First Data
Reviews and Complaints

My company used Cardservice International for many years, then they changed to First Data and everything started to go south. We had a high risk account, but always kept our chargebacks to a minimum over the years and had a track record to prove it. Literally, out of the blue, we were overwhelmed by chargebacks, and were able to provide First Data the proper signed slips and everything they needed to ensure the sales were legitimate. We still lost the sales.

To add insult to injury, shortly after, they canceled our account, due to excessive cahrgebacks, and said they would hold $32, 439.00 (yes... 32k) for six months to cover any chargebacks involved. After sex months I contacted the First Data representative (Gideon Jackson). He said it would be another six months. Then I was pawned off to another agent (Deidra M.Olds deidram.[protected]@firstdata.com) who said they would release half of the funds, then another half later. I provided copies of my ID and contact information, per their request. She said they would send a check to me for half of the funds. It never came, she never replied, they no longer return my calls or emails.

You can imagine the damage done to your business with someone holds $32, 439.00 without notice. It literally ruined and bankrupted the business.

It has been 2 years since they agreed to pay the money, they will not return any contact to me. My next step is legal recourse, though that too is painful as some collection agencies are asking for as much as %40 - 50%. I have lost my business, and money. I'm at a loss.

If anyone knows an attorney or company who has successfully had many returned for a fair price, please contact me: [protected]@gmail.com

Hello everyone,

There is this lawyer who has responded and here is his information if anyone would like to contact him...

I'm a class action attorney in the process of assessing possible class action lawsuits against First Data. Our fim has already successfully prosecuted claims against other credit card processors for unfair trade practices. Please contact me with more information about your complaints. [protected]@cdalawyer.com...

Not for small business. First Data may work for big business but it is definitely not for small business. First Data will 'fee' you to death raising the effective rate of processing credit cards well beyond the industry norm.

The sales process was deceptive especially to a neophyte. Sales people represent themselves as trying to 'help' you understand card processing. Nothing could be further from the truth. They're goal is to sign you and move on.

Although the discount rate is attractive that's not the real issue to a small business offering card processing as a convenience to their customers. The fee structure is not friendly to small business.

A First Data salesman came into my store, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, in March of 2007 offering to reduce my expenses from processing bank cards.

I was already processing bank cards through another vendor. The saleman assured me that he, First Data, would take care of getting me out of my current contract which ran until the spring of 2009. He wanted me to sign a four year contract, but I told him my lease was up in January of 2010, and I did not want to sign anything past that. I also stated that I might have to close the business before then, but he assured me that the lease could be transferred to a third party at any time. He further stated leasing was better than buying because I would be able to get upgrades without buying a new machine.

After I signed the contract, the reality of his lies set in. He failed to get me out of the first contract, so I ended up paying rent on two machines for two years. For the past three years I have paid them $78 a month, for a total of $2, 808, for a machine I could have bought from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxB ank for $250. They have never sent me any upgrade;, as a matter of fact they want to charge me $100 to make me compliant with some new law, even though I only use their machine to process transactions.

Now, finally, my lease on the storefront over, I call them to return the machine. They tell me I have to pay them for another 12 months, that I in effect had signed a 48 month lease. This is absolutely false. The salesman must have changed the terms, and lied to me, about this and the fact that the lease could be transferred to a third party, which they are now unwilling to do. There is no way I would have signed a lease for their machine extending past the end of my lease on the storefront.

