Merchant Warehouse is a Terrible Company.

Many people who read this blog are small publishers like I am. You often find yourselves at conventions needing to take credit cards. I’d like to give you a piece of advice: Don’t Use Merchant’s Warehouse. I got stuck in a contract with them almost two years ago for our booth at Gen Con. They were consistently misleading and charged for every little thing, including doing nothing. Their sales staff is fantastic. Their service staff don’t write back, and they’re careful to send important information at the point in time most convenient to them and least convenient to you.

I got out of my contract because they sent me a notice on December 20-somethingth that they were adding $25 of charges to my useless monthly bill. It’s a clever time to send such a notice. After all, who’s checking all their business mail right before the New Year? There’s family around, you’re probably scrambling with business stuff on the ground. It said that, if I did nothing, I was accepting their new charges. I called them and told them that I wanted out. They emailed me a form that I had to fax (“Email of the 80s!”)back. I filled it out and faxed it back. I just got a final bill with the extra $25 tacked on because I called them in January, rather than in the 45 business minutes at the end of December that they allowed me.

There are new smartphone apps that allow direct access to PayPal like Square’s nifty little gadget. I bet that, by next Gen Con, that shit will be worked out and you won’t have to deal with this kind of shyster like I did.

6 thoughts on “Merchant Warehouse is a Terrible Company.”

  1. I’ve processed with Merchant Warehouse for a little over 2 years now and have had 0 issues. They don’t have a contract which is their policy so check your facts… they disclose that right on their home page. I don’t think they got to be one of the biggest ones out there screwing people over. They also won an award last year for their service, again, check their website.

    As far as Paypal… well firstly, if you’re a REAL business you probably can’t just take Paypal or you look like a jv shop. Secondly, try going through them for service… I bought something a few months ago and got the wrong item and tried to return it and the seller would not cooperate. I tried putting in a claim through Paypal and they told me I was better off going through my bank and doing a chargeback… now that is some service.

    Good luck with Paypal though… I’m sure your business will blow up using that.. or Square.. which is Paypal 2.0… I’ll stick with a real account.

    1. They don’t have a contract which is their policy so check your facts…

      You’re asking me to do a fact check in my own inbox, you know. This isn’t going to be very hard.

      Hi Joshua,
      Your contract is for 3 years, you will still be responsible for the early termination fee until July 2011.
       
      Thank you,
       
      Meghan O’Donnell
      Client Services Representative :: Merchant Warehouse
      2 International Place, 4th Floor Boston, MA 02110
      P:  800.941.6557   F:  857.241.5494

      The early termination fee is $150. I got that account in July of 2008 (despite asking them to start it in August, so they got an month’s fee out of me there). I suspect the “no contract” thing is either a new thing since I started working with them (something they never told me about), or it’s really “No contract! You’re free to stop using our service any time you like, as long as you pay $150, which we’ll waive in three years.”

      They also won an award last year for their service, again, check their website.

      Did you know that Bill O’Reilley got an award for excellence in investigative reporting in Texas? And he calls his work “Opinion”.

      if you’re a REAL business you probably can’t just take Paypal or you look like a jv shop.

      Wait, wait. I want to quote this part again:

      if you’re a REAL business

      Did you just insult my business? You came all the way across the Internet to defend Merchant Warehouse on my little blog by telling me my business is small? You’re acting like you’re drunk and picking a fight with another guy at the bar. Are you going to call me a fag now? (That’s my favorite bar fight insult, cuz if you say you are, then they get all awkward feeling, cuz they’ve got gay friends.)

      You know that Paypal takes credit cards, right? And just who is it that I’m trying to impress here? Cuz if it’s my customers, they don’t know who deals with my credit card clearances. That’s not their business, and it’s not interesting to them — unless they need to be warned, as small business owners themselves, of distinctly unfriendly practices.

      So, listen: how did you even find out about my blog? I assume you’ve never looked at the rest of my site, what I do, or anything. Where’d you come from and why are you here? What’s your business?

  2. Josh, a Rabbi once said don’t get in a fight with a fool because people from a distance can’t tell the difference between the the two.

    I can assure you that everyone who knows you and is familiar with you and what you do knows he’s full of shit.

  3. No, the guy helped me demonstrate my point. I appreciate his help, even though I can’t fathom why someone would have such an obviously emotional investment in such a company as Jackson there.

    Many of the people who read my blog are starting publishers who I don’t yet know well. Part of the way we work is by sharing information like this. If the dude’s gonna come here and act creepy in his defense of a *credit card clearing house*, then I want to make sure those new publishers catch the whole conversation.

    Plus, I want Google to catch this.

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