Square for Retail Review

Cheaper Rates Than Square App

Square for Retail offers simple, straightforward pricing of 2.5% plus $0.10 per tap, dip, or swipe and 3.5% plus $0.15 per keyed-in transaction with a monthly fee of $60 and no long-term contracts or termination fees. The $60 monthly fee per register is more expensive than Square’s standard POS app, which is available as a free download and only charges per-transaction fees. Square also offers custom pricing plans for retailers with annual revenues over $250,000 and average ticket sizes over $15.

Square Hardware Costs

Square offers a countertop stand for iPads for $169, an NFC/EMV chip card reader for $49, and a number of optional hardware add-ons like a cash drawer ($109), a barcode scanner ($119), and a receipt printer ($229). It also has prepackaged bundles for retailers who use routers at their businesses and those who do not. In general, credit card processing contracts don’t come with less transparency or lower commitment than Square’s, even among the top-rated payment processors for retail merchants.

Lack of Underwriting

Although Square’s pricing may be attractive to a number of business owners, the company has one major contractual drawback that appears to be responsible for many of its online complaints. Square’s easy signup is made possible by omitting a thorough underwriting process. This means that Square’s primary means of protecting itself against fraud is to place sudden fund holds on large or suspicious transactions, often without providing any advance notice to merchants. This policy, which is the topic of hundreds of public complaints, is unfortunately part of the processing service that comes bundled with Square for Retail.

Low Complaint Total

Square for Retail is still a relatively new product family at Square, so there aren’t many Square for Retail complaints at this time. For mid-size retailers who already use Square, the service offers a variety of services that should prove useful with no real tradeoffs in function. New users should be pleasantly surprised by the enhanced inventory options, employee management tools, and accounting integrations. Hardware compatibility (for receipt printers, etc.) is also a big plus for merchants who seek a gentle transition from traditional registers to a cloud-based service like Square. To that end, the iPad app coupled with the Square Stand and the EMV/NFC reader dock remains a simple way for Square merchants to offer a more traditional checkout counter setup on their iPads that is less likely to confuse or inconvenience employees and customers.

Square Lawsuits

We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against Square. Dissatisfied merchants who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

Square for Retail Customer Support Options

On the negative side, Square offers only limited live customer support to merchants. Active Square users can contact Square by phone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST, but they will first need to obtain their customer code (see: How to Contact Square). Deactivated users cannot obtain a customer code. This means that their fund holds and other account issues may go unresolved for very long periods of time, leaving deactivated merchants without a solution of any kind during operating hours. This is the most consistent issue cited by Square merchants who have filed public complaints. For merchants lucky enough to avoid fund holds or service issues, Square is a great option. For those who encounter problems, there is hardly ever a swift and effective resolution.

Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.

Over 2,000 Complaints

As of this update, the Better Business Bureau is reporting an “A+” rating for Square despite 2,001 complaints filed in the last 36 months. This complaint total is up from the company’s total at the time of our last update, which may indicate that Square’s BBB complaint total could increase further. The number is up from 812 complaints as of our January 2014 update and 603 complaints as of our July 2013 update, and has skyrocketed from just a few dozen complaints since we first published this review in April of 2011. Surprisingly, the BBB has also raised Square’s grade from a “B+” in July of 2013 to an “A+” despite the rising complaint volume.

Square Complaint Breakdown

Of the complaint total, 1,323 are regarding problems with service, 528 with billing and collection disputes, 75 with delivery problems, 65 with advertising and sales issues, and 10 due to a guarantee or warranty issue. The BBB has also added a note stating that it has received many complaints regarding Square’s fund withholding procedure. Square has responded by quoting its Terms of Use policies and referring to the help section of its website. The company has successfully resolved 289 complaints, while the remaining 1,712 either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final assessment from the merchant.

What Merchants Say

Square has also received 357 informal reviews to its profile, most of which are negative in tone. The most recent complaint describes poor customer service:

The worse customer support I have ever experienced in my entire life!! That’s because they don’t have live customer support. I was shut down this year after 3.5 years of being with them. They didn’t even have the courtesy to email or call or anything at all they just shut you off!! very upset with this company. I will never recommend this company. They are big enough that they don’t really care about the small business even though thats what their business model is suppose to be.

Merchants who value a responsive support department may be better served by a top-rated payment processor for great customer service.

A “C” Performance

Due to the company’s high complaint count, rapid growth, and comparatively brief time in business, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C” for the purposes of this review.

Transparent Pricing

As a product offered by Square, Square for Retail is advertised in the same way that Square credit card processing is advertised. When it comes to transaction fees, contract terms, equipment costs, and add-on services, Square is exceptionally transparent. The company maintains a very simple pricing structure and does not bury hidden costs in a complicated contract. Its quoted pricing for Square for Retail hardware and software additions is clear.

Unexpected Policy Drawbacks

However, Square does have two major shortcomings: its restricted live customer support and its fraud management policies. These two aspects of Square’s service are not fully addressed in its promotional materials, and thousands of merchants have reported that they were blindsided by problems related to fund holds by Square. This can be described as either a marketing issue or a service issue. Since customer support and fund holds are generally unrelated to the Square for Retail product itself, they will not count against the company in this review.