Elavon
reviews and complaints

Our merchant services experience with Elavon has been nothing short of harrowing. For over a year Elavon's payment gateway would not allow customers to purchase products online through our website shopping cart. Every order needed to be processed manually. Their vague credit card verification process ultimately resulted in a $26.4K chargeback. Their cooperation in resolving these issues was nonexistent. No explanation for the chargeback was provided despite documentation evidencing that we had taken every possible precaution to verify the authenticity of the on-line credit card transaction, leaving the impression that it is easier for Elavon to do a chargeback than, at the very least, have the credit card issuing bank call their customer to verify the authenticity of the credit card transaction. In our opinion Elavon is not the innovative, secure, and global partner for your payment processing needs as they claim in their advertising. Documentary evidence will be provided upon request.

I signed up for a U.S. merchant service on 5/19 for and this has been nothing but a nightmare. I feel I've been scammed. The lady who talked to me to initially onboard said that I have been way too much with other processors and she said "you'll pay almost nothing with us!". She said that all I would EVER pay was a small percentage (0.5% or so?) for each transaction, that was to be ALL that I would every pay. No mention of monthly charges or additional charges, EVER. So she told me to just sign a docu-sign and I did. Then a few days later, a surprise, I get a payment hardware in the mail WHICH I NEVER ASKED FOR. I also saw a charge for $53.65. Somehow I found someone to complain to on US Bank site and the person named Jung H Kang agreed that I was unjustly charged for something I never agreed on and promised a refund (screenshot attached). Weeks go by and I don't see the refund. I contact him again twice, but he decided to completely ghost on me. Today, a month and a half later, still no refund. Then, on 7/3, I see another new charge for $35 labeled "Misc Debit Merch Los Ange Billing", which I have no idea what for. What the onboarding lady said was that you pay only when you use the service, in a tiny percentage. They just keep taking money from me for no reason. This is completely unacceptable. I cannot remember the lady's name but her phone number I have on record is ‪[protected]‬.

About 2 years ago I had few charge back on my merchant account with Elavon, back then they took founds and had to hold them for investigation purposes.

Until here I was ok , and understood the process, 5/31/23 at 5:06pm eastern time I received a email from Elavon, “ C ,L ( i used first initials in order to keep the employee name private)

iInvestigative Fraud Analyst

Elavon l Loss Prevention. that email was to inform me that the results of the investigation was in my favor and I have 17k that need to be returned to me ,

The next day at 11 am I talk to C at Elavon And she give me information and number to proceed,

I followed the instructions and call to make sure it’s was received and everything is ok , at this point customer service agent told me that it’s should take 3-5 business day to receive my money wire to my bank , the first 7 days pass and I contacted Elavon agin and was told another 3 business days I waited and called again this time the customer service agent told me I have to call C the person that helped me from the beginning, I did as I was told and was able to talk to C , at this point she was apologizing why it took so long and told me she’s reaching out to the agent that is responsible for the refund, and told me to follow up with her the next day , the next day I called and I didn’t hear from C , I left multiple messages and sent emails , few days after I was able to get hold of C and she told me that she’s still trying to get the agent to send my money to me and she would follow up with me this time, I waited few days and didn’t hear anything from C ,

I called agin and left multiple messages, emailed few times but didn’t hear from her since then, I called customer service and I been told by multiple agents that I have to call this number [protected] not paying attention I called and the number was for C , I called again to customer service and I was told that this is the only number they are instructed to give me , ( and I can understand that , but at list give me a number for someone that would be available and not the same Mia person) now unfortunately to me I had to close the business due to Covid and divorce from abusive ex wife , that ended up with me being a single parent for a 4 years old daughter, and without a job so at this point after more then 2 years , I would appreciate the money come to me as I needed it now more than anything, I been trying to work with them but no one would help me and keep repeating the same cycle, the next step is the attorney general or any institution that can help me at this point they are holding the money and now not even answering me anymore, this is a crime!

I am a business owner in Canada. In November 2022 I contacted Ladco to terminate a lease on a point of sale device that I had with Ladco. The reason I was terminating the lease is that my credit card processing company (Elavon) had imposed fee increases twice within a six-month period. According to the Canadian Code of Conduct that allowed me to exit my arrangement with Elavon; also to terminate the lease of my P.O. S. device with Ladco.

When I contacted a sales rep with Ladco, whose name is "Gary C.," although initially he did not want to allow me to terminate the lease, in the end, he agreed to do so, writing: “Very well. I will submit the request... When I get the assets logged in and confirm the Elavon account is closed I will request the termination of the lease.”

However, Ladco has continued to debit my bank account for lease payments. When I contacted Ladco again to ask why they were not honouring Gary C's commitment I was told that my lease has not been ended and they will continue to withdraw payments from my account until the lease expires.

In other words - we lied.

Elavon is dishonest and Pirates on the take an has absolutely no integrity I did not choose this company..I went THROUGH my bank for merchant services and they gave me this corrupt company they have been holding on to my funds for almost a month continuously lie and make excuses to keep my money. I DONT TRUST these companies anymore from now on cash or check for me..it is a SIN what these people do and think they are going to continue to prosper..bad seeds wither in time.

its a big scam company that tries to get merchants first and then hold their accounts and funds and when asked for reason they will quote some other bullsh** excuses and policies.

Stay away, they're not customer friendly at all. Not sure why such companies are even allowed to operate in Canada.

They're holding around $5k of my amount, accepting only $3K and also not releasing $3k either.

My business closed two years ago after I became permanently disabled. I still couldn't get them to end my lease, even though I literally cannot work or make money. All my other financial obligations were able to help me out and did so with compassion and respect. Not Ladco. They continued to charge me for years and then never sent a letter when my lease was finally ending, and thus continued to charge me month to month. All in all, I have had to spend nearly $3000 on a $100 piece of equipment. I feel absolutely scammed and it should be illegal to continue to collect on a lease when the person is permanently disabled. Even my student loans were discharged, which tells you the level of scam going on at this company.

I am pretty pissed off at myself, but more so with Elavon. I leased 2 terminals for my companies. 4 year agreement at $34.00 a month. So that should be $1632 for the lease. With an option to continue the lease or purchase for $400.00 So, that would be about $2000.00 for each terminal at a cost of about $4000.00. FOR A $300.00 MACHINE!

I have read alot of comments on this board about Elavon the parent company of Ladco Leasing. Yes we all were mislead and I cant even get a legible copy of my lease agreement from Ladco about how they calculate charges. But this month, for some reason I received an additional bill of $25.00 per terminal. I can not get an answer from Ladco on what the charges are for. Others on here say it is for taxes. What taxes? Federal? State? Tennesee Leasing Agreement Tax? Not sure.

I too have sent a complaint to the BBB about Ladco and Elavon. No answer or result in helping get out of a contract. I stopped using them last month and went to another company that offered a free terminal, free product support. But I didn't send back the terminal. I am keeping it and just paying the monthly fee so they cant collect and send the terminal to someone else. My fees increased because they wont apply my insurance letter I sent so now I pay $51 a month.

So in my effort to have an investigation of Price Gouging, I sent a formal letter of complaint to my Attorney General office. I suggest you all do the same. As a business owner, I to agree that we have to make some money to survive. But, when you are the company that is charging you a rental fee for the terminal, charging you $50.00 for paper AND collecting the percentage of sales? That is a little price gouging.

Started to open an account for my business. Was promised great rates and they would pay for my buyout from the company I have my POS machine from because this is better using a vurtual machine. Never got the software they promised just a swipe card plate for the old hand visa and MasterCard paper zip zip machines. Called to cancel got the run around for 3 months was billed by them and now after paying 100.00 to cancel my contract with them I get another invoice they have taken more money out of my account again at the end of June 2016

WE HAD 10 CHAR BACKS. 8 OUT OF 10 WAS REVERSED BACK TO OUR ACCOUNT . RISK MANAGEMENT HELD THE FUNDS SAYING ILLEGAL ACTIVITY . ONCE ELAVON RELEASED THE FUNDS THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO RELEASE THE FUNDS IF WE WERE FOUND TO BE CORRECT IN OUT DEALINGS. we had submitted all documentation and waiting for our funds to be released. few days go by and doing sales as normal . credit card machines could not batch out .. after a few calls we find out ALL are accounts are canceled and terminated. money in sales are stuck in the machine and can not be deposited to our account . when we called elavon they said to find another way of recovering from the customer ... as we are going to tack down all the customers and ask for payment. like we take down phone numbers and contact information from a retail sale. ...

