Forum Moderators: buckworks
This being said, finding the right credit card processor is of extreme importance and can be often disregarded - I believe most webmasters simply take what they can get.
I started with Blue Pay. What a nightmare. These guys couldn't even balance transactions. Some days they would overpay me, then, they would go back into my account a week or two later and scoop out whatever money they thought they overpaid - often taking back too much. Then they would have to re-deposit the difference. In a few short months using them I couldn't make heads nor tails of what was coming in/going out so I stopped using them.
Switched to IPayment. This was one of the worst decisions I ever made in my life. Every time I had any dealings with them I had a dirty feeling as though I had been doing business with the mob. Customer service is non-existent. On a few occasions I needed to speak with someone other than a customer service rep and I would get into a never-ending voicemail loop. Leaving messages with these people is fruitless - call backs are non-existent.
Nonetheless, I stuck with them because I felt I had no choice. When my business began to outgrow the initial processing limit I sent them a request for a higher limit and about a month later I received a letter stating that my account would be closed in 30 days. There was no reason given. In fact, in the letter was a quote from my contract more or less saying that they can close the account for any reason or no reason at all. I spent those 30 days trying to get in touch with someone - anyone - who could either help or explain this decision. I left message after message and got nothing.
Then, to add insult to injury, when they did close the account they held around $8K in transactions in reserve without any notice. But apparently 9K wasn't enough so they actually EFT'd another $3.5K from my bank account so they could hold 12.5K. After this I finally got to speak with the Risk Manager who basically told me I was lucky they were only taking 12.5K and only holding it for 3 months. This had the potential to put me out of business and when I explained that to him he actually laughed at me.
IPayment finally returned the money 6 months after they took it and only after calling to speak with the corporate office 3 times. As an aside, not one single chargeback came in after the account was closed.
Finally I found a relatively new processor called Cynergy Data. I highly recommend these guys to anyone looking for a processor. They aren't quite as big as the other guys but they're growing fast. Customer service is excellent, account problems and questions are handled immediately and amazingly enough the people are actually friendly. They have allowed my company to grow and actually seem to appreciate my business. I've been with them since the IPayment debacle and I intend to stay.
I've learned that your credit card processor is sort of your silent partner in the Internet Biz. They can make you or break you. All the contracts are draconian - there's no way around that. So you have to find a company that will work with you and let you grow rather than simply living as a parasite on your back.
Choose wisely.
Ive had everything from cheques in the post to oh call again in a few days just in case its been delayed. They appear to have payed out on orders I have not despatched and refunded shortly after taking.
Its really a nightmare. Im only glad that I missed the best part of the Xmas rush with them as Id now be packing up and calling it a day.
My next step is to take legal action should I not receive it in afew days.
Yeah its hell.
