www.cardsave.net Reviews 152

thanks for all

Sales manager rep know what he was talking about any question asked he know the answers.
Every quick service and not expensive.

Very efficient service throughout! Especially from the support team and customer services

Being new to accepting card payments , we did everthing we were told , but alas thinks went wrong and we lost £153 . After complaining is is now 6 weeks later and it still has been resolved.We have been passed from cardsave to stream line then back again, then to streamline again and now back to cardsave
Would not recommend them

Good to start with , let's see how it goes

we don't think much to them thay take ages in putting your money over and then take money out of your bank with out telling u and will not be be having this for much longer and well over priced for the uint all a con at the end of the day

After a bad experience with Global Payments (HSBC) it has been a breath of fresh air working with Cardsave. It is early days as yet, but it has all been positive so far.

From start to finish the whole process was made very easy.

We are a small bed and breakfast and have been with CardSave since 2007 and although expensive (we have one terminal and pay £80 per quarter rental), have had no previous problems. On Tuesday morning one of our guests paid on his card and on removing it from the terminal the card broke into two pieces one of which was left in the terminal. We immediately rang CardSave, explaining the situation, and were told that we could return our terminal and they could send out another but it would cost us £600!! (more than we can afford). The terminal was still functioning as usual but couldn't accept a card because of the piece of card lodged inside. We felt we had no option but to try and remove the card which we did with tweezers but this triggered an anti tamper function. I spoke to another more helpful girl on the helpdesk and she said that we should return the return the terminal and they would send out another, unless the damage was caused by misuse there would be no charge. If we had been told this in the first place we wouldn't have tried to remove the card. To CardSave credit the new terminal arrived the following morning and we are back up and running We are awaiting to find out whether we shall be charged or not.

We are very upset at the possibility of having to find £600 which we do not have for something that we believe is not our fault. The amount seems over the top especially as the terminal is not new, we are paying £80 a quarter for the terminal rental, and have been paying that for the last 6 years without any previous issues.

If we do have to pay then we shall have no alternative but to cancel our contract as we can't take the chance on having another terminal problem. We have friends who are considering CardSave for their own business but we shall be urging them to look elsewhere.

PS When we joined CardSave we queried the Sales Rep about cancellation charges and he told us that although there was a section in the contract he didn't know why because it was never implemented. We asked for written confirmation which was never received.

Robin & Beryl Bray Bridge End Farm Guest House Grassington (01756 752463)

UPDATE 25/10/13 - Am pleased to say that within an hour of the review being posted we had a call from CardSave and they have agreed to cover the cost of any repair. They have also offered us an improved contract.

Got 2x Machines with them, offered me excellent rates too.
I asked them to get a move on with the second machine as Christmas is coming and it was here within a week.

Im a small business and I got the terminal over a year ago everything was fine until this summer at events the terminal just wouldnt take payments so after spending 30mins on my phone they got it sorted but working on my own at fairs this isnt great as I couldnt serve customers. So this carried on through out the summer and virtually every fair I had the same problem so I gave up and encouraged customers to pay with cash. So because of this I decided to cancel but I hadn't realised I was about 5 days late so I was told that they would have to charge me £500 to cancel my contract even though I'd probably lost money all summer with not been able to use my terminal. So they said as a goodwill gesture they'd charge me £150 instead and I should be lucky because that was a great good will gesture. So after phoning and waiting on the phone and speaking to an arsy lady I just told them to cancel my contract. A few weeks later they decided to arrange a pick up of the terminal. Now I asked them to collect it from my husbands work address because it was in town and we live in the middle of nowhere so I thought this would be helpful to the courier. The courier never turned up and when I got home there was a message on the answer phone so I range them back (at my expense) they had been given the complete wrong address so I organised again for collection and again no one picked it up.
I work long days and I'm extremely busy and the following week I had an answer phone message from card save to ask to ring them back but it was about ten at night so I thought I'd just do it in the morning but I completely forgot so then I opened the post the other evening to find a letter stating they couldn't find the where abouts of the terminal so they would be passing my details to there solicitor to get the £500! So I rang them and informed them that the terminal was still at the address we'd agreed upon and was still awaiting collection. So I'm totally fed up with them and feel like I should be charging them for storage. I don't think they realise that people don't always have time to sit and wait for them to answer the phone! ahhh

We have been with Cardsave for a few years now as they were a more cost effective alternative to the big supplier we were previously with. All has gone well until we tried 2 months ago to add an additional 2 terminals. I have been making numerous phone calls, have been passed from one Department to another, been sent various sets of paperwork (all completed and returned). The original Sales Rep has stopped returning my calls, and all efforts to sort have been met with "I'm sorry but there is nothing else I can do".... I am quite frankly astounded at apparently powerless state of all the Cardsave representatives I have spoken too. Somewhat ironically, they have managed to open accounts for the two new outlets we have requested machines for, and even had the cheek to send out invoices which we will end up paying by Direct Debit so have little control over that unless we want to start up another dialogue. I am now not only regretting ordering the two new terminals, but changing suppliers in the first place. No matter though as mentioning closing our account also met with little reaction. In case anyone from Cardsave is reading this (because no one in your orgainisation can offer me a way of making an official complaint) the account numbers are COLEG008 & 9 - i'd love to hear from you if you fancy giving me a call.

