Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Switching credit card processing: Watch out for sneaky charges

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-12-2012, 12:25 PM:

I learned an expensive lesson today and wanted to pass this information along to make sure this doesn't happen to others.

We switched our credit card processing from Mercury Pay to Vantiv, due to the cost savings with the Vantiv program. (Mercury Pay has a variety of monthly charges like a $14.95 "statement fee" that you can't get out of, among others.) I was never told about any fees or "problems" with switching, in fact I asked the Vantiv representative if I needed to call Mercury Pay to get it done. They said no, they would take care of everything behind the scenes. We also use RTS for point-of-sale, and when I called them to make the change they also said everything would pretty much happen by itself.

Today I got a statement from Mercury Pay saying they had debited our account for the monthly "minimums" of $58.35, even though we had had no processing with them for the month. I called them about it, and they said it was non-refundable because we hadn't informed them of the change 30 days prior to making the change. They then told me there is a $295 charge for closing our account with them, also because we didn't give them the 30 days notice. This is ridiculous but I don't see any way out of it since we did sign the contract. (I am embarrassed that I didn't notice that fee in our contract but somehow I missed it....who reads all that fine print anyway?)

I just wanted to pass on notice of these potential charges, and let people that there might be "requirements" to close their previous service. Vantiv has worked out very well for us so far but it's going to cost us almost a year's worth of savings to make up for these charges. This is the first time we've ever switched processors but I'll sure know what to watch for the next time.

No wonder these credit card companies have such a bad rep.

Also I am highly recommending that if you have a choice, stay away from Mercury Pay. They are efficient, but their monthly charges are outlandish.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 11-12-2012, 03:16 PM:

Yet another good reason for folks with small theatres to not accept cards. As I mentioned recently, I don't accept any cards here and have no plans to start doing so. Customers don't have any problem with this; everyone knows that they have to bring actual money when they come to the show here. And the (very) few who don't know that find out soon enough.

Unfortunately, once you start taking cards it would be very difficult to stop, since people would then expect it.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 11-12-2012, 03:36 PM:

Most of the small independents I visit do not take debit or credit at the box office or snack bar, but they have a private network ATM in the lobby. Sounds ideal - depending on the ATM deal - you don't pay the CC/Interac processing charges on transactions, and you get a cut of the added non-bank ATM processing fee.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-12-2012, 06:41 PM:

Well I guess I will have to respectfully disagree with you guys. First I find that people will spend more money at the snackbar with cards; and they virtually NEVER raise an eyebrow at the ticket prices when using cards. I think people just don't think of cards as being "real money."

And, we get a lot of out-of-town customers who are thrilled when they don't have to make a trip to the ATM down the street. I think these days if you don't take cards you're seen as being in the dark ages.

Bottom line, it increases business for us + makes customers happy + speeds up the ticket line = a win-win.

But you do need to watch out for the sneaky nasty fees.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 11-12-2012, 07:45 PM:

Agree with Mike: when I used to work for a small company, we were cash only. About three years prior to my leaving, this company began to accept cards ... and our conc sales took a massive leap where boxoffice sales also had a decent leap

We kept the ATM machine in the lobby and that thing never was neglected even after the conversion.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 11-13-2012, 02:30 PM:

As someone who works for a theatre that accepts credit cards but doesn't deal with all the behind-the-scenes financial stuff, what are the average per transaction charges for companies like Mercury Pay and Vantiv?

I see a number of new start-ups popping up that make me wonder. I like Square promising 2.75% per swipe or $275 per month with no additional fees and next day-deposits, but I don't know if that's good on a financial level. If one does $10,000 in credit card sales per month, $275 per month would be break-even, and I think we do that on a half-busy Friday.

Does anyone use Square?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-13-2012, 03:22 PM:

I think the transaction fees are about the same with Mercury Pay and Vantiv; where Mercury screws you over is the monthly charges.

For last month, even with NO activity at all (because I didn't realize I had to send in a form to close our account), we got billed for $58.35. $25 was for a "minimum billing," $14.95 was for the one-page statement (which you can't opt out of), and $19.95 was for "maintenance." They also charged me a nickel for a "misuse of auth system fee" which I don't understand, since we didn't use their stupid system at all -- but it's not worth fighting them over a nickel.

Vantiv has none of these charges -- not even that "minimum." Our monthly fees have dropped $35 by switching, and our transaction rate is a bit lower now too due to the NATO agreement with Vantiv. Everything's working flawlessly, so I highly recommend everybody dump Mercury Pay today. Just be sure to let them know ahead of time you're jumping ship, and tell'em Mike sent you.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 11-13-2012, 04:58 PM:

We started using Square in May. It certainly is convenient for the audience (we didn't take cards before), but reconciling is a nightmare. It's really designed for the arts and craft fair crowd, or a special events type of thing. Support is almost non-existent.
We don't do enough business at this point to go with the flat rate, so I can't imagine doing the bookkeeping doing a few thousand dollars worth a week.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 11-13-2012, 06:21 PM:

Intuit gopayment works the same as square but they have slightly lower rates, an actual support phone number, and while the reader is free just like square's it's not nearly as cheaply made (with multiple square readers I have problems with having to swipe several times to read which never happens with gopayment).