THIS IS A JOKE OF A MERCHANT SERVICE ! DO NOT USE THEM FOR ANY REASON . WOULD LOVE TO SEE THEM IN A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT . !

In 2001 my wife was approached by I believe initially by First Data services which eventually were switched to Elevon administered by Ladco leasing. We used their equipment for approximately 4 years at pre determined monthly fee which seemed to increased considerable over time. Now when we closed our business in Aug/2015 and wanted to return our lease equipment, they did not allow us to return the equipment until we paid penalty amts for visa, mastercare $250 each and then $968 more deducted from our bank acct and then they wanted more but offered a so called deal which we took since the payments never seem to end and now they are still after more money . We have returned the equipment and paid the amts they requested which I am feeling guilty about but did not know where to apply or who to approach without having to disburse additional money. We we just a small used book family owned company and worked for minimum wages. We believe this company to be fraudulent and without any scrupules and will go at any lenght to access merchant's hardearned money to which much of they are not entitled. Our problem is that we can't locate any contract. It has created enormous marital and financial stress for months on end. Is there any class lawsuit we could join. We have dealt with the Knoxville Ladco Office Most sincerely Mr Pierre Seguin any help or assistance would be greatly appreciated asap.

February 9th, m 2015

In 2011 I leased a small building for four years and opened a restaurant. I recently closed it and called Ladco to return the terminal which I haven't used for a year because I went from Elavon to another credit card company. I called yesterday to find out where to return the terminal and was told I had 18 more months of my lease and would have to pay 1332.05 when I returned the terminal. I would never lease a piece of equipment when the lease for the business would run out before the terminal lease would. I called yesterday and asked them to send me a copy of my original lease to my e-mail address but they did not. They were rude and told me to "have a great day". I am interested in joining a class action suit. Thank you L. C. Franchetti

I have had a merchant service account for many years…decided to switch to Elevon as it was advertized in the Costco magazine.

I took them more than a month so not even be able to set up the account. There was rarely any live person to speak to. I was on a call for 1 hour and still left without service.

They are VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. Would never want to do business with them. If they can’t even set up an account, how would they be once they get your money?

Rip-off ###! Everytime I turn around my rates are jacked and/or some stupid fee is added. I closed the account in April 2012. In June 2012 I get another charge for a "Card Association Fee" which was NEVER charged before. They say it should have been charged to my account but they forgot! It is only $5.00 but this is just one more in a LONG line of BS fees, some of which are quite substantial. Run away from these ###! They are crooks! They are theives! They hide by saying these are fees that are charged by VISA and they are just passing them along. Guess what? I have Intuit processing, and they do not have all of these bull-### fees. I mean how can an outfit charge fees after the account is closed? My bank says they cannot dispute a merchant sevice fee, my only recourse is to close the account. Do not let Elavon / Merchant Connect have anything to do with your company / your money! These people are non-blinking rip-off ###!

For any of you who could utilize this information, here you are:

Erik Porter is the Director of Business Development at Ladco Leasing (corporate office in CA) from Jan. 2011 to present.
Formerly he was in Sales & Marketing with U.S. Bank in the Business Equipment Finance Group for 7 years.

LADCO's domain is LADCO.COM. The registrar is NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC (URL http://www.networksolutions.com). Updated Oct. 14, 2011, Expires Dec. 13, 2012. DNS servers are: DNS4.ELAVON.NET, DNS5.ELAVON.NET, DNS6.ELAVON.NET.

The LADCO's "Lease Flow Funding" form agreement between LADCO and the Agent who signed you up has 4 in-depth Steps to "sealing the deal". LADCO utilizes the services of EPS (Electronic Payment Systems) to move funds accordingly. As most of you may know by now, the rep that snagged you gets a healthy "kick-back" from LADCO for doing so. This is what you're paying for. When I confronted the rep that attempted to "rape" my company using LADCO about how much he made off this deal, he could only look down at the floor and mumbled, "Not very much."

My reply, "Well it's enough that you don't want to give it back though, isn't it?"

