Theft/no customer service
Complaint
John Underhill
Country: United States
I read a few blogs about a merchant service(squareup.com)on an excusve website. I decided to use the service and accepted over eight hundred dollars in payments through them. The problem is they will not send the funds due to my designated business account and I have now idea how to collect my money from them. They continue not to answer my numerous complaints and requests for assistance. They claim to answer every request personally which is deceptive. On my first complaint, they personally sent me a list of measures for a certain proceedure which was fruitless and had nothing to do with my complaint. If it was not for You Tube, I would have still been stuck on the application complaint.
Comments
(1) Help <top of screen>
(2) Your Deposits
(3) Can I correlate deposits and payments?
<at the very bottom of the screen you will find this statement>
"Feel free to write in here if you have any trouble matching your payments with deposits."
I clicked on "here" to send an email and did get a response.
FDIC website; http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/6500-300.html#fdic6500121)
§ 127. Open end consumer credit plans <see (b)(2)>
Would still like anyone's experience with refund transactions being reported to you.
I am interested in filing a class action suit against Squareup.com.
We had been using the service, and all seemed to be going well until they began taking back the money out of our accounts due to fraud.
We did EVERYTHING right in regards to verifying CC, proper documentation, letters of permission ect.
If there is ANYTHING you can do to help or anything I can do to help you as well, maybe we can get somewhere on this together.
We are a small electronics company and at this point SQUARE has not only pulled money out, but also drained so much of our funds that we are now battling our bank as well.
Example: Bank of America received funds from Square, 5-10 days later, the person who purchased the merchandise calls and says they never received it, So Square (acting on behalf of lts say Capitol One Visa) pulls the money out, thus leaving all incoming transactions to bounce before we know the money has been chargebacked. Not only do we have all permission letters and letters for receipt of merchandise and signatures, but we have forwarded this onto them and they have done NOTHING.
I hope you can help me with this, I am willing to fly to San Fran, and file the suit myself. Thoughts?
Aimee
feel free to email me directly
aimeelaurencouture@gmail.com
Aptcond@gmail.com
Square is a mistake for a real business and in the end they actually wind up costing more.
ADVICE: Keep you $50 cash register and your old credit card machine and stay happy. Take the new iPad and use it for your leisure. Laugh at this miserable company and the Folly they have created with there junky "card reader" (I hate to call it that because it does not really read cards).
SQUAREUP.com IS A MAJOR FAIL!
http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/busi ... cisco-ca-370609
Review Updated: 10/31/2011
Update Summary: Square phone number added. Updated recent policy change regarding $1000 transaction limit. BBB downgrades to an “F” rating.
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Square Overview
Unlike like most Square (squareup.com) reviews, this Square up review focuses primarily on the things that matter to merchants and business owners, instead of just focusing on the Square’s technology. Square is often called “Square up” or “Squareup” because of the domain that Square uses for its website; however, the official name is for the company is “Square.” The names will be used interchangeably in this review.
Founded in February of 2009 by Jack Dorsey who is also the founder of Twitter.com, Square has seen tremendous growth in a very short amount of time. Much of the company’s success can be attributed to the fact that Square has ingeniously broken the mold of traditional credit card processing by removing barriers to entry and bringing credit card acceptance to the individual. iPhone, iPad and Android users simply fill out a quick form, download the Square app, and then await the arrival of the Square up reader in the mail. The Square credit card reader plugs into the headphone jack of the phone making it a mobile credit card terminal. In fact, Square’s model has been so successful that it has attracted big name competitors such as Intuit (GoPayment) and North American Bancard (Pay Anywhere) to offer similar mobile processing services.
[Check out the top recommended mobile processors]
Square Sales Strategy and Tactics | A+
Another area where Square differs greatly is in how it markets and sells its service. Where most merchant account providers utilize poorly trained outside independent agents who are focused on setting high fees for big commissions, Square relies mostly on online marketing and hires no independent agents. Nearly all of Squares customers sign up directly through the homepage of the company’s website. Square has also enjoyed resounding online buzz and word of mouth promotion. With the removal of sales agents and middlemen, Square avoids the “hidden fee” problem of which the credit card processing industry is notorious. Not only that, the Square’s pricing is straight forward and easy to understand.
