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(855) 351-2274Company Overview
This article is focused on credit card processing using Square for established businesses and industries, such as retail, food service, and ecommerce. The article provides an in-depth review of Square’s point of sale options and card readers, as well as an analysis of user reviews. It also examines common complaints and fees associated with Square’s credit card processing, comparing them to traditional merchant services companies.
Square’s Card Reader and POS
We will also provide an analysis of Square’s card readers and point-of-sale options, including the Square Reader for contactless and chip as well the company’s retail and restaurant POS. These hardware options are compatible with a range of mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets, making them an attractive option for businesses that require a portable payment processing solution.
Square’s Additional Features and Services
Additionally, we will cover various services provided by Square, such as its Kitchen Display System, Square Terminal, and Integrated Reservation and Waitlist Management. Readers who are interested in Square’s specific services can find more detailed reviews through links provided in the article.
Square User Reviews
User reviews are a crucial factor to consider when choosing a credit card processing provider. This article provides an analysis of user reviews, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Square’s services as reported by actual customers. We also cover common complaints about Square’s services, such as issues with customer support, funding holds, and account stability. By highlighting these complaints, we aim to help business owners understand potential pain points and make informed decisions about whether Square is the right provider for them.
Square’s Fees
Fees are an essential consideration when choosing a credit card processing provider. This article provides an analysis of Square’s fees, including transaction fees, chargeback fees, and hardware costs. We’ll compare Square’s fees to those of traditional merchant services companies, providing businesses with a valuable benchmark for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of Square’s services.
Square Review Video Summary
Is Square Holding Your Funds Right Now?
Before we get started, thousands of merchants have reported payments frozen by Square. If you’re one of the business owners that are using Square, then you might find the following resources helpful:
Started By The Original Twitter Founder
Square was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey who also founded Twitter before it was bought by Elon Musk. The company grew rapidly and Square became a public company in 2015 under the “SQ” ticker. The Square corporation rebranded to “Block Inc” in 2021 but continues to operate it’s payment processing services under the Square brand. Much of the company’s success can be attributed to its then unique take on smartphone credit card processing (See: Best Mobile Credit Card Processing Apps) and by being the first to market such technology to small businesses owners as well as everyday people.
Quick Sign-up and Intuitive Design
Signing up for Square’s payment processing is simple: users simply visit Square’s website to fill out a short form and await approval, which typically happens instantly. Once approved, users can choose from hardware options such as a card reader that connects to a phone or tablet via Bluetooth, or a from dedicated point-of-sale devices that can be used on a countertop or taken to the customer. Square has been so successful in the mobile credit card processing industry that it has inspired numerous competitors.
Payment Processing Designed for Specific Industries
Square has placed particular attention on common industries with predictable sales patterns and low risk of fraud and chargebacks. Below are the business types that Square targets with its marketing.
Square for Restaurants and Bars
Square offers an extensive suite of services and products for the food and beverage industry, catering to various business types. Below, we explore Square’s specialized features and solutions for quick-service restaurants, full-service restaurants, bars, food trucks, bakeries, and catering services. First we’ll cover features that are found with all the industry specific POS options.
Staffing and Scheduling
Square’s software solutions provide bars and restaurants with tools to manage their unique staffing needs more effectively. Time tracking and role-based permissions are two features that can help businesses manage their workforce more efficiently. Time tracking allows businesses to accurately track employee hours, manage payroll, and ensure compliance with labor laws. Role-based permissions allow businesses to assign different levels of access to employees based on their job responsibilities, ensuring that sensitive information is only accessible to those who need it.
Offline Payment Processing for Uninterrupted Operations
Square’s offline mode is a valuable feature that ensures seamless payment processing even without an internet connection. This feature is particularly useful for businesses that operate in areas with limited connectivity or are prone to internet outages. With offline mode, businesses can continue to process transactions and accept payments without any interruption, reducing the risk of lost sales or dissatisfied customers. When an internet connection becomes available, Square will automatically sync all offline transactions and update the business’s records. This feature provides businesses with peace of mind, knowing that they can continue to operate even in challenging environments. Overall, Square’s offline mode is a useful tool that provides businesses with flexibility, reliability, and seamless payment processing.
Insights into Product Performance and Customer Preferences
Square’s software solutions provide valuable reporting tools that can help restaurants gain insights into their product performance and customer preferences. By tracking sales data, restaurants can identify which menu items are most popular, track inventory levels, and make informed decisions about restocking and pricing strategies. This can help restaurants reduce waste, optimize their menu offerings, and improve their profitability.
In addition, Square’s reporting features can provide restaurants with insights into customer preferences and purchasing behaviors. By analyzing sales data, restaurants can identify trends and patterns in customer behavior, such as peak ordering times or popular menu items. This can help restaurants tailor their offerings to better meet the needs of their customers and improve their overall dining experience.
Customizable Menu Options for Diverse Products
Square’s software solutions offer customizable menu options and item modifiers that provide restaurant owners with the flexibility to manage a wide range of products with ease. These features allow restaurants to modify, add, or remove menu items quickly and efficiently, making it easy to keep menus up to date and to accommodate customer requests. With item modifiers, restaurants can add specific instructions or preferences to menu items, such as cooking preferences or dietary restrictions, improving the dining experience for customers.
Next, we’ll cover features for specific food and beverage businesses.
Quick-Service Restaurants and Cafes:
Speedy Transactions for Fast-Paced Operations
Square Terminal and contactless payments are tools that can be beneficial for quick-service restaurants and cafes. Square Terminal is an all-in-one device that can process transactions, refunds, and print receipts. This device can help businesses save costs and streamline their checkout process. Contactless payments allow customers to pay quickly and securely without exchanging physical cards or handling cash. This not only speeds up the transaction process but also enhances the overall customer experience. Additionally, contactless payments can improve security and protect against fraud as sensitive payment information is encrypted and securely transmitted during the transaction process.
Mobile Ordering and Pickup Options
Square Online provides an option for quick-service restaurants and cafes to offer mobile ordering and pickup to their customers. This feature caters to the on-the-go nature of customers who want to quickly and easily order their food without having to wait in line or be physically present at the location. With Square Online, customers can place their orders remotely, and then pick up their orders at their convenience. This feature provides greater flexibility and convenience to customers, improving their overall experience with the business. For quick-service restaurants and cafes, this feature can help increase sales, reduce wait times, and improve operational efficiency.
Order Management with Kitchen Display System
The Square Kitchen Display System (KDS) is a tool that aims to help quick-service restaurants manage orders efficiently and provide fast service to customers. With the Square KDS, orders are displayed on a digital screen, allowing kitchen staff to prioritize and manage them in real-time. This helps to reduce wait times, increase order accuracy, and improve overall customer satisfaction. The Square KDS also provides features such as order tracking and timers, which can help staff manage their workload and ensure that orders are prepared and delivered in a timely manner. By streamlining the order management process, the Square KDS can help quick-service restaurants improve their operational efficiency, reduce errors, and provide a better experience for their customers.
Full-Service Restaurants:
Table and Floor Plan Management
Square provides a range of features and tools that enable quick-service restaurants to manage their dine-in services more efficiently. One of the key features of Square for restaurants is its comprehensive table and floor plan management tools. With these tools, restaurants can create and manage floor plans, assign tables to servers, and monitor table status in real-time. This allows staff to coordinate their services more effectively, ensuring that tables are assigned to servers efficiently and orders are taken and delivered promptly.
Pay-at-the-Table Functionality
Square Terminal’s pay-at-the-table functionality allows customers to pay for their meals directly at the table with their credit cards. This feature reduces wait times and provides a more secure transaction process.
Integrated Reservation and Waitlist Management
Square’s Integrated Reservation and Waitlist Management system provides quick-service restaurants with a useful tool to manage their reservation and waitlist processes. With this system, restaurants can manage their reservations and waitlists in one place, simplifying the process and reducing errors. Customers can easily make reservations online, and restaurants can manage them with real-time updates, reducing the risk of overbooking or other scheduling conflicts.
