Elavon review: Company engages in fraud 80

hey hangemall, the information abt pci was in your contract, and even if its not, you hvae been contacted by letter regarding pci and also several times on your statement messages, it is not elavon's fault you are too stupid or lazy to read. Pci is mandated by the card associations(VISA, MC, AMEX, and JCB) and if you don't comply, you can lose your ability to accept credit cards.

Hey dc_doc, did you fax a closure form in? im guessing probably not. It states in your contract you have to notify elavon in writing to cancel your contract, a phone call is not sufficient

This morning I saw 5 debits from Elavon coming in, at USD $200 each. I don't know what these are for. I called them and they could not explain it, and promised to get back to me.

Elavon kept charging our bank account after we cancelled with them 6 months ago! When we called them, they said we NEVER cancelled yet our terminal was non compliant and we couldn't have run up a sale had we wanted to. If you are looking to use them as a processor...beware.
They are rip offs..

don form santa rosa and steve.m, you say that elavon stole you're money but you cant even give any examples which leads me to believe your full of it, and that either a. you were committing fraud and got caught, or b. you were in collections and elavon just simply tried to recoup what was theirs in the first place. and to the poster who said there sales person wouldnt submit the application, your first mistake was trusting a sales person. most make their living off of commission and will say anything to get a sale

Complaintingcrybaby: Why don't you just tell everyone you are employee of Elavon or related to them. If you think hiding your relationship with Elavon will make what you are saying true or convincing, you are wrong, you are just making people know how untrustworthy Elavon is. No body can tell my avg transaction amount except the one from Elavon. And Elavon's people did not trying to look into about the reason of the increase of sales, they were making up story and making excuse to empty my bank account. even I did not have a single chargeback in anytime.

What kind of company need to hire someone to make anonymous rebuttal about complaints and calling people [censor]s, dumb and lazy? ELAVON, YOU GUYS ARE WORST THAN SCAMMER!

You better read the contract yourself, where did it say Elavon can take away merchant's money without any reason, anywhere say Elavon can charge whatever they want, where does the contract say a transaction amount limit was set? Where does the contract say Elavon's staff can make up story? Where does the contract say Elavon can make up how many days in a month so you can charge after cancellation? But you guys won't look into the contract, because you don't care and you are just making any excuse to steal merchants money. By the way, you also better look into the law, see what is the consequence of fraud/ misleading/ stealing?

I tell you complaintcrybaby, you can do this job for a while and will become more busier as well. Why, because more and more complaints are coming, more and more merchants are posting complaints here or on other complaining site.

For other victims, complainingcrybaby just reminds all of us, we can not just posting complaints here and let them go. We have to bring it to authorities and bring it to the law, contact your state attorneys, FTC, Finance Department/Ministry as well as local lawyers.

I am a Canadian customer of Elavon's (4 yrs), have had no problems to date, but today I phoned them to get some questions answered, and I have been on hold now for over an hour without ever speaking to a live person yet. In the meantime I also tried faxing them, but their fax would not pick up. I then tried a 1-866 number from the top of my monthly bill and got only a rapid beeping. Is something going awry with this company? I am STILL on hold, after 1 hour and 20 minutes! GRRRRRR! Must do yoga...ohmmm...ohmmm...
it's not working! Hulk SMASH!

We closed the business on May 15. On July 2nd, we get charged $20 for June (zero transactions). OK, they have a rule of minimum charge, no problem. We asked them to close our account right away. On August 3rd, we saw a $20 charge again. We call them to verify the charge. They said the account was not closed because the request form had problem. We were so surprised, if there were problems, why didn't they contact us?! No, nobody contacted us because they want to have the $20 bogus charge. Not just that they charged us for July. They said there will be anotyher $20 charge for August... because it's already 3 days into August.

Oh, my god! They want to charge customesr for their own mistake?!

Avoid this company! They ripped me off and they will do the same to you. It's only $60 ($20 * 3 times). But it shows how greedy and unreasonable this company is.

