Complaint Review: Total Merchant Services

We used Total Merchant Services for almost 10 years, and recently discovered how bad we have been overpaying for all of this time.  We had asked TMS to review our rates repeatedly over the years.  Each time, they lowered our rates to what appeared to be a good level.  However, each month after that they would add new fees and hidden statement charges to gradually bump up our total percentage paid to a much higher level.  TMS would provide interesting names and excuses for these rates, but they are unique to TMS.

After recently putting our merchant processing business out for bid, our seasoned TMS "rate-reviewed" rates were over 0.8% higher than the competition!  This really impacts the bottom line.  In addition, TMS's chargeback process (through Global Payments) was a joke.  The chargebacks were mailed to us with a Reply By date that had already passed.  There was no way to receive the chargeback notices or reply using the Internet.

Anyway, to add insult to injury - after discovering we had been overcharged by thousands of dollars over the years and finally terminating TMS, they recently charged us an Early Termination Fee (this is despite what they advertise as "no contract" or "no early termination fee" - read the fine print!).

Our experience with this company is characterized by hidden fees, creeping rate increases, poor communication and a total lack of trust that TMS would deliver what they say.  We are taking the time to post this review in the hope that other merchants will not make the same mistake we did.