Our small business has used Heartland Payment Systems for four or five years now. In late December 2016, we changed incorporation and they requiered us to upload new software. It hasn't worked properly since then. I have logged over 40 phone calls to customer service because my previously efficient credit card machine now requires up to one dozen repeat attempts to complete a transaction or batch out. At first, reps said that I should switch from dial-up because "that machine doesn't work well with dial-up."
We cleared the machine and downloaded it for Wi-Fi. After a couple of months and hundreds of failed and repetitious transaction attempts, a rep said I should should switch to dial-up; that perhaps my wi-fi was poor. We switched back to dial-up, but the problem remains. Then, of course, they suggested our phone service was bad. I'm fairly certain that the phone service we had didn't go bad the very same day we uploaded the new software.
Now they insist we purchase a new machine, We've paid for the old one. Since Global Payments (owned by Wells Fargo: Go Figure; Ranked in the top 4 banking institutions considered bad for the country by Alternet.org.) Global Payments dramatically raised rates, fired local reps, and began promoting the purchase of their new machines. I'm thinking the new machines bring in a decent profit?
Notice in their retorts to a couple of complaints that they claim the complainant must be a disgruntled employee. Aside from the fact they now have a lot of disgruntled employees, both former and current, it is NOT unusual for us to call ourselved "merchants," and many ARE familiar the Durbin Amendment and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. In fact, it's highlighted on the Heartland's "about-us" web page: https://www.heartlandpaymentsystems.com/about-us/. Oh....and they don't have local reps any more; at least not as many as they used to, and not in my area. Many of the vendors in this small community are trying to drop Heartland. Heartland threatens with implementing early cancellation fees they claim are disclosed in the contracts.
There are many good corporations in the world and this country, run by evolved and consciencious men and women. Heartland, Global Payments, and Wells Fargo and not examples of them.