Credit card processing anyone heard of The Automotive Payment Club or have a good company they use?

[MINI4U]

We use our bank for credit card processing and they are not too bad. I tried a couple other places after falling for sales pitches over the years and it was a disaster so I have been reluctant to move away from the bank.

 

I know it "should" be less expensive to use a company outside of the bank. Got a flyer from The Automotive Payment Club promising:

 

Special APC pricing

No monthly PCI Fees

0 annual fee

No contract term

0 monthly junk fees

Free Credit card machine

Zero upfront/Start up cost

 

Anyone use these guys or have a company that they are happy with?

 

 

[b1qwkbird]

I use flagship processing after doing research of my own and am EXTREMELY happy. I also fell for a few sales pitches and also signed a "quote" that turned out to be a contract. That was cost plus processing and if you do any research on them they use deceptive methods for everything they do. Thus president Phil would never even return my phone calls after numerous attempts. However I don't even consider other offers now and brag on flagship every chance I get.

[b1qwkbird]

Also there is no contract with them. Their philosophy is they don't need them due their excellent service

[xrac]

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[alfredauto]

Look up interchange plus plans from first data or I payment. Most of these ads that offer .69% or free machines usually are more expensive. They fail to explain the interchange costs. They get away with it because your monthly bill is low - the one that you see. The discount that comes off after each transaction via interchange rates and markup are not so easy to see unless you study your statement.

[Tires Too]

NAPA has a very competitively priced program through Bank of America and Hot Rod processing is also very competitive.

 

Joe Skutches

The Official Credit Card Processor for “ Automotive Training Institute-ATI ”

946 Linden Street

Bethlehem, PA 18018

Direct Line 570-656-3013

Or 877-333-6266,fax 610-340-2343

[email protected]

[MINI4U]

Look up interchange plus plans from first data or I payment. Most of these ads that offer .69% or free machines usually are more expensive. They fail to explain the interchange costs. They get away with it because your monthly bill is low - the one that you see. The discount that comes off after each transaction via interchange rates and markup are not so easy to see unless you study your statement.

I am not sure what you mean by the monthly bill being low- the one you see. We see our monthly charges so how are they hiding other charges?

[SES]

DON'T DO IT!
They are SCAMMERS!

http://autorepairpayment.com/

Reasons:

1. They have yet to provide a signed copy of our Merchant Agreement. Sales Rep was In, Out, GONE!
2. Our first bad taste was when they falsified our PCI Compliance/Certificate using a false email address "for our convenience". We knowe this only because we went to do our PCI Compliance as Required and found it had already been done. They tried to tell us we did it. I asked for the email address. It was BOGUS, just like the certificate they then emailed to us.
3. They CLAIM there are NO Annual Fees, NO Monthly PCI Compliance Fees, and Regulatory Compliance Fees are WAIVED, yet they almost immediately charged us $129 for "Past Year PCI Compliance" when we were not a customer in any past year. They Respectfully Refuse To Refund this fee.
4. They offered a Welcome Gift of a $100 Home Depot Gift Card. Read the fine print on that. We hit $10k on 7/2. No card has been forthcoming.
5. They CLAIM there are No Fees for Discover Card transactions for a Year. Lied on that one too.
6. They CLAIM No Junk Fees. I don't know what Junk Fees are, but they charge fees for everything under the sun with no explanation at all. ALL Junk! They will FEE you to Death!
7. Cumulative Average Cost per Transaction is currently at 3.79%, when you include ALL their Fees vs. Total Reported Sales.
8. They charged us for the 1st 2 transactions they Required us to complete to activate the system and the Discover Card Free program.
9. They charge $5 a month for a paper statement. Nothing is online, except their alleged "PCI Compliance Training and Certification".
10. They charge a Batch Fee of $0.30 Daily for processing transactions.

I can go on and on, but I think 10 reasons is a good start.

[flacvabeach]

We use Hot Rod like Tires Too suggested above. Great rates, free machine. They ship you the machine, you plug it in and start swiping. They are a preferred provider for the Virginia Automotive Association.

