Verotel Credit Card Processing 2023: Reviews & Complaints
(877) 925-1877 Company Overview
Founded in 1998, Verotel is a merchant account provider that specializes in high-risk e-commerce transactions with an emphasis on selling digital goods and viewer subscriptions. The company also does business as GayCharge, which allows merchants to accept credit cards while protecting customers’ sexual identity.
Issues with Fund-Holds
High-risk businesses face a unique set of challenges compared to standard-risk businesses. Fund-holds are among those issues. Dozens of merchants have had their payments frozen by Verotel. If you’re one of them, then you might find these resources helpful:
- How To Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
- How to Fight Chargebacks
- Best Merchant Accounts for Hard-To-Place Business Types
Verotel Payment Processing
Verotel advertises that they process credit and debit cards for standard and high-risk businesses, with a specific focus on online adult entertainment and other sexual industries. They advertise a multilingual 24/7 support system, business IBANs, processing of multiple currencies (USD, GBP, EUR), the ability to payout talent easily, and the Bitsafe platform of payment tools, which includes a business debit card, mass and automated payments, payout reporting, and pairing accounts. They have a focus on being able to payout adult talent worldwide with ease.
Verotel’s Online Payment Gateway
The company provides an online payment gateway service that enables businesses to accept and process online transactions. This service is integrated into the business’s website, allowing customers to make payments conveniently and securely.
Subscription Billing Service by Verotel
Verotel offers a subscription billing service, enabling businesses to set up recurring payments for their customers. This service is particularly useful for companies that provide ongoing services or products on a subscription basis.
Fraud Screening with Verotel
To protect businesses and their customers, Verotel provides a fraud screening service. This service helps detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, thereby safeguarding the interests of all parties involved.
Location & Ownership
The company was initially based in San Francisco but has since relocated to its current headquarters in Amsterdam. Verotel does not publicly list an acquiring bank, and the company is headquartered at Danzigerkade 23D, 1013 AP, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Joost Zuurbier is listed as the most recent CEO of Verotel.
Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers two separate pricing plans with…
- Complaints & Service: Has complaints number more than 10 on…
- BBB Rating: Does not have a profile with…
- Sales & Marketing: Does not appear to hire independent sales representatives and has not…
Verotel Customer Reviews
Here's What Their Clients Say
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| Total Online Complaints | 10+ |
| Live Customer Support | No |
| Most Common Complaint | Fund-Holds |
| Recent Lawsuits | No |
A Sudden Decline In Service
We’ve located more than 10 negative Verotel reviews filed within the last three years, with even more posted before then. These Vertoel reviews seem to be neatly divided between the company’s time in San Francisco and its time in Amsterdam. Back when it was based in San Francisco, Verotel mostly saw complaints regarding fraudulent transactions and frozen accounts, with the consensus being that the company was not a scam. Since its move to Amsterdam, however, most complaints cite poor or unreachable customer service, billing errors, and sudden account cancellations. Some complaints also seem to be related to products sold by Verotel merchants rather than Verotel itself. If you have your own Verotel review to make, please do so in the comments below.
A Purge In 2012
In 2012, the company switched its pricing to its current multi-tier model and suddenly canceled all accounts that did not meet its requirements for the Basic plan. This incident is the subject of multiple client complaints, some of which can be seen in this thread on WebHostingTalk.com. Many of the businesses affected by Verotel’s 2012 mass shutdown would have been better served by a high-risk specialist.
A Negative Trend Overall
In general, the company is showing a low-to-moderate number of complaints for its size and specialty, but the recent trend of complaints regarding its poor customer service is concerning enough to lower its score to a grade of “B.” The company website lists a dedicated support email address and several support phone numbers for merchants in different countries.
Verotel Lawsuits and Fines
We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against Verotel. Dissatisfied clients who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.
Verotel Customer Support Options
The Verotel website lists an email address and dedicated phone numbers for customer support. The company provides different customer service phone numbers for clients based in the US, EU, Netherlands, and other countries.
Verotel Customer Service Numbers
- 877-925-1877 – Toll-Free Customer Support (US)
- 00-800-44229999 – EU
- 020-5315757 – Netherlands
- +31 20 5315757 – Other Countries
- +31 20 5315758 – Fax
Other Support Options
- [email protected] – Customer Support
- [email protected] – End-user Support
- [email protected] – Payments
Verotel Online Ratings
Here's How They Rate Online
No Dedicated Profile
The Better Business Bureau no longer maintains a profile for Verotel due to the company’s relocation to Amsterdam. We will therefore not factor a BBB rating into the company’s overall grade.
Verotel Fees, Rates & Costs
A Closer Look at The Contract
| Item | Result | >
|---|---|
| Cancellation Penalties | No |
| Monthly & Annual Fees | Yes |
| Processing Rates | Variable |
| Equipment Leasing | No |
Higher-Than-Average Rates
Verotel caters primarily to high-risk e-commerce businesses that need to accept subscription payments from a global customer base. As a result, its pricing should not be expected to compete with the rates offered by traditional processors. Verotel offers two pricing plans for businesses: Basic and Premium. The Basic plan enables merchants to accept recurring payments for an annual fee of €500 and a transaction fee of 15.5% per subscription payment, and it includes a six-month rolling reserve of 10%.
