They have all sorts of hidden fees and advertise one thing and deliver way less for much more in fees. They lie and are very deceptive. I am not sure what else to state. Please do yourself a favor and use another company.

I have a small business just getting started and researched about 10 different CC Processing companies. Most of them seemed similar. Eliot Management Group called me and had a Rep. in the area so I had a meeting with her. I stressed that I only need to process $500 to $1500 a month and would like to try their system for a couple of months to see how it goes. No problem (Rep. stated) -- simple -- I thought. I called to inquire about the extra $5.00 processing fee, (even though I hadn't even registered on line yet to get started).
After a couple of minutes of explanation, I decided to cancel this month to month contract. Then I was told I had signed a 3 year contract and was reprimanded for not reading the fine lines in the contract. The lady told me, "A contract is a contract and we have it to protect ourselves and yourself". I agree with her that it was definitely to protect themselves. I've called the agency several times and no one has returned my calls. I did get some good advice from one of their Reps that even seemed a bit sympathetic. They said don't talk to your Rep but go to their boss. I'll keep trying and if I get a favorable response I will post it as mistakes do happen.

This is lengthy but I think it is important to show everyone the degree this company goes to in order to steal from their customers.....which is apparent due to the other complaints on the internet.....they are still getting away with it so I am willing to do my part to warn others about how they operate and how the regional offices and their corporate office plays off each other in order to swindle fees out of unsuspecting companies.... I own a small firm that provides bookkeeping and accounting services to small companies and one of my clients was concerned about the fees his credit card processing company was charging him. They had been with Eliot Management Group for 5 or so years so I was pretty certain that whatever contract he might have signed had expired. I contacted the Denver office who initiated the relationship to speak with his rep to re-negotiate. Their rep was not available so I left my information for the purpose of reviewing their rates. I didn't receive a call back. I called a second time and again the rep wasn't available, I left another message requesting a call back. In the meantime my clients terminal failed so he contacted them directly with his problem. Funny his rep was available then. He informed my client that he would need to obtain a new terminal as the one he had was obsolete. The rep proceeded to discuss "lease payment options" available that he would need to agree to in order for them to service his account allowing them to continue accepting credit card payments immediately from their customers. Even though my client specifically ask if he could simply purchase the equipment he was told it was unlikely anything he purchased elsewhere would be compatible, therefore it was in his best interest and more cost effective to go with the equipment that was guaranteed to work. Since credit card payments were essential to his business, he felt he didn't have a choice and agreed to a lease. When I discovered what transpired I was very upset that this company would basically blackmail one of their clients into signing an agreement that would ultimately cost them almost $3,000.00 for a piece of equipment that at best should have only cost them $500.00! So I once again tried contacting the rep and again he wasn't available. I informed the person who answered the phone that I was very disappointed that they would allow one of their longtime customer to enter into a lease like this, and since I had tried contacting them numerous times already and they didn't bother returning my call that it was apparent they truly didn't care about their customers - therefore we were going to look for a company that cared about their business partners. I already established a business relationship with a small local credit card processing company that had treated some of my other clients very well and went out of their way to service them. They even provided the equipment at NO COST to them - they considered this part of building the business relationship. So they did their thing and provided my client with a "Notice of Cancellation" for them to fax to Eliot Management....which my client completed and faxed to the Denver office on 2/5/11. As far as everyone knew that was the end of it. However on their March bank statement there was a fee from Eliot. So I tried calling the Denver office and again, rep not available. Considering my past experience at leaving messages for the Denver office, I contacted the customer service number and requested that they reverse the March fee since the account was cancelled. To make a long story short and a very unprofessional exchange with their rep, they claimed they did not receive the notification by the Feb 28, 2011 cancellation deadline per the 5 year old contract (with an automatic one year extension if they were not contacted 30 day prior to the cancellation deadline), therefore per the terms within that contract the customer was responsible until Feb 28, 2012. They told me our options were that we could pay the $595.00 cancellation fee or keep the service another year and pay the monthly fees. I informed them that their rep in Denver was contacted therefore prior to this deadline and it was his responsibility to inform his billing office. Then the corporate office customer service rep asks me why we didn't call the 1-800 customer service line. This stumped me for a minute because the obvious retort would be that since all prior contact went through their rep in Denver, why would we assume it was necessary to "also" contact someone we had never dealt with. They demanded proof that we faxed the notice....basically calling my client liars. To make matters worse when my client tried to print out the fax report, his machine was out of ink and once he replaced the cartridge, it wouldn't duplicate the report and the phone company claimed they couldn't provide an itemized statement. Again I called their corporate office and tried to reason with them, that even if we couldnt produce the proof they requested, it was only 3 weeks after the cancellation date and that after 5+ years they needed to do the right thing and simply close the matter. They basically told me regardless of the circumstances they were going to charge my client the $595.00 because that is what the contract read period - live with it. Not even an offer to pro-rate like most viable companies do. So I contacted the bank to stop any further withdrawals........HERE IS WHERE EVERYONE NEEDS TO PAY ATTENTION....banks hands are apparently tied when it comes to electronic transactions so if you sign something giving a company access to an EFT or ACH the only way to stop these withdrawals completely depends on your relationship with that company.....if you are in dispute the only way you can stop them from getting into your account is to close the account! We thought a possible way outside of closing the account, and the only option our banker could suggest, would be to initiate a stop payment for the specific amount of $595.00 which we did. Here is where you know exactly what kind of experience this company has with disputes like these and how well they know the limitations banks have to electronic transactions.Eliot Management initiated a withdrawal for $100.00 and a separate one for $495.00 on the same day to avoid the $595.00 stop payment! I admit I informed them I was putting a stop payment for this fee, but in my defense even if I wouldnt have divulged this to them, I am confident that once the initial attempt to hit the account for the full fee was bounced, they would have simply turned right around and done it exactly the way they did! Seems obvious to me they have pulled this trick before. I discussed this matter with the local company I deal with and he told me that some of these companies biggest profit centers are on "equipment" sales and they have iron-clad contracts written by very good lawyers so it is impossible to break them...and they know how to solicit and retain reps that can "sell ice to Eskimos"....and these fast talkers know how to recognize a potential "target". There are a lot of small companies out there fall prey to fast taking reps that present impressive "packaging" and offer a service these companies need in todays business environment. It is amazing how many intelligent people really know nothing about the "language of the contract" and most don't even bother to read it because they are told just enough to get them to sign on the dotted line. People want to believe that if a company has been around for a while and has reps all over the country, that they are an honest reputable firm that wants to form a business partnership with them. Eliot Management DOES NOT fall into this category. From everything I have experienced and read on line, they are very good at their deceptions and know just when to "ignore" complaints when they come in. If my daughter brought home a potential life partner that had worked for this company for more than 3 years, I would have to find a way to convince her to be very very cautious.....because anyone that works for a company like this that long probably has some serious character flaws that aren't apparent during the courtship....but eventually surface and they make movies about them on the Lifetime Channel. Help spread the word to any business owner you know, or anyone you think might be considering going into business to stay away from this company. They are not looking to establish a long-term business relationship with you.....they are only looking at an opening to suck your hard earned money away from you and into their coffers and they are very experienced an accomplishing their goal.