Bars and Nightclubs:
Inventory Management Features
Square’s inventory management tools enable bars an nightclubs to track their alcohol and ingredient stock levels. This feature helps businesses monitor their inventory in real-time and ensures that they have enough supplies. Additionally, Square’s inventory management tools provide insights into which items are popular and which ones need to be restocked, allowing bar owners to make informed decisions about their inventory management strategies.
Tab Management for Accurate Billing
Square’s payment system simplifies opening and closing tabs, reducing billing errors and ensuring accurate charges. With features like tab management and easy payment processing, customers can quickly and easily start and close tabs without confusion or mistakes. This improves the customer experience and helps businesses avoid costly billing errors.
Food Trucks and Mobile Vendors:
Compact and Portable Hardware Solutions
Square Terminal offers a compact, portable solution for quick setup and teardown in mobile food and beverage businesses.
Location-Based Services
Integrate location-based services with Square Online to help customers find and order from mobile vendors.
Catering and Event Services:
Scheduling and Management with Square Appointments
Square Appointments simplifies scheduling and managing events and bookings for catering services.
Efficient Invoicing and Estimates Features
Square’s invoicing and estimates features streamline billing and payment management for catering clients.
Square Restaurant POS Example
Learn more about Square’s food and beverage POS here.
Square Credit Card Processing for Retail Businesses
Square offers a wide range of services and products tailored to the retail industry, accommodating various retail business types. Below, we delve into Square’s specialized features and solutions for brick-and-mortar stores, online retailers, pop-up shops, and specialty retailers.
Brick-and-Mortar Retail Stores
Point-of-Sale System for In-Store Sales
Square for Retail offers a comprehensive POS system with inventory management, customer profiles, and employee management tools, streamlining in-store sales and operations.
Integrated Hardware Solutions
Square Register and Square Terminal provide seamless hardware integration, simplifying transactions and enhancing customer experience.
Advanced Reporting and Analytics
Square’s reporting and analytics features deliver actionable insights into sales trends, inventory management, and customer behavior.
Online Retailers
Easy-to-Use E-commerce Platform
Square Online provides a user-friendly platform for creating customizable, professional online stores that integrate seamlessly with the Square POS system.
Shipping and Pickup Options
Square offer customers a variety of shipping and pickup options, including in-store pickup, curbside pickup, and shipping integration with major carriers.
Secure Payment Processing for Online Transactions
Square’s focus on providing a secure payment processing system ensures safe and reliable online transactions for customers.
Learn more about Square’s retail POS options here.
Other Square Services
Since the launch of the Square card reader and mobile app, the company has rolled out several other services for both business owners and personal use. Below are links to our specific Square reviews for these services.
- Square Register is a point-of-sale (POS) device that is intended as an all-in-one payment terminal for retail businesses. The company has options tailored for retail POS, restaurant POS, food truck POS, coffee shop POS, as well as a few others.
- Square Online Store is an Square’s online store builder for selling products over the internet. The platform is simple to use and quick to set up. The service has no monthly fees and the only cost is the card transaction fees from your sales.
- Square for Retail is Square’s point-of-sale system specifically designed for brick-and-mortar retailers. The service is similar to Square Register but includes a revamped checkout process as well as additional features such as enhanced inventory management, employee accounts, cost of goods sold, purchase orders, vendor lists, and more.
- Square Cash is a direct peer-to-peer cash transfer service that is linked to a user’s debit card. Cash sends payments via email and smartphone and allows for free transfers of funds between users. The service is not targeted at business owners, but they may use it to make payments outside of a business setting.
- Square Capital is a Square’s business loan program that can be activated from the dashboard in the Square Register. Square Capital allows merchants to receive a large upfront cash amount and then pay that total back over time with a fixed percentage of their daily credit card sales, similar to a merchant cash advance.
- The company has also recently launched several other service including a virtual terminal that can be used on any device, an self-serve orders app called “Square Order,” an online invoicing feature called “Square Invoices,” an online scheduler called “Square Appointments,” and an offline processing mode that enables merchants to capture payments even when their internet is down.
Industries Square Does Not Serve: Prohibited Businesses
While Square offers an extensive suite of services and products catering to a wide range of industries, there are certain businesses that it does not serve due to legal, regulatory, or compliance reasons. This short section highlights industries and business types that are prohibited according to Square’s list of restricted industries. Attempting to process payments with Square in the following business types will result in your funds being withheld and the termination of your account.
Regulated Products and Services
Square does not support businesses that deal in the sale or distribution of regulated products and services, such as narcotics, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, e-cigarettes, firearms, ammunition, and explosives. The company does, however, provide payment processing for CBD businesses (See: Best CBD Payment Processors)
Adult Content and Services
Businesses involved in adult entertainment, products, or services—including but not limited to pornography, escort services, and adult live chat features—are not supported by Square (See: Best Adult Industry Payment Processors).
Financial and Legal Services
Square does not cater to businesses offering certain financial and legal services, such as investment and credit services, bankruptcy attorneys, collection agencies, and payday loans (See: Best High-RIsk Merchant Account Providers).
Gambling and Betting
Businesses involved in gambling, lottery, or betting activities, including online gambling sites, sports forecasting, and odds-making, are not supported by Square (See: Best Merchant Accounts for Gambling Businesses).
Illicit or Unethical Activities
Square prohibits any business involved in illicit or unethical activities, including those that promote hate speech, harassment, discrimination, or that violate intellectual property rights.
High-Risk Products and Services
Businesses dealing with high-risk products or services, such as telecommunications equipment, prepaid phone cards, phone unlocking services, or those that pose a high risk of fraud or chargebacks, are not supported by Square (See: Best High Risk Payment Processors).
Square Customer Complaints & Reviews
Here's What Users Think
Complaint Summary
|
Total Online Complaints
2,300+
|
Live Customer Support
Active Merchants Only
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Most Common Complaint
Fund Holds
|
|
Lawsuits
Yes
|
Square Alternatives
We recommend Helcim as the top alternative to Square. Both services offer an easy to use mobile payment processing device that works with most mobile devices and tablets. Helcim offers a month-to-month contract, no monthly or annual fees, customer support phone line, next-day funding, extremely low processing fees, and QuickBooks integration. Helcim has also been consistently reviewed as one of our top-rated processors since we first reviewed it almost ten years ago. We feel that the company provides all the functionality that Square offers with a much smoother customer experience. For more information please read our full Helcim Review. If you operate a “high-risk” business, please out list of high-risk credit card processors.
Where Square Falls Short
Another area that Square comes up short in this review is its customer service. Square has racked up a lot of complaints (more than 2,300 just in our comment section below). The majority of reviews complaint of virtually nonexistent phone support and funding holds. Additionally, the company has not been active in attempting to resolve online complaints.
Square / Block Lawsuits
The company has defended against several lawsuits:
- In 2018, Square settled a class-action lawsuit filed against its food delivery service “Caviar”. The company was alleged to have withheld money from delivery workers left by customers as gratuities from 2012 to 2015 and agreed to pay $2.2 million dollars under the settlement.
- We have found evidence of multiple other lawsuits from the last few years. In 2019 Square was accused of mishandling the way it dealt with information concerning payments for medical procedures. The suit was dismissed with prejudice later that year.
- In another class-action suit, Square faces charges of holding large amounts of funds from merchant accounts that it deemed high risk. Square has received numerous complaints relating to these charges over the years, and this case is ongoing.
- A 2021 class-action suit has been brought against Square and other major credit card processing companies over what the complainants call price-fixing over the use of the interchange fee.
- A potentially major suit was brought against Square CEO Jack Dorsey in 2021, in which a Twitter shareholder claims that Twitter gives “broad access” to user data to advertisers and that Square, Dorsey’s other company, has “benefitted wildly from this disregard for privacy.” The suit has wide-ranging implications for Square if it succeeds, as it seeks to remove Dorsey from Twitter and force both companies to undergo major reforms.
Square Customer Support Options
The company appears to rely too heavily on customer service provided by email, its support forum, and social media. The company does have a customer support phone number that operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT (see How to Contact Square), but merchants and business owners must request and receive a code from the Square website in order to actually reach a representative.
Only Active Accounts Get Real-time Help
Phone support codes are only provided to active Square merchants, meaning that deactivated accounts will be unable to reach support. It is our position that deactivated accounts are the businesses who have the greatest need for phone support. Business owners who prefer to have access to full-time, in-house support staff are better off choosing a conventional merchant account provider.
Long Wait Times
Merchants are waiting up to several days for a response from Square, by phone or email. Many users also report that Square has not satisfactorily responded to their support requests. Many Square reviews report disbelief that a company as large as Square lacks direct phone support.
Beware Square Phishing Scams
At the time of a previous update, numerous non-Square users claimed to receive emails from Square regarding non-existent accounts. These emails stated that Square was having trouble depositing sales into the user’s account. It went on to instruct the to supply account details to receive their payment. These emails are very likely to be Square phishing scams. Such scams are designed to trick users into providing personal information. They do not have any connection to the actual company Square. If you receive a suspicious email regarding your Square account, forward it to [email protected].
Square BBB Rating and Report
Our Better Business Bureau Profile Assessment
BBB Summary
|
Product & Service Complaints
3,626
|
Billing & Collection Complaints
1,115
|
Advertising & Sales Complaints
65
|
|
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints
18
|
Delivery Complaints
199
|
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.
Square’s BBB Complaints on the Rise
As of this update, the Better Business Bureau is reporting an “A+” rating for Square despite 5,023 complaints filed in the last 36 months. Square complaints have skyrocketed since we first published this review in April of 2011.
How the Complaints Break Down
Of the 5,023 total complaints, 3,626 are regarding problems with service, 1,115 with billing and collection, 199 with delivery problems, 65 with advertising and sales issues, and 18 due to guarantee or warranty issues. The BBB previously added a note stating that it has received many complaints regarding Square’s fund-withholding procedures. Square responded by quoting its Terms of Use policies and referring to the help section of its website. It does not seem to have made any tangible change to its fund-holding policy in response to this notice. Square has resolved 1,773 complaints while the remaining 3,250 either were resolved. It should be noted that fewer complaint appear to be getting resolved compared to previous updates.
What Merchants Say
Square has also received 381 informal reviews to its BBB profile, with only 6 positive in tone and 375 negative. The most recent review describes potentially fraudulent charges and a lack of customer service:
********************** took money from our new business account. A recent new startup business. They claimed it was from a different business that was closed long ago, that was in someone else’s name. It had nothing to do with us. We provided them with all the documentation they requested yet they kept trying to debit the account, costing us a lot of money in fees. We were eventually forced to close the account just to stop them from debiting. Fortunately the bank manager had been through this with customers who use ********************** before and sided with us. The ********************** “Customer Success” team was absolutely horrific. It literally took weeks to speak to a real person. They lied to us multiple times, on recorded calls. Even telling us, more than once, that the “Recovery Team” doesn’t have phones (yes, they actually said that)They have done nothing to resolve the costs they incurred us. They cannot give us any details of the supposed transaction(s), dates, company, customer or any other information on why they fraudulently (in my opinion) took money to begin with. We have, to date, spent over 40 hours trying to resolve this issue with **********************. Finally, after nearly two months a real person called. The end result was they still refuse to pay us back for what they cost us and still insist we owed them money. They offered to issue us a “******” for the amount!. The thing is, we DON’T owe them. Never have.
This merchant would be better served by one of our top-rated processors.
A “C” Performance
Due to the company’s high complaint count compared, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C” for the purposes of this review.
Square Fees and Rates
A Closer Look at the Contract
Cost Summary
|
Swiped Rate
2.60% + $0.10
|
Keyed-in Rate
3.5% + $0.15
|
E-Commerce Rate
2.90% + $0.30
|
|
Monthly Fees
$0
|
Square’s Processing Fees are Simple
One of the most appealing aspects of Square for business owners is the lack of monthly or annual fees. In fact, there are none of typical of the typical fees found with most other traditional merchant services providers, such as activation fees, monthly fees, gateway fees, PCI Compliance fees, downgrade fees, and early termination fees. Square has no additional monthly fees outside of transaction fees. This means that there are no costs incurred if a business owner doesn’t make any sales.
Fees by Transaction Type
Square used to offer a very competitively priced magnetic stripe card reader, but following the switch to chip cards in the U.S., users are encouraged to purchase the chip card reader at a still-low cost of only $49. The company offers a single processing fee option for all merchants using Square Reader or Square Register.
Square’s fees are:
- 2.6% + $0.10 for swiped transactions
- 3.5% + $0.15 for keyed-in transactions
- 2.9% + $0.30 per sale through Square e-commerce
How Square’s Costs Compare
Square’s swipe rate is about 0.80% higher than what a business could achieve with a well-negotiated traditional merchant account. The keyed-in rate is about 1% higher for the same industries. If you are new business and looking for competitive rates, see our recommended credit card processors. If you are an established business looking for lower fees, consider our independent statement audit service to eliminate hidden processing costs.
High Volume Businesses, Heed Caution
Square does not verify the credit history of its prospective customers so it uses sophisticated systems to avoid fraud losses. The company states that there are no transaction limits, per sale or month. However, such marketing is misleading because numerous Square reviews report that large sales trigger funding holds. Additional, reviews also reports that a high number of sales over a short period can trigger a hold. The policies regarding such holds are not disclosed and no advance warning is given.
Square’s Previous Rolling Reserve Policy
Until November 2013, Square placed holds on funds of card-not-present sales if over $2,002 was charged within any seven-day period. This meant that if a merchant processed $2,100 in sales within seven days, the extra $98 would be held by Square for 30 days. This policy caused confusion among users because Square did not provide any warning before the $2,002 limit was reached. Square now says that merchants can process transactions of any type and size without worrying about a processing limit, but this is not entirely true.
Related: How to Stop Square From Holding Your Money
Square’s Current Fraud Triggers
Square’s current primary tactic to limit fraud is less transparent than its previous rolling reserve policy, which is why it has a low score in this section. Square seems to rely on undisclosed algorithmic “risk factors” to automatically hold business transactions that it considers suspicious. The payment processing system appears to flag many legitimate transactions, causing problems for some merchant accounts. Complaints have emerged that Square has randomly placed lengthy holds (over 30 days) on funds, even those swiped in person, without explanation or notification. When a transaction is flagged, Square will either contact the merchant for more information about the merchant or transaction, or deactivate the merchant’s account.
More Transparency Needed For Risky Transactions
This protocol lets Square publicly claim that it does not hold merchants’ funds because the withheld funds technically belong to “deactivated” Square merchants instead of “active” Square merchants. Square’s policies on fund holding and risk mitigation are very unclear and make the service risky for higher volume merchants. Square needs to do a better job of educating merchants about transactions that could lead to account deactivation. Steps the company could take include issuing a warning before processing transactions that will be held, immediately informing merchants when transactions have been held, and communicating with merchants throughout the hold process.
Some Minor Improvements Could Raise Square’s Rating
In most respects, Square has favorable pricing and contract terms for merchants. It has a simple signup process, affordable equipment costs, no monthly fees or long-term contracts, and easy-to-understand pricing. However, sudden account deactivation can greatly impact a merchant’s operations, so the grade for this section will not reach “A” until Square improves its risk mitigation procedure.
Square Jobs and Employment
Hiring Standards and Ethical Marketing Assessment
Key Points
|
Employs Independent Resellers
No
|
Advertises Transparent Rates
Yes
|
Discloses All Important Terms
No
|
|
Telemarketing/Door-to-Door
No
|
Working at Square, Employee Sentiment
We take into account a company’s employee sentiment as it can have a direct impact on the client experience. Overall, employee reviews of Square have been positive, with many employees praising the company’s innovative culture, talented colleagues, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Many also appreciate the opportunities for career growth and development, as well as the company’s focus on work-life balance and employee well-being.
However, some reviews have also highlighted challenges such as long work hours and high expectations, as well as issues with communication and transparency. Additionally, some employees have raised concerns about pay and benefits, particularly for those in entry-level or support roles.
Overall, Square appears to be a highly regarded employer, with a strong focus on innovation, employee development, and diversity and inclusion. However, as with any workplace, there may be some areas for improvement, and individual experiences may vary.