I've been trying to change my bank account details with card save for months now and still haven;t been able to. They have told me I have to sign up to a new 12 month agreement if I want to do this as my company is now limited.

I don't want to sign up for another 12 months, I want to cancel completely but have been trapped into a new contract, I did try and cancel their services 2 weeks before my 12 month contract was up for renewal, turns out you have to give a months notice prior to the new contract starting, something which is banned in most other industries. they also say I have to pay £150 on top of 12 months fees. the £150 is for terminal rental, I don't have a terminal as I only use them for an online portal. They say it is the same thing. Not sure in what reality that might be. How can cancelling something virtual incure a cost of £150.

If you do sign with card save be aware that you they will expect a minimum cancellation fee of £150 no matter what you do after 12 months has expired and you have to cancel before 11 months has passed. Something which I consider highly unethical. If they tell you anything different its a lie, and they just want the sale, knowing you will be trapped once you sign.

I should also point out that I met one of there reps when I was looking at a physical card machine 6 months into contract . I questioned the exit fee as I'd seen alot of people talking about it on the net. The Rep claimed to know nothing about it and after phoning the office told me it only applied if you cancelled before 12months. This is a complete lie . When you talk to anyone at cardsave about cancelling the first thing they tell you about is the fee. They seem very keen to do so. In case you think maybe the rep was new, he told me he'd been there 10 years or so. He was the Derby rep so beware.

In short avoid card save there system is designed to trap customers into a contract and make it grossly expensive to leave.

I had a couple of issues over invoices but Cardsave were very helpful in resolving them.

I signed up with Cardsave merely to do one large event last November. The salesperson happily signed me up to a contact with reduced rates, and explained that to take advantage of a reduced rate from a year on, I would be best to cancel and renew as the contract was a rolling one and the offer would end. 'Rolling contract' did not explain to me that if I failed to give notice a month before the renewal date, that I would be liable to a cancellation fee of £540!!

I called in August, which they have a record of, and was advised to put notice in writing - I was NOT told that an email would be suitable, it was NOT explained what would happen if I didn't respond by the appropriate date. Not always able to call in the daytime, a month ago I searched the web and then filled in the web contact form asking what the cancellation address was. There was no response. I have now gone over, and have 3 months fees taken out of my account, which I cannot afford. When I called today I was told that there is now a massive cancellation fee.
I believe Cardsave products were not right for my small business, at all, and have switched to a mobile phone solution. In the meantime, I feel I have been mis sold and misinformed, and basically fleeced by them.
Beware, if you are a small business, without premises, just get a smart phone pay as you go solution. This has cost me dearly and I will be disputing it.

Hello, I have been with Card Save for many years.
One month ago I have trouble with the card machine. The message shown was--- cannot connect.
We telephoned Cardsave and explained, they said they would test the machine while I was there as well as the line. This we did, Cardsave said both machine and telephone lines were ok and there is no fault on either.

We have telephone all through the month saying we are pulling our hair out as customer wait while we are constantly trying to put payments through. Many clients end up getting cash out of their Bank.

We are a busy Salon in the Centre of Reading Town right opposite M&S.

The last call on Thursday, my partner phoned and said she will throw this machine through the window if someone does not sort it out. Cardsave told her if you pay £50 we will send an engineer to sort it. Cardsave took £60. The engineer turned up and said were is your new machine I am to install. No Joan said, I have paid for you to find out what is wrong with this one and not one mentioned a new machine.
No he said I have been told to put a new one in. He left saying we need to contact CardSave. Joan did this and they said they will not refund our money. Joan had clearly stated the day before that she will pay £50 to have our machine sorted.
No mention of £60 or a new machine to be installed.

Joan was furious and asked me to telephoned Cardsave from my home. I asked to speak to a supervisor--------no, I was told we send an Email to them and they will phone you. Fine, I said, I will stay here all day so we can get this resolved. Sarah said it could be Monday, fine I said, I will stay in all day.

