Square for credit cards

[wlhequipment]

Not a question, more of a gripe.

I've been a Square customer for 7 years. Been biting the "fee" bullet this whole time. I run a small time shop, so I can't afford POS terminals and all that, so I stuck with em. A week ago, I see 2 transactions where someone must have hacked in, charged a customer, and refunded that same customer hours later. No money actually changed hands. Of course, that customer saw this on his emails. I was able to get a call to him first thing the next morning, and tell him I saw it too, and had no idea what was going on, but was going to get to the bottom of it. As soon as I got to the shop, I called Square. I spoke to some idiot who took my complaint, and gave me a case number, and told me to call back in 5 days. That's today. So I call back, and get told my only method of communication is texting with my cell phone, and they hang up. I get the text, and I tell the lady "Heather" that I want to talk to a person. She says I cant, texting is all they got. I say BS this is a fraud case involving my business and a customer, I want a person. She says no, text or nothing. So I ended the chat. I sent them an email saying I've been a customer for years, and I'm giving you one more chance to treat me as such, or you lose my business. Call me.

Here's the thing. That's a totally toothless threat, because I'm a little guy, I don't have many other options. There are a few; I'm actually looking at Clover. Square isn't going to call, and they don't give a rat about my business. What's happening in the world? I got some other vendors who are treating me like they're doing me a favor by allowing me to buy stuff from them. What the hell?

OK, sorry rant over. I had to vent.

 

[Birken Vogt]

Square was good enough for years, but I heard about this sort of thing coming, so I dropped them. I went to Chase Paymentech which has a web interface you can use, for emailing invoices to customers. Unfortunately, not at all like Square, but it is a real business oriented service with one guy you call or email with your questions.

 

[fast_st]

Check your bank for options, they may have someone they partner with? There are a dozen or more pay vendors out there and most have reviews available.

 

[cfherrman]

There are a ton of options and if your bank acct gets drained from square not doing anything then you really can't use them can you.

Square is also a terrible company as well.

I think fresh books can do ccs as well.

 

[suladas]

There are a ton of options and if your bank acct gets drained from square not doing anything then you really can't use them can you.

Square is also a terrible company as well.

I think fresh books can do ccs as well.

Anyone using something like this should be using two accounts. One is where the square deposits money into and then transfer it to your operating account. This way it is impossible for them to ever drain your account.

 

[cosmaar1]

Last year someone signed up for a square account in my name and they sent me a credit card. No one could tell me anything about it. Pretty much the same thing, I filed a complaint and no one ever called back, could give me a response, etc. Thing is, I’ve never used them before and don’t own a business!

 

[colson04]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal @wlhequipment .

When I started my own business, I considered setting up an account with square, clover, etc to accept credit card payments from customers. I was so busy, that I didn't follow up right away and get something started. Over 2 years later, I have only lost 2 jobs because I do not accept credit card payments. The only reason I don't is because of horror stories like yours. I get asked about it every so often, I just tell customers cash or check and only 2 people have ever rejected my bid due to accepted payment methods. I stay as busy as I want to, so I don't lose any sleep over it either.

 

[mitch504]

I use Paypal for credit cards. They charge $15, but I really only use them for the US Forest Service, and occasional other big transactions.

 

[Birken Vogt]

Paypal is just as evil as Square, maybe more so.

 

[mitch504]

I am sure of it, but I only used it twice last year, and it makes my local forest service office feel warm and fuzzy.

 

[Coaldust]

I don’t do many cc transactions. With that said, I’m using the cc service with FreshBooks and have been happy with it.

 

[John C.]

I've had a few customers that I require to be paid by credit card. I've been using the service through Chase and it has so far worked well. They gave me a card reader that connects through my cell phone app. I usually do all the transactions through my computer though. The payments go through a receiving account and after funds are confirmed they go to my business checking account. Charges to me for the service is a percentage that is charged separately and is automatically deducted out of the checking account once a month. It's easy to keep track of.

I was told when I set up the service that Chase is the bank that provides and services the technology for Square.

 

[Welder Dave]

Square is about the only option I have at my property but my bigger beef is my cell service has gotten a lot worse the last year or so. Apparently other people have complained enough that there was a story about it on the news. We've experienced dropped calls in the city limits. The other thing that I know other people and businesses don't like is the fee's for using a credit card are quite a bit higher than using a debit card. A lot of businesses charge extra if using a credit card because of the extra fee's. Why do credit cards charge more? Seems like pure greed to me.

 

[92U 3406]

Paypal is just as evil as Square, maybe more so.

After what came out a couple weeks ago in regards to Paypal I will never, EVER, consider using their services.

 

[wlhequipment]

After what came out a couple weeks ago in regards to Paypal I will never, EVER, consider using their services.

What happened with Paypal?

 

[wlhequipment]

Ugh what a week this has been. I'm glad it's Friday. After multiple conversations with "highly trained" Square staff, it is obvious they don't give one red rat's a$$ about what happened. I mean, to me, this type of breech is really a core function as far as credit card processing goes. By that I mean, it needs to be prevented. I can't even log into my account without them sending me a verification code to my cell phone. So, how did I get hacked? I also don't store credit card info, so if some $hithead did manage to hack in, they shouldn't have been able to charge anything. There's no way to do that, with no numbers, I thought. Anyway, to hell with them, I deleted my square account today, and I'm going with Clover. They might save me some money, might not, but at least I have an actual person who is my account manager. His name is Victor. Maybe I'm getting old, but I like to actually talk to an actual person when I have a problem like this. Have a good weekend yall.

 

[cfherrman]

PayPal can charge you $2500 if they don't like what you say.

 

[wlhequipment]

PayPal can charge you $2500 if they don't like what you say.

huh?

 

[cfherrman]

It's in their terms of service

 

[92U 3406]

What happened with Paypal?

They tried to slip in a clause where they could fine you if you say things (I assume on social media) that they don't agree with. Apparently it was a "mistake" but I could care less. Far as I'm concerned the intent was there.