How Square is Different from Traditional Merchant Account Providers
Square differs greatly from traditional credit card processors in how it markets its POS systems and sells its service. Most merchant account providers hire poorly trained outside independent agents. These agents are trained to set high fees in exchange for big commissions. Square instead relies on online marketing and partnerships and does not hire outside sales agents. Nearly all of Square’s users sign up directly through the homepage of the company’s website. Square has also benefited from an enormous amount of online buzz and word-of-mouth promotion.
Beware of Processing Limitations
Square markets its pricing with a straightforward and easy-to-understand message. However. the company fails to mention anything about its fraud mitigation policies. These policies have caused significant problems for many businesses and some have complained of large financial losses. Numerous Square reviews accuse the company of misleading marketing. These complaints stem from the company’s fund holding policies and lack of warning on the type of transactions that can trigger holds. There are several industries, that can be found on this page, deemed as “high-risk” that will find themselves at the mercy of Square’s underwriting and fraud prevention systems. Such businesses would be better served by a high-risk merchant account.
Square Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts and Opinions
Square is a great card processing option for entry level and low volume businesses. The company is definitely on the right track with providing an easy credit card processing solution with no long-term commitments and no monthly fees. However, several Square reviews from high volume merchants report murky fund holding policies and poor customer support. It appears that Square is best suited for individuals or small business owners who have an occasional need to accept a credit card payment, such as babysitters, flea market vendors, or small retail and restaurant businesses. The service does not appear to be a good fit for merchants that either have a high volume of credit card sales or that sell high-ticket items.
Learn even more about Square’s services here.
If you found this article helpful, please share it!
Virginia Quade
We are a brand new business and Square has held our funds on our first transaction for over 2 weeks! We are an active account ( I assume since they accepted the payment from our customer), but I cannot get a customer code to contact support! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. How do I get this resolved?
Tonka Varga
I get maximum satisfaction any time I use kloviactools
They are simply the best and reliable
loannroe
I have a terrible time trying to file sales tax for 2 years. The numbers does not match. Sales tax percent does not match. And customer service doesn’t know either. I have a hard time proving my numbers to the IRS because it is all wrong. Does anyone have this problem.?
Brian
Signed up with Square thinking it was a simple and less costly option than my traditional card processor. The virtual terminal looked simple and first transaction when as expected – funds transferred to bank account just fine. The very next day processed $700 of charges – bad news as I was informed our account was disabled and funds would be held for a minimum of 90 days. It’s a hopeless situation as they don’t have customer service. I hope I get the funds after the 90 days, but after reading the reviews, I don’t know. I guess I’ll contact my representatives and senators to alert them of the bad business behavior of this company. Don’t be lured by the simplicity, and simple fees – DO NOT USE SQUARE FOR YOUR CREDIT CARD PROCESSING!
ROCKY ALAN BURGESS
Square got me. I used them for years and now they want info they already process and keep asking for it over and over. Holding nearly 4k. They are thieves. I called 855-700-600 put in my customer code( a problem in itself) and was put through to account services only to be insulted and accused of being a possible criminal. If you have them leave now. Your turn is coming. This company is a ripoff. Time for a class action.
Bill
Back in October I enabled Square Payments on my Big Commerce website. Everything was fine the 1st two months, then in December I sold an item to someone who used Square Pay (mind you, this is THEIR OWN application). Before I had a chance to pack and ship it out I got an email from Square requesting all sorts of verification information…
Hello William,
Our system noticed some unusual activity on your Square account. To make sure we’re keeping Square a safe and transparent payment system for everyone—buyers and sellers alike—we’re suspending transfers to your bank account until we can confirm some of your information.
1. Please provide a copy of the customer(s) credit card processed for the transaction listed below:
• $96.50 MasterCard 2352 on 12/9/20, 12:10 pm
2. Please provide your customer’s state or government-issued identification. We’re able to accept these types of IDs: Driver’s License, Passport, Passport Card, State-issued Identification Card
• $96.50 MasterCard 2352 on 12/9/20, 12:10 pm
Again, this was an ONLINE sale, on my own website, using Square’s plug-in app for the Big Commerce platform… how would I have access to any of this information?! I emailed with someone from support named “Paris” but they never responded to my email after answering thier questions.
I sent them a follow-up email a few days later:
Hello Paris,
Due to this experience I have disabled Square as a payment method on our website. I may re-enable it, it depends upon the outcome of this horrible ordeal. Why did Square approve the transaction, then act like I am the one doing something wrong? It was a website payment for a toy using the Square integration with Big Commerce. I’ve never had anything like this happen with PayPal, whom we’ve been using for 15 years! Invoice is attached, it is now 8 DAYS OLD!!
I never received a response, but the next day I got this email from “Joseph”:
Hi William,
Your account is currently under review due to some changes in your activity. While under review, we place a temporary hold on your Square funds to ensure that everything is safe. To release this hold, we’ll just need you to confirm a few account details for us.
They wanted the same 2 pieces of information that I do not have access to as it is an eCommerce website!
My response:
Hello Joseph,
This is RIDICULOUS! It was a website order, therefore I do not have a copy of the customer’s credit card or identification! I’ve submitted the invoice online and also via email yesterday to ‘Paris’. WHY is Square harassing me about a transaction approved and authorized via the Square integration for my Big Commerce website?! I have been using PayPal on our website for 15 years without one single problem. I enable Square a couple of months ago, and now my funds are frozen!!!!
His response:
Hi William,
Thank you for taking the time to reply my email. We are more than happy to help!
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to fully confirm your account details with the information you provided. Until we receive a completed request form from you, we cannot transfer funds to your linked bank account.
That was on Dec. 18th with no further communication either way.
I received this email today:
Hello William,
We’re sorry to inform you that we’ve had to deactivate your account. Based on the information you provided about your business, we’re not able to support your business needs right now. You won’t be able to process payments with Square. Unfortunately, this decision is final.
Is this some sort of sick joke?!
I disabled your platform over 3 months ago, and now you’re dropping me? As the owner of a physical retail store and a successful eCommerce website, I had already determined that your system cannot be trusted. LMAO
Everett L WALLER
We have been square customers for over 6 years and today they cancelled or service without any notice. The email they sent at 9am this morning said we were not compliant with section 3 and some other section. We tried to call them and find out what we did or what we can do we couldn’t even get connected. As soon as you enter your customer code they tell you your account has been deactivated. This has got to be the worse company I have ever dealt with. I advise no one to do business with them . Now we are having to scramble to find a vendor so we can continue to operate. If I had the money to spare I would sue the hell out of them.
Hazel C. Andrews
DON’T USE SQUARE,
AFTER PROCESSING WITH SQUARE FOR SOMETIME – MY ACCOUNT WAS DEACTIVATED, AN EMAIL WAS SENT STATING THAT THEY WONT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT MY ACCOUNT ANY FURTHER. AT THAT POINT I HAD A LITTLE OVER 2,500.00 IN MY SQUARE ACCOUNT. THEY NEEDED 90DAYS TO VERIFY CHARGEBACKS. THE 90DAYS WAS TODAY, I GOT AN EMAIL FROM THEM STATING THAT THEY WILL NEED AN ADDITIONAL 45DAYS TO RELEASE THE FUNDS DUE TO THE CHARGE BACKS. I HAVE NEVER HAD A CHARGE BACK, AS THE CLIENTS THAT INITIALLY PAID FOR THE SERVICE HAS CONTINUED WITH OUR SERVICE. THE RECORD ALSO DOES NOT REFLECT NEITHER WAS I MADE AWARE FROM SQUARE THAT ANY CUSTOMER HAS REQUESTED TO A REFUND, OR BANK RETURN. IF YOU ARE WANTING TO LOSE MONEY DURING THIS TIME AND HAVE A COMPANY TURN YOU OFF AND HOLD ON TO WHAT IS YOURS, GO FOR IT – OTHERWISE SEEK ANOTHER PAYMENT GATEWAY.