[xrac]

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[alfredauto]

Some processors send a bill for their 1% or whatever plus the $40 bs fees, so it looks pretty cheap. Compare your bank statement to your receipts and you'll see what I mean by hidden fees , the interchange rate comes off immediately with some of these companies. Example - do 100k a month in visa sales you get a bill for $1000. Good. However, Your bank statement shows 95k actually deposited. It cost 6% not 1%. They took the interchange rate plus markup off immediately. It's usually the companies with glossy sales materials and fast talking salespeople, I use flagship it's easy everything I swipe goes into my account and they send me a statement clearly showing the charges which amount to about 2% depending on the market. Napas program is pretty good too it's probably flagship.

[ccoria1]

I also have a very good processor if anyone is interested.

If I may ask , who is your provider?

[lmcca]

also ask them when they make the deposits to your bank account. some will hold onto your money for 2 days.

Edited March 20, 2015 by lmcca

[Marksas]

I am a new member and stumbled across this site while looking for information / complaints on Automotive Payment Club because I had received some information on them and I am currently evaluating all of our phone, cell, internet, cable TV and CC processing services. I appreciate the posts and it pretty much helped me make my decision to not pursue wasting anymore time with APC. The great thing is I found a forum for Shop Owners, so this turned into a good use of my time.

[Absolute Automotive]

^ I agree with Schertz exactly. Thanks for the info after stumbling into the forum guys. I have been with NPC Merchant Processing through Business Solutions/Unified Payments for a while. Every year they play the same game with $90 PCI platinum fee's (even though I opted out and validated my certificate on time like always). Another $90 for the Regulatory & Compliance fee they try to slap me with until I call them. Then Unified tries adding on a $129 annual fee the last two years, when I am not under a term contract, and have never had annual fees for the last 9 years per my application in 2006. Of course this is excluding the times they throw it on my bill every so often, hoping I don't notice. They then waste an hour of my secretary's time to play mary-go-extension on the phone with slimy agents trying to pass the buck. They aren't honest about who they are, what department, who can authorize credits or anything. Just straight out crooks playing games with my money whenever they feel like it. I'm definitely done with that racket. I hope the Flagship people can take care of me better.

[PAPShop]

Our processing is done by Metro Merchant Processing. The batch processes before a certain time at night (around the time we close) and the money is in our bank account the next day. We have a local representative, he stops by the shop on a monthly basis to see how things are going. If we have any issues, I call him and he is in the shop the same day. The other thing is, he brings his car to us! We are doing business with people who do business with us - it's a shop policy. My rates are low, and I am comfortable with the company I'm working with. For a 6 month period last year, I watched our monthly rate like a hawk just to prove to myself that we had good rates, and they were good. He has built loyalty from us because of his customer service, and we have done the same with him.

 

So when Mr. Scammer calls me about my processing, I ask if they are in our customer base. When their answer is no we are in XX state. I politely tell them we only do business with companies that do business with us. End of phone call - they hang up on me.

[xrac]

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[xrac]

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[andresauto]

I pay First Data $1000. per $35000. in sales. I recently signed up and received a Flagship terminal since the terminals will need to be replaced by summer time for the new credit cards with the microchip that are out now. I have not set it up yet. I will today though. Anyone have any comparables? Meaning cost per thousand.

[xrac]

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[andresauto]

Wow, that's much better than my First Data tier plan. Hopefully the Flagship Merchants interchange plus plan will save the company some cash. Is that a tiered pricing plan or interchange plus?

[xrac]

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[FROGFINDER]

not to steer the conversation but how about getting a ATM installed and they pay cash.

[PAPShop]

not to steer the conversation but how about getting a ATM installed and they pay cash.

Most accounts have daily ATM withdrawl limits.

[alfredauto]

I prefer cash or check, but some people prefer to spend money they don't have or, like me, they use the card for everything to get the points.

[NASCARGARAGE]

THANKS, I'M NEW TO AUTO SHOP OWNERS. NOT GOING TO CHECK OUT APC. GRASS AINT ALWAYS GREEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE.

 

THANKS, AGAIN FOR THE TIPS

JAY / NAS CAR GARAGE