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!
Jay McGraw
The review for MR Pizza South needs removed. I signed him up when I was working for Edje Solutions and NOT pacific payment systems. Ryan is a customer for Edje Solutions and thus review needs to be placed appropriately and with accurate information and not false info. I worked for Edje shortly during the pandemic correct and did do a lease with him but because he needed new machines in order to do cash discount but the changed his mind and didn’t want the customer to get upset so we switched him to tiered pricing, then he wasn’t happy with his bill because he started a promotion doing $4 slices which drove his transactions through the roof. I left Edje and he continued to work with their staff and team and a gentleman named Lucas to take care of the matter. From what I understand they ended up making him a great deal and even made an agreement to remove all negative reviews since he was happy. I do not know why 3 years later he is writing a review and naming pacific payment systems but this is entirely false and inaccurate information and needs to be addressed ASAP! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want proof in regards to this matter. [Auto-moderated: contact information removed.]
Janelle Thompson
Ryan,
We do not have you or your business as a customer currently or at any time our company. We have contacted Jay to get a hold of you and this review site to clear this matter up. This review is not reflective of our company or practices and ask that this review be kindly removed. We do not even have a relationship with, nor ever had one with Ascentium Capital for equipment leasing. I am confident Ascentuium Capital will confirm this. We do apologize for any confusions and\or issues you may have had with whatever company you dealt with but this review needs to be removed. If you would like we would gladly offer to educate you on how billing works, costs associated and mark up and would love to give you a quote to earn your business as we pride ourselves in merchant education and fair and transparent pricing. We only do cash discounting and interchange plus pricing and we have no termination fees. Our customers are free to leave at any time with no penalties.
Sincerely,
Janelle Thompson
Ryan
Jay McGraw of Pacific Payment Systems scammed me into a 48-month lease with Ascentium Capital at $300/ month ($15,000 total) for equipment that can be purchased for roughly $700-$800 total.
Jay cold called me June of 2020, while my small business was in government mandated shutdown, claiming he would save me a lot of money on credit card processing. He had me sign an application (which is what the top of the document says), assuring me that it was a no risk trial, and I could cancel at any time. He rushed me to sign over the internet (the first document that I had ever signed online in my life). The document was auto complete that you just click through and sign where needed. At the very end was a 48-month non-cancellable lease through a completely different leasing company (Ascentium Capital) that he does not mention is involved. In fact, he is not even an employee of leasing company. Therefore, he can tell you anything he wants to get you to sign and the third-party leasing company has me in a contract that I am still in. Any lies that he tells to get you to sign do not matter as he is not an employee of the leasing company!
To make things worse, my equipment is now malfunctioning, and I have to BUY a new credit card terminal for $250 while still paying the $300/month for equipment that does not work.
Lies Jay will tell you to get you to sign.
1. This is just and application for a trial that you can cancel at any time.
Actual: This is a two-year non-cancellable processing contract and a 48-month non-cancellable lease with a completely different company that you do not want to be involved with. Go look up Ascentium Capital on this site and you will see.
2. You can send in your equipment for new if you have any problems with it at any time.
Actual: You are paying the $15,000 lease for only the original equipment worth around$700 total! Any issues with the equipment and you have to buy new while continuing to pay the lease.
3. Jay says that he will save you money on your processing fees.
Actual: My bill came back charging me higher processing fees than my previous company, plus a $300/month 48-month lease. All completely non-cancellable.
4. Jay said that he would help me with any questions or issues that I had with my service or equipment.
Actual: Jay has not spoken with me since he scammed me in to signing the “application.” All of my calls and emails to him went unanswered to this day.
Jay will say that he is for small businesses, but he is actually out to destroy them with very shady sales practices.
I can honestly say that signing the application with Jay McGraw was the single biggest mistake of my entire life. Please do not make the same mistake.
Jay McGraw
Judith, I do believe that your complaint was addressed and we did apologize for the mistake the rep made (who was new in training) and we canceled your account and refunded those two bills you as well. By all means please let us know if there is anything else we can do as we pride ourselves in having the best customer service and do not check review sites regularly.
Judith Anderson
When I was solicited over the phone, I was promised the equipment would work with my existing Elo cash register. I was sent equipment with a promise that I would receive support in setting things up. Neither of these promises were ever followed through. I called about where to return the equipment and sent e-mails. No response. I have sent several e-mails and made several calls to this company to cancel this service as I have not made one charge with it. I later received one follow up from a help-desk type person who said he would talk to someone about integrating the equipment. Its been over a month and no follow up call has ever been received. Only a second bill of $100+ for a service I have not been able to use.