Commerce Payments, Commerce Payment Systems Deceptive false advertising, Undisclosed fees, Excessive fees, High Transaction Fees, HIGH Effective Rate Hewlett New York

Commerce Payments promotional advertisement that arrived in our mail promised: 1. Guaranteed lowest rates, 2. Award Winning customer support, 3. Credit card terminal solutions for every business, 4. No Long Term Contracts, 5. 24 Hour application turnaround, 6. Fast funding to your bank account, 7. Secure & Direct Processing of Visa/Mastercard.  They also promised a reliable, low-cost merchant account without hassles or start up costs. It included a large letter from the President/CEO Michael Mendlowitz promising a 100% money back guarantee (first 30 days... of course you can't get your first statement within 30 days) and a seemingly heartfelt note as to why he started the business. The whole thing is a load of baloney. What we have found is that in the last 4 months, we have paid the following effective rates:  9.39%, 4.93%, 4.59%, and 5.025%.  They do NOT have the guaranteed lowest rates, their customer service (during the 5 phone calls made to inquire about the high effective rate) was surly, they had a credit card solution for us (can't say about other businesses), apparently there is no long term contract (We are sure we will find out the truth on this when we send the credit card machine back and cancel their service), the 24 hour application turnaround was more like 21 DAYS (They held the money we were running through the card machine, and to the best of our knowledge weren't going to fund it to our bank until we called as asked where the money was. Apparently there was a problem with some paperwork, however, we were never contacted about it). We suppose they fund quickly and it must be secure & direct.  They have been reliable (on the processing end) but the have NOT been a low cost option (as evidenced by the absurdly elevated Effective Rate we received).  Hassles?  I have had to spend hours pouring over convoluted statements that make it difficult for anyone to determine exactly what is being charged where. I have had four other credit card processing companies tell me that they have NEVER seen anything like their statements and hidden fees.  I have spent hours on the phone with unhelpful customer service asking why my Effective Rate is so high, only to be told that obviously I don't understand credit card processing and that I am receiving the .025 rate promised.  Start up costs consisted of an annual fee (which they said did not exist) and now we've received a PCI annual compliance fee ($99) that they have generously passed along to me.  I would NOT do business with this customer unless you enjoy paying an average of 5.98% of your hard earned sales to a credit card processor...... BUYER BEWARE with this company!