To day Monday 30th Sept I phoned Cardsave in the afternoon and asked where was my call. I have stayed in and still nothing. I will Email the Demi Gods who are called Team Leaders. By 4:30pm I phoned again this time [name] answered and informed me that he will Email the Demi Gods and that Cardsave will not refund the £60. I informed [name] that Cardsave had given wrong info to their engineer and he did not carry out the job which we paid for. He then said, we will send a refurb machine for you to see if it is the machine or line that is at fault.
I then asked [name] if I can speak to one of the Team Leaders about my £60 and may I have one of the new Sim machines. He then said he will have to Email them.

Please, Please Management phone me at my shop tomorrow I am in there all week. O1189 582112

Regards Elaine

As all others, i had a terrible experience with Cardsave, there are so many hidden terms and conditions which no one would be able to read all before we signed. Same case as everyone, the sales rep (sorry but have to mention his name: [name] for london area) is a truly liar, you only discover this once you contact the Customer Service team at Cardsave who are extremely rude, i never believe how they build a business based on all these gangster, not polite to their customers (they dont realise it is us, all businesses, that indirectly pay their salary everymonth. Here are few points
1) Sales rep said: if you enroll quarterly for the terminal till roll, they we will supply you unlimited, obviously with amount of business we take on card payments, we can only use within the limit they already set out. Once i ran out till roll, i rang card save customer service team, they refused me to send me any, instead asking me to pay £21 for a box. I refused, rang the sales rep, he did not comment and asked me to talk to customer service, as he did not deal with it. I emailed him first, completely ignored my e-mail.

2) The supervisor card was sent out to me, after using for nearly 2 weeks, stopped working, i rang customer service team (again, their rude attitude is impossible to speak to sometimes). This young arrogant girl refused to send out a new one to me, instead asking me to pay £9 for the Supervisor card, i explained to her it is nothing i did wrong, the card itself stops working after just 2 weeks. She still refused, i requested to speak to her supervisor, she said no one at the moment. I then rang the sales rep, he said i needed to contact customer service again even though he said " it should be free for Supervisor card, he said "as once we signed agreement, everything will go back to the central, you therefore need to speak to them !!! " I cant believe what i just heard!. He suggested me to send an email to him and customer service team. What a procedure! obviously once he got the contract signed, hands off !!! I made a complain on second call, they agreed to send out to me free of charge.

3) Streamline payment is extremely high and we never got told this when we signed the agreement

I only signed with Cardsave because when i took over the premise, see their letters chasing for payment from previous tenant who left and never paid their bills, i did not have time once we prepare for the opening, but NEVER NEVER AGAIN after this year contract finish.

For all who are looking for a terminal rental, please trust me, AVOID Cardsave, everything mentioned here and other fellow businesses are 100% true. i have never received worst customer service as at cardsave, even worst than [external reference] team. They are extremely rude, arrogant, i even spoke to the customer service manager (a woman, not got her name) and she had the same tone as her staff, very rude. She said " No, you cant stop contract now, have to carry on till finish one year or we will charge you for terminating contract..." Instead pursuding customers/apologise for what we had experienced.... and remember she is CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER.

I really think we should report them to regulator or such, as their terms and conditions are well hidden, Sales rep is not honest, he said one thing, customer service in central office said another thing completely different.

i was visited by a rep are initially contacting the company.

I signed up for what I thought was a 12 month contract, after time was spent explaining all the benefits.

No problems with the service until I decided to cancel the contract some 21 months.

When I cancelled I was to told that I would have to pay up until the end of my contract. I explained that I only had a 12 month contract, apparently not, if you don not get in touch before the 12 months is up they automatically renew for a further 12 months. As this wasn't bad enough I was also hit with a £150.00 cancellation charge.
I disputed this and said I would not pay but it was taken from my account anyway, even though my DD was for £80 per quarter.
I was told I signed the contract, having explained that I signed the contract when the rep was there, it was never pointed out to me or my attention drawn to either the clause relating to rolling 12 months and cancellation fees.
I think that I was mis-led and mis-sold I have an offer of £90.00 after many phone calls and emails, I still think that this is unacceptable and having read the rest of the reviews on this forum leads me to believe that CARDSAVE are totally unethical in their business and I certainly would not recommend them.