I was an existing customer of Eliot and had a chance to switch my credit card service carrier to a cheaper company. I called Eliot and asked if I was under contract and they verbally told me "NO". Turns out, the bills kept coming for a monthly minimum of $35 and a $6 per month statement fee. When I called back, they said, "You have 18 months remaining on your contract and the only way out is to pay $495 termination fee."
I suppose I shouldn't have been so naive as to take their word and gotten it in writing.
I went ahead and paid the termination fee just to get rid of the monthly billing. I am saving over 1/2 of one percent on my total credit card sales.
I switched to Sage credit card processing.

Company information:
Eliot Management Group
555 Renton Place Village
Renton, Washington
United States
Phone: 425-289-0200 I worked there for less than 4 months. Every manager I talked with, whether it a District manager or Regional manager, they all have lied to the sales staff and to the customers. they had this "bid tool" to show savings VS your current processor. It is all smoke and mirrors! They can tweek it so it appears you have more savings than you actually do. I have a copy of this on my computer that I will be showing to the authorities under the basis of fraud. My district manager, Gabe Jones is probably the most corrupt manager in the company. He lies to his employees, lies in the face of customers, and I have knowledge he even lied to his superiors. He even, after fraudulently signing up a salon in Seattle, had sex with one of the owners and then when she realized she had been scammed, wanted her and her 8 other stylists to cancel there account. I personally saw the cancellation notice on Gabe's desk. Be very careful with this company and its henchmen. Here is what I wrote the corp office when they wanted my "Exit Survey" Termination Exit Survey for Eliot Management Group
Our records show you are no longer employed by EMG. In our ongoing efforts to improve employee retention, please complete the short survey below to tell us the primary reason why. Response Let go by manager didn't like training didn't like manager wasn't making money Not a good fit for job requirements other - Explain
Comments
All of the above!
I encountered nothing but misrepresentation and lies from day 1 by the District Manager, Gabe Jones. I even had the Regional Manager, Joe Basura tell me he would get an answer to me by the time he left that day, and like others he did not come through. He told me he would get me list of current customers to contact and see if we could update there equipment, and did not follow through. Good luck with getting and keeping employees. This by far was the worst organization to be employed by. So I have meet Gabe, Jim, Joe and Dave. No one seems to know what the others are doing. I've seen more people cancel there processing on the daily report than the office submit each week, which makes it obvious your customers have been lied to time and again along with to sales staff. I will pursue the right authorities to share with them the documents and proof I possess of what I see as fraud, lies and misrepresentation. You had an "F" rating with the BBB until recently. Business owners need to know to stay far away from your company!!!

