Merchant Lynx Reviews

Merchant Lynx Overview

Merchant Lynx Services is a merchant account provider that acts as a reseller of iPayment products and services. The company has offices in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York, but appears to be headquartered in Florida. The Merchant Lynx website describes the company as “Groundhog Enterprises, Inc., DBA Merchant Lynx,” and Groundhog Enterprises is a registered corporation in the state of Florida. Merchant Lynx’s mailing address is located at its Maryland office, which suggests that the company presents some of its addresses interchangeably.

Merchant Lynx’s products and services include credit card terminals, check imaging, check guarantee, an online payment gateway, e-commerce solutions, point-of-sale systems, and mail order and phone order solutions. The company offers “remote support” to merchants as well as general contact information on its website. John Kucyk is the president of Merchant Lynx.

Merchant Lynx offers merchant account services based in Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. It uses iPayment for its payment processing network, and First Data for its equipment leases.

Merchant Lynx offers cash payment discounts, EMV, check services, e-commerce solutions, gift card programs, and cash advances to various business types.

Merchant Lynx has received more than 100 complaints, an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau, and received complaints about its sales practices and sales representatives.

Merchant Lynx standard terms and conditions describe a three-year contract with an early termination fee of $495, a PCI compliance fee of $159, and monthly minimum fees.

Merchant Lynx offers virtual terminal and payment gateway services, but does not disclose the fees and rates for these services.

There are numerous merchant complaints about Merchant Lynx’s contract terms, from the $99 application fee to the non-cancellable 48-month equipment leases. Merchants can save money by signing up with a top budget merchant account provider.

We have located over 100 complaints about Merchant Lynx Services, and most of these complaints are about misrepresentation of contract terms, expensive contracts and equipment leases, and aggressive sales tactics.

Merchant Lynx is being sued by Liberty Salad, Inc. and Paysafe Payment Processing Solutions, LLC. It was also investigated by the Florida Attorney General for violating deceptive and unfair trade practices and engaging in telemarketing without holding a telemarketing license.

There are many complaints about customer support, and it is unclear whether contact information on the website leads directly to a customer support staff.

Merchant Lynx offers customer service numbers (866) 873-2200, 561-683-7456, and an email, but does not have a fax number.

Merchant Lynx Services has an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 67 complaints, of which 19 were resolved to the satisfaction of the merchant.

Merchant Lynx has 14 informal reviews, of which 5 give a rating of 5 stars. Some of the positive reviews are short and refer to specific equipment installers, making them hard to trust.

Merchant Lynx Services appears to use telemarketing and independent sales agents to market its services and we are currently able to locate numerous reviews of deceptive sales practices by the company’s agents.

There are multiple complaints of nondisclosure of contract terms, misrepresentation of rates, high-pressure or aggressive sales calls and practices, and unprofessional behavior by sales agents.

This article recommends seeking a third party statement audit if you suspect Merchant Lynx is charging you undisclosed fees.

Merchant Lynx Services rates as substandard, offering expensive contract terms through iPayment and signing merchants up for costly long-term leases through First Data. Additionally, sales agents have been reported to be unethical and rude.

At a glance

Founded: 1999

Location: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Acquiring bank: Wells Fargo Bank

Website: merchantlynx.com

Phone number: 866-873-2200

E-mail: [email protected]

Online reputation and reviews

Merchant Lynx is the subject of over 100 negative reviews online from dissatisfied merchants. Commonly cited issues include undisclosed fees, higher-than-expected rates, excessively priced equipment leases, high termination fees, unauthorized debits, and unreachable customer service. These complaints have been posted with regularity over the past few years, indicating that Merchant Lynx has done little to address the underlying issues. These types of negative reviews are commonplace for iPayment resellers, and Merchant Lynx should not be regarded as an exception to the general rule.

Legal actions and lawsuits

Following an investigation by the Florida Attorney General, the owners of Merchant Lynx signed an assurance of voluntary compliance in April 2014. The document acknowledges that the company entered into the assurance “without an admission that [Merchant Lynx] violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act or any other law and solely for the purpose of resolution of this matter with the Department.” Nevertheless, as a condition of the agreement, Merchant Lynx paid the Florida Department of Legal Affairs $40,000, $10,000 of which was designated for “restitution to consumers.” The company also agreed that (among other conditions) will abide by the following restrictions:

• Shall not alter contracts post-execution or forge contracts
• Shall continue to provide a copy of the complete terms of service, including especially the Merchant Lynx “Program Guide”, to each customer
• Shall continue to allow each customer 30 days to cancel the contract, from the date of receipt ofthe Program Guide or other Terms of Service
• Shall continue to clearly and conspicuously disclose the average rates customers are charged for processing, either in the contract, Program Guide, or other Terms of Service
• Shall continue to clearly and conspicuously disclose any and all additional applicable fees either in the contract, Program Guide, or other Terms of Service
• Shall not debit customer accounts without customer authorization
• Shall respond to customer complaints with all reasonable promptness
• If handwritten notations indicating a deviation from the standard contract are made, the deviations shall be initialed by both parties. Where this process is followed, Respondents will honor the hand-written, initialed deviations to the standard contract

Per the agreement, violations of these terms will “subject Respondents to any and all civil penalties and sanctions authorized by law, including attorneys’ fees and costs.”

Have you used Merchant Lynx for your business? Rate the company at the top of this post and tell us about your experience in the comment section below: