Complaint Review: RED PAYMENTS

Although these comments are not justified they do warrant being addressed if only to illustrate how far off base they are.

It is abundantly clear, based on the tenor and perspective of this posting that it does not originate from a merchant.  In all likelihood this posting was created by a bitter employee.  No merchant would resort to personal attacks rather than giving specific examples of what made them dissatisfied.

No merchant would take the time to attempt to link three merchant processing companies together and get it so wrong.  The only connection between Everest Merchant Processing, Imperial Merchant Processing and Red Payments is the fact that at one point in time they were all tenants in the same 11 story commercial building in mid town Manhattan.  Frankly, there is nothing odd about that.

As far as the boiler room comments go.  Boiler rooms are most commonly associated with a hard sell, scream in your face, intimidate the prospect type of sales strategy/approach.  This is far cry from the marketing and sales techniques used at Red Payments.  In the first place, none of the telesales staff are selling our product.  They are only making appointments for qualified, trained account representatives to go and visit merchants on a day and time of their choosing.  In the second place, they are not signing anybody up for anything at all.  They do not discuss rates, fees or costs.  They do not send out paperwork.  The do not make offers.  This would not even qualify to be a steam room much less a boiler room.

Having clarified that, let’s move on to the inaccurate and jaded descriptions of several employees:

-        Alex Groyzburg is in fact a very benevolent senior manager at Red Payments.  His door is always open to any employee.  He realizes that there is a connection between an individual’s well being and how well they can do their jobs.  In all too many cases that has been lost in corporate America.  The ability to guide a company without using heavy handed, antiquated tactics is a skill that he personifies. 

-        Simon Lobanov has been able to provide jobs to individuals who were not gainfully employed while successfully growing a business in one of the most competitive industries in the world.  His business model has been so successful that many past employees have gone on to use it in creating their own businesses.   The reality is that you must provide true savings to your clients and not neglect to maintain their accounts with good customer service and account managers in order to retain them.  Big men with big dreams who continue to succeed are often envied by those less fortunate and unwilling to work as hard to achieve their goals.

-        Mike Podgayetsky, and I am speaking for myself here, does not beg merchants for sales.  What business owner would sign a processing contract because somebody says “Oh please…pretty, pretty  please?”.  That concept in and of itself is nonsensical.  I am not even on the sales staff.  I am the VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES.  I do interact with various sales managers and agents on a day to day basis but only insofar as their paperwork and company productivity reports go. 

-        Steve Popen is a recruitment director and the individual referenced is a Stephen Popen who (if you would have taken the time to do accurate research) is a different person and is, in point of fact, deceased.

-        No one here at Red Payments can accurately speak to the management practices and/or sales methodology of a competitor, namely Everest…or Albert.

-        Katherine Martinez has been a highly valued employee of Red Payments since day one.  She has worked in several departments and because of her knowledge of back office operations she is considered by many as one of the “go to” people when procedural questions arise.  She always acquits herself in a professional manner and her demeanor with both clients and co workers has never been called into question.  She is an asset and a mainstay in our customer relations department.

-        Marlene knew nothing about the credit card processing industry when she started working for Red Payments.  Because of her outgoing personality and ability to focus on the matter at hand she has found herself handling many of our VIP accounts.  Several merchants ask for her by name when they call in to our customer relations area.  She is definitely a rising star within the department.

-        Farah, the Customer Relations Department Manager, has years of experience in the industry.  Her level of expertise allows for quicker resolutions of issues than the industry norm.  Our clients would rather hold on for three minutes and get a definitive resolution than being put on a callback list and waiting for some unknown person to (maybe) eventually call them back.  Her English is clearly better than that of the person who wrote the original post.  Perhaps this is a case of jealousy because of her written and verbal fluency in several languages.

-        Valerie and Doug are more than just okay; they are valued employees who have gained the trust of many merchants who never believed a credit card processing company could or would care about them and their businesses.  The fact that they stay here at Red Payments speaks volumes toward how this company is run and how they feel about their jobs and working here.

In closing I must point out that the individual who wrote this posting apparently has some type of dark agenda and is on some kind of twisted vendetta.  It would be wise for them to think long and hard about not just what they are attempting to do but why.  Misplaced anger and misdirected comments are often indicators of much more serious underlying psychological issues.  I would hasten to add that some of these comments border of being both libel and slander.  Continuing in this vein would be at best ill advised and at worst litigious.

As I mentioned, we have an open door policy.  If in fact if you feel a need to vent or discuss some perceived slight let’s do so in a private but open forum like adults and come to a better understanding that can bring about positive changes.