All the Steps are enlightening but Step 3 and 4 are especially informative (this is all typed verbatim from the form):

STEP THREE: Verfication

a) Notify Ladco that the equipment has been installed or have your installer call LADCO Leasing when finished from the customer site [protected]).
b) You can call LADCO from the merchant's location, have the merchant contact us, or you can call us and let us know and we will contact the merchant.
c) Please have the Equipment serial number and MID# ready at the time of confirmation.
d) LADCO will walk the merchant through a verbal checklist to make sure they understand the terms and nature of the lease.
e) LADCO MUST (underscored) verify with the person who signed the lease.
f) LADCO is available 7am-4:00pm PST, Monday through Friday

STEP FOUR: Funding of Lease

To Fund, EPS must have:

a) A PERFECTLY LEGIBLE faxed or the original equipment lease properly completed and signed. EPS can approve from fax copies but requires the signed document to be sent with the Merchant application and all associated paperwork.
b) A confirmed verbal verification of delivery, installation, and functionality of ALL equipment that is the subject of the lease document.

When we have a complete package and all items listed above EPS will issue a check and send it out within 24 hours of the verbal verification. Next day delivery is available.
(Bolded and centered)
Congratulations - Now let's do it all over again!

I see nowhere on Elavon’s website to complain about this matter:
For the last 23 years I have charged items to my credit cards at the prevailing exchange rates. I was shocked, to say the least, when Novotel Paddington, UK charged my credit card at a huge 3.5% markup. I pointed out the exchange rate seemed too high but there was no explanation given. To add insult to injury I later saw marked on the customer copy the disclaimer re currency choices being offered (they had not) and exchange rate being final. (But nothing before I signed, only afterwards). I submit no bills should be charged at a markup like this, no warning was given before I was given the bill to sign and the wording on the customer copy was after the fact. Given the standards before Elavon card swipes came in there should be no place for these mark ups, or indeed Elavon, and even more so when this came without warning.

I doubt I will get a reply about this, I reported it to the hotel and they have not responded. Elavon appear to want to just make extra money, while deceiving the customer putting the blurb on the chit only at the end of the transaction.

Let the charger beware, check chits carefully and asks questions before signing.

This company stole 100k from me and my company on July 11th 2011. I have been asking them why since that date and have not revieved anything in writing. I have spoken to Lisa Yaple, Jay Smith, Bernie Deckys, all managers that deal with Elavon and work for Costco, Coscto is the one that recommended this two bit company Elavon. They act like they are concerned but nothing has been done in three days. Costco says they cannot even get Elavon to respond? Really Costco...your a billion dollar company and Elavon will not answer why they took 100k of my money without any notice. Oh..for those reading, i have been in business for 15 years and have high dollars balances, obvioulsy if they swiped 100k from my account.

Ralph White and Lawrence Taylor from Elavon should not be trusted. They are completely worthless and after they get you signed up..good luck getting any correspondence.

Lucreatia Embry, Carla M Henry and Todd Aaron with Elavon are absolutely no help either. I have sent in emails to these people repeatedly without any response. I am going to email them this link on complaintsboard so they can reply but I doubt they will. This is so fustrating to lose this amount of money without any written evidence from Elavon or Costco as to why the money was taken.

Elavon Complaints - Merchant Processing Services
I did read my contract says must comply with pci not a word about a web site Your contract is not clear and neither was the person that signed me up. where to sign up for pci. charged extra 30.00per month for not knowing how to comply did not catch it till annual extra charge 50.00.
also charged 5.00 per month for statement received total of 3 in a year.
got the first one then missed several months total of 9. So I figure my contract went into default the second month when I did not receive statements. tried to cancel being charged 195.00. Did not receive 9 statements out of 12 well I think I can prove them wrong, I think a subpoena of total count of customers and a postal bill would prove they are defaulting. Also told not getting statements does not break contract, still collected the 5.00 monthly. A broken contract is just that I am disputing the proprietorial cancellation fee.
I am going to try class action suit if I get enough response.
Feel free to contact me at [protected]@uprr.co or Fax [protected]
name is Jon.
Thanks Little Jon

Ladco leasing is a complete rip off. Do NOT lease credit card equipment from these ###. They might as well have put a gun to my head and robbed me. I was a new business owner and didn't know any better. I signed a 4 year lease for 2 credit card terminals for a $176 a month fee. I just purchased the same equipment for $149 per terminal. I paid them over $8000 to use their terminal and twice when power cords broke it was a HUGE hassle to get them replaced, AND I HAD TO PAY FOR THEM.

Run away from these ###. Just Google them. That will tell you what [censored]-bags they are.