Getting Your Merchant Account Complaint Heard by:Ben Dwyer
The credit card processing industry doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation and merchant account complaints are far more common than they should be
. In this article I'll talk about how you can avoid doing business with the bad eggs in the industry, why it's so tough to be heard when you have a merchant account complaint and what you can do to get the word out about a poor provider that you've encounter.
Figure out who you're dealing with
First up is the issue of pre-screening potential merchant service providers to avoid a bad situation before it begins. But before you can do that, you have to figure out exactly who you're dealing with. There's a hierarchy of players in merchant account sales that starts with organizations that are registered with Visa and MasterCard to sell processing services and ends with independent sales representatives. In the middle of the mix are independent sales organizations (ISO) of varying sizes. Some are registered, but they don't have to be. However, everyone has to be affiliated with a registered merchant service provider in order to offer processing services.
Once you ascertain the type of organization or individual that you're dealing with, you can begin to check them out. Performing Background checks on larger, registered ISOs is usually easier because they tend to be registered with the Better Business Bureau or similar third-party reliability outfits that you can use to get an idea of their performance.
Checking on smaller ISOs and even individual sales representatives is often a bit tougher but well worth it. In order to complete with the big guys, smaller outfits often pride themselves on offering superior, more personal customer service. Of course, that's not always the case so due-diligence is required before doing business with smaller companies.
The best way to check the performance of smaller outfits is to ask them for references. If they refuse to provider references, you should probably move on to the next prospect. You can also try to look them up in the directory that we're building at the web site CardFellow. At the time of this writing it's still building steam, but there are a few great provider reviews.
Getting your merchant account complaint heard
If you do end up working with a not-so-good provider it can often prove frustrating to get your merchant account complaint heard. The first thing to do is to climb the internal ladder. Going back to what I described earlier, ascertain if you're dealing an individual agent, ISO or registered merchant service provider. If you're having issues with an agent, try calling the ISO that they're affiliated with. You can even try going all the way up the ladder by calling the acquiring or processing bank. Their number will be listed on your credit card statement.
Unfortunately, even the best of efforts may yield little results and you may have to take your complaint elsewhere. Reporting your merchant account complaint to organizations like the Better Business Bureau is often effective. If there's a loss associated with your dilemma, you also should contact your State's Attorney General and file a formal complaint.
As the merchant processing industry continues to grow, progress is being made to quell the stereotypical injustices that have existed in the past. If you've had a bad experience with a merchant service provider, do your best to get the word out to help fellow merchants.
About the author
This article about merchant account complaints and more information to help businesses that will start accepting credit cards is available at the MerchantCouncil.
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