Well, I suppose I am glad I am not the only one! I signed up for a merchant account several months ago and have since had my monthly fees go up ten dollars a month for undisclosed "services", other fees taken out because I did not go through some type of training program I was also not told about, among other issues. When confronted, none of the fees have been waived. This has been the shadiest company I have EVER dealt with and can't believe they are allowed to remain in business! I guess I should have known when I signed a 48 month leasing fee on this terminal that should only be a few hundred dollars. I was told I had to use theirs because it was programmed. Unfortunately, I was not aware you could have them re-program. Everything about this company has been a MESS.

Did you guys even read the merchant application?
It's called read the fine print before you sign your contract. If you're not established enough to keep a reserve amount in the bank you shouldn't be using Processors or terminals.

TheApplication is as follows:
"...Merchant understands that we may take any or all of the following actions if considered neccessary by us to protect ourselves from financial loss: establish, or require Merchant to establish, a reserve account; impose a processing limit or cap on the dollar amount of sales transactions that we will process for Merchant, which may be changed from time to time with or without notice to Merchant; establish holdback periods on payment to be made to merchant; and/or suspend the processing of sales for as long as necessary to investigate suspicious or excessive deposit or transaction activity..."

And here's one you'll like...

"...Merchant agrees to establish and maintain sufficient funds in a designated bank account to accommodate all transactions including, BUT NOT LIMITED TO(the kicker there), chargebacks, returns, adjustments, fees, fines, penaltiesand any other payments due under the Agreement..."

It's not stealing if you sign a contract saying your account and it's contents belongs to the bank. :)

Since Elavon took over nova I pay 300 more a month for thier services. I need to find a new company to work with Im tired of the over charges. I am concidering going back to all cash transaction with a 10 percent discount in my pricing, I would rather pass on the savings to my customers than continue being riped off by dredit card processors.

That's odd - I actually pay a little less per month than before Nova converted to Elavon. I keep a close eye on my merchant processing costs, as I have been beaten up in the past by other providers, and I have found Elavon to be extremely reliable, cost-efficient, and stable.
Perhaps it has something to do with the number and type of transactions that your business processes.

Elavon is totally upfront and legit. The problem is with some of their independent contractors. Tangarine Merchant Services is a complete scam. I have used ELAVON for years in conjunction with COSTCO! Tangarine and others are owned by a company called Pivotal Payments. They are worse than the most unscrupulous used car salesman! They insinuated that they were going to reduce my rates and everything would remain the same with Elavon.
Within a week of signing up 4 seperate companies were taking funds out of my account. They promised me 2 cents for debit and 1.59% for credit card. Extra fees that they listed as "where applicable" were explained as "not applicable."
They charged me 15 cents per credit card transaction. Another fee of .1 percent for batch header. They also charged 3 cents per swipe whether the card was accepted, declined or there was a network problem. Contract was changed after I signed it and they had the nerve to mail it back to me with the changes. The lease company on the machine was Lease Finance group who in addition to their $35 per month fee charged an additional loss waver fee of $7.90 per month. I have barely dealt with them for a month and have already been notifed of a $100 annual fee for technology upgrades. It is a conflict of interest for Elavon to get involved yet they have helped me to go back with my original deal. Tangarine misrepresented themselves as calling on behalf of Elavon, but sold my debit processing to a company called Telus-Emergis and debit me fees for this through another of their companies called Pivotal Direct. Elavon has always paid me debit and credit in one lump sum, usually in less than 12-18 hours. Recently one debit close took 5 days to get to me. Also my debit fees which averaged $7 per month with Elavon at 6 cents per incur a $20 minimum fee through Pivotal another charge they said was not applicable. My solution decided upon by me, my bank and Elavon is to immediately open a new bank account. If you do this, it is important to let Elavon know about the banking change because you risk losing being a merchant forever if credit card commissions are not paid. I expect Tangarine/ Pivotal Payments to assess a cancellation fee, however Elavon has kindly put a note on my account to waive it! I expect that Tangarine will say this is not so! If anyone calls you on behalf of anything to do with Elavon and you are already using them as a Costco Gold Member, hang up immediately and call Elavon directly. This is what I should have done! Their people will tell you in no uncertain terms that no one gets a better deal than Costco. Keep in mind that Costco has an impeccable reputation and would not deal with a shady company. My terminal lease is so called "uncancellable" but in reality I signed this through Tangarine in good faith. Because they did not live up to any of their promises, I feel that everything in this contract was done in an underhanded manner and subsequently unenforcable. They will probably try to ruin my personal credit but I have assurances from my banks that due to the sure volume of complaints concerning these wheeler dealers that nothing will disrupt the triple a credit rating I have after 35 years in business. I am ready to go to War and look forward to the time they go to debit my account and all they get back is an "ACCOUNT CLOSED" Notice. An analogy I like to use is this. When you buy a ticket to a hockey game it clearly states that they are not liable for injuries sustained in their facility. If you suffer damage from getting a puck in the face, does this mean they are not liable! Of course it doesn't. Their lawyers will advise them to immediately settle out of court. Am I liable for a lease that was presented to me by a third party, who was completely dishonest and deceitful? I think not! Heh! I'm cancelling and thats the end of it! If you want to recover something from this fiasco, come get your terminal. I'm in the boondocks of Canada, Come Get Me Chicago!

@Doug Lynn: Yep, Tangarine is definitely a bunch of a**holes. I've had about 10 go-arounds
with their pushy, snot-nosed saleswhores and they still keep calling back. I would advise anyone that wants to deal with Elavon to do it through Costco ONLY. I get great rates, no hidden, sneaky, back-door charges, and great service.

Hi Friends of the blog, This is the wrong concept that you have gathered about the company Tangarine. I have been customer of Tangarine or so called Elavon for more than 6 years and has not found any issues with the company. really fine customer support. But this blog has also opened my eyes about the fraud that is going on. I will be more careful next time. Thanks for the help also.

I find very interesting to see in this complaint blog the same writings as in the other blogs are you complaining or just copy or pasting. I am really confused as when i talk with people i feel they are good but when i check this websites i feel very confused. Can you tell me Which is right? Is this a marketing strategy for destroying companies reputation by creating a Complaint blog. Tell Me Whom To Believe, My BookKeeper, Friends or Bloggers. Please dont copy and paste same things in all blogs. By the way i am with Moneris for last 2 years and happy.

WOW! … I have 1000’s of my merchants with Elavon and I’ve never had an issue with them …. HOWEVER … I’ve had many issues with careless business owners.
It’s hard not to take sides when I see that common sense isn’t that common … and most business owners aren’t paying the attention they should to their business … Guys wake up your staff doesn’t care more about your business than you do! … Employee fraud is huge! … And most issues/ chargeback have come from mistakes you or your staff made…. Take some accountability and stop blaming everyone else!
There are millions of business’s that fail every year … many don’t take credit cards … who do they blame? … All of a sudden we have all these STUPID business owners that go under and they decide to blame it on their credit card processor? WOW BOLD MOVE!
I only go after medium to large merchant … merchants that have been processing for years and regularly train their staff … merchants that have set procedures in not only accepting credit cards but also checks, cash, debit, money wires and gift cards … and no one’s ever taken a cent out of their accounts… what do they know, they’ve only been doing it for years and have amazing margins …
I’m the first guy ready to go to war for my merchants but it seems the only ones [censor]ing around are the new “startups” I acquire or the “referrals” … the ones that always have an excuse and are quick to point fingers.
Elavon gets most of my business... If they did adult and gaming they’d have it all … They’re great business partners and they’re always quick to fix any issues my merchants may have … Any and all issues would go away if owners paid closer attention to their business, their staff and enforced rules and procedures with them … Take some accountability and stop blaming everyone else for your issues …if not history’s doomed to repeat itself … who’s fault will it be then?

Hey from Canada. Thanks to all your postings I think I've saved myself $$$ and grief. I got a call wanting us to switch from our current Processor. The phone call made Elavon sound not too bad. I was suppose to fax a copy of our statement, but thought hmmm maybe I should google Elavon first? Thanks Again

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For those that are interested in taking a look at what we have to offer please call me at [protected] and I'll show you just how much you can save with Securus.

I am also dumping Elevon as fast as possible. I had a chargeback of $3700 by a customer who realixed a couple of days after he made the claim that he had made a mistake. Elevon kept processing the chargback multiple times even though the customer had called with all his information to Elevon's chargeback dept to stop the chargeback process. Fortunatly I didn't have $3700 in my account for them to take because I believe they would have kept it as security for the future. They were pissed that I didn't have the money in my account. I told the guy that this charge was over a month old and that my profit margins won't allow me to keep that kind of money sitting in my account doing nothing. He told me that I agreed to have ample money in my account to handle any chargeback. Now hows that possible? If I had $100, 000 in charges I am suppose to keep $100, 000 in my account sitting there so Elvon can feel safe. What happened to the legal system to recoupe any losses instead of using the customers money to cover their exposure?

After many many calls I finally got the all clear in writting only to receive the next day a notice that any future charges were going to be held up to 270 days, no amount mentioned and no notice regarding anything else. What do they think... Im stupid? I also have had to fax them a w9 form 4 times because they kept misplacing it. Then the $75 security test I had to take, all [censor] as far as I am concerned. I thought there might be some complaints about Elevon and boy was I right.

I am on this site because of my lack of knowldge about how my criedit card machines work. Up untill now I have been treating my credit card transactions like a microwave, swipe the card and receive the money. Judging by this Blog, I am not alone! I feel now that I know I have to sign for a rate increase or else I can fight it, I will. I do not use Elavon's service enough to be effected if they with held funds but if I did, I might think about speaking to someone at Elavon about notifying me if this was going to be done. If this is not possible I would ask them to start finding a solution. No, my voice alone would get nothing done but if enough customers got on Elavon's behind about this it would be corrected. How can Elavon fix a problem if thier cutomers are not making them aware there is a problem. I dont know, I'm no bussines man. I'm just a computer tech for a small bussines.

i am looking for credit card processing. as a layman it seems real obvious to me who the liars are on this site. its real easy to tell when hundreds of people tell their story's which depict every day horror story's that anyone who has ever had a credit card or a bank acct. with one of these fascist banks can relate to. they generally just tell their story but the paid trolls attack normal people telling their story and then express their hatred for the internet because people are talking and finding out about all of their scams like 911 and all the wars and the federal reserve banksters and the bailout going to foreign banks and the recipients of the bail out using funds to move their operations to brasil and china and not loaning any money out but gambling on credit default swaps, "collateralized"(yeah right)debt obligations and all these other financial derivatives. the fraud and corruption goes on and on but the trolls always sound the same. attack the complainer and defame the method of complaint. i for one am so glad i read this site as i felt really comfertable purchasing through costco but now i will look for other options. thanks for the heads up!

Elavon SUCK's No doubt!
Iam the owner of a Home Theater Design & Installaions company Started in Dec 2010
Did a lot of higher end marketing, Post cards, email campaigns, PPC, SEO's etc.etc.etc... so not many sales to start.Jan $5000, Feb $7500 March $8, 000 and up to April11th about $13000+ in April
I put thru (4) sales for a total of $5486 in three days 04/15-04/17
the deposits never arrived I called Merchant Service Monday 04/18 to check on batch/depost and told to speak with MISTY, she never calls back I call once again at the end of the day ...Once again NO CALL Back!
I called again Twice on Tuesday(NO Call back) So, I decided to go to my Regions local branch the one that 'hooked me up ' with Evalon.
The branch manager has called several times she HAS YET TO GET A RETURN CALL! Is this company a joke or what-WTF?
OMG, ... are they stupid-I dont think there is fraud here but Helllo COMMUNCATION and a litlle courtesy of a RETURN PHONE CALL would be appreciated!...Four days later, I have other sales I wouldnt dare put into their CC machine
I am going to apply for a different processor ANY SUGGESTIONS?

@ Xtream Media Server rip-off company!

Hi
I have been dealing with Elavon, and their previous incarnation, Nova, for about 12 years. Other than the odd minor glitch, I have found them to be not only professional and efficient, but have consistently provided the lowest combined costs that the merchant processing industry has to offer. I run a small storefront business with monthly sales of around $20, 000.
My experience with your specific issue is: once you "settle" your deposits, it takes from 48 to 72 hours for the deposit to show up in my bank account. The odd time that it has taken longer than that were all my fault, as I had failed to settle my deposits. If the machine is not settled for 7 days, then it automatically settles out and 2 to 3 days later the deposit appears in my account. My account has worked this way for 12 years, and Elavon has never taken more money than they should have, they have always lowered my rates when competitive conditions warranted it, and have always been timely and responsive to any issues that have cropped up. If I were you I would not be too hasty in jumping ship, as there are a lot worse actors in the merchant processing game than Elavon. Again, I am only speaking from experience.

Elavon, Inc in Knoxville, TN is not Elavon US or Elavon Canada. It is a small private company engaging fraudulent activities. Do not confuse Elavon in Knoxville TN with Elavon US or Elavon Canada.

I was a victim of Elavon in TN and they sent me letters demanding money after I closed my bank account to prevent them from taking money out of my account without my consent. The collection letter asked me to give their 'recovery department' a call to resolve this, but instead I researched the phone number on the letter before I call. I called up both Elavon Canada and Elavon US about this matter but they do not recognize the phone number I mentioned, and they do not even have a recovery department as stated on that letter.

Amazingly the collection letter says ‘Elavon Canada’ but with a phony P.O. box address. It is a scam, do not respond to them or they will have you on recording and use that against you. According to my research Elavon in Knoxville TN is also known as Ladco leasing, a company associates with Northern Leasing.

Google ‘CollectivePOS complains’, Northern Leasing Complains’ or ‘Ladco Leasing Complains’ and you will see they all run the same type of fraudulent activities and the patterns are almost identical. They are all credit card processing companies, POS equipment leasing companies, all scammers!

DO NOT USE ELAVON!
Our volunteer animal shelter had to commit to a 3 year contract in order to accept cards - but we were not able to open the store and they would not cancel the agreement without a $300 fee - Elavon charged us $50 a month for 2 years for a service they did not even provide. Now we are trying to cancel after the second year they are charging another $200! We never used them, never had a store and they will absolutely NOT waive any fees - or let us out of the contract. Very unreasonable company.

If you are looking for credit card processing from an honest and reliable company, look no further. Century Bankcard Services/Pace Payment Systems. We charge Interchange or actual cost that V/MC/DS charges every processing in America plus a small profit.
NO Contracts
NO Cancellation/termination fees
NO annual fees for processing
NO monthly minimums
Call Tiffany @ [protected] or email me at tiffanyg@centurybankcard.com

has anyone check out http://cheapestmerchantaccounts.com/elavon/ - they seem to agree that there are real issues with elavon but that you can avoid some of them by going through elavon directly as opposed to going through their isos/agents.

We're quitting Elavon/Nova after years of doing business with them. Shortly after we received a chargeback without notice (which was reversed because the customer received and signed for the merchandise), Elavon stopped paying us for transactions. Instead, they say they will place funds into a "security reserve" maintained for at least 270 days. Not only that, but their letter was dated 4 days after they stopped depositing funds. As further insult, I recently did a refund which Elavon took out of my account and not the security reserve.
Obviously we cannot fill orders without receiving payment, a reality I'm sure Elavon would appreciate if the shoe were on the other foot. Fortunately, there are other payment processors out there as well as 3rd party solutions, which we already offer to our customers.

Elavon has repeatedly tried to take money out of my account without my consent. I required a service and the sales guy said they would give me that service, little did I know was that they didnt give me that service and gave me a different service and tried to take fund out of my account because of that. I have contact the police and they are made aware of this. My bank has reversed Elavons charges and now Elavon is being watched by TD bank here in Canada. Dont fall for their scams and report everything to the police and your bank. Its groups like these that need to get heard and take action to shut Elavon down.

Elavon mistyped our account number into their system and almost $60, 000 was not deposited into our account. It took me 8 months to get most of it back. They also charged me monthly fees after we canceled our account. We were not able to recover some of those fees.

Elavon also told us that we had to use their terminals and not existing terminals that we had because their tech support wouldn't service non-Elavon terminals. Cost $10, 000 to purchase 18 new terminals.