In the late 2000s, as a broke college student struggling to make ends meet, I was contacted by a merchant services company after uploading my resume to a job listings website. This company promised substantial commissions and ongoing residual income for simply persuading businesses to accept credit card payments. It seemed straightforward enough—after all, what business doesn’t need to process credit card payments? Following a phone interview with a persuasive “sales director,” I found myself embarking on what I believed would be an easy job that would significantly boost my bank account with reliable monthly income and large sales commissions. However, the lessons I learned would profoundly change my life in ways I could never have imagined.
After completing my sales training, I hit the ground running, eager to make sales. This broke college student was determined to improve his financial situation! My first attempt at a cold call, with no prior appointment, ended with a burly man in his 50s yelling at me to leave, claiming he had been “totally robbed” by someone like me before. As I hastily exited, puzzled and intimidated by his reaction, I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant. Throughout the day, I encountered similar hostility from other business owners, all expressing disdain for the industry I had been so excited to join that morning. Confused and curious, I decided to shift my approach from selling to listening.
I quickly uncovered that the merchant services sector was riddled with unethical practices, including hidden fees, deceptive marketing, fine-print traps, and much more. It dawned on me that I had nearly been tricked by a dubious company into selling overpriced services under contracts with long-term commitments, all without being fully aware of what I was promoting. Outraged, I resigned from that company but learned that there were indeed ethical credit card processing companies that treated their clients fairly. Over the next four years, I worked for one such company, assisting hundreds of businesses in securing cost-effective processing solutions. Yet, I also met many more who had been misled and trapped in onerous service agreements. Determined to help people steer clear of these unscrupulous providers, I launched this website in my spare time, dedicating myself to researching and sharing my findings on every merchant account provider I could investigate.
Gradually, more and more business owners began to discover my articles. As word spread, search engines started to rank my content highly, amplifying its reach. My efforts were making a difference! Eventually, the website garnered enough traffic to enable me to leave my job and focus on it full-time, a journey that has now spanned over a decade. This path has not been without its challenges; unscrupulous company owners have tried to intimidate and sue me into silence on several occasions. Yet, I have stood firm against each threat. Here I am, continuing to publish reviews and articles, hoping to safeguard others from the pitfalls of the credit card processing industry.
If you believe in my mission and wish to contribute, please share my articles on your websites and social media. Thank you for visiting!
kathy jacobs
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. THEY ARE THIEVES READ ALL THE OTHER BAD REVIEWS OF THEM BEING SCAMMERS
They hold your money and will not put it in your account. They are holding over $5400 of my money for no reason other than to be thieves Capitol One paid them but they will not put the money into my business account. I have done nothing wrong. Capitol One has issued a dispute against them for me and I am going to be filing a police report about them. They have also threatened me a man by the name of James Whitmore ( who is a green haired, look up their executives) who is an alleged supervisor. They are threatening to boycott me for all other credit companies to never do business with my company so that my company cannot take credit cards. They are saying the reason is I put in a charge for more than the paperwork said permitted and they received the money they just won’t put it into my account. If that were true why did they approve the sale and accept the money from Capitol One but not give the money to me or back to Capitol One?. Save yourself some hassles and find a reputable company before they attempt to steal from you as well.
These people are thieves. As of the writing of this they will not give me the $5400 or give it back to Capitol One they were given by Capitol One and are now attempting to take ANOTHER $5400 OUT OF MY BUSINESS BANK ACCOUNT. They will not allow me to do a credit and Capitol One is now involved in a dispute. As stated they are thieves. BEWARE
ADDTIONAL INFO TO THERE ANSWER.
I charged on my BUSINESS ACCOUNT and the money was to go into my bank business account.. The bottom line is they were given the money by Capitol One and refuse to give it back to Capitol One or me. There path to a resolution is this. They want me to give the thieves another $5400 wait 180 days and then they will give me back the $10800. Bottom line is they are thieves and want to keep the $5400. They told me when I spoke to them the second time that they knew Capitol One would do the dispute which I put in and give me my money back and they would see to it that no other credit card company would allow my business to do credit cards. They also told me they were going to take another $5400 out of my bank account. WHY? They have MY $5400. Does that sound like a reputable business? Liars, cheats and blackmail. All they had to do was one of two things give me back my money or give it back to Capitol One. STAY AWAY FROM THEM AND PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS
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Response from the owner 6 days ago
It is unfortunate that you have not had a positive experience with National Processing. Running a
Elizabeth
I just got my first statement from this company. Well, I got conned. Was told my monthly fees would be dramatically lower than my current set up. I asked several different times on different days if there were ANY other fees as this seems to good to be true. Told over and over, no you will be saving about $1300 to $1400 a month. There aren’t any other fees. Well guess what? There are. I’m sure he lied to me about the cancellation policy as well. Stay away from this company. Mickey was the sale rep. Nice guy who is a fast talker. I cannot believe I fell for it.
Jax Hart
This business is the WORST. Their website feeds you all of these empty promises about wanting to yelp small/medium sized businesses when all they mean by help is SCAM. I reached out because i was promised free equipment with a 3 year contract, the sales person confirmed this. after the equipment took weeks to arrive, the pandemic headed into another shut down and i was told that they could put me on “pause” with no consequence. all the while, they were charging me non compliance fees of $100/mo. How is that eithical?! I didn’t catch it right away because we can’t afford an account and business has been rough. When i finally caught it, all i got was a “there’s nothing we can do” and would you like to cancel your account. No follow through, no service, and NO concern for the success of small businesses. Only concern in scams and sales commissions.
Michel Arvin
A deceitful company. I would give no star to this company. Contrary to what they claim in their site, “We will not hold you to a contract. We will not raise the low rates we provide you. We guarantee your 100% satisfaction.
None true for all three claims. They locked us for 4 years, find out they are stealing from our account, raise the rate / fee without our consents contrary to the contract, when we show them what offer we have from other company, since they promised to match it, they said we sold the book to Fist Data you are on your own. Con Artists in deed. Deceitful. No etiquette no shame. We are filing complains to different institutions.
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Robin Burnett
These people have screwed up opening my ski lodge restaurant both years I’ve used them.
Then after I got rude this second year in a row with them, they turn off my credit card processing capabilities in the middle of business.
Charged me twice what competitors are charging for the same set up!
They are a rip off and have the worst customer service I’ve seen in my 47 years of life. They tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone and their follow-up is about 20 percent.
DO NOT USE THEM!
Robin Burnett
My business is The Fall Line
Casper, Wyoming
We operate in the ski lodge as The Fall Line Cafe in the Hogadon Lodge!
Ron Bray
I have found the agents who are in charge of the merchant accounts to be very polite and prompt with their quotes. They act in a professional manner which is impressive to prospective clients.
CPO
Hi Ron,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!