Thomas Tetreault
Why in the world have you not made a compatible reader for Samsung galaxy note 20. This phone has been out for over a year now get with it people. Apple sux
Elizabeth
Square is the WORST credit card processor. I would not walk but run far away from them. After processing around 10-20K/month for 6+ months and purchasing their POS system, they placed a rolling reserve on our account at 20% of our processed sales for 120 days and a payment processing limit of 20K – so not only are they holding 8K worth of our sales for 4 months, we cannot process anymore credit cards this month. This was with ZERO chargebacks and submitting all the supporting docts for their review which was approved. We are a storefront retail business, and not on their prohibited list either. When I called their support line, their response was literally to find another processor which is what we did. Square is a complete scam and should be held accountable for the strangehold they are placing on small businesses during a pandemic.
Keith Thomas
Today I received a email telling me we were not in compliance with section 3 of there terms of service. Also telling us they were terminating our service. We have been with Square for 6 years and really enjoyed working with them. Never a problem. They terminated my service on a Friday without warning leaving my company I one hell of a mess. The mental anguish was the most difficult to swallow because we have been operating our business the same way for 6 years. And….you can’t call them and ask questions about their reasoning. One of the worst days of my life…..thanks Square!
Jeff N
Your story sounds just like mine. You stated it very well.
Ruth
They have kept our first sale from October 26, 2020. They initially said they would release the funds after January 25, 2021. Now they came up with another excuse not to release the funds. I am in the process of reporting them to every governing site available. It really sucks because the customer received the goods but we have not been able to receive our payment.
Darren McKee
Let’s get a class action suit against square foe unfair processing fees and holding money for 120 days. They are only holing cash to increase their cash on hand for shareholders! I’ve attempted to close my account and get my money out and they refuse. They are holding over 10k of my money and not even paying interest!!
Annoyed
Just want to remove my name from their mail list. You go round and round on their website. I do not want to provide them with my email address. You can not talk to anyone on the phone.
Michael woods
This company is the worst they steal money from your account took a card payment they Rev the charges then I get a email saying it came out in my favor and would be putting it back in my account well that’s been a month and they just keep changing the release date. In the mean time they closed my account said they couldn’t handle my business to many large card payment. This is after being a customer for 5 years with no complaints or refund.
Mukul Agarwal
Square issue funds to an unauthorize activity without any consent from card holder. Merchant make hand entry to system and gets the funds based on fraudulent invoice. No driver license verification. I am surprised to see this crime is happening every day and Square is participating.
AMM
Square allowed a customer to charge back $700 a month after service render. The customer Gregory Jackson a REal estate broker in cobb county ga. Hired movers for 12 hrs. A month later. Submit a charge back to square and said they had no knowledge of charge…. And guess what. After 3 months of dispute…. Square send a email saying the customer bank award them the money. $700. How . This company allow customer to take your hard earn money and DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO FIGHT. EVEN WHEN CUSTOMER SIGN ON SQUARE APP. THEY DO NOT BACK THEIR OWN APP AS PROOF. THEY ALLOWED SEVERAL OF MY CUSTOMER WHO PAID WITH AMEX TO COMMIT FRAUD AND DO CHARGE BACK. MAKE UP AMY BS AND THEY WILL GIVE THEM THEIR MONEY BACK. NO MATTER WHAT PROOF YOU SUBMIT.
Charles
All I can say is RUN, RUN AND RUN FAR AWAY! This company is a joke. In fact, they should be shut down IMMEDIATLEY! They shut my account down for NO REASON! And they have held my $2,000.00 for 4 months now. And the worst part is, you can not speak to a live person about it. I really believe this company may be ran by one guy out of his basement. I will be taking my issue with them to the attorney general.
Joe Ryan
Yes they are doing the same thing to my accounts but it’s over $20,000 and they will not release any funds. We have contacted our attorney.
Jeanine Carlton
Who is your lawyer
Hazel C. Andrews
I WANT IN ON THIS – THIS IS A JOKE
Jeanine Carlton
Me too I am suing them leave me ur nfo if u want to join in on this law suit I’m trying to contact CNN about them
Nina
They are doing the same thing to me. I’d like to get in on this.
Dorrean Grant
I am going through the same thing!!!
ROCKY ALAN BURGESS
After 6 years they got me too. Basically stole my money. I am contacting customers to dispute charges so I can get paid.
Laura D'elia
Did the Attorney General Help? Here in GA, it seems we have no recourse. No one to help. And The have held all my transfers for past month.
terry Sipes
SQ, squareup a Jack Dorsey company is a business support company let down in biblical proportions. Don’t just take my word for it…you can read 10’s of thousands of complaints. The BBB of San Fran only list 1 out of 8 complaints on SQUARE and are more than a month behind , lawsuits are filed, the SEC is looking into a fintech Interpol of sorts… I am working on day 253 of held funds by SQ…I have a landscape construction business in Denver, Co …never had a issue until “We need more information”, then deactivated my business account, never had a complaint on any of my business practices, until SQ. I’ll take a trade for every $38.00 of my money (SQ stock price on day of seizure) Ill take a share (per $38.00) at today’s market price of $218.00…that return works for me…the rest is just a joke, JD your not God, nor do you play one (false god) on TV or in the movies…ATS-Denver
Greg R
For all those who use the Square device for payment systems
!!! BEWARE !!!
I am now looking for another payment solution as Square no longer works on any of my phones!!!
Having used Square devices for several years, they have now stopped working on all phones.
Square have told me that my devices are not compatible. Hmmm.
Having worked for several years if I choose to use this payment system into the future I have to upgrade all three of my phones.
Most likely a software update by Square has stopped the app from connecting to my device – Square won’t be trying to solve the problem, leaving me without a payment system!
Outrageous!!
Be very careful if you choose to purchase this device, if it is not on the compatibility list it may stop working unexpectedly if they change their software.
Don’t expect any support to solve the problem from Square either.
Disgraceful customer service and problem solving.
Paul
WORST customer service ever….especially during these COVID times when people need online services (AND SUPPORT) now more than ever.
Signed up to Square this year, did one (ONE) transaction. They have now held my $230 since Aug 27th and will not allow it to be transfered to my bank. I have gone through multiple attempts to resolve this, via their chat system (terrible) and on phone with at least two reps who tried to help. It ends up I need to work with their account service department (who you cannot contact via phone, only email). I finally got this yesterday…..actual words. WTF?
“Upon review of your account there were ref flags that appeared to be fraud activity, and so the account was closed. Square will hold any funds debited for a period of 60 days from the time we stop facilitating your account. If you’d like to receive the funds sooner, please reach out to your financial institution for their funds return policy.”
Mim Jorrison
He’s right they do suck…I used to work there…we would hold your money so we get a free loan off you, make a quick market buy, stall on paying…..A real Piece of S**t business, and the people that work there know it, .
Leslie Yankaway
this is the worst service i have ever had they held my money and would not release it because i had all of my money being instantly deposited into my bank, then when i asked could i use my square card to get the funds off i was told no the blocked card to because they put under review, now its my money and i couldn’t even get my own money i will never use square again
Ruth Lucero
I was sent an email saying that I requested $1000 refund to a customer with the card ending in numbers that were 7772 I thought it was a scam the next day I see that my bank account has been deducted $964 with the charge of over $35 all was only viewed in my checking account never did it show up in my transactions on Square I spoke to square today but did not realize that my bank account had been deducted I am now at a negative balance.
lee
Will never ever deal with square again.. costumer service is the worse. I called and try to explain to some dude and he straight up said dude if u don’t shut up im gone hang the phone up on u out of nowhere..
Floridian
WORST COMPANY EVER! They will steal your money. They are a bunch of scammers. They will put your account on hold for a fraud review and then lock you out without having access to your funds. They need to be SUED
Scott
I had a simple misunderstanding, or I suppose problem, with the square app on my phone. For some reason, somehow same day deposit was turned on, even though I was sure it was turned off. When I got a large payment this week, to my surprise not only did I have my processing fee removed but there is an extra large fee removed because of the same day deposit.
I got on a chat with customer support to see if I could get that fee reversed, due to the issue with the app. I found absolutely no assistance their customer service. And a lot of hot air.