Premium Pricing Option
The Premium account allows for both recurring billing and unique transaction amounts (via Verotel FlexPay), but in lieu of an annual fee, it requires a weekly processing minimum of €1000 and will assess a monthly minimum fee of €25 if this processing requirement is not met. Like the Basic account, the Premium account also enforces a six-month rolling reserve of 10%, but it does offer lower processing fees ranging from 13% to 14% depending on a merchant’s weekly volume.
No Long-Term Contracts
None of Verotel’s plans appear to enforce an early termination fee, and PCI Compliance fees are included in the annual fees for each account.
Reasonable Pricing for High-Risk E-Commerce
In general, Verotel’s rates are very high compared to the rates offered by its competitors, but Verotel may be one of only a few options available for high-risk merchants in the adult content, nutraceuticals, and weapons industries who cater to overseas customers. Due to its willingness to take on these merchant types, Verotel enforces higher processing rates for businesses with high chargeback ratios and also establishes cash reserves to ensure that it is protected from risk. These policies are the cause of many negative Verotel reviews, but it does not appear that Verotel is enforcing them in an especially abusive manner. Business owners should be sure that they fully understand the company’s fraud prevention policies before signing up for an account through Verotel.
We also encourage merchants to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.
Verotel Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs
Should You Work For Them?
| Item | Result |
|---|---|
| Uses Independent Resellers | No |
| Telemarketing | No |
| Misleading Marketing | No |
| Discloses All Important Terms | No |
No Misleading Tactics
Verotel appears to market itself primarily through its website and through affiliate partnerships. There is no indication at this time that the company utilizes a team of independent sales agents, and we have found no negative Verotel reviews that mention unethical conduct by the company’s sales team. According to Verotel reviews, Verotel is a popular processing option among digital content businesses that need to collect subscription payments from a global customer base—a typically underserved industry with limited options for payment acceptance. Given the lack of Verotel complaints about the company’s sales force and the absence of any misleading rate promotion on its website, we will award Verotel an “A” in this category for the time being.
This compares favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
Our Verotel Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts
Verotel rates as a decent offshore credit card processing provider according to all available information. The company provides payment processing for businesses that typically cannot obtain merchant accounts, so its contract terms should not be expected to compete with those offered by its traditional, U.S.-based competitors. That having been noted, Verotel is showing some complaints related to poor customer service and payment or billing issues. High-risk businesses should be sure that they understand all conditions of their agreements before signing up for service through Verotel.
If you found this article helpful, please share it!
About The Author
Your Comments & Reviews
How Did Verotel Treat You?15 Responses
Leave a reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Copyright
Copyright © 2023 CardPaymentOptions.com, Inc. (Digital Fingerprint: 0d38c6720f0d78a701b74d58653af608). Getting paid to re-write this page? Click here to earn a reward.
Any unauthorized copying and reproduction of the content of this page, including all meta data and computer code, is strictly prohibited. While the information in the above article is believed to be accurate as of its publish date, the author and publisher make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the contents. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this material, which is provided “as is,” and without warranties. Any and all use of trade names and/or marks are for identification purposes only and shall not be construed as a claim of affiliation, or otherwise, with CardPaymentOptions.com, Inc. ("CPO") in any form. The sole purpose of the material presented herein is to alert, educate, and inform readers. It is not intended as legal or financial advice. We may earn revenue if you obtain services from a provider that we recommend. See this page to learn how we support our operations.
John Jake
scam scam scam especially the sales person named “Roberta” she acts friendly until you send them the registration fee of 500 dollars (they are a credit card processing company, still make you pay with bank transfer, one of the million red flags) they act like you didnt send them any money, scam scam scam. Not helpful at all. So stay away!
Violet
Verotel is a nightmare. They support a scam site that does fraudulent charges on a subscription that was immediately canceled despite my emailing the site asking for a refund. With 0 communication I was forced to do a charge back for the fraudulent charge and instead of working with me they blacklisted me. They support scammers. If you see anything affiliated with them check your bank statements and RUN!
jammz
I use a website where billing is done by Verotel (SkyPrivate). They use my IP address to identify that I live in Canada and automatically convert my purchases from USD to CDN, at an exchange rate in excess of 40%!!!. My bank charges 32%. Clearly they are making a huge FX profit off we Canadians and any other user not living in the USA. I have a USD VISA account that they could charge me in USD but they refuse. Very unhappy customer here.
JOE
Was payment forwarded to seller by VEROTEL???I was called by my bank warning of possible scam!
Martin
Working with Verotel since 2012, thanks God everything is doing well, they respond emails also, and they helped me to set up the processor in my sites, there are some restrictions though because Mastercard don’t allow any kind of adult (they have key words can’t be found in your sites), Verotel send payments to my banks in Peru and in USA. They are working now with Bitsafe (not sure why), so it’s Bitsafe which send me the money now, but for suscriptions is Verotel the one in charge, I have 3 membership sites with Verotel. But it’s quite expensive, maybe you can recommend me another adult processor which works with Peru (no complains with Verotel at all, but it’s expensive (average15%) per transaction initial and recurring)
Paul
Used them for a processor for a subscription-based website. The website never worked from day one and they never answered the numerous emails I sent. I then reached out to Verotel to see if they could assist. Verotel never replied to my request for help. It appears their customer service is nonexistent. Now I’m left to wonder if they will cancel my subscription as requested. Use this processor at your own risk. You have been warned.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Subscription-Based Services
-Phillip
Stefano Dellanoce
Verotel is very dangerous .
They bill every month, even you have cancelled your account on websites.
Pay attention: you will lock and cancel your credit card to avoid this.
Vincent
Verotel detained our money and did not pay them back referring to various arguments. Do not believe them. them. They scammers
Geoff North
I bought a three day access to a fileserver as there was just one file I wanted. I paid my fee but could then not d-load the “special” software required to access the file I wanted. D-load failed ten times. Even my password failed and there was no password resend facility either. Locked out, I emailed Verotel – I want my money back – but they have failed to respond. I smell a nice fat scam.
Ed Nigma
Purchased a web site membership and then canceled it. Got a verification number but they charged me AGIN the next month. I submitted a report to the support email. NO RESPONSE. Canceled again, got another confirmation number & got charged AGAIN the next month. Had to cancel my credit card to get them to stop charging me. AVOID.
Tony Lawrence
Jimmy Gee is wrong. Several years ago many of us merchants who were once ‘happy’ with Verotel service suddenly had all their accounts cut off at the same time by a new ruthless management. No doubt the original management staff all quit due to whatever heartless new policies were coming into effect at Verotel at that time. Fact is that Verotel was cutting away merchants that other bill process companies did not; credit card companies never gave a crap either for those sites that Verotel wiped off its list so abruptly – and as the original comment stated- it was how fast Verotel banned sites without reason – not allowing website owners to warn their customers of the cutoff.
Jimmy Gee makes an irrelevant conclusion on shoddy customer service and log-in issues that many customers have had to deal with; there’s no denying this was too common a problem.
—
Are you with Verotel? Learn how to resolve this complaint.
WILLIAM TRAVIS
Verotel can work, but if you experience any kind of problem, Verotel is totally unresponsive!
—
Are you with Verotel? Learn how to resolve this complaint.
Joe Krystal
Excellent and accurate review; Thanks for telling us why Verotel actually cancelled merchant accounts immediately. At the time when they suddenly without any warning to clients and website members- Verotel sent out emails after the fact LYING to merchants about why they did that horrible devastating decision; lies included ‘names not conforming to credit card policies’. The new Verotel staff that took over are incompetent, rude, lying, and totally untrustworthy. Stay away from Verotel and use the other payment processing companies instead. Verotel has contempt for merchants and website customers who thought they could trust Verotel to be professional. Big mistake if you think that – and your website members OFTEN have log-in issues to sites when they use Verotel for access.
Jimmy Gee
Most of what you say Joe is false. Credit card companies were being pressured to be more stringent with what sort of websites they would bill for, and so any domain ‘names not conforming to credit card policies’ would be banned. For example any websites that contained the word “Lolita” in them were not allowed, and for good reason obviously. This was something that Mastercard, VISA and the rest sprung upon billing companies like Verotel all of a sudden, it’s not their fault your sites were dropped. Verotel were actually one of the lucky ones that survived, take a look at an old billing company like Globosale for example who went out of business because of the credit card companies decision.
In regards to your other statement “your website members OFTEN have log-in issues to sites when they use Verotel for access”.
It’s more likely due to Verotel not being able to connect to your glitchy server and add users to the htpasswd file.
In reegards to this sites review on customer service. I have used Verotel for more than 10 years as a billing merchant and have been paid on time every week and have had nothing but great help from their support. Rating : 5/5
Ryan Vandamme
Hi Jimmy. You are in error. Of all the billing companies Only Verotel was being harsh and severe – no other company was doing what Verotel did. It is clear Verotel had a hidden agenda. Most ex-Verotel merchants who were abruptly cut-off without warning will vouch for that reality they were shocked by – You were not one of those merchants so don’t sit there trying to deny what realities and facts merchants knew first-hand. You can speculate all you want but Veritel’s new management screwed over merchants and other billing companies did no such thing – this is reality you did not face nor were aware of. Your happy experience is not what many other merchants and customers have unhappily endured from Verotel’s new crew. The ‘credit card company penalize policy’ was merely a facade for their hidden agenda; and there was no sane reason for them to abruptly cut-off formerly loyal merchants with no warning. It’s no joke seeing livelihoods vanish overnight because of Veriotel’s inhumanity.