I wish I had done more research into cardsave, these reviews have opened my eyes and I now know that I am not the only one experiencing these problems. I was a sole trading hairdresser trying to make a living through my small business. Most of my clients pay cash and others who used to ask to pay by card just had to go to a cash point around the corner. After a while I thought having a card machine would be help and improve business. Soon after I was approached by a sales rep from cardsave who said all the right things with prices that appeared to be great.
I have dyslexia and have never had a card machine contract before, I have to have most things written or explained. I asked the sales rep to explain everything to me before I signed the contract. He did his best to sell this service, I genuinely don’t think he cared about anything else apart from making money from this sale. He explained that all I had to pay was £72 every quarterly and a few pennies for each transaction which could be covered by charging the customers £0.50. And that it was a 12 MONTH CONTRACT ONLY.
Nowhere in this conversation did he mention the £25 charges per month from streamline. I only found out about this after receiving the charge in my account. It is only through research did I finally find it and shortly after received a letter in the post explaining this extra charge. I called customer service and explained what had happened and was basically told it’s a part of the contract so deal with it.
My clients did not know we had a card machine unless we told them. I called cardsave and they told me I should have received a welcome pack with instructions on how to set up and with stickers to put in our window. Three phone conversations to cardsave where they “resent” the welcome pack. I gave up trying to get it. To this day I have not received anything.
I soon realized that most clients preferred to pay by cash and we no longer used the card machine. It turned out to be more costly than useful. Naturally as I small business I saw no use for it anymore and spoke to customer services about my issue multiple times. They were of no help whatsoever. They were rude and condescending towards me about not fully understanding something I had little knowledge off. The attitude of their customer service team was appalling and disgusting. They said the only way I could pay less was to open another contract for a further year. I did not want to get tied in with them for any longer so declined.
From the first few months until now I have constantly struggled and sometimes failed to make payments because I genuinely had no money from my business to pay all the costs they were charging. Speaking to customer service about this issue they were insensitive and frankly didn’t care. They said I had to pay it or face extra charges. Which made no sense to me, if I couldn’t afford to make a payment how is slapping on further fees going to help the matter?
In one of the later conversations I found out that the contract will be coming to an end in September and that I could choose to end the contract and not carry on for another term. Around this time I was preparing to have a baby and understandably got preoccupied with getting ready which I informed cardsave about. I had someone who tried to help me in the salon while I prepared for the arrival of my baby and could no longer work. Although I authorized for this person to speak on my behalf they always had problems with organizing and sorting the account unless I was present. So nothing got done while I was in hospital or after.
Because I could no longer work and juggle being a new mother while keeping up with all the expenses, I chose to give up being a hairdresser. I informed cardsave that I would be leaving my business so would no longer need the machine, which wasn’t in use anyway. They told me I still had to wait until the end of the contract. While still juggling my two month old I managed to get in contact with cardave to confirm that I will not be renewing the contract only for them to inform me that it had gone past the notice period and I was automatically set up for a new contract I did not want. The sales rep DID NOT inform me that it was a rolling contract just that it was for 12 months. I explained my ordeal to customer services and they said to send an email to cancel the contract and add a note to dispute the cancellation fee, which I did, and they would see what they coulddo to help me. But still I received an email back with no acknowledgement to my circumstances saying that £468.00 will be taken from my account at a certain date.
This product was falsely advertised, mis-sold and the customer service received was more than appalling. They did not care about their customer only about lining their pockets with whatever tactics they could use. With a new born to look after and myself not working I genuinely have no money available to pay for this and they have made on attempt to help resolve the issue.
I have learnt my lesson about trusting companies like this. BEAWARE, better yet STAY AWAY – don’t fall for the false promises made by sales rep who know nothing about what they are selling. THEY ARE NO GOOD FOR SMALL BUSINESS or any business for that matter. This has been one of the hardest and worst things I am having to deal with while caring for my baby. The most I can do for now is warn others from making the same mistake!

I took out a 1 year contact with cardsave last year after a visit from one of there Reps. I am a small business with no phone line so I took out a mobile card terminal with was supposed to pick up whichever network had the best coverage.
After finally receiving the terminal (they sent the wrong one at first which took 3 weeks to sort) the problems began! The terminal will not work if its raining, snowing, windy humid or eventually on any day ending in a Y! The Signal problems were bad to start with but I persevered as it did work sometimes but after an update that was supposed to make the connection better the problems got worse until the machine stopped working altogether even when the machine read that it had signal & GPRS the machine still wouldn't connect.
I rang the customer services line a few weeks ago knowing that my contract would soon expire to ask how I went about cancelling it, I was given an email address to write to and that was it. I email and waited a week and got no response so I rang again to be told that they had not received my email, had I spelt it correctly? I checked, I had and re-sent it. 5 days later I was sent an email to say I would be charged £540 to end my contact that I thought had ended. It is only reading the other reviews on this site that I am now aware that I was on a rolling contact and had to email in advance. I was never told this by Cardsave, nor was I told about the charges for the terminal even if I have cancelled on time. I'm fuming as I have no money to pay them with and feel after being sold a product that has never worked properly that they have no right to demand these huge sums. Small businesses are struggling cardsave they don't need service like yours!