I’m very disappointed with this company solely because of the customer service. Instead of refunding the misunderstanding, a small amount of money in comparison to my sales fees.. I have now decided to steer most of my sales to a different and more reliable company.
Moral of the story here. It would have cost them a small amount make the customer happy if they had done that they would have been earning thousands of more dollars, that they are now loosing.
Ernest Bustos
I had a Square account for over 6 years without any complaints or issues, on Friday I received an email informing me that my account was deactivated claiming transactions prohibited by “Section 35 of the Payment Terms” which are vague to say the lest. With no customer it was impossible to find out why transactions that have been approved over the last 6 years have now been deemed prohibited. The email states that I will no longer be able to process transactions using square, it appears that my account has been closed without notice or explanation…. for this I would rate them as an “F”
C. Susan Keen, Esq.
I had Square for two years. Sudddnly, they intercepted a payment of a deposit and I found the experience a nightmare trying to get them to pay me. I think they hsve changed drasically to become a predatoy financial service. I have filed a Complaint with the Office of Business Oversight in Cslifornia for their unscrupulous conduct. Square plans to move into banking next. Heaven help us if they are approved by the FDIC.
Michael Mann
I own a recording studio/online retailer and used Square as my credit card processor briefly. Some of the products I sell are digital downloadable software serial numbers. The customer purchases a serial number ONLY which is displayed immediately after the transaction completes. They use this serial to unlock software which is downloaded from the manufacturer. There is NO chance to catch fraudulent purchases before it is too late. These are not physical goods.
Only problem is Square allowed multiple fraudulent purchases to clear for software serials. When I called about the disputes I got, ‘Well, we cannot verify the identity of the cardholder. You need to take additional steps to verify proper credit card usage.’ So… What am I paying for then? Exactly how the f@ck am I supposed to do that via eCommerce? What Earthly good as a company are you if you can’t do the ONE THING I NEED YOU TO DO? I mean, I can close my eyes and pray every eCommerce transaction is legit cheaper than it costs me to pay Square to do it. How is it the merchant is responsible for this fraud? I’ve built the marketplace, advertised it, provide customer support, and maintain it. Might as well make verifying credit card payments my job, too? What am I paying for? This business model may be legal, but it is NOT RIGHT.
Now I’m stuck paying for Aashir Stokes (lives in Manhattan – @shiirsoul Twitter & Instagram profiles if you’re curious to know what a criminal looks like) to use 2 pieces of software to ‘make sick beats bro’ on my dime because Square couldn’t protect me and offers ZERO fraud protection. Not only that, but they couldn’t guarantee it wouldn’t happen again. Of course they couldn’t. How could they? They don’t even know what happened this time.
Customer service rep (took 45 minutes) got noticeably less helpful after I told him I wouldn’t be using Square any longer. Also, don’t believe Square will fight for the merchant. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU. They simply remit your dispute evidence to the customer’s bank and wipe their hands of it. It’s not worth your time to even think about it. You’d be better off spending your energies getting a prostate exam. Same results but at least you’d feel the touch of a human during the procedure instead of the cold imagery of a multi-million dollar company using the same rules to govern transactions from a small business as they would for CostCo or Home Depot.
I looked into it and I think Stripe offers fraud/chargeback protection for .4% + $.02 per transaction on top of the standard 2.9% + $.30 per transaction. If that’s true, I’ll be going with them. I’ll pay the extra to never worry about this happening again.
Here’s a direct quote from Stripe’s website “Defend your business from the unpredictability of disputes. With Chargeback Protection, Stripe will cover both the disputed amount and any dispute fees—no evidence submission required.”
Sounds too good to be true, but then again all credit card processors are criminals as far as I’m concerned anyway.
David
Square took my money and has been saying they are “ reviewing” my account for more than 2 weeks but keep making excuses as why they haven’t done or completed the review, I would never do business with square, I currently have to wait for who knows how ling to continue my business until it is completed but never will I do business with square
Jason woods
This company has no support for it’s clients whatsoever. You WILL NOT be able to speak to a person about your money or your acct. I’ve been trying for 6 months to get my money after a dispute was ruled in my favor, they are still holding my money for no apparent reason. I am So frustrated with this company I almost want to tell them to keep my $1000!!
Andrea Nochez
I just want to say that we use this service for several things within our company and that system is kind of coos as you get to know it. The problem is customer services. There hasn’t been a time where I call in and I don’t get super upset. they never answer the phone, they are rude, they have no willingness to help and it’s overall just a pain in the *** to call. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.
This post will help: Best Payment Processors for Great Customer Service
Amanda
THIS COMPANY DISGUSTS ME!!!! THEY SHUT DOWN MY ACCOUNT WITHOUT EVEN GIVING ME A REASON WHY!!! Then to top it all off they claimed my money would be paid out according to the normal pay schedule and yet 78 days have gone by now and my money is still being held. I’m a single mother of 2 and this put a big hurt on my family for the first few weeks as I was unable to even provide anything. They say in the phone recordings to reply to the email with any questions and that your funds will be released in the date specified in said email and yet there is not date in the email, responses to the email get ignored, phone support is completely blocked, and here we are after 78 days with me now filing suit against them as I have ben advised to do for the full amount PLUS interest as what they have done is illegal. I sell jewelry ffs how is any of that a “liability” enough for them to hold my money?!? It isn’t!
This post will help: Best Jewelry Merchant Accounts
-Phillip
Kimberly
It’s been 5 years for me.
Bankrupted business of 20+ years
You can not sue them.
You meditate 1st (per contract)
It’s a nightmare and I’ve lost EVERYTHING
I’m considered a THIEF now, and in 2014 NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON believed this was happening, not ONE. I called every newspaper, television station, 20/20, Good Morning America, FBI, FTC you think of it I tried it.
SPENCER SOPER, BLOOMBERG NEWS
Spoke with me (2014/15) wanted to do a story about Square holding funds. I really thought he would be on the consumer’s side but the article, in my opinion, was bias.
Good luck – I gave up after 5 years, it was consuming my entire life.
Alexandra
Honey you can’t give up…. Darkness, tiredness, name it mean you will win. You can’t give up darling. Be a business person take time and all your strength on your body yo build one and see some people just take all that away. Even if your last dollar you will have to spend to win the fight you have to keep pushing. Sometimes those companies and maybe the judges getting pay to back off. But you know what there won’t be a greedy judge/lawyer because there is still some good people out there who have sympathy for others situation.
I wanted to be a judge, but rather to be a judge you must be a lawyer. I wasn’t afraid because I feel like I can do it, it’s just naturally in me but couldn’t go for it after I was a law magnet student see is not a joke, but it’s not because is hard I didn’t go after my heart desired for. I didn’t do it because at the time didn’t speak enough English. I speak it better but haven’t problem with my grammar and sometimes struggle with pronunciations.
Dear I am soon to be a nurse and just now going to launch my website soon.
I’m glad I happen to read lots of review for me to back off, but your situation really touch my heart. And I do believe the same way it touch me will be the same way some lawyers/judge will touch them as well.
ELISHA WRIGHT
I was just hacked by this junk several $10 charges as well as $15 amounting to 100’s. This is disgusting! I work 2 jobs full time to barely get by and for them to take my money and have to wait for it to slowly trickle back into my account…..
This post will help: Watch Out For These Square Cash Customer Support Scams
Barbara Bachmeier
I have spent five hours today trying to speak with somebody in customer service or sales at Square. I waited 20 minutes on hold at 11:30 a.m. this morning and at 4:30 p.m. I am still waiting to speak to somebody. I leave my call back number and when it is my turn I wait on hold again until I am prompted to leave my call back number AGAIN! What kind of stupid company is this? A fraudulent one? It seems that way to me.
This post will help: How to Contact Square
Tim
No customer service they lie about deposits that they have held for over 90 days. Its definitely the worst company ive ever dealt with. Im gonna take them to small claims court to get money that was mine in the first place
This post will help: How to Make Square Release Your Money
Saian Tirado
I received a letter from the IRS in July 2019, stating that I had an additional $44k in unreported income for the 2017 tax year through a Square account that I never even heard of. The IRS was able to show that I received all these deposits from Square over the course of that year.
As Square’s phone number is useless, I’ve resorted to Twitter DMs and Emails to get responses. The ultimate run around! They continue to bounce around providing any sort of supporting documents to let the IRS know this was not me. After 2 months, Square said I needed to file a FTC report and police report just for them to continue on with my case!
I’ve filed Identity Theft w/ the IRS, and they’re case came back inconclusive.
Square is useless! All I need is for them to show proof of these accounts and deposits, but they refuse to share it!
This post will help: How to Contact Square
emily catherine marks
In July I discovered that Square submitted 5 years of 1099’s totaling over 100k of income that was not mine leaving me liable for IRS taxes and putting a hault on my healthcare. I contacted them to let them know and to correct immediately. I discovered that an organization I used to work for used my social for their square ticket sales.
Square said there was nothing they can do until the org corrected this. I contacted the organization and notified them and they immediately corrected the situation providing square with bank records to prove the account was not mine. Square said once they had this they would immediately report to the IRS
As of yesterday, the IRS is still reporting that square has not corrected this information.
My Marketplace healthcare can not be reinstated until this is corrected!!!! This is really serious as I need my healthcare.
The way this has been handled is shameful and has the potential to cost me thousands of dollars in legal fees.
I have spent hours trying to rectify a mistake They have caused.
I contacted them again and they keep sending me form reponses with instructions that I already completed.
NO way to get anyone on a phone to give me info because the account is not mine and I don’t have access to it.
When a person does contact me via email there is no follow up and they keep repeating things that were already done. I am so frustrated.
This post will help: How to Contact Square
Paul
Horrible company canceled my account and several friends accounts with no warning for mystery violations? Reported me on match list now unable to get processing. They have no one to talk to no customer service and impossible to appeal thier horrible policies!!!! Do not use have official complaint in with BBB!! still no resolution after 5 months.
This post will help: Best MATCH Merchant Accounts
-Phillip
Eric
Well, I think this review going to go in line with a lot that are already posted. This one pertains to taxes and a levy. If you have a levy against your funds, you have 21 days to resolve the levy in order to have your funds returned or paid to the IRS. Square conveniently, makes it impossible to resolve this. They don’t have a phone number for the tax specialists, they only email brief sentences, and want nothing to do with actually helping you. This kind of response to a tax issue should have civil consequences at a minimum. The regular cs reps do not know anything, and after one or two times, supervisors will ignore your requests. It is a very frustrating situation and is unacceptable. So, this review is warning of sorts for people that might have a tax issue, erroneous or not, Square will do everything in it’s power to not speak with you or the IRS about it. I had to demand for almost 6 days a copy of the levy. My levy is erroneous, but I have funds that are being held because of it and the IRS cannot even speak with them. Think about that for a second. Hope no one has to deal with what I have had to deal with.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
Rhonda Durr
Square deposited $1,200. of my money in a deferred account and never has released my monies to me.
No replies to my emails and no reply from my bank.
This is fraud on Square POS.
Next step is turning them in to the attorney general.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
tony patterson
Square absolutely sucks as a credit card processor I have a construction business that takes high deposits they suspended my deposit even with customer verification that the charge was legitimate there a better options out there than this substandard service
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Construction
burning light
These guys sell themselves as easy to use. I signed up, verified myself, verified my bank account, issued an invoice for $2,500, which got paid, released the product. A couple of days later these shocks tell me that not only will they not release the funds to me, they also want to refund to the buyer! If you use these fly-by-night cowboys and get robbed, then you are not real clever.
This post will help: How to Make Square Release Your Money
Kenneth
I’ve been using Square for a long time with my business I will no longer be using Square the communication with Square is ridiculous I have all my paperwork my contracts my completion sheets and we do work for some customers and we do the work at the time of the sale every now and then we run into a nutcase And they want to get their money back and Square gives them my money no communication with Square I think if you’re using Square you need to quit and find someone else I have no respect for this company I do not like this company and I will be hiring a lawyer to sue this company. I hope Square loses every dime they have
This post will help: Best Mobile Payment Processors
Sara
Worst customer service EVER! You can’t contact a person. They are holding a payment for 3 months after making us run circles for 2 weeks already! Do NOT USE THIS MERCHANT!!!
This post will help: How to Contact Square
Janice
Square has holds our business credit cards fund since Feb 2017 until now! Total over $19,000.00!
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
Andrew Walker
They are holding money from a legit transaction not allowing to pay my employees and have provided proof and verified all information. They have now blocked me from calling the customer service center and do not have supervisors who can take phone calls. DO NOT GO WITH THEM.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Jessica Myers
I am a simple Tupperware consultant and new to accepting cards! I collected 502.00 in orders and placed these orders on Tupperware with my personal funds while waiting on the deposit. I received a message stating a verification was needed! I sent in everything requested including government ID, bank statements, tupperware ordered placed from those sales and more! I just received a message stating it was not approved and account is being closed. What? Makes no sense when a lot of the chicks on my team run the same business using square! These orders are placed and already on their way to customers found on Facebook. Yet it seems square is holding the funds for 90 days!? What 502.00 is a lot of money why would they not do a verification process first if they didn’t want to issue the funds to the business? Why would they accept 502.00 in payments and then decide after to refund customers or hold the funds! Their items are already mailed and now I have no access to the funds which is completely nuts! Really 90 days that is a bit overboard, especially when proof of there orders was in the verification. There is no excuse for the issue at hand or to close my account without warning not to count holding the funds after the orders are already sent. I can understand a verification process and I actually appreciate it as a customer but really if consultants aren’t allowed to use square then why not complete a verification process before taking the payments to confirm the business is allowed to use their service! Not to count to close someone’s account with that much money in there and refuse any type of phone communication is 100 times more nuts. Absolutely not allowed to speak with a representative to ask simple questions wow. What type of business is this obvious something is very wrong here! How do I speak to a rep if the code for my account refuses to allow me to contact anyone by phone? Why would you offer services and the list of businesses not allowed to use it is not only every kind of business out there? Apparently they pick who to do this to and it’s crazy so how do I get the funds released sooner to pay myself back the money spent on the customers orders!!??!! As a new business this is a huge hit? I started Tupperware to make up for losing my job so when they say the deposit is instant I expect that it is especially with the proof of the orders plainly provided. The worst part is I’m just out 502 dollars with out any customer service to speak to or a way to get answers. That’s not only unprofessional it should Be illegal
Daniel You
Terrible merchant service. Our company account has deactivated after submitting a required statement and the supporting documents, but they permanently deactivate my account. Square up also do not provide a fair chance to explain. They will not talk to you in person. Very unfair and insincere. I would not recommend this company.
This post will help: Best Mobile Payment Processing Apps
Michael Summers
I’m a agent for one of the largest processors in the World and I was looking for something for my wife to process because she loves selling items. So rather than setting up an account through me I found square and set up her account. The first transaction for 2250.00 went through with no problems. The next (The nightmare) the transaction was for 6400.00 it was actually from a very good friend of ours no illegal products. They immediately deactivated the account. So I asked them through emails of course just refund back to customer. They said all transactions are deactivated. The money will be held for 120 days then released to us. My buddy in Georgia feels so bad about the situation he says I wish I would of just sent a check.. But that being said everybody gripes about square the processor. One they are not the processor they are a hardware division that uses one of four platforms in the US to process the cards. The key is find the platform and squeeze them that will put the hurt on square. I’m getting with some friends from our platform and have them do some searching and when I find it I will plaster it here. I have a good Idea who it is. *****d*t*.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
Wilene C Dunn
I’m not sure how they have a B rating. Square can hold your money with zero explanation, question your account at any time, I’ve asked for the corporate contact for legal and they will provide no information. They can hold your money and keep you completely in the dark. A client paid on June 28 and it’s July 11 and they still have not released fund and still cannot tell me why and won’t give me any contact that can tell me why. I agree with all the reviews that say there should be a class action against this company.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
Joe Marsh
Square “deauthorized” my account. After several days of futile phone calls and emails, Square finally responded that they classified my business as either illegal, fraudulent, or banned. After reading the terms of service, I learned that insurance is a banned industry. No explanation as to why and I’ve given up trying to reach a human on their phones. Lousy customer support.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Insurance Agencies
Marc Chomel
Square has misrouted $2400. of my business receipts to the wrong bank account and failed to diligently assist the bank in doing a timely search. They failed to follow up with my pleas for help and now I have lost the money. I will be joining them with the Bank of America in an upcoming lawsuit. Beware they’ll make money on every one of your transactions but fail to help you when they send it to the wrong account.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
Max
Square has been horrible. I had a client reverse a charge of $2500 and square will not stick up for you. We even have emails from the client saying she loved the work.
