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!
phil
Hey Phillip Parker,
this sh***** Zodaka is down long ago. Their domain is not valid anymore. Zodaka was a fraud system and now it is completely removed from everywhere except your shiny website
Zoe
Zodaka s**** b******!
K A1
Hard to verify bank to even sign up
Very frustrating for customer and merchant.
Mark
I was a customer using Zodaka for a one-time purchase. I was charged around $300 for an item from a merchant and received the package as normal, then Zodaka charged my account again for the same amount without telling me over 10 days after the first transaction. I had to contact customer service to find out why, and they told me that “the first check didn’t go through so we charged it again” which was proven false by my bank. I have waited over a month now and have not received my money back. I am considering hiring a lawyer as Zodaka has been no help in returning my money.
Adam
Zodaka has by far been the worst payment processing company I have ever encountered. Not only did the send all of my money to the wrong person, they then tried to blame it on me… except they billed my account, but couldn’t manage to send funds to the correct account that they had been billing. Furthermore, before they had sent any checks, their accounting lady had called me to verify my information. Still, they managed to send funds to an account that ended in a number I had never been associated with. I was given a run around for 2 full weeks before they resubmitted my checks. Once the checks were deposited they were marked as fraud because the company they use to submit their checks, a company apparently called “Green”, not Zodaka or Zoda Pay themselves have open fraud claims against them, apparently multiple as my bank told me. So all of their deposits are held for 10 days. This means that I will have gone almost a month without receiving funds. This entire time I kept every single email and piece of correspondence with Zodaka, sending back screenshots to them showing them how they were not being honest and at times misleading me. I would never, ever recommend this company to anyone. If I could find which regulatory body was in charge of overseeing them, I would be reporting them and providing every piece of evidence possible to make sure that they are either shut down or fined. With the ACH options that are out there, no one should ever choose to work with a company like Zodaka, Ever. Ohh… and as I just remembered, the account they were billing, which was the account they should have been depositing to, they billed it 3 separate times for the incorrect amount and I had to have that corrected 3 separate times. The entire thing smells fishy and has hints of a laundering scam all of it.
I would recommend to stay away from Zodaka at all costs. And anyone thinking of using them, I would happily provide all of my correspondence with them to prove to you in writing, and with their employees email addresses and names attached, just how awful they are as a company.