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!
Neal
The rep made it sound like they were good for business. No hidden fees until I looked at my bank stew meant and realized that I got charged for stuff that was not discussed with me. Now I want to cancel and they say it $495 to cancel! Unheard of! None of this was disclosed at the time of the contract. I will pay the money and leave that company!
Debbie
I received a call today I believe from your company. Premier Merchant Providers. Her name was Jessica. She chose to lie instead of telling who she really is. I called her back as I said I would and she was very rude when she found out that she had been busted!!!!! I explained that the gentleman who answered the phone had already told me they were a credit card processing company and she said then why did you call me back? I said you called my company first and she said you didn’t have to call me back. What do you want & hung up. I’m so sick of these companies who lie to try & get your business. The phone number that called was 866-881-9367. Here’s a clue, don’t lie to people Jessica!!!!!!!
Phillip CPO
Hi Debbie,
What is it that you believe Jessica lied about?
Tracy Grimes
There are too many good processors out there to stick with Premier. When I originally set up the account, the representative made it sound so simple and cost effective for my business that it seemed to be a no brainer. Well, after years of getting popped with bogus “mystery” fees, monies taking forever to make it to our account, and repeatedly being told that a sale was too big and it couldn’t be run, we are now told that to leave it will cost us $250. NO ONE ever mentioned any “contract term” or cancellation fee whatsoever. Ironically, on over $10,000 worth of sales that they would NOT run through…they STILL charged us the fees. If you ever call for help, they will blame you every time, take forever to call you back, and then blame you again. If you care about your money, stay away!!
Julie Foster
I have used Premiere Merchant Processing for three years now. I own a small business. I am very upset by the things I have experienced lately and would like to warn other users. I have now become diligent in checking for every single charge now on my statements because I feel they are popping things in whenever they want to and wait to see if the customer complains. For example, I had never been charged an “annual” fee. Out of the blue, I happened to audit my statements as I periodicailly do and found a $79 annual fee charge. I was promised by Jerry that no “hidden” charges would be put upon me. I called customer service and found out that they had done the same last year to my business. Because it was at Christmas time, my busiest of the whole season, I did not catch it. I was very upset to find that they decided to tack on these charges when they were never a part of our agreement.
Now the newest thing I find during my audit is that they are charging me for not “registering” my machine. They have been charging my DEBIT card…….not on my monthly statement. Because my husband does the billing reconciliation, he had no way of knowing that this was a bogus charge of $14.95 a month. Our question to them was why were they not putting it on the statement but instead pulling it off my debit card. I feel that this is sneaky at best. No business wants to find out they are being charged for stuff —on the sly.