Square Up Cost, Fees and Contract Terms | A+
One of the most appealing aspects of Square is that, unlike nearly every other processor, Square credit card processing has only one fee: the processing fee of a transaction. There are no other fees that are typical of credit card processing, such as activation fees, monthly fees, gateway fees, downgrade fees and early termination fees. Square has no additional monthly fees whatsoever and no monthly minimum processing fees.
No matter the card type, merchants pay a single flat rate of 2.75% for swiped transactions, or 3.15% + $0.15 per typed transaction (as of this review). Although the transaction rate is higher than the “Qualified” rate of most traditional merchant accounts, it is comparable to the “Mid-Qualified” and “Non-Qualified” downgrade surcharges that about 80% of most transactions experience in a traditional merchant account setup. The rate is, however, much more expensive than the Interchange Pass-through rate pricing model. Given that most merchants do not have Interchange Pass-through, the fact that Square has no monthly fees and no time commitment makes it one of the most affordable credit processing options in the market. Nevertheless, Square does have some drawbacks.
Square does not verify the credit history of its customers (a benefit for some) so it sets a few limitations to avoid losses to fraud. There is no limit to the amount of money that can be accepted per transaction or per month, but Square will hold card-not-present sales for 30 days if more than $1000 is charged within any rolling seven day period. Therefore, If a merchant types the credit card information into the phone instead of swiping it through the card reader, the merchant will have a rolling seven day processing “limit” of $1000 that allows him/her to keep accepting transactions once it has been reached. Keep in mind that the limit only applies to transactions that are typed into the phone. Typed-in charges under the $1000 limit, and all swiped transactions, are electronically deposited into the merchant’s linked checking account usually within 24 business hours.
For merchants that regularly process more than $1000 in seven days, Square provides two options to circumvent the deposit hold. With the first, Square periodically reviews accounts and will raise the limit automatically for merchants that regularly process over the $1000 in card-not-present sales, have few refunds, and very few to no chargebacks. With the second option, merchants can request a form to provide more information about their business in order to raise the deposit limit. This form can be requested by emailing Square.
[$1000 card-not-present hold a problem? Find a mobile provider that doesn't have it]
Square Customer Service, Complaints & Dispute Resolution | D
Where Square comes up short in this review is in its customer service. Although the company has relatively few complaints, the majority fall on two areas: A difficult to find customer service phone helpline, and a general misunderstanding of the $1000+ rolling seven day deposit hold.
In this reviewer’s opinion, which seems to be shared by many, the company relies too heavily on customer service provided by email, a Twitter support page, and a support blog. This can pose a big drawback for many, especially for merchants that cannot, or will not, wait days for an email response. For many, it seems inexcusable for a financial services company to not have a readily available 800-number helpline, especially when Square was recently valued at over $1 billion. Instead Square hides its non-toll free number, which is (415) 375-3176, and drives people to an email contact form. Additionally, this reviewer has found that the number goes to a voicemail system where merchants can leave a message in hopes of a return call, which in our case was never returned.
Square could greatly improve its rating in this section by adding a customer support number. There are also several complaints from dissatisfied customers who were surprised by the $1000-plus deposit hold, and it appears that Square needs to do a better job of disclosing this fact.
Additionally, Square has had a few difficulties with batches of defective credit card readers and insufficient inventory to keep up with demand. But, it appears that they have done a good job of fixing most card reader issues in recent months.
[Need a mobile processor with a dedicated customer support line? Check out GoPayment]
Square Better Business Bureau Report | F
As of the last update of this review, Square is not showing as accredited on the Better Business Bureau website and the BBB is reporting an “F“ grade with 13 complaints filed in the last 36 months. It should be noted that Square has been in business for less than the 36 month reporting period. Of the 13 complaints, eight were due to billing and collection issues, three due to service issues and two with sales and advertising issues. Eight of the 13 complaints are showing as resolved to the customers’ satisfaction.
Bottom Line
Square is definitely on the right track with providing an easy credit card processing solution with no long-term commitments and no monthly fees. The service does have its limitations and drawbacks, which may deter higher volume merchants; however, it is a great service for new businesses, low volume businesses, mobile merchants, individuals, and small businesses that need an occasional mobile credit card processing option. The biggest area of needed improvement is in Square’s customer service options. The lack of an 800-number helpline for a merchant services provider is disconcerting to many, to say the least.
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