Hi Joe,
thank you for meeting with all of us last week to try to understand what the Seattle office has endured under the current district manager and his philosophy to run a sales office. I will try to take you through the chronological order of events that I personally was involved in or were witness to. 1) With in the first couple of weeks, I felt that the training provided by my DM was lacking. I asked several times for more information about Merchant Services only to be told, "you don't need to know any of that now, just get on the phone and make appts, I will do all the rest". Though the Merchant Services industry is vast, I only wanted to know the a-b-c's of the industry to better understand my role and how to best serve the merchants I would be contacting and working with. I took it upon myself to be self taught on merchant services. I found a website that is Merchant Account 101. 2) As my frustration grew with the lackadaisical approach my DM took on training, I sought the advice from several of the experienced sales staff and osa. As other new employees also were getting irritated with not getting proper training and given misleading or outright wrong information, they too sought the advice of the veterans. Our DM took several of us downstairs and outside to dress down. He was particularly upset with me because I questioned his answers and went to the veterans to verify his information. He said "I don't want any of you talking with the "WOMEN" in the office about ANYTHING, PERIOD!" He said he did not want them to get into our heads and tank our attitudes, that they were out to mislead us and provide us with misleading information. Ironically it was just the opposite, it was he who Lied to us, to our customers and just made up answers he knew nothing or very little about. Time and again, he would just give an answer without actually knowing whether it was right or wrong. (perfect example: last weeks sales contest, he said the first deal was $10, the second PERSON who turned in a deal would get $20, the third PERSON would get $40, the fourth PERSON would get $80 and the fifth PERSON would get $160 and then when we hit 5, all the bonuses double. I questioned him on Thur that INFACT that was the way the contest worked, and he again, without a blink, or doubt said that it was in fact TRUE. We asked you Joe on Friday if that was how it worked, and you told all of us NO. You had to take a call and left the room, the DM entered the meeting, I asked again in front of the entire sales staff how the contest worked, and he again told us the exact same way as before, without any doubt, and of course totally wrong.) 3) I went on several appointments with the DM, he would mislead customers and tell them we would do "true pass through" @ .10 basis Pt's over interchange, only to put the .10 on the qualified section of the application, but put .50 and 1.00 on the mid and non. He told me that would make more on my residuals, that they would not even catch it because they know so little about the whole process. The DM would give every dime away on the app fee's, would emphasize we would do month to month, no contract. I learned early on that if I was going to make any money here, I needed to go on my own and close my own deals. It is very difficult to earn a living when your getting $50 fast start on each deal and giving away the rates with no contract. I viewed him as not a strong sales closer, just someone who gives it all away in order to get the "Submit". 4) We were all told that we would earn $50 for every "Submit" we turned in. Turns out you only get the $50 if you sign up and install the software. Time and again the DM would just make up answers he knew nothing or very little about. Its my belief and experience that he also outright lied about certain things (IE; sign on bonus) to try to get us to do more. He seemed more concerned about the "submits" than anything else. His ability to properly fill out the application was horrendous. He filled out the least amount possible in front of the customer and would fill in the rest in the office, many times without filling in the #'s, only getting them to sign. I believe the osa would concur on his dismal skills on paper work. 5) The Seattle DM is very arrogant in his approach to the entire sales staff. Often cutting off there talking points, talking down to many of us and barking out demands. It is my opinion that because of his lack of knowledge and experience, he tends to bully his way with his staff, expecting us to just go along with what ever he demands and tells us. 6) When the DM would interview potential new hires in John Massaro's and my first month's, he would bring us in to hype up the potential to make money with the company. One example was when John and the DM had signed a potential new account that John would have made approx $6,000 -$7,000 on. John never collected, because of the type of business, poorly filled in application and the underwriters would not allow this account. The DM wanted us to inflate the actual money we were making in order to get some of our referrals to come work for the company. After being put together like that, we had to tell several potential employees that we had asked to come work with us, that in fact we mislead them. We could not in good faith tell them something that was hugely exaggerated in order for them to come aboard. 7) The DM would submit applications, even with the knowledge that the customer changed there mind and wanted to cancel the application. He wanted only the "Submit", I thought because his bonuses came from how many submits our office had. I only found out last Friday that not to be the case. It only made our office look good. It made me even more frustrated with the DM because I could understand to motivation behind getting money for submits, but when I learned otherwise, I was furious. He made us deal with irate customers who had no intention of doing business with us because of the misleading information we provided them, just to make our office look good. How pathetic!
a perfect example is The Hair Chair that John Massaro and I signed up. It was a referral from one of the accounts John and DM signed up. It was nothing but nightmares. The DM signed up a dry cleaner for John, gave away all the fees, no contract, month to month, $19.95 month lease, pass through under the guise for referrals. Well john received referrals, they all wanted the same deal. A losing proposition all the way around. He had more text messages, more phone calls, more complaints on these 3 deals than you can imagine. Talk about demoralizing, he made no money, had to deal with headache after headache on three customers he would likely not make more than $5 per month in residuals, all because the DM needed "Submits"! As I write this, the more frustrated I am becoming with how I allowed this to happen and to continue to go on. I don't know if I will be with this organization much longer, I am dying on the vine. I have tried to endure through the tough times with this company, and particularly with the Seattle Office. But because of the lack of trust I have with the DM and the misleading information I have received, the lack of proper training, I have put myself in a dire situation. As you can tell by my paychecks, I haven't made enough to continue to hang in there much longer until something gives. I do enjoy the work that I do, and I like the many opportunities this Company has to offer its hard working employees. I see it with Stacy Sloan, she has been a tremendous asset to John and I, and your organization. Without her and Tiffany, I know John and I would have left long ago. John and I have started going to Le Tip, a networking group that has lead to some promising leads. There is a membership fee, which neither of us can afford at this time. Without joining these leads will dry up very soon. We have done door to door networking and received many promising leads there too. We just need more of those marketing pamphlets to promote our products and services. If there is anything you can suggest and/or assist with, it will be greatly appreciated! Thank you for letting me voice my experience and opinions about EMG