This post will help: How to Fight Chargebacks and Win
Cheryl
I have never heard of square up before I had a fraud charge of $10.00 taken out of my account under a SQC with a name I had never heard. I do not know how this person got my bank card number.
This post will help: Beware These Square Cash Customer Support Scams
Charles Brittain
Square took my information and I started doing business. After my first day using square and making a few transactions square froze my account and then deactivated because of high risk activity. Why did they approve me in the first place then? Of course you cant call and talk to support as they don’t actually have customer support just ai so they now have all the money that i made and are holding it ransom for 90 days. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS
Why approve people and businesses your just going to screw?
This post will help: How to Avoid Fund Holds With Square
Matthew Kern
I began using Square because of their multi-faceted product offerings which seemed ideally suited for a small business such as mine (www.thegrowthfactory.org). I used Stripe with little incident in the past and was attracted to Square because they integrated payroll, insurance, payments, benefits and tax forms in a single app that has proven extremely user-friendly. If this review were concerning their program, app, web platform, ease of use and net efficiency, I would rate them 5 stars with no hesitation. Their digital product is easily the highest quality on the market.
If their customer service and account “specialists” matched their digital products quality by 50%, Square would join the ranks of multi-billion dollar empires and become a household name overnight. Unfortunately, this is not the case. After processing the first 3 payments, a restriction was placed on my account pending additional verification via document upload. I uploaded a total of 1.3 GB of data including my state filing documents, IRS tax forms, Texas Workforce Comission data, internal operating guides, terms and conditions, property lease agreements, personal identity documents for myself and assistant (Drivers license and passports for both) along with statements and invoices from that customers who had made payments. I also provided them with social media links (25,000+ followers on our verified Instagram and Facebook accounts), advertisements and an interview series we did with CBS recently and have continued providing them updated documentation as we went along. The hold was lifted after about 6 days (during which time they requested the same documents they already marked as received which proves their reviews are 100% algorithm based) and I was assured that these reviews only occur once. I had no problems for 3 months, no disputes or complaints or rejected/returned payments and the highest security rating possible.
Two days ago, my account was restricted again pending review of “how we do business” and requested the same documents I had been providing unprompted. Those documents were received by them and there is a green check mark verifying their receipt. I submitted the documents again and the system informed me that they had what they needed and would get back to me after review. I spoke to a customer service person today who told me that I should learn how to read and look through the terms and conditions and understand that they reserve the right to suspend an account at any time, for any reason. I asked what the metrics where in determining this review process and was told that she has no control over the process and that there isnt any way for me to continue providing them with data to ensure that my account not be restricted again in the future. Her attitude was beyond condesending and was told that “you need to face the fact that (The Growth Factory) is a small company that isnt very relevant to us from a business relationship standpoint” and that Square has little interest in the efficiency of our operations.
To summarize, I have been forthcoming with all documents requested and many that were not. I have never had a chargeback, complaint or issue with any payments (we average around $15,000 per month) and have volunteered on many occasions to provide them with additional data but was told (on a recorded phone call on my end) that my organization’s business relationship with them wasn’t a priority for them and to expect more account restrictions in the future. They have collected a total $2,500 in processing fees over a 45 day period and seem to make an extra effort to be as rude, condescending, and unhelpful as possible. If you ask them what you can do to ensure a smooth relationship moving forward, their response is “nothing, you’re not that important to us.”
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Craig
I had noticed that my square app was missing from my screen, so I reinstalled it. The new version wanted access to my location, all of my data as well as access to my camera. This alone set me off, then I noticed my account was suspended just like yours. This taking hostage of your information is not worth the risk. They claim they are protecting your information? By asking for access to everything? Way too fishy for me. I’m deleting the app.
This post will help: Best Mobile Card Processing Apps
Keavan
There was a dispute to my account through Square in June 2018, even though the dispute it was based erroneously on an unrecognized charge, because it was a chip card and I only had a stripe reader it was automatically an EMV dispute and immediately found in their favor. Funds were taken from my Square account funded by my credit union, shortly thereafter the client realized the mistake end canceled the dispute before the funds were deposited back in their account. The bank that received the refund then reversed it and transfered it back to Squares bank. However, Square denied any evidence of the refund, the bank sent documentation and Square claimed it wasnt what was required. Then the bankcalled Square directly, but they were unable to convince Square of the reversal or aquire a statement of what they DID need from them. I was finally told i needed a letter from the bank, which i sent email, that wasn’t good enough, they needed tangible affirmation that the dispute was canceled and required I phisically go to a branch of the bank and retrieve a printed letter stating reversal. I did that also, then they said I would see the funds 5-7 business days later. After 2 weeks I contacted Square again, now I would have to wait up to 4 months for the reversal. I waited 9, months and contacted Square yet again, only to start from scratch again.
After several dozens of frustrating emails claiming they had received nothing from the bank, and blatant disregard for the documents I submitted again, I was able to get them to acknowledge the info I sent, denied it was what they previously accepted as proof, yet couldn’t tel me what it WAS, saying. I was told that Square and their aquiring,bank were waiting for return of funds from the bank. They told me I had to wait until they got the funds back. It’s been almost a full year since the bank assures me the funds were sent to Square, so clearly unless I can make headway in this debacle, I will never be refunded. ANY insight would be greatly appreciated.
The bank provided me with a screenshot of the reversal of dspute ahas to dnthenfclaimed to have returned the funds to squares acquiring Bank this was after 2 months of exhausting running back and forth and physically having to go to several Banks to acquire actual pieces of paper with information on them to prove to square even though the bank had called Square directly and told them that the entire thing of the canceled but I needed physical proof which I provided in July of 2018 still going back and forth I finally got supposedly the correct information they needed in the correct format they needed and I was told 5 to 7 business days and I would receive my money after 2 weeks and no money I contacted Square the story changed to it could take up to four months I waited nine. Ambien contacting them again which turned into more back and forth between for financial institutions none of who would help me in any way the bank that return the funds it’s still sticking to and confirming that they return the funds October of 2018 get square claims there is no record of Return of funds and I have to wait until that funds appear yet there is nothing to imply that anything is going to change at this point because the bank get paid as far as they’re concerned they did so October 2018 and the issue is over the bank that was supposed to receive those funds claims they have not yet clearly they are not going to the square will do nothing to help me despite the fact that I write or call every single day for the last 2 and 1/2 months I don’t know who to turn to at this point the two Banks involved will not speak to me directly because this is not about anything any account that belongs to me they all say that square has to handle it and square claims they can’t
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
-Phillip
Katy Goodman
After using square who I thought was a great investment to my business until today I am thinking is also a scammer, I would never image that they would take money from a small business instead of helping them make money, but today I have come to that conclusion, or make me out wrong by removing the freeze off of my bank account and giving me a good phone# to call you about your false accusations that you accused me of, of which all my clients denied that they accused me of: 2523473258 please consider your reputation and good name and do the right thing contact me and stop robbing poor small businesses.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
James
I had an online store selling computers and related equipment. Someone made a purchase with a stolen credit card and Square permanently closed my account because of it. It’s the payment gateway that approves or denies card transactions, not the merchant. So FYI, Square does NOT have your back if you are a merchant.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for E-Commerce
Katey Rene de Cotret
I was very much enjoying my square reader. It came free with a small amount of processing fees, but it made it so at the one small convention I sell artwork at, I could accept a few more sales I normally couldn’t have gotten.
Which means I’ve used it probