Harbortouch’s Parent Company
Shift4 Payments is a merchant account provider that currently functions as the parent company of Harbortouch. Shift4 Payments was created in January 2018 when Lighthouse Network (Harbortouch’s former parent organization) acquired Shift4 Corporation, a payment gateway provider based in Nevada. In February 2018, Shift4 Payments proceeded to acquire three POS providers focused on the hospitality industry: Restaurant Manager, POSitouch, and Future POS. Shift4 Payments added Merchant Link to their stable in 2019, 3dcart in 2020, and VenueNext in 2021. It appears that all of these products will be absorbed into the Shift4 brand. In fact, it’s possible that Harbortouch itself could rebrand as Shift4 in the future.
Shift4 Payments Payment Processing
Shift4 Payments processes all major debit and credit cards for most business types. Their services include end-to-end processing, their own payment gateway, gift and loyalty programs, PCI-validated encryption, contactless pay, the SkyTab restaurant ordering and mobile payment system, e-commerce solutions, QR codes, and multiple POS solutions, including HarborTouch.
Shift4 Payments Location & Ownership
Shift4 Payments is headquartered at 2202 N. Irving St., Allentown, PA. Shift4 Payments is a registered ISO/MSP of Citizens Bank, N.A., Providence, RI, and Merrick Bank, South Jordan, UT., and Jared Isaacman is the CEO and Don Isaacman is the president of Shift4 Payment and of Harbortouch.
Video Summary
Shift4 Payments Review Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers a one-year contract with no early termination fee and options between interchange-plus, tiered pricing and…
- Complaints & Service: Has received more than 10 public complaints regarding…
- BBB Rating: Has been accredited since 2013 and has an “A+” but has received 145 complaints and 27 reviews in regards to…
- Sales & Marketing: Hires independent sales agents and has received a moderate number of complaints about its…
40 Responses
We have been in business for almost 20 years and this company is, by far, the most untrustworthy payment processor company we’ve encountered. We were “advised” to switch to their service at no charges and no contract. Right after we switched over, we found out we have to pay for their integration software (along with is annual fee). When we tried to cancel, they told us the hardware they sent us has a CONTRACT. How deceptive! Now we’re stuck with a credit card processing company that tries to swindle us at every turn. That’s terrible.
Their customer service is very bad also. Once they manage to get you to sign the contract, that’s it. No more help.
100% worst company on the planet. Do not trust these people. They mess with your statements and combine them so you can’t tell what you are being charged for in a batch. We also had charges come into our account for 4 months prior. Customers calling and screaming that they were illegally charged.
This company has the worst customer service and policies. They make it extremely difficult to get out of contract and even when it’s expired they automatically renew it without a formal/courtesy call.
WORST COMPANY EVER LIES AFTER LIES DONT TRUST AND GET IN THIS MESS!!!
A long hard stretch it’s been But Shift 4 has made good on all their promises and have fixed 95% of all the problems we have had. I have used Future POS for a long time and believe it to be one of the best POS software’s. DBS is our dealer and they have been through a lot to make good on our system.
I too have been continuously charged monthly, although I have not used them since 2018. I will be blocking them through my bank. I had cancelled them when I moved my business and used square. I contacted them again and cancelled. I ended up with them through the acquisition of my previous company. I would love to participate in a class action lawsuit against them. They are thieves and prey on businesses whose resources are spread thinly. I can’t even get anyone on the phone. I waited for “the next available representative” for 25 minutes before I hung up.
Horrid business!!!
I was just inquiring about the service. Now, I keep getting a DocuSign forcing us to sign.
I don’t know how to get rid of this company.
the rep is from Southfield Michigan I would not ever give any information.
be careful it is not a good company to do business with.
3dCart and Shift4 payments …. what a joke. I never had an issue with 3dCart until Shift4Shop took over and changed payment processing. Free website if you use Shift4 payments .. okay, sounds good. NO. They decided I didn’t meet their criteria for card processing and closed my account, in closing they also said they refunded every credit card I processed through them. Not only did my customers receive their product but they also received it for free. This has been a NIGHTMARE and getting my money back seems to be impossible. Stay away, use someone else. I’m using Square again and not having any problems.
100% worst company on the planet. Do not trust these people. They mess with your statements and combine them so you can’t tell what you are being charged for in a batch. We also had charges come into our account for 4 months prior. Customers calling and screaming that they were illegally charged. Good luck explaining to tech support that speaks in broken English. We sold our company and they gave all of our data to the new owners and then locked us out. We cannot do quarterly tax payments nor end of year processing because they dropped our database. I contacted the State Attorney Generals office so hopefully they will get sued.
I switched companies because shift4 is corrupt. when we switched (which is now 2 years and 4 cancellations later) they never topped charging us! we still pay $500 a month even though its been 2 years!!!! Even though we returned everything right away!!! Two years later and a million phone calls later which they right out lie to you on each call! you don’t think any company would do that right? No, they are soooo overly nice, say you have done everything right, say they owe you $money and they are returning it to you now…NOPE…they just repeat that you never cancelled, even though you have done it 4 times already and they LIE! Save yourself a major heartache…DO NOT TRUST SHIFT4.
Unbelievably incompetent!!!
I have been a Future user and support for 10 years. After being purchased by Shift 4 and being forced to switch hardware the past 4 years have been the most frustrating and stressfull of my life. And non of it has been Covid related… In one instance they direct shipped me three seperate stations, three weeks in a row, with No Hard drives. This was to replace a station they had just installed one month earlier… Follow that up with the EMV devices only working half of the time. Then they sent me four different sets of replacements, non of which worked. Most recently I was sent yet Another station to replace an on going issue, and they station they sent me doesnt fit and I was told by the dealer I should just buy my own because shift 4 can’t help.
I could go on and on. Please at all cost avoid dealing with this company, at least in the North East.
My company has been using Shift4 the entire time ive been with them(5 Years). I worked in Business department so i dealt with Shift4 all the time. The biggest blessing of quit my job is literally not having to deal with Shift4 anymore. Straight up WORST Company EVER!!!
1) EVERY INVOICE HAD A PRICE INCREASE. Yes over the 5 years every single invoice the price went up ( we have many merchants) so the prices didnt increase just a little it was terrible, idk how its not price gouging.
2) ISSUES ON ISSUES. The support is the absolute worst, id have to call back again and again cuz either the person on the phone didnt know how to do anything, they would LIE and tell me they cant help(which they could, they just passing it off), or they would just say theyll look into it and reach back to me which a phone call would never come.
3) we had BIG ISSUES like when our monthly list needs to run, we have automatic charges that run (for example everyone that pays on the 1st of month the CC runs automatically totaling near $200K).. a Couple times our monthly billing straight DID NOT Run and we were out HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars because of shift4, the worst time this issue didnt get fixed for a near week we were just out $200K.
4) hardly ever got someone that spoke English, sounded like i was calling the heart of India..
I wouldnt do business with Shift4 again after the personal terrible experience with them for 5 years.
My first and only experience with Shift4 Payments was 8/21/21 at Petco Park, San Diego, where it is the only payment processor for all merchants. During the entire game, NOONE COULD BUY ANY FOOD OR DRINKS because ShiftyShit was “down” the entire time. I read later that this was a nationwide problem for them. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Furthermore, I will not attend another Padres game until they are replaced!
Not worth the free website. These guys are holding a deposit 5 days = not 48 hours – they suck and I am ready to go back to paying for my site and using Square which posts payments the same day.
I haven’t used shift four since October of last year but they are still charging me every month up to $200 for no transactions! The messed thing is it varies as if I have different transaction totals each month! Horrible company! Not an intelligent one, I can see the lawsuits!
Have you had any success with this? I’m having the same issue. This is a class action lawsuit waiting to happen. Anyone involved with this company should be ashamed.
Bad service for my business restaurant
Horrible experience with this company!! Never go with them. The worse customer service.
Shift 4 took over my merchant card services in 2020 and their sweet talking lies about GREAT rates signed me into a contract which auto renews your obligation every year for another year. I was lied to and told I am only obligated for first year.
Then they told me to sign up for harbor light online access to get reports and statements emailed. I did but didn’t get any statements for a year. Also he conveniently failed to mention that it costs $17/ mo for something that should be included in all their other B S monthly fees
Well the rate he promised was a lie. I got charged 2.5 times that. And every 3-4 months they raised their fees. They again lie and blame the CC companies for all of them.
I called this year before my renewal and complained and wanted to renegotiate and lower rates but they again lied and said we’ll call you right back. They didn’t. I called a couple of more times and finally they said it’s too late to cancel as your contract auto-renewed!
I left these crooks and went to my local banks that appreciate my business and are not i e cold thieves. I have to pay their monthly fees for 11 more months but it’s worth it just to get rid of them and stopping the $$ hemorrhage. STAY AWAY OR CUT TGEM LOOSE.
Shift AWAY from Shift4. Since 2018 acquisition of Shift4 by HarborTouch processing, customer service has dropped significantly. When Covid slowed the economy, Shift4 was quick to start removing THEIR fee from every daily deposit (instead of previous monthly debit) but when there are issues on their end causing ‘funding delays’, they’re slow to act causing 24 hour delays in deposits into merchant accounts. We’re moving to a new processor ASAP.
Shift 4 payments SUCKS!! Don’t ever ever never use Harbortouch because of shift 4 payments!!!!!!!🤯😕
I was lured to Shift 4. From day one it was a disaster, they just called and changed me over and no one even talked to me. Then I kept getting tips declined. I spent hours on the phone everyday. Then they were getting some of the tips , but I spent more time trying to track which tips were paid and which weren’t. I was finally after 2 weeks told they had a maximum tip and if it was over 20% it would decline. They tried to blame the banks at first. I said in 7 years I have never had a tip decline on an approved sale. Then they said they fixed the problem. Yet I still had the problem, everyday 5 to7 tips declining. Then I called them on the phone one day to fix a tip, and they voided an approved sale of $50. I called back and they said they tried to rerun it and it declined. I said you were at fault not me. They refused to pay it. Tips kept declining. I finally after 4 weeks switched back to my old processor. Now they want to hold me to a contract, which they failed to live up to and charge me $60 a month for a year. Worst company, worst customer service and most incompetent people I have ever worked with. BEWARE. They prey on small businesses..
I recently switched to shit4 payments as they acquired 3dcart. I was excited to try them, what a mistake. They stole $600 out of my business account and claimed to have returned it to my customers. They cancelled my CC processing account without explanation. I had to email CS for an explanation.
Now I’m getting the run around. After reading everything here I am not hopeful I will see this money again. STAY AWAY FROM THEM. It’s not worth it.
I have been with Shift4/Harbortouch for 4 years due to a signed contract. Every part of Shift4 is a horror story. They are totally incompetent and over charge bigtime. They have a unwritten policy of ripping you off for the duration of your contract and then they know they will lose you; but make a huge profit from you until you can get out of the contract… which will of course cost you. I wish I could post who I am going to next because I am going to be saving a ton of money.
Shift4 or HarboutTouch
In February of 2020 I signed an agreement to get a new POS system from HarbourTouch systems
In March Covid-19 hit and killed the bar and restaurant business. Luckily I had not taken delivery of ANY equipment, absolutely NONE. So Shift4 was really not vested in anything. It would be really simple for them to just cancel.
I called and explained that I am closed and losing money and that they have no equipment here and nothing really invested. I asked them to please cancel all the paperwork and that I may be going out of business and have lost my life savings.
Shift4’s response to that was: but Sir, you signed the paperwork, you can cancel after one year.
I explained again that you have done ZERO processing and have ZERO equipment here, please cancel everything. Again the reply was Sir you signed the paperwork.
WHAT A HORRIBLE HEARTLESS COMPANY. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SHIFT4
Shift4 or HarboutTouch
Feeling your pain. They are unreal. Been with HarborTouch since 2014… having 6 yrs of data for forecasting is the only thing keeping me with them. At this point and the continued endless hours of emails, texts, and working with tech support… I’m ready to request that they send me a paycheck. Do Not Do Business With These crooks. … I’ve been dealing with their crap for too long now. Square For Resturants is looking better and better every day. Might be worth biting the bullet and losing the data at this point and start fresh again. Run… do not walk away from HarborTouch/ Shift4Payments…. RUN!!!!
i am a business owner. shift 4 has owed me money since August 2020 584.50 to be exact.
it has been 3 months now and several calls to them every week. shift 4 keeps telling the money will be in my account in 7-10 business days several times. I am now on the phone again with Shift 4, have been on hold for over a hour while they look into my account again.
do not use this company. If nothing is done today i am getting a lawyer.
Harbortouch and shift 4 customer service is horrible the system has went down 4 times in less than a month and has cost me to lose more than $557.00 in revenue. You call for Tech support can’t get anyone to answer the phone. This is the worst system I’ve seen.
Example of their SCAM marketing::
(actual email)
Hello,
My name is Jimmy Navarro and I am the Channel Sales Manager with Shift4 Payments. We have recently acquired Merchant Link who integrates with Oracle/Micros for your Credit Card processing Gateway Services. Your existing Gateway will be SHUT DOWN December 31, 2019. As such, if you do not upgrade your payments Gateway with Micros, you will not be able to process credit cards as of the aforementioned date.
I fully understand this may come as distressing news, however rest assured this change is taking place to support your business from a security and technological standpoint, of which I will be happy to explain via telephone.
Also, here are some of the Major Benefits of switching to the the PCI compliant Gateway:
NO Gateway Fees – (All Merchant Link Fees will be waived on the Gateway)
FREE EMV Chip Card Readers (Includes Lifetime Replacement Warranty & Upgrades)
FREE Pay at the Table EMV Devices (Retail for $699)
Point to Point Encryption – PCI Validated Processing – $0 PCI Fees
Offline Payment Mode (Accept PCI Validated Payments with no Internet Connection)
Match Existing Processing Rates (Your rates will not increase)
Please call or email as soon as possible to get your paperwork submitted before December 31, 2019 to avoid loss of services.
Jimmy Navarro
Channel Sales Manager
Office: 702.597.2480 x3204 / 702.506.6269
1551 Hillshire Drive | Las Vegas, NV 89134
This post will help: How to Report Bad Credit Card Processors
-Phillip
How is this a scam? I went to Merchant Links Website and it looks like Shift4 purchased them.
Merchant Link was purchased by Shift4 ~9/2019 and have announced they are shutting down parts of the gateway which include specific connections that do not support EMV processing. If you are using EMV, from my understanding, you’d be able to continue using that solution – however there will very likely be some changes to that service due to the purchase (which is to be expected in any purchase).
It’s very important anyone using Micros (or any other POS using Merchant Link as the gateway) understand there are multiple options to continue using Micros. Some options include Paygistix, Freedom Pay, and Elavon – but there’s others. I highly recommend talking with your Micros support person and doing your own internet searches to understand all the options available.
We had our account compromised where are deposits are made. Harbortouch sent me paperwork to change my account info but they were also going to charge me for the account change. I talked to them about better pricing and not charging me for the routing number change. They were not helpful. I then changed to a new merchant and bank. It has now been a month and Shift4 and Harbortouch still has not released the $4000 they owe me.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Horrible nightmare company.
Hi Steve,
Could you please elaborate on your experience to give other merchants an idea of how it went?
Phillip,
This is not the place for me to share this specifically, but:
The “no ETF” are really just a fancy way of saying “NON-cancellable…” I am saying this from experience, on the phone with HT. Not only that, but they seem to attempt to take advantage of you, by spouting misinformation(contrary to company letters, or contracts) about the amount you will owe them monthly for not processing. I would not recommend, at all.
This company force you to use your cell phone. I do not have a company cell phone, as I have no need for it, and I will not use my private cell phone for company work. I cannot do some items, because Shift 4 (I do not work for them) force me to use a cell phone. My job is not going to provide me a cell phone for ONE company! Shift 4 since you are having these demands, are you going to provide me a cell phone to work with YOUR product?
This post will help: Top-Rated Merchant Account Providers
-Phillip
Avoid at all cost. Do not get roped in with their promises of super low processing fees. This processing company does not have consistent processing fees, the come up with new ways to add fees monthly. When you finally talk to the right customer service rep. they say they will remove some of the fees which you shouldnt have been charged but they never credit you. Terminating your account is an absolute nightmare and will cost an exuberant mount. Scam artist at their finest with this processing company
This post will help: Find and Eliminate Fees From Your Monthly Statement
– Phillip
Shift4 is easily the slowest credit card reader on the market since the invention of the cc reader. If you would rather play with an Atari instead of a PS4, then by all means Shift4 is just for you. Average time per credit card transactions are 26-32 seconds. Most machines average 5-8 seconds so think about that if you work in high volume retail and how much production you will lose. I work with this junk equipment everyday and everyday I make less money because of this slow generic equipment. And feel free to check out their aweful BBB reviews from merchants about Shift4/Harbortouch. Trust me, you don’t want these machines anywhere near your business!
From The Editor
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This company has the worst customer service and policies. They make it extremely difficult to get out of contract and even when it’s expired they automatically renew it without a formal/courtesy call. So we returned 1 of the 2 equipment they sent us (cause I could not find the second one) then when we found the second one they said they never even received the first one! Luckily I kept the tracking number but even with that they could not verify what we returned. So they withdrew $200 from our account until they verify what was returned. WORST COMPANY EVER LIES AFTER LIES DONT TRUST AND GET IN THIS MESS!!!
From what we’re seeing in the field, Positouch, FuturePOS, Restaurant Manager are telling merchants to either switch to Shift4 Payments or pay an additional $89.00 per month for using their provider of choice. They’re not correcting anything. I’ll get a correspondence between merchant and Shift4 Payments/Harbortouch
Plus a per transaction fee starting at 3 cents
I was working with a customer who has a FuturePOS. When he went to switch processors for a better deal, they said it would cost an additional $100 per month plus $0.05 per transaction. I was surprised by this high transaction cost.