Like many others I see here, I am locked into a $30.74/ month contract that makes my brain twist in knots of frustration! I worked with Alex White, a lying salesman who is apparently no longer employed with this company, and explained to him that I had just opened a "mom and pop" style hair salon in a small town and that I had signed a 2 year lease on the salon building itself. Because our contract was what seemed like an endless email (and because I was 22 at the time and very naive), I trusted his words when he confirmed all my wishes verbally. Little did I know, I had just e-signed myself up for 3 years of card service and FOUR years of leasing the physical terminal, regardless of my request for a 2 year agreement on both. Can anyone help me understand who would want their card services for a full year after their location lease expires but especially why I would agree to leasing the equipment for another full year after the service itself has expired! So my salon relocated after 2 years and my equipment would not work at our new location. By this time, the economy was plummeting and my clientele was requesting cheaper and cheaper service options, making my acceptance of credit cards more and more costly for me! I spoke with a very charming salesman named Matt Dapompiano who agreed to get my service rates lowered due to my business decline and he also arranged to have new equipment sent to me which was all done thoroughly. The new terminal I received, however, was incredibly inferior and extremely more difficult to use so my salon stopped accepting credit cards. Despite my begging, pleading, and sadly crying, I learned that no one gave a darn about the decline in my business or the fact that I wasn't even using their services anymore. I continued to pay monthly for both the service and equipment. Not until my service contract FINALLY ended (after a full year of ZERO use), was it brought to my attention that I am stuck with the terminal lease for another entire year! When I called Matt Dapompiano to try and get some more effective help, he along with a supervisor I spoke with named Jennifer R., informed me that FDGL is an entirely different company from the service provider, First Data Merchant Services despite their umbrella name similarities and that they had no control to help me as they were not even employed by FDGL (even though Matt was completely able to assist me when my equipment was broken). They also informed me, as if some giant inside joke, that FDGL NEVER allows a contract to be canceled and that I probably wouldn't even be able to get past an operator/receptionist if I called their 1-800 number. Well they were right! The call was answered by a very sweet sounding girl looking to direct my call but I was quickly informed that there was NO ONE I was even allowed to speak with concerning an early termination of my lease. I tried being pushy and she simply gave me an address I could write to... no response to that letter after 3 months. So here I am with another 12 months of paying what will total $1475.52 to lease a piece of equipment that I not only have no service connected to but that I have priced through Stapples, Office Depot, Office Max, and several online retailers to be $249.99 (at the most expensive) all the way down to as little as $99 (with service agreement, but that is the sell price not any kind of lease)! Any finally, I tried calling Matt one last time to see if persistence would pay off (since he helped me before with the terminal), only to be informed by what had to be an under trained or just hopelessly honest new guy that, "Matt Dapompiano doesn't work in this office and I've never heard of him" and that before he started working for the company, lots of people were "trapped" into 4 year lease agreements that outlasted various service agreements and that he simply could not help me but was so sorry that I am "one of those business owners who is now stuck with what the company quickly realized was a faulty arrangement". He went on to explain that the company no longer even offers leasing options with the service agreements which is why no one there could help me... When an employee admits the deal was crooked..."a faulty arrangement", a company with a little integrity would own their mistakes and make it right! Sadly, this is what America is coming to! ALWAYS PRINT YOUR CONTRACTS... tell the salesman you will call him after you have read his 35 page email and NEVER EVER EVER do business with FIRST DATA GLOBAL LEASING!
If anyone gets anywhere with this company, please email me: [protected]@yahoo.com

This company bought out Credit Card Services and began charging excessive/hidden fees. Try a one time $120 annual fee plus minimum fees plus monthly cart and added service fees. They also charges a $75 account closing fee. I won't even mention the quality of customer service, except that it fits in with the rest of the company policy. I switched over to Newtek who had been hosting my website for a number of years and reduced my processing costs 75%.

I cancelled my equipment leaseing on 19th October and requested the address to return the equipment. I also stopped the direct debit. n 26th Novembe I received a demand for unpaid rental and a threat to take me to Court. I spoke to their office explaining I had cancelled the lease and was still waiting for the address to return the equipment. I finall received this information on 2nd December and returned the machine on 14th December and this was delivered on 17th December. (I have photocopy proof of this). I then received 3rd December bill for one months rental whiich I paid to get them off my back. On 23rd December I recevedanother demand for rental and informing me that if this was not paid my agreement would be teminatied and I would be liable for damaged for breach of contract amounting to £901.03. I wrote to them again on 2nd Janaury enclosing copies of all letters but on 13th January they wrote to me again staing that I have to pay them £228.10 and if I don't return the equipment within 15 days I will be liable for another £165.00 . Having regard to the fact that they took delivery of the equipment a month ago, I am going to have great difficulty in returning it yet again. If I receive any more demands/threats from them I shall have no altgernative but to report them to Trading Standards as every demand they make is a different figure and they are demanding unlawful payments.

This is the seond American company I have had problems with and I am making sure in future that I do not deal with American company's for anything .

We own a luxury retail showroom located at 1401 S Robertson Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90035. We started using First Data Merchant Service as our credit card processing on 3/10/09. Our transactions with this processor have increased slowly at first. On 08/19/09 one of our clients purchased chandeliers (which were subsequently delivered and installed) and paid using a visa card for the amounts of $10, 000.00 and $6, 000.00 in total.

We received a call on or about September 20th, 2009 from Frank Davenport (one of First Data's Risk Management representatives) requesting supporting sales documents for the very same previously mentioned transaction on 08/19.09. We promptly provided all requested materials in timely manner. Mr. Davenport acknowledged receiving and was satisfied with all the supporting documents that were provided to him. However to our surprise we received a letter dated 09/29/09 from First Data informing us that our merchant account has been closed and the amount of $15, 850.64 which was remaining in our account was placed on hold. We contacted Mr. Frank Davenport and he stated the hold is for a future charge back possibility and we should call him back in 30 days, as he needed time to release the funds.

We never had any charge backs affecting our account. We never had a fraudulent card processed through our terminal and for the past five years we have not even had a charge back inquiry. We contacted the first data at the end of October and were informed that they reserve the right to hold on to the funds for up to 18 months and that I should call back in 60 days for release of fund.

Now that we have contact them in 60 days we have been given the same story repeated over and over again followed by a demand of returned phone call, this time in 90 days. We called 12/29.09 and 12/31/09 talked to him and his co-worker and they told us same thing that they have right to hold our badly needed fund with out any reason for up to 18 months. We don't have any charge back inquiry in our account. The time frame for the client to request a reasonable charge back request has already elapsed. The products were delivered to the client’s home and installed as permanent fixtures inside their resident over four months ago; therefore there are not any logical or justifiable explanations of why the merchant processing center is holding to our funds.

the representative for first data global leasing through SunTrust Bank assured us that although the "lingo" of the contract stated it was not able to be cancelled that if we wanted to quit using we could at anytime.. This information was important to us because we were not sure how long we were going to be installing generators...
When we attempted to cancel the contract they told us we could not.. I actually contacted the rep (no longer working for first data) and she confirmed she had told us that and gave me a phone number to someone who could help us clear the situation.. I contacted that person and he gave me a "corporate person" that would clear the air...She pawned the situation to one of her associates. After countless hours of fighting this situation, he assured me that if the equipment was returned he was going to close the account and we would have no more obligation...the equipment was returned and not another word has been said(now going on two years), UNTIL...I got a letter in the mail the other day from a collection agency stating they are going to sue us! Approximately 4 mths ago I had run across all that old information in a paperclip and feeling the situation had been taken care of and gone, , I threw away the package of numbers, name and copy of all coorespondence! Receiving that letter the other day was one of those "oh..." moments in life! I am not even sure where to start now trying to get this cleared up once again! I am so frustrated...This company is ridiculous...JoAnna

This company told me that my leasing agreement was up in january 2017 - when I called to return machine they claimed that I had a paperless lease extending the payment for another 14 months. This was due to the fact that the original machine stopped working and they replaced the defective machine, which automatically extended the so called paperless lease. They never informed us of this bogus policy and when we asked for paperwork, they wanted money for the paper and then in the next breathe said that there is only a paperless agreement - this is a fraud - bogus and totally bad business

I leased a Credit card machine from this company about a year ago and now sales have turned to mostly checks on a 30 day. I no longer need this machine and I contacted them and they said I had two choices one to keep making lease payments and until it was paid or I could pay 2000.00 plus to end the contract oh yes or I could turn the lease over to some one else and they would charge me 150. for transfer.

I just wanted to return their equipment so that they could continue to put it to use with some one else they were unwilling to help me on this when I mintoned bankrupcy they said that was fine and that it would settle the contract but that was the only way so I guess even though I'm not using it, I'll have to pay the 85.00 per month and keep the thing unless I do file bankrupcy.

In 2007 I entered into a merchant service agreement and equipment lease agreement with First Data Corporation thru my bank, Republic Bank and Trust Company in Louisville, Ky. The lease was misrepresented initially and after the failure of my business I have been unable to speak with anyone in authority about the termination of the lease. I have contacted my service representative who failed to follow-up on communication, my bank who I believe tried to help but got as frustrated as I with the circular communication with this company and finally Judy Watkins @ judy.[protected]@firstdata.com who told me she was only a liason between the bank and "various departments" and she had to abide by the decisions of "various departments". This is the most ridiculous company I have ever tried to deal with. The greed and lack of customer service abounds to a degree I did not even know existed.

I have charged in excess of $700 for them to process $3, 671 worth of credit card payments. The account representative lied about the fees they would be charging and assured me that I would save money by switching to their company. That was a joke! The biggest issue I have with them is their PCI compliance fees. I was charged $135 in October which stated it was my annual compliance fee. Then in January they began billing me monthly 19.95 because they claimed I wasn't in compliance! On top of that they couldn't give me an understandable explaination of what this was for!

I attempted to cancel the service by phone, fax, and snail mail from January 2009 to July 2009. I finally had to stop payment with my bank in order to get them to stop taking their fees. It took 2 hours on the phone in July to finally get them to cancel the service. At that time 3 different representatives advised me that all I owed was 99.95. Now I have been turned over to a collection agency for $02.58. I gone back over their very confusing billing statements and I can't figure out where they get this amount.

I received a brochure in the mail to start takeing credit cards through Sams Clubs (which I still have) I called and spoke to a sales rep. (whos name I still have) I needed to take credit cards for just one client as this is how they wished to pay their monthly statement. I requested the cheapest machine and way to take the credit card. I asked for the simple machine where you put the credit card down slide a lever to the right and it prints on a carbon slip. The sales rep told me "these are not made anymore" he said he could lease me a machine that you could swipe the card and the deposit would go to my checking account wirelessly for 34.95 a month plus the the rate as low as 1.64% and .19 cents per transaction. He said the machine was 1500.00 dollars and that the 34.95 a month would be taken out of my account monthly. He also said "unlike other credit card companies that charge you the unpaid balance on the machine, that I could return it at anytime for a one time charge of 99.00 dollars" he then told me to read an agreement online to get this all set up, I went to the agreement page to read it and it said page 1 of approx. 35 pages. I started reading it got about page 3 and he called back and said are you finished? I said no I am just getting started, he said just scroll down to the last page and hit agree, that it was just like what you do when you wish to download something from msn. I had no way to print the agreement so I was told one would be sent to me. This has never happened, they want 7.00 dollars to send and agreement which I dont know if it is what I agreed to if the did. They also want 4.95 a month for insurance in case something happens to the equipment, (part of the agreement) the 34.95 a month plus .19 and 1.64% is now about 100.00 a month for one transaction that totals 956.00. These people are liars scam artist and thieves do not do business with them. I am going to write my congressman, senator, and the president if I have to I will not let this go to rest and I will also talk to Sams Club, Mr. Walton would not be proud of this company useing his name.

Were do I begin? From the very beginning I was lied to. First, When I asked what the cost of this machine he said that the machine and other fees were only $10.00 a month for two years. ($240.00) He said that First Data did not sell the machines and that there was not an option to buy the machine but that it would be yours at the end of your two years. I signed the contract but did not see any other fees on there. Later I sat down and looked at it a lot closer which I should have done in the first place. To my surprise in the middle of the contract it did say $69.99 for 48 months not the $10.00 fro the 24 months. I immediately called him and said that I wanted out of my contract because of his deception. HE laughed at me and said you can after 48 months. I was given other free stuff, like gift cards and a stand. However the gift cards were not like I had set up and they didn't have our business name on them. HE said that I was stuck with them and that I could order new ones at my experience. Now 50 months later and I am still being charged for my equipment. I was done with my payments in July 2009. I have call this company for the last month and if I do get ahold of someone to talk about getting this fixed they can never help me. When they transfer me to who can mystery enough I get disconnected every time. Now I have to drive 49 minutes to my bank and file an affidavit saying that I didn't allow them to take this money out.
They are a total rip off company and I would never do business with them again. I hope this does help other people who are considering them for there business. My bank is bank of the west and they have since stopped doing business with them too.

I have written many many complaints against Icon and First Data to different agencies. Even after explaning First Data about what has happened they just give me an attitude. One person even said they really dont care all they care is that there is a lease and I am leagally bound to it. Everyone you talk to at First Data are really really rude and dont know what the hell they are talking about. They keep transferring you from one department to another than you have to tell them the whole story again and one day I was on the phone with First Data for 3 hrs just being thrown as a yo yo from one department to another. I filed fraund papers with First Data and after they received it they tell me its not fraud as I have signed the papers so it really doesnt mean anything to them. All they care is I am in a lease and they want the money. When I spoke to Jenny Haskett I had made it very clear that I didnt want to get into a contract and I would want to be able to cancel services whenever I want and she said everything is as you want. Yeah right she is one con artist who has got me into a mess. WHen I asked FIRST DATA that I wanted to see a copy of my contract they wanted to charge me a fee to see it. I said what? After almost 20 days I am still going back and forth with First DATA and they still are giving me a hard time. PLEASE PLEASE BEWARE OF ICON PAYMENT SOLUTIONS AND FIRST DATA both are equal crooks all they want is your money and they dont give a monkeys about anything else... If there is anything you want to know or someone has some advice for me please call me [protected]. I hope some lawyer looks at this and helps me out a bit...