We were ripped off by Eliot Management Group for a total of $1210.53.

Eliot Management Group, First American Payments/Merimac Capital, and TransTech are all interconnected (some sort of conglomerate) ISO's of Keybank. Their headquarters is in SLC, UT.

Eliot Management Group contacted me about merchant services in May this year (2010). Their salesman Matt (don't recall the last name and he doesn't work there now) gave me figures as to what their percentages were and the numbers sounded good.

I met with Matt and Brian, his "trainer," at Starbucks a few days later and went over their program and asked some questions about how it would integrate with the new website we were building and Brian assured me that it was so easy it could be done "in 15 minutes" and would work with any e-commerce platform.

We didn't immediately start the service as we had some delays, but Eliot Mgmt. began billing our bank account even though they said they wouldn't until we were ready.

Then their software didn't work with Shopify.com's website structure which is how we'd set up our site.

Then they billed me an annual fee which apparently was hidden in the small print somewhere (they'd assured me there were no other hidden fees - they lied - about pretty much everything).

Needless to say, this type of business is at least dishonest, and at worst fraudulent.

Fact #1 - Eliot Management stated that their online software would work with anyone's website - NOT TRUE.

Fact #2 - Eliot Management stated they would reimburse us every month from July to Sept - THEY DIDN'T (except July).

Fact #3 - Acct Rep stated at least twice (Aug. and Sept.) that our account would be suspended to keep this issue from happening again - HE DIDN'T.

Fact #4 - I sent Branch Manager Russ Hausman an email demanding a refund for services not received from Eliot Management Group on October 5...he responded saying he'd call me - HE DIDN'T.

Fact #5 - After we stopped payment of the October fee for the service we hadn't commenced, an associated company of the Eliot Management Group proceeded to withdraw - unauthorized - over $600 out of our bank account - THIS IS FRAUDULENT.

Recommendation - Run away from this company or any connected companies!!!

When the owner of two dental practices sold one of the practices, he transferred the contract and leases for credit card and atm services for that practice through the Eliot Management representative to the new owner. However, Eliot Management failed to have one of the documents signed by the new owner. Although the previous owner had signed all his documents, Eliot failed to take responsibility for it's failure to gather all the necessary signatures for the transfer of responsibility. In their failure to adequately take care of this problem, the old owner is still being billed for a lease it no longer uses. Eliot's "solution" for the problem is to have the old owner buy out the remaining lease. This is unacceptable and the monthly billing should not still be charged to the old owner's account-.