Helcim Reviews

Simply great merchant services

Comments: i absolutely love using Helcim. i have used many other platforms in previous jobs, and not one matches the level of customer service which Helcim provides. coupled with the fairly easy to use system and setup, I believe Helcim is one of the best, definitley the best for the price point, which I was just informed has been removed!

Pros:

fairly easy to set up and use, although if I didnt have experience setting up pos systems it might have been slightly more challenging. in my opinion the absolute best part of Helcim is their customer service. whenever I hit a bump in the road, I just called customer service and an agent was able to walk me through it.

Cons:

i dont have any real cons that come to mind. maybe additional features when customizing invoices and receipts would be a cool option.

Alternatives Considered: Square Point of Sale, PAYD, Lightspeed Retail and Shopify

Reasons for Switching to Helcim: from my research Helcim seemed like the best option. plain and simple. having used square, and lightspeed in the past, I knew that i was not a fan of their systems even though they were highly rated. I wanted to try something new and what was most important to me when doing my research was the customer service aspect as I have found in the past this is where most of the merchant companies severely lack. Helcim appeared to be the best reviewed for that aspect and I am thrilled to say they have not disappointed.

Good software -- slightly confusing user interface, but terrific support staff.

Comments: So far, really good. The support staff are TERRIFIC -- I had to call a couple of times to figure out how to do things, but they were very fast and efficient at getting me rolling and moving ahead, and were very professional and polite.

Pros:

Once I understood how to do things, it all worked out very well.

Cons:

The user interface is a bit confusing, and sometimes seems like the processes are a bit redundant.

Terrible card terminal, but a fantastic company!

Pros:

I've done quite a bit of shopping around and have yet to find any card processing company that has lower or more comprehensive rates. On the rare occasion I or my staff have had to call customer service, we've had a very short wait to talk with a live person, and our issue was always easily remedied. I also appreciate that Helcim customer support were always careful to not share my personal information with my staff.

Cons:

By far, my least favorite thing about using Helcim has been the card terminal itself. I've use a couple different ones, and they're rather clunky and tricky for our clients to use. Even walking our client through each step, they'd still often make a mistake and have to start over because they'd hit the wrong button.

Alternatives Considered: Square Payments

Reasons for Choosing Helcim: I couldn't bare having my clients leaving with their last impression of their experience at my studio being frustration. Changing to a more intuitive terminal with a touchscreen has also drastically raised how much clients tip us.

Switched From: Square Payments

Reasons for Switching to Helcim: Recommendation from a fellow business owner, great processing rates.

Ease of Payments

Comments: We are brand new to this product but have used mobile software in the past, while the other software works o.k. their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, I called on my very first day of using this product and the customer service was outstanding, [SENSITIVE CONTENT] was amazing, very patient, answered my questions and walked me through all the different services offered. In 20 years of processing credit cards I have never had such an incredible experience. I know it was my first day and my first experience with their customer service but my mom also told me "if your relationship (business or personal) starts off bad it will most likely end bad" based off this I'm confident my relationship with Helcim is going to be outstanding

Pros:

The application and approval process was quick and easy, had approval with 24 hours

Cons:

A little more difficult to navigate around until you get used to it. Does not offer same day funding like most other mobile applications.

Customer Service second to none

Comments: My credit card reader was displaying a fault message so I reached out to the Helcim team to find a solution. I talked to [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] in the Customer Service department and he immediately had an answer to solve my problem. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] walked me through the replacement process, made the necessary calls to get a new unit and most importantly kept me updated to his progress. The replacement unit was delivered to me less than 24 hours after my initial call to Helcim. Now that’s service !!! The Helcim team has set standards in customer service that more companies could take valuable lessons from.

Pros:

The software is an integral part of my business and is reliable, well thought out and has an easy to understand interface for myself and for my customer when they are paying.

Cons:

The software has been well thought out. No issues.

Complete mess

Comments: This company created a complete mess for me in the end, but even from the very start there were so many issues and I was constantly contacting support. The main issue however was when I processed a declined transaction a second time (because I thought I may have done something wrong the first time), and they froze my account AND CANCELLED THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN TRANSACTIONS because it triggered some kind of fraud alert. They didn't even send cancellation notifications to my clients or me, so I had to trust that these transactions were actually cancelled and had to contact all my clients to explain the situation and ask them to pay again using a different method. I still don't have access to my account with Helcim, even though I responded to all of their verification emails and communicated with their team on numerous accounts. I wasted a huge amount of time and damaged my reputation with my clients due to Helcim's poor way of dealing with the situation

Pros:

I liked their lower fees than Stripe, Square, etc

Cons:

Many implementation issues, and they cancelled thousands of dollars in transactions without a decent explanation or resolution of the issue.

Always There

Comments: Sales are increased with having Debit/Credit so easily available. When you phone you always get a live, breathing body.

Pros:

Plug it in and away you go. We are a seasonal business so have to reorder every year. This year I forgot to order called in a mad panic. Within 4 days the machine was here, plugged in and processing sales.

Cons:

Do not come with a manual or any instructions.

Great Customer Support

Comments: Anytime I have had occasion to speak with support, they have always been most helpful.

Pros:

The software is easy to use, easy to understand.

Cons:

Can't really think of anything that I don't like.

Do everything in one place

Pros:

The terminals you get are reliable and payment issues are very rate. Helcim also supports a subscription method. You can set-up accepting pre-paid cards easily.

Cons:

I can see how the processing fees can be a deterrent to a lot of people. I think Helcim is a great product, but too expensive at the current pricing.

Easy to use and great tech support

Comments: Great.

Pros:

Ease of use and pricing. Also low fees!!

Cons:

Trouble linking receipt printer to tablet.

long time customer review

Pros:

It was easy to use and it was a Canadian company

Cons:

I have been a long time customer of Helcim since 2017 and chose them because they supported small business and are Canadian. I had never realized there was a problem with this company until I tried to close my account with them more recently...I have been paying a monthly fee of $20 which I had assumed was my current Helcim account that we had asked to close recently in [SENSITIVE CONTENT]. I spoke with someone in August and was told the account would be closed. In [SENSITIVE CONTENT] I realized I was still being charged for this account. I called Helcim again asking them why the account had not been closed and why I had been charged every month for a service that we were no longer using. To which I was told that they'd made an error but would reimburse my money asap and that my account was finally closed. At the time, In addition to this I also discovered that I was also being charged an additional monthly fee for another account we used to have that was supposed to be closed in 2018 !? it was closed at the time because we stopped using physical terminals for debit cards and switched to a single virtual account. When I asked the agent about being reimbursed for this charge he said he'd get back to me and never did... I have been charged every month since 2018 for an account that didn't exist anymore !!!!???? And I'm still being charged again this month [SENSITIVE CONTENT] for the account I had asked to be closed in [SENSITIVE CONTENT]... disappointed.

Avoid Helcim!

Comments: Helcim terminals can be connected via USB to a PC, or connected via Bluetooth to a smartphone. At first, we connected them to our PCs, but the printers were never able to print correct receipts. They printed incorrectly formatted receipts that were very hard to read and interspersed with random garbage. We were assured by Helcim that they were working on a solution. But solutions never came and we would go weeks without hearing anything, and when I'd contact them again, we would just get more canned emails telling us to uninstall/reinstall/update/reset.... but to no avail. After a few months of being forced to print receipts on our regular full page printer, we were directed by Helcim to try using a IOS smartphone connected to the terminal and printer via Bluetooth. This worked, Yay! But this involved asking staff to use their personal phones. Understandably, not all were willing to do this, so our Vancouver location printer went unused. But printer problems were only part of the headaches. The Helcim app, required near constant updating, and always lost it's connection if another transaction wasn't done within ~30 min. We would often have our clients wait while the app had to reconnect to the terminal (often 1-3 min!). Lastly, I was never able to connect my OnePlus Android phone to the terminal or printer, so when my employee with his Apple phone was away, I had to log in to the PC and print large receipts.

Pros:

Unfortunately, not much at this point.

Cons:

Their terminals and printers are painful to use.

Scam? Data collector?

Comments: Unbelievably bad! I used Stripe for a long time and would definitely go back!

Pros:

Price is cheaper compared to Stripe and other platforms.

Cons:

After taking all my information (my SIN number and all) they declined my application without referring the cause. We have a legitimate business with proper documentation. They didn't even ask for additional documents. Straight declined! I don't feel safe now after sharing all my information. You should have mentioned during the signing-up process about your application criteria before taking personal information. Is this a way to collect people's personal information?

Amazing Customer Support

Comments: My overall experience using the software is amazing. Even when I get stuck in issues, a quick call to customer support and getting in touch with a representative can help alleviate many troubles.

Pros:

The software offers a lot of flexibility and features for our organization to use in various processes that we have established.

Cons:

I really don't have anything I dislike about the software.

Helcim is best value for our needs

Comments: When needed, customer support is very prompt and friendly, always seem to be available when you might need assistance

Pros:

Everything one may normally need is there in the menu, sometimes tech support is needed, but usually just to show you where to go to get what you need.

Cons:

Have not found one thing I dislike about this software.

Excellent Customer Service

Comments: I had a couple of ‘how-to’ questions so I contacted Helcim. The agent was helpful and professional making sure I had the I needed and offering to talk me through how to make the changes myself if I needed to in the future! He was terrific! Thank have recommended Helcim to other business owners because their service is exceptional- from the software, to support team to pricing- they cannot be beat!

Pros:

The software is very intuitive and works well on our pc and on our iPad tablet for trade shows. We can process transactions with ease and confidence!

Cons:

Our invoice template looks great but the footer statement thanking the customer for their business always rolls over to the next page. I would like to adjust the page margins just a little so it will fit on the invoice page. There may be a way but I haven’t figured it out yet. Or a ‘fit to 1 page’ option would be great!

The Best

Comments: wish I had found Helcim years ago!

Pros:

Easy to use, Transparent fees, Great support, Cut the cost buy 60% from the last processor,

Cons:

Could not be integrated with my POS .

Friends of First experience with Helcim

Comments: I do not work with the system on a regular basis, so my own experience has been the lack of any problems or negative feedback from the people that do use it.

Pros:

What we like most is that the system has worked smoothly; I do not believe we are taking advantage of the additional features, beyond accepting credit cards for payment.

Cons:

The credit card process has fit in very smoothly with the operations; I have received no negative feedback.

Excellent Customer Support

Pros:

For the most part Heclim's feature set covers what we need - where they really hit it out of the park is with support. Have always received prompt and useful technical assistance from their team.

Cons:

We have a fairly complex environment and so Helcim doesn't do everything we need from it but that is overcome with supplementary software.

Easy for a Newby

Comments: I am pleased with the ease of use and helpful staff.

Pros:

I am not super tech savvy and just started my own business. I was able to use Helcim easily. When I needed help, customer support was very helpful and professional.

Cons:

The website needs refreshed frequently and can run slow.

Great customer service

Pros:

I cant really say much about the software as I have been experiencing small but fixable problems, however the times I’ve had to call customer service to have the problems fixed... the reps have been EXCELLENT!!! incredibly polite, extremely knowledgeable, and have always been a saving grace on a bad day. Wonderful staff!!

Cons:

Still very new to me. Was having some processing issues

Exceptional Customer Service During Setup of Helcim Account

Comments: I required support during a few steps of setup and was always responded to quickly and with great detail to help with any challenges. Fantastic, helpful team!

Pros:

Invoice template creation and tracking invoice progress.

Cons:

Ability to have two separate bank accounts (i.e. tax receipted donation account and sponsorship proceeds) through the same Helcim account.

Customer Services

Comments: Capturing payments. Customer services was excellent. [SENSITIVE CONTENT] was very helpful and definitely helped me solve the problem.

Pros:

Payments processing was easy. Capturing payments was easy to understand

Cons:

I wish we could change the setting for preauthorizing and capture on Helcim website instead of through Wordpress.

great!

Comments: straightforward easy to use, and great customer support as well