complain they just offered to see if they could reduce the charges. This is a bait and switch company. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THEM!

    • Billy Tebo

      Just because a merchant provider has minimums that does not make them Bait and Switch. Every company has an obligation to protect themselves. If you don’t meet the minimums you should try Square since they don’t have minimums but you will pay a higher percentage. This might still work out better for a company with virtually no sales to speak of if you don’t hit minimums.

      • Kim

        I was told over and over again month to month , then he forged my initials by 3year part and extra fees and told me to go down to bottom and sign. After I started using , it took over a week to get money . Such crooks! And they took 850.00 out of my account two days ago after cancelling , I sent back card reader, worst liars and cheats I’ve dealt with in 42 years of business

  • Sandra

    What ever you do, do not sign up with them. So many hidden fees. After bas customer service and violating my custimer privacy and giving account info to someone who is not on my account. Requested to gave account cancelled and was told fee would be $700

  • Tamara

    We are a small business that was getting started. We signed up with Merchant one and put our trust in them, when we found another service that better suited our needs we were unable to cancel our service with Merchant one we had spoken to 3 different representative and have been told 3 different things, they continued to charge us for three months after our initial conversation about canceling their service and then charged us an annual fee after all of the conversations and contact that we had made about canceling service. The representatives were abrasive and rude and unwilling to help when we wanted to cancel.
    If you are looking for a credit card merchant service I would advise you to look elsewhere there are several other companies that are more willing to help we currently have PayPal and have been extremely happy with that service.

  • H. Mitchell Gay, Snowy River Outfitters Inc

    A real ripoff company. Was told that we had to open two accounts, one for our business and another for a one day auction. After the auction we were told that we owed a $850 early closing fee. First sale on the system was for $3179.00, were told that we exceeded our sales amount and that the funds would be held for SIX MONTHS. Stated that the sale exceeded my contract amount. We never received a copy of the Contract, only the signature page. If you are looking for a card processing company you should remove Merchants One from your list.

  • 441 THrift Stores

    Thank you everyone for your postings on this site and many others. We spoke with Merchant one today and we were almost ready to switch providers UNTIL we read the thousands of complaints all over the internet . Needless to say we will NOT be using them

  • Jeanette Rea

    I’m a small business person. Using this service became much more expensive that I thought it would be. When I went to cancel they wanted to charge me almost $300. For What!! To end my contract. Really?! Its a rip off!

  • Sharon

    MERCHANT ONE IS HORRIBLE!! I have been using Merchant one about 7 months, because they always charge me with non-sense fee every month, I decided to cancel my account with them recently. The rediculous thing is, the director of Merchant One Andrew Saka send me the early cancellation policy which is 25 dollars for rest of the contract month or 295 dollars. When I opened my account with them, the repesentitive of Merchant One Steve Saka told me there is no contract, no early cancellation fee, and that’s why I did business with them. So I emailed the Steve Saka about what’s happening here, why you guys saying different policy right now, but later a New guy named Marc Lindor called me and told me Steve Saka went back to school, he is not there anymore. And he also told me I actually have contract with them for 36months. I told him I’m really sure I don’t have any contract and I asked him do they have the agreement, he said yes. I asked him to send me the agreement from yesterday afternoon, but until now, I didn’t get any email! If any of you know how to end up business with them with no early cancellation fee and some other crap stuff, please let me know how did you do it. I’m still struggling how to cancel their service and if possible I really need to report MERCHANT ONE, so they won’t cause any harm for the small business!!
    PLEASE DO NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH THEM. IT’ S A FRAUDULENT!

      • Sharon

        Fortunately I’m out of this business with no cancellation fee on December 2016. Here is my experience, I call the merchant guy and asked for the original contract. The second day he sent me two documents, on shows my sign there but I don’t think that’s my sign, that guy tried to convince me that’s because I signed electronically on my computer so it looks different. The other documents has no sign at all. I called the guy back and started yell at him how bad their company is, how many people having same issues like me…
        We negotiated couple minutes, finally that merchant guy said Merchant One is good company so he can wipe off the early cancellation fee on the contract, I need to send all the equipments back to them.
        If you want to take class action, I would like to join you, because I hate this kind of business exist in the world.

  • Howard

    I think I was the only one lucky to have my account closed without warning, said I was running fraudulent activities. Same thing they told me when I sent them the link to this forum when account was open. Not sure how I registered with them but when the sent me an email that my account is active, I wasn’t sure I wanted to process with them anymore when I read reviews from this site.

    Anyways, some guy called from from Merchantone and said he saw the email I sent to Jennifer Henriquez, and most of you guys here if not all of you either didn’t use their services at all or all of you were doing something fraudulent or illegal.

    We spoke for almost an hour and he assured me nothing was going to go wrong and my funds won’t be held, well I said better not. Account was opened for a month where I processed few transaction hesitantly, I was even getting deposits in my Bank of America account on Saturdays and Sundays.

    At the end of the first month they took their fews, I tried to process a new transaction the next day, it came up with a error “Invalid Merchant ID” I called I was told account was closed I needed to speak to a lady called “Taylor” I asked why account was closed, they said fraudulent activities lol. I said how? You have my customers details, phone numbers emails, why would you assume that? Why didn’t you verify, call them or something? I was like whatever, I hanged up and never looked back.

    It’s always good to have a backups at least minimum of 3 when dealing with these thieves. If not for my approach when the account was opened I was never going to see a cent. Their reviews on trustpilot.com all seems shady to me.

    Let me just advise you on one thing, if you don’t want to loose money or have your time wasted, do not use these guys, bad news!!! No other sites says anything good about that except their fake reviews on trustpilot.com

    They can be very convincing, do not listen to them!!!

  • Mike Cotayo

    This is the worst company, and the worst experience I have had. I have requested that they close my account fore months, and each month it is something different. They are extremely unhelpful, and I have lost a significant amount of money. I have emailed them my concerns and complaints, and no one is able to get back to me. This is ridiculous, and I am disappointed that they are still in business.

  • Heather Dozier

    DON’T GO THROUGH THEM… SCAM! I had nothing but problems dealing with them and when promised to reimburse me I was then directed to speak with someone else and the stories always changed and they harassed me during a death in my family being my father at that and until I did my test run they didn’t care. I would get texts threatening me that I would be charged $375 in fees if I did not activate my equipment and when I got tired of the continuous harassment I just went ahead and did the test run and it’s been nothing but problems ever since. Money was taken out of my account unauthorized and the amounts kept climbing. They tried telling me I was re-inbursed for my $5 test run and that was a complete lie also. They did nothing but cause me stress and a big headache and not to mention lost over $200 in the process from them pulling from my account until I shut my account down due to some many problems because of them. They are not professional people at all and a total scam. DON’T GO THROUGH THEM! YOU WILL REGRET IT!

  • Shota

    Crooks
    Incompetent, Roud and unknowledgable
    Quick example:
    Evalon ,
    Service they use for money processing
    They found it odd , that one of my clients from London coming to Nee York and spending money for concierge service.
    They didn’t even know what does concierge means, and does. They calculate and mesure everything, from the cave they sit in Tennessee, with there southern accent.
    After they took money they proccesed 3 month before, and after they couldn’t do anything they return it.
    They wanted to call to my clients to check on my , Wich is ridiculous.
    I recommen stay away from these people, as far as possible

  • Jesse

    merchant one It is like a nightmare
    I don’t understand if this is a fraud company or what
    They have been keeping $14,000 of my money since three weeks ago after I signed with them then never have an answer I spoke to over 10 different employees and I keep hearing different answers it’s like they are playing with us One day they ask for bank statements and one day they ask for A Bill of sales and one day they aask for receipts every day different stuff And every time they ask for something I send it to them and they Will say they are going to deposit the money in my account and nothing happened it’s been like this for almost 3 weeks me and my staff We feel like we are working for them With all the stuff we provide for them with our records receipts and bank statements Bill of sales sales
    we are very warty from this
    We spoke to a manager and he ask for the same stuff we already sent 10 different times And we send it because we have no choice and he promised we would have the money the next day and nothing happened
    this Is I nightmare
    I would really appreciate if I can use some help or maybe direction how can I take legal action Or how can we get our money from this company because when I told them I want to cancel they told me by law they can keep our money for 24 Months

    • Terry Boothman

      I’m quoting another user below. I bailed out on Merchant One years ago, but recall their deceptive practices. They should be investigated … and I hope someone files a class action against them.

      Hi Sandra! I feel your pain. I can’t believe this company is still in business. Anyway contact your state representative. That’s what I had to do to get out of this deceptive immoral company. Good Luck!

    • Paula

      Jesse so sorry to hear about your situation with this crooked company. I too was sucked in and tormented for months. I contacted my state representative or you could contact the state attorney general and see what they can do. My representative got me out of my nightmare with this company. I don’t see how they haven’t been shut down by now. This situation has made me very cautious of any future decisions I make in my company. You have to research, do your homework and definitely check outside reviews sites that aren’t affiliated with the company or product you are purchase. I learned the hard way. Best of luck trying to resolve your problem and reach out to a government official.

  • Sandra Hernandez

    Has anyone figured out how to cancel? I’m been getting charged for the last six months to a total of over $800! I called my bank and placed a stop payment on all of their transactions, but fear that they might try and bill me. This is horrible business and frankly I am very frustrated as I never even used their service.

    • Paula

      Hi Sandra! I feel your pain. I can’t believe this company is still in business. Anyway contact your state representative. That’s what I had to do to get out of this deceptive immoral company. Good Luck!

  • Lori

    I haven’t received a single statement in 4 months of using their service. I have no record of what fees I am paying, they simply withdraw as they please from my bank account. Tons of problems. Hours on the phone trying to do a simple address update. AVOID.

  • prem

    we are the latest victims of this screwing company. due to their high transaction charges, we minimize /drop using the credit card transactions, but for month of December 2014 they have charged over $500.00 in various days, and for January 2015 they already charged $198.00,
    it is really sickening with this merchant-one, and was unable to contact them and to close this account with them. they mention we can close the account at anytime with out charges, but when i go through your complaints, we noted that they charge to close the account.
    still it is worth to close with this F….. company who is ripping the innocent hard earning people.

    • Paw

      You are not alone. I was suckered a year ago and I got out of the contract for free. I contacted my state rep and he sent them a letter and that worked. Don’t let them win. They are hoping you just pay up but I was more interested in the principle of it and it was worth exposing them for the criminals that the are.

  • Shannon

    Sleazy Slimy business practices. AVOID. I tried to cancel because of all their crazy fees, and was told that I had to pay a $295 termination fee. I asked to be put on a very minimal plan to finish out the few months I had left… they agreed (because it would have cost about $60). I just found out that they “charged off” my account and its now a negative item on my credit report. They also had been sneaking in extra charges for over a year because i did’nt “opt-out” of some unnecessary “fraud coverage” they offered. So basically if they send you a letter that says if you DON”T respond (AKA SONT SEE THE FINE PRINT BURIED IN A BILL SOMEWHERE), then that means you ACCEPT their new product. WOW! not to mention the charged was masked to make it hard to understand what it was if you did see it later on. The finally agreed to fully refund me after offering half the amount siphoned out of my account and fighting me the whole way. Save yourself the headache and avoid companies that do business like this..

  • Phillip Simmons

    We opened our MerchantOne account in May 2009. We started using another company 2 years in and didn’t realize we had a 5 year contract with MerchantOne, like most of the complaints nothing was disclosed about a contract and or is not on any documents we signed for MerchantOne. Today, I call to cancel the service because we have been out of our “contract” since May 2014 and was asked to sign a form to cancel service and was sent a balance form of what is owed!?!? When I spoke to a service rep of MerchantOne he told me we owed for a Annual PCI – Compliance Fee of $129 and monthly processing fee. I get the balance form and it’s both fees mentioned above and more… there was a collections fee of $50 and NSF $25. We haven’t used them in 2 years to process any credit card payments, they have been collecting a monthly fee of $56.85 and their Annual PCI – Compliance Fee of $129 and some other monthly fee of $24.50 all this time. I am disputing the fees/charges. I could see paying the Annual PCI Compliance Fee if we were to continue service, but it was paid in August 2013, that should cover us to date? The collections fee, I have no idea what that is and am still waiting on an explanation. If we owe anything it would be for the month service and NSF charges. Definitely buyer beware and do your research before getting involved with a company like this!!!

  • Dan D

    Someone needs to file with the State Attorney General of Florida on Merchant One. If you are local and have been scammed by Merchant One please get the ball rolling for everyone else. This is yet another racketeering outfit and the consequences will be stiff! More people need to start standing up to these crooks, we have made it our mission to report anywhere we can to prevent others from being victims to Merchant One. They will eventually get shut down but in the meantime we all suffered from their fraud and deceit. The time is now so speak out!

      • Dan D

        Phillip,

        They charge more fees than stated,they screw up and take money they are not entitled to and they take absolutely no responsibility for their own screw ups. They have a D rating for a reason and I wish I would have done more research other than the topten site that comes up at the top of google and is a bunch of B.S. When I say do not use merchant one I mean it, it was a very bad experience and expensive mistake. The truth needs to be out there, they have hundreds of BBB complaints as well so that’s all there is to know. Thank you for this venue to share and help others not make the same mistake.

  • Jay

    Merchant One is HORRIBLE. Hidden fees, staff not helpful….very bad experience with Merchant One…do NOT go with Merchant One….you will be very sorry. Bad company, expensive, poor service, you will be sorry. Others are much better. thanks, Jay

  • Scott Jones

    Merchant One had us sign an agreement that you could not read assuring us verbally that we could cancel if we found a better deal. The agreement is one page and I am told makes reference to the terms and conditions as found in the 32 page ‘program guide’. This program guide is not provided by VISA and MasterCard, but also contains their own ‘fine print’ such as early termination fees, etc.

    All binding paperwork is not presented at the time of signing, but only referred to as a website address where you can go and read all of the ugly little details about additional fees and obligations. This is deceptive as they do not bring this to your attention and let you know there are more terms and conditions they will hold you to, nor do they give you an opportunity to go online and review the 32 page document before signing.

    • Phillip CPO

      Hi Tom, the short answer is that we dig much deeper into the business practices and type/volume of complaints filed about a provider. The BBB only evaluates the complaints filed and resolved within its own platform. This often encourages providers to work diligently to solve BBB complaints in order to maintain a good rating even though they are not correcting the problems that caused the complaints in the first place. We specialize in reviewing and rating merchant account providers, which is a complex industry that cannot be accurately rated within the BBB’s broad criteria which covers all types of industries. In fact, we have reviewed over 300 providers and found that the grading across providers with the BBB is vastly inconsistent.

      If you would like more detail, please see our Rating Criteria.

  • Paula Wills

    Well I guess I’m the latest victim of this fraudulent company! Totally deceived by the undisclosed extra fees, annual fee & the best was the 3 year contract that I had know idea I had entered into. Gina Gordon the sales person told me I could cancel at anytime and never mentioned an annual fee. I found this out by notifying them of a $99.00 charge on my account. Obviously I had no idea of an annual fee and them proceeded to find out I was in a 3 year contract. Pulled out my contract and found the $99 annual fee in small print but no where on there is there a 3 year contract term. It says in Section IV that it is disclosed in Section III. Well Section III is no where to be found. After contacting them again they said they can send me the “Program Guide” which stipulates that term. Okay so you’re telling me on top of all the other undisclosed information in the application process you want to send me documentation of my contract which was never disclosed at the time of my signing. HUH! Well I’m in the process of waiting for a call back from upper management after telling the customer service rep that I don’t feel he should take the brunt of my anger. If I don’t get the resolution from upper management I will be contacting the BBB, Attorney General & my attorney. These people need to be stopped!!!!

  • Fallon

    This has to be one of the worst companies to deal with. From the beginning three years ago the sales rep did not explain the numerous extra charges we would be charged when we signed the contract. They are continually adding charges and raising processing fees and compliance fees. After the company convinced us to purchase a terminal from them so we would be charged lower processing fees we were told four months later the terminal was discontinued so we would have to spend another 200 and buy a different one. They lock you into a three year contract charge high termination fees when try to leave early. Their customer service reps are rude even when they mistakenly overcharge our account and should be apologizing for their mistake which happens often. Unhappy with this company from day one thankfully the three years of hell with this company is over.

  • Jim

    This review is right on the money……They requested additional signers on our account when we refused and stated that we would go elsewhere they opened the account anyway without our knowledge and started charging the monthly fee also without our knowledge. We never made any tranactions with this company and it took four months to get them to stop charging the fees….We are out the $100 bucks…..My advice Run …..Run like you hair is on fire from these folks!!!!!

  • Terri Billingsly

    I put in a card payment online with Paul Milburn Acreages…..this transaction showed declined several times so I notified the company via email over the holiday. Since it has been a fiasco as one company states that I am the one putting the hold on my account…ummm how is that???? Merchant One has the credit card services for that website and all I get from Milburns office is that they cannot do anything that they never recieved anything although My BANK WELLS FARGO….has in my account a hold on the payment and it is held by MERCHANT ONE….AT SOME POINT THEY ACCEPTED MY PAYMENT AND HAVE A HOLD ON THIS PAYMENT WHICH IS THE ISSUE…..each entity is telling me neither is at fault yet they are still holding my money and account up. This has been going back and forth since monday….Milburns office speaking with my bank and then merchant one and it has gotten NOWHERE. So I contacted MERCHANT ONE myself as Milburns office wants Merchant ONE to speak to my bank….well problem there is no info can be obtained or discussed without me being there….so why have them call my bank if they cannot get any information??? Milburns office has not been the nicest in this instance either as they act as though I am not being truthful with them even though they have a copy of the hold on my bank account sent to them by my bank WELLS FARGO. Speaking with Merchant One today due to not being able to get anywhere with Milburns office and it is just like all the complaints I read online this morning about MERCHANT ONE……sad that a business with such potential has such horrible customer service and excuses. 179 complaints in 6 months!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Very dissappointed and disgusted with both entities at this point!!!!

  • Mike Cassella

    Besides the high PCI compliance fees we were just charged $99 annual fee. I had selected merchantone based on the sales rep saying there were no annual fees. My contract does not disclose any annual fee amount, but it also does not say there is none. Loophole? It does state monthly fees, statement fees etc etc.

    Deceptive advertising. Cancelled and we will see what kind of termination fees they have. Contract clearly says NONE, I am guessing they will continue to bill me my minimum $25 monthly fee and call it something else other than termination.

    • Terry Boothman

      Mike,
      Don’t bet on their NOT charging you a serious cancellation fee. We had the same issues and likewise were billed this fee. I forget the exact amount, but it was several hundred dollars. We refused to pay it and, after a barrage of threatening calls and letters, they relented. Note to all commenters: there is NO reason to comply with any of their charges. Simply cancel your account and cite the numerous complaints that you find here and elsewhere. They are highly unlikely to take legal action for a few hundred dollars.
      Tom Booth

      • Drew

        Most likely they will send you to collections and ding your credit. The cancellation fee is $295 or $25 a month, whichever is greater and they just took it straight out of my account.

  • National Security Consulting & Investigations PLLC

    Our company signed up with Merchant One because of the offers they had advertised. We quite quickly found out that 1) you have to agree to ‘terms of service’ electronically, without even getting to read what you are signing. There is no way to sign up without agreeing (sort of like with free downloads on the net) and if you hit ‘continue’ apparently you are authorizing to lots of terms that are not disclosed to you.

    As high tech crime investigators, we find the sales tactics are clear bait and switch techniques. To date, we have had monthly charges taken out of our account that were never authorized. They ACH the $9.95 that they disclose, but then do additional charges for $34.78 or other amounts like $99.00 that just somehow show up. When you try to get someone to credit back the charges that were taken out without authorization, they promise to fix the problem and tell you the charges will be credited back to your account “within two weeks”. Those credits not only do not happen, but additional charges come out. These folks, in our opinion as fraud investigators, have a wide variety of fradulent tactics going on include wire fraud and banking violations. We strongly urge anyone who has had problems with this company to report these issues to your bank, to the Better Business Bureau and to your local police department. They are doing this on a wide-scale basis. From the postings on this website alone, at least 173 other complaints have been filed for their various nefarious tactics. This is probably a very small sample compared to what is actually going on. You can also legally post the facts on the Internet–so we also encourage you to do that.

    As of this posting, they have ‘scammed’ us to the tune of $200.00, even though we did let them know we are aware of their various fraud tactics. Each person

  • Drew Horn

    Merchant One is misleading! I signed up with them two years ago, only to find they capped the transaction dollar amount on purchases, which hurt us dearly due to our high ticket sales. Also they raised our interest rate about 5 times during the year “due to higher interchange rates”…. So the advertised rate didn’t last long. Also their statement fees, yearly $99 account fee, and PCI and monthly fees were exhorbitant. They hold you hostage to a three year agreement, and if you cancel early, (which I just did) they say they charge you $25 a month for every month left on your contract. However, if this amount is less than $295 then they charge you the greater amount. So it has cost me $425 to get out of my account this year. DO NOT RECOMMEND! I recommend Dharma Merchant Services – Non contracts, no limits, great service, low rates and fees!

  • D K

    Having been with this processor for over 3 1/2 years, I started to shop again.There are much better companys, with out all the bad reviews. A 3 year committment or pay the termination fee was my agreement. Well, sometime down the road, their terms were amended to 5 years and auto renews. Which they said I was obligated to recently. They have added 4 more pages to their policy. the page that said 5 years, page 28, did not exist when I went with them. Thats the latest in a scamy company that one would think, having access to your moneys, should, would, and could, be upfront and honest. For mobil, which I use, no swipe, their iphone ap ad specifiys one rate, and your hit with a higher one. Keep shoping and stay clear of this con artist, Merchant One

  • Patty Romeo

    I am completely disgusted with their after hours or weekends emergency help with my terminal! The referred me to no less than 5 different phone numbers, NONE OF WHICH WAS ANY HELP! I would not recommend them in the future so go elsewhere for your credit cards terminal needs….

  • Tom Eure

    I set up my a/c with Jennifer Liehn-Pupo and you programmed my machine and told me I was good to go. Now I find out that you are holding my deposits until you can do a site survey. I’ve been in business for 41 years and have never been asked for this.
    My contract says nothing about this either. So I will call Jennifer back tomorrow, today she said she could not believe this was happening and she would get it straight. If you didn’t want me to make charges before the site survey you should not have turned on my machine.
    This terminal, as I have explained over and over, is for our old customers from 20 years of craft shows. Our main terminal is at our shop at the Greenbrier hotel, a pos system. We only run customers that have nothing to do with the hotel thru our home machine which is not many. I explained all of this to Jennifer and she said we were good to go.
    So tomorrow if I do not receive satisfaction for the $267 you have not deposited in my a/c but took charges for I am going to contact the interstate commerce commission and report you for fraud.
    I just want to get these two transactions in my a/c and then I do not want to do business with you anymore. I have wasted more time on this than you can imagine. This afternoon I spoke with a very arrogant young man who told me what I could and could not do including calling the ICC. This person also told me that the survey people had tried numerous times to contact me. I am in my home office everyday and no one has called me. Believe me you won’t like what they have to say when they find out how we have been treated by your company.
    If anyone along the way had said “you have to have a site survey before we will give you your money” I would have cancelled my a/c right then. But no, you waited until I noticed that my deposits were not coming thru and then told me. This constitutes fraud and is punishable by a fine and other means.
    Tom Eure
    http://www.atlantisleather.com
    [phone number redacted]

  • Tony

    I made the HUGE mistake of switching to MerchantOne last year.

    After speaking with “Kevin D. Brown” and going over exactly what I was paying at the time, he assured me, repeatedly, that they would save me money on credit card processing. Kevin D. Brown is a lying POS as is MerchantOne. After a few months of seeing fees that greatly exceeded what I was previously paying, I closed the account.

    They proceeded to bill me a termination fee of several hundred dollars which I did not pay. If this isn’t extortion, I don’t know what is.

    Then they put a chargeoff on my credit report putting a ding in my otherwise perfect credit.

    Don’t walk, RUN from this company.

    If there’s a class-action suit against this deplorable group, I want to be a part of it.

  • Kelvin

    It has been over 2 years that I did buisness with this company, I was borded and thought I would see if Merchant One had changd there ways, and it looks like they havent changed at all. I read all these reviews and say to myself thats the kind of crap they pulled on me 2+ years ago.
    Just type in Meerchant One scam and it is amazing what this company does to small buisnesses.

  • Mark

    I needed to cancel my services because of months and months of random fees and when i told them i needed to cancel they said “they do not recomend it because we are under contract and will be a hassle” because of cancellation fees. This company has put my business account in the hole too many times because of their hidden fees I do not recomend them to anybody unless you read their (30 page contract) that they say they do not have!…

  • Tom Booth

    I’d agree with all the negative comments above. We were also told there would be no “cancellation fee,” or hidden fees of any kind. We’ve been bombarded with unexplained fees, often with mysterious codes. Today, upon asking for cancellation, we were told there would be a two-year cancellation penalty amounting to $600.

    This is a fraudulent company: you should simply avoid doing business with them under any circumnstances.

  • Debby Arango

    Please help put scam companies like this one out of buisness. Fees,Fee’s… anything thing they want to charge
    they take right out of your account. Every month I had more and more money taken from my account, and when I would call to ask they said it was in the paperwork.
    After 2 years with the company They charged me 250.00 to close out with them, of course they didn’t tell me
    that!! It was just missing from my account. We also had to close all buisness accounts so they would stop taking money.
    Take warning stay away you will be sorry! I will also make a complaint to the BBB , but I heard they have an A
    rating with them . Something fishy there too.!!!

  • Shawn W

    Stay away from this one. I’ve been with this company for 6 years. I started out paying 15 dollars a month now every month a new fee. Bill went from 15 to 221.00,129.00,86.00,79.00,68.00 dollars. Now they’re charging a 28 dollar fee three times a year for processing paperwork. A 99 dollar a year fee for annual fees, 87 dollar a year pci fee, and a 3.75 monthly fee for pci. Also a 19.90 dollar fee a month for comstar fee. Also gateway monthly fee that has been as high as 43.00 dollars a month. Those fee don’t even include the fees you pay for charging a credit card such as transaction fees and other charges. By the way the fees I signed up to pay are out the window. When you get a large charge amount your fees go up suddenly. Went as high as 3.15%. Over double what I signed up for. When I called to complain they said we’ll now set your rate so it don’t happen again after the damage is done. For three months they over charged me 19.90 refunded the money then charged me over the next two months also. If I had never caught it I’ll still be paying double. Worst company ever stay away.

    • tim rock, cpa

      absolutely THE worst company i have ever worked with (22 years practice). watch out for all the hidden fees including the never mentioned annual membership fee of $99/yr that was hidden in the fine print of the contract. and when you cancel, look out! the fax number they provdide to cancel conveniently never works. it actually me 8 days and many phone call and faxes to get it done. i compared to CMS and happily cancelled merchant one. unfortunately, merchant one is not (all of a sudden) easy and friendly to deal with once you try to cancel…and the HIDDEN fees are ridiculous! i have MANY clients that accept cards and they will certainly be “schooled” by me on merchant one. STAY AWAY! seriously. tim.

  • Kevin Barwick

    I signed a contract in February 2011. I was verbally told that I was on a month-to-month contract. Besides having frustrations with all the hidden and extemporaneous fees, they were not responsive to my need for them to own up to a mistake they made regarding PCI Compliance.

    After several months of being charged $24.50/month for me allegedly being non-compliant with PCI regs, I called Merchant One to get this cleared up. The rep arranged a conference call with Control Scan. CS and Merchant One admitted they made a mistake in how it was inputted, i.e. absolving me of any negligence. Although I had been compliant from the beginning, Merchant One chose to not refund me for any of the months, but one. My five calls to them never transpired into any help toward me.

    I thus decided to cancel my contract with Merchant One. I signed the cancellation notice. When I found a $295 charge on my checking account I called once again. They said that there was a three-year contract to which I originally signed. I was never told about a three-year contract, nor was I sent their Program Guide stipulating this policy.

    A Merchant One supervisor refused to refund me the cancellation fee, leaning on the fact that I signed an original contract (which indicated only the “possibility” of an early termination fee). I felt as if I wasn’t heard nor respected by the “Customer Service” reps.

    I would not recommend Merchant One for any small business needs!

  • ron salvetti

    We have had the same issues with Merchant One as described by other reviewers, that is their deceptive promise of no additional fees, cancellation at any time and a one year contract. We specifically wanted a one year contract for our new business and were assured that this would be the case. We were rushed over the phone to simply sign the contract, our rep assured us that the contract was for one year and we needed to sign now. Shortly after, we were charged the 90.00 compliance fee and then learned that we had a 3 year contract that we are obligated for, personally, even though we are an LLC. Run in the other direction from Merchant One!

  • Patricia Kruger

    When we opened our account with Merchant One almost 9 months ago. We were told we could “cancel at any time”. Yet, when I tried to cancel this month because I just was not using the service (I’ve only used it three times in 9 mos) They tried to force me into agreeing to pay a cancellation fee of $675. When I objected they said, “business has been tough this past year, we have to make our money somehow.” When I told them I was told I could cancel at anytime and never signed a contract (everything was set up online) they sent me an application with a forged signature on it. And, conveniently, my salesman had no recolection of the promise he had made to me when we opened the account. Ultimately we had to cancel our bank account and reopen. I am very disappointed to find this company to be so unprofessional. Being dishonest is not the way to get ahead.

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