First Data
Reviews and Complaints

Hello,
I am complaining about the disrespectful customer service that I received from one of your service representatives.

The call took place on July 10, 2020 at 10:49am . The representative was a male. he was very rude and disrespectful. He didnt want to hear anything I had to say.

I told him i was calling to pay a bill that was mailed to me in the amount of 138.93

I tried to tell him that due to covid i was unable to make past payments. He went on to interrupt me and pretty much demanded payment.

I was prepared to pay by card and he said he could not take a debit card payment.

so I told him that I would put it in the mail before the end of the week.

now I get home today AFTER ive made payment arrangements on july 10, 2020 and AFTER he wouldnt take my payment over the phone,
I see a new letter for a demand for TOTAL payment of 700.00 within ten days.

the letter says the following:

Dear KARHONDA JONES

your letter has been brought to my attention due to the outstanding balance of $700.45

the way this letter was written tells me that it was very personal and threatening in method as well as seemingly retaliation due to my conversation and how he talked to e on the phone.

I say this because in the begining the letter said my account was brought to "MY" attention,
yet in the end it had no name or signature. it only had the name of the company and the collections department.

WHO IS THE "MY" PERSON?
That my account was brought to there attention and

WHO BROUGHT IT TO THEIR ATTENTION?

im not ducking this bill or not trying to pay it. Im just wondering why all of a sudden i get this letter after i made payment arrangements for this week.

The male caller was very disrespectful and very rude and I believe he was involved in this letter, I believe that he out of retaliation was the "MY" in the letter.

I expect to hear back from someone soon as possible.
my payment of 145.00 is in the mail and my number is
[protected]

my desirable resolution is to hear of the disciplinary action on your employee

my account number is [protected]
thank you

I wanna start of by saying that I do not recommend first data or fiserv to any small business or anyone as a matter of fact!

The worst structured payment processing company in the world. They are completely incompetent unstructured group of individuals working for them. They have so many départements that never call back. I am talking about risk department / customer service / security/ research division.

Complete disorder and unprofessionalism on their behalf. My experience has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I am left with clients who are waiting for product but payment is being held. They terminated my account 3 months after opening for reasons that do not even make sense.

Pushed a terminal onto me and now i'm stuck with it. I paid 800 for this machine I can't even use with anyone else. They are con artists! They will pay the price I promise

Crystal & cindy are horrible people that are working in the security / risk department refuse to call back or even pick up the phone. They con you into opening an account and then disappear when they are needed the most. No answer, no call back, no email.

Daniel peake was my rep who is a very unprofessional and rude representative at first data in mississauga, on
This person opened my account completely messing up everything. For this reason my company suffered a loss and many sales were incomplete. Mistake after mistake was made by him and when it finally was settled, he wouldn't take responsibility. Always giving us the run around and transferring me to another department. It seems like this company is run by a bunch of amateur straight out of college with 0 knowledge in the financial field.

I had 6 transaction proceeded in one week, all for which I was required to provide full batch report. I spent countless hours preparing everything and the following week they just terminated our account with claims that we are not a right fit for first data.

They play games with your money. They are dishonest and especially lazy bunch of individuals who don't give a rats [censored] about the client.

Do not open an account with them
Do your research, look up their reviews like I should have done.

6 of my clients are now furious with my company because the process was put on hold as the money taken from first data still hasn't been returned.

They should be shut down!
I am including my email for anyone looking for proof and more in-depth version of my story.

Email : [protected]@hotmail. Ca

Once again beware of this disgusting disgraceful company.

My company has gone out of business. We closed out checking account.

On April 8, 2019, I sent a letter to my sales rep for First Data Merchant Services, Jaime Vinette, and asked for instructions to pay off the account and return the equipment. I did not received a response...from anyone.

Today, May 6, 2019, I called First Data's customer service line, 877-257-2094, to pay my account and get instructions for returning the equipment. The customer service agent said she could not process my payment via checking account or credit card. Her reasoning is that she can only withdraw money from the account on file--the closed account. She can't process my credit card payment because it can only be done 7 days AFTER the payment is due---and YES at that time a NSF fee, a collection fees, a late fee, a collection invoicing fee and some other fee will be assessed. That is foul. If a customer sends a letter and then calls to pay a bill, but the company won't accept payment, how can the company legally assess $150 in fees! That is more than I owe on the account.

Then I asked to speak to a supervisor. No supervisor is available. I was told that I would recieve a call back in 24-48 hours.

Please contact me at [protected] to resolve this issue.

I am verry pissed off i already reported you guys to the bba I got paid this last thursday I lost my card and explained it to you guys and that I cant memorize things pretty good um you guys gave me a hard time waisted a whole day of work callong you guys and eventually I provided shopping stayments from my online shopping acount but some how I guys froze my acount delayed everything even longer and let me mention this i got a 10month son and another one in the way and I have had no access to my money my phine line got disconected anymore problems I will do wat I can for you guys putting me and my familey in a ruff situation and I was depending on my money. Now my info is kenny plasencia 08/31/1994 my social is [protected] my employers are tichert & son construction Inc. I want my money transferred to my bank of america acount right now and dont want nothing to do with your guyses sloppy disrespectfull system my my bank of america routing number is [protected]. [protected]...0092

A representative from First Data Global Leasing said I would need to upgrade my existing equipment, which was not under a contract, to a new piece of equipment called a Clover Mini, so that I could verify the funds of checks, which I receive from customers overseas. I was told that I could do that with the device, using the Telecheck App by simply taking a photo of the check with the device. When the device arrived to me, I found that I could not complete this process without customers (whom I told them was overseas) being present, unless I paid additional money to purchase a check scanner. First Data Global Leasing told me the check scanner would be an additional cost of over $450. I declined and said I need to return the machine. Less than 24 hours after receiving that machine, First Data Global Leasing would not provide me with the necessary information for returning the machine. In addition, each time I call in attempt to accomplish this, they continuously remind me that I am under a 36 month contract as a result of getting this machine, that they refuse to let me out of. The machine in question serves me no purpose, since they misled me. It isn't fair to enforce the contract, when their practices to get me to sign the contract were dishonest. Now they want $1, 078 from me to buy out of my contract to send the equipment back. They told me the equipment would meet my needs to get me to sign the contract. Then, when the equipment didn't meet my needs, they said too bad, I am stuck with it due to the contract.

I leased the equipment for my salon with a two year contract. Now after two years my business went bad and I closed it down. Called them up and explain why I returned the equipment and asked them to stop charging me. They said I signed for a 4 year lease not 2. I felt like there are some shady business going on between the sale man and the guy representing first data. They could have noticed me when I signed the lease it's a 4 year? Instead they blamed for Merchant service fault and make me buy out the lease without concerning my business had closed down. I would avoid First Data for my future business.

Do not use this company and if you do, change to another. We have experienced everything mentioned by other complaints. We processed for only 7 days. A total of $55k. Shana bullard at fdms called us to verify charges and ask us to provide invoices to support charges. We did. Then fdms disappeared on us. They began hitting our bank account with their fees but never made a deposit for the charges we processed. About 15 days later we learned they had a chargeback. The chargeback was never sent to us as an opportunity for rebuttal. Once we got the chargeback and provided the rebuttal to the cardholder's bank, it was found in our favor. But still, fdms refused to release all of the funds. By that time they had released about half of the $55k but had closed our account and attached a tmf for fraud and money laundering. This prevents our business from 'ever' having the ability to use a credit card processor, ever! Despite repeated calls, emails, 2nd and 3rd party assistance, the wall is up and they absolutely refuse to cooperate. They refuse to provide any written documentation as to why they have accused our business of fraud and money laundering and by a 3rd party's involvement, have stated there have been more chargebacks but refuse to supply any documentation to support that claim. I don't expect to see any of the remaining funds from fdms at all. You can see that this game plays out over and over with other businesses.

Do not do business with first data merchant services

I was called by a company promising big processing fee savings and then they tell me no equipment fees and then I agree to it and they sent me a contract to sign and it was my fault they told me to sign and send right back I did and then I get a big saying $159 a month fee and I hadn't even swathed companies yet. So I called them and tried to get out of it and they said there is no way out of it. I would tell anyone who gets a called from a new company trying to save you money on processing fees do not sign anything and especially these scam artist before reading it. I stayed with who I had and still it was cheaper I am still paying the $159 a month and don't know how to get out of it but I am not giving anyone associated with these people.

We have been screwed by Bank of America in signing a 4 year lease agreement/contract for a terminal which we haven't used for the past 2 years. We have called in to Bank of America Merchant Services for assistance and they referred us to First Data who own the Equipment. Have called them several times to see how we can cancel and return the terminal. They keep telling us that we have to pay for the balance of the time on the lease times $51.58 monthly. Right now we are told we have another 19 months left to pay on it which brings it to a total of $941.39. I don't understand why we should be paying for something we are not using. I spoke with a rep at First Data and she told me that she doesn't know whether we are using the terminal or not. I told her come on, you should know coz there's no transactions made on that terminal or on our account. We had cancelled our merchant account over a year ago. Bank of America keeps charging us $51.58 each month for it even though we have not made one transaction for the past 2 years. Can someone assist how to resolve this problem and help us.

Thank you
Jenny

I got an invoice to my business from First Data Merchant Services. The address is 14141 SW Freeway, Sugar Land, TX 77478. Phone number [protected]. I have not done any business with them that I know of. Anyway, the bill is almost $200. I talked with my bank who handles my merchant account - and get this - First Data is a known merchant data processing enterprise as far as I can tell. But my Bank thinks this invoice is probably fraud. Maybe somebody is using the name to commit the fraud. When you call the number, you get a recording. Seems like they don't want to talk to you. Also, the invoice does not say what product it is for. Sad that our new electronic world has caused an exponential boom is fraud.

I work for an honest processing company. Anybody ripped off by first data email me at [protected]@gmail.com I will give you our low cost guarantee rate and also a free terminal so we can process your transactions. Free application, free terminal, and a $100 rebate if you mention first data. They are criminals these terminals are free. Disgusting.

This company leases equipment that is valued at 250.00 for almost 70.00 per month. A total scam that should be illegal. They sneak there name in on credit card processing contracts and then you are locked in even though you never met anyone representing this company.

I dont understand how anyone could even work for such a terrible rip-off company. Good luck finding them and then be ready for a battle that is very aggressive in nature towards the customer. I can only blame myself for being being the victim in there scam - if you do any research at all--- they have a 100% 1 star rating, only because you cannot select any lower. I can confidently say that there is not one single satisfied customer that I could find. Wow ... This cannot be a legally ran company...

If you see First Data, FDGL, or First Data Global Leasing on any document - absolutely do not sign it - you will regret it.

They contacted us saying that they could save us money on our credit card transactions. We signed up and they sent us 2 FD130 duo terminals and 3 FD35HW pen pads. I contacted Dakota Hulsey-Equipment Training Coordinator with Merchant Solution Center at [protected] to let him know that they sent us too much equipment, that we only needed 1 FD130 duo terminal and he told me to keep it just in case one of them breaks down. He told me that they would not charge us for it. The first year fees were in line with what we had been paying with our other merchant processor, then they almost tripled at the one year mark. On 1/30/17 we called the number on our statement - [protected] and was informed that for future customer service we would need to call [protected]. They did connect us with Kevin and he told us that "yes, the fee was definitely high and that it looked like our clients rewards cards were causing the increase, but it was still around 5.4% which is way too high. He said he would turn this into his supervisor to review and see if they could adjust the rate, but that it would take about 4-5 business days before they would get back with us. Never heard back from anyone. We started calling the [protected] number and after numerous calls, leaving messages on a voicemail we finally contacted the number on our statement again and they were able to connect us to a Jennifer. She said that we would have to email Maria a cancel letter (see attached email we sent and the email Maria sent us). Our last conversation was with Chantale - [protected] and she told us that we will owe $10, 000 plus due to us backing out of a signed contract. We told her that the processing fees along with lease fees were far higher than what we had been paying in the past and certainly not what we were promised when we were coerced into agreeing to this long term lease. We feel they broke their agreement with us and we are preparing for litigation if necessary.

Located in Miami, Fl. Customer from 11/13 - 3/17. Request a refund. Contracted through Citi Merchant Services. It looks as though I have been charged incorrectly for "Transarmor Solution Monthly" and also "PCI non compliance" every month since I started working with them. Sometimes the charge appears twice on my bill every month, once on the 2nd and then again on the 28th - but in two different spots on the bill. In addition, my transaction rate varies from transaction to transaction, when I had a fixed rate - in the favor of First Data. I would like to file a suit, or join a suit. Please advise. Thanks for the website.

I have been a Merchant Member of Bank of America/Merchant Services credit card business for 17 months. I invested $609. 00 for a credit card terminal that I used for just two (2) transactions. They have continually changed the rates and charges by mail notice since the beginning and invent new monthly and annual charges. They never ever gave me a (copy) of the original Agreement I supposedly signed with them and continually steer me around with different reps at their offices by phone and make it
impossible to come to any conclusion of any kind. They are a completely
Rip-Off operation and hold back information. They just will not send me a copy of the Merchant Agreement that I never received from them upon doing business with their Rep & my BOA bank Officer who jointly signed me up and graciously took my money. They just took $500 dollars plus from me and change terms by mail constantly, and do not honor an agreement. And they are professionals at steering you around forever.

Switched to Securus for credit card processing. Salesman promised it would save us money. Then found out we had signed a 4 year lease on the terminal for $100.00 per month ($4, 800). You can purchase the same terminal online for under $200.00. Then find out we have to purchase insurance on the machine at $15.00 per month. Now two years into the lease, the terminal will not process all mastercard debit cards. Called Securus and was told the terminal we got to be able to take the chip cards was obsolete and we would have to pay $249.00 to swap for equipment that would work correctly. Do not even talk with a Securus or First Data rep. They will lie, promise trial period while locking you into a 4 year non cancelable lease on the equipment. Any class action law suit, please count me in!

All their customer people know how to say is i'm sorry, I apologize, i'm sorry. But, they can't solve any of your problems. Some of the sorriest people i've ever talked to. If you need a merchant account to accept credit cards for your business - do not use first data. They are such crooks and make it expensive to stop doing business with them. They suck you into a long-term contract and then when you try to break the contract, they play whack-o-mole with you. If you call one minute before the contract expires, you get hit with a $500 early termination penalty. If you call one minute after the contract expires, you get automatically renewed and they hit you with another month's fee. Unbelievable.

I was tricked into a "must lease the new chip reader or I will be fined $30/month." Being a very small business, I agreed to change out my regular swipe reader for the new chip reader. I am being charged more money for this reader AND they automaticall renewed my lease for another 48 months without my knowledge. Switching out an old reader for a new one should NOT cost more and renew a lease for 4 more years. ALSO I found out it was an outright LIE that I'd be fined $30/month until I installed the new chip reader. I have spoken with many small businesses only to hear, "What? you pay a monthly fee for the reader? We got ours for free. First Data makes their money on the fees they charge you each month on the % of Sales." Also, 9 out of 10 vendors/retailers told me they still have their old Swipe machines and have NOT been fined. I want my money back for the decades that I have been using First Data.
Please include me in the Lawsuit [protected]@aol.com

I've been (trying to) work with First data for about a month now since my acquiring bank decided to switch to First Data as their merchant services platform. Customer service is abysmal.
I just got off the phone after 30 minutes just trying to get them to change my e-mail because what they had on file from the bank was obsolete by about 10 years. 30 minutes and 3 different customer service reps, each from a different part of the organization, each of whom transferred me to another, and each of whom had to go through the same pointless "authentication" process, and I'm still not sure they actually did it.
What's even worse is that I thought they had done this 3 weeks previously when I first signed up. At least I went through the process of reviewing the profile at length with the initial contact person, and then received intro / registration e-mails from them at First Data. Apparently they were not the right "group".
The same problem was repeated in other venues (e.g., capabilities of one of their devices, PCI compliance, etc). They are way too fragmented to be effective, don't talk to each other, are allowed to only deal with their ring-fenced areas, and are generally incompetent. Frankly, I think incompetence rather than ill will is the main reason behind many of the complaints I've read about them.
All in all, over the past month, I've spent over 8 hours on the phone with various of their functionaries, many of whom speak broken English, just trying to initialize an existing account provided by the bank. The process has involved at least 4 intercessions from the bank to break log jams of non responsiveness at First Data.