Who is TMS?
If you’ve ever researched “merchant services card processing”, chances are you’ve come across one of the biggest companies with the words “merchant services” in the name. Total Merchant Services card processing isn’t necessarily the top hit on Google for a good reason. We’ll dive into this company’s lures, poor practices, customer reviews, and why they’ve landed over 100,000 not so happy customers.
Poor Training
How can such a shady company have such a high customer base? Because customers can’t leave! Total Merchant Services says its policy is to no longer charge an early termination fee and advertises this heavily. Their independent sales reps who write the contract terms, however, don’t abide by it. TMS might be too worried about growth to train their agents properly, or they are trained to be unethical. Either way, customer reviews on the BBB aren’t positive.
Terminal Terrors
If you want to use Total Merchant Services card processing, you better be ready to keep your terminal in pristine condition. If you get a properly trained sales rep, it’s possible to avoid a terminal leasing fee, but if you want to return it after it’s been used you should expect to pay for it in full. Additionally, if you forget to return your equipment within 10 days of the end of your contract, you’ll pay for it anyway. Mobile business owners beware: The Total Merchant Services card processing reader for mobile payments is NOT PCI compliant.
Total Merchant Services Card Processing Activity
If you want to tell how much a company cares about its customers, employees, and the public’s understanding, check out its press and blog pages. Neither of these is visible on TMS’s website, partially because they aren’t kept up very well. If you’re looking for more information on anything merchant services card processing related, check out our blog page and get a first-hand experience of what transparency looks like.