TransFirst EXTREMELY Deceptive & Unethical Broomfield Colorado

I engaged in a merchant agreement with TransFirst in Sept 2011.  At the time, I was never advised that I was signing a 3-YEAR agreement.  The seriously fine print, buried in an enormous merchant agreement document was never highlighted by the representative who signed my business up for a merchant processing account. 

Over the past two years, the fees this company has charged for merchant services have been utterly ridiculous.  In May 2013 I contacted the company, because as a small business owner (who rarely processes credit transactions) the account had started actually costing me money, as I just wasn't processing enough credit transactions to make it worth my while.  The rep (CJ) that I spoke with, advised me that I could not cancel my agreement as I was locked into a 2-year deal... if I cancelled, I would have been a $250 cancellation fee.  She then advised me that she could "lower my rate" to make it more affordable.  Mind you, the whole issue is I'M HARDLY PROCESSING ANY TRANSACTIONS!!!  

Here is an example of my current bill:

I processed one transaction this month for $55.  

Bill shows:

MONTHLY SERVICE FEE $5.00

ANNUAL ADMIN FEE:  $79.95

AU.NET MONTHLY FEE $14.95

ON RECEIPT OF PCI VALIDATION:  $9.95

There were several other small fees & at the end of the day, my bill was $116.31 when I only had one transaction for $55!!! The cost of having the merchant account is more than I'm generating in revenue via credit!  Nevertheless, I thought I would just bid my time until the agreement was up in Sept. 2013.  So, in October I called to cancel.  I was then advised I had a THREE YEAR AGREEMENT!!  I asked the rep to point to the fine print where it said that, and she referred me to that very, very fine print buried so far down in the merchant agreement that it nearly takes a Philadelphia attorney to find it...   

The agreement does say that the cancellation fee is $250 IF there is less than 12 months remaining on the merchant agreement, but if you have MORE than 12 months remaining it'll cost you $500 to cancel.  They state that this is to cover their "damages."  That is laughable... this company has nickel and dimed me for over two years--and the right thing to do for a very little business like mine, would be to simply allow me to gracefully exit the relationship.  However, these folks run an unethical business...they would simply continue to charge me fees--even though the revenue on credit transactions is so very low that it costs more for the merchant account.  That doesn't seem to matter to this company.  

There are so many other, reputable processors out there--who do not charge these kinds of fees.  I urge all small businesses to avoid TransFirst at all costs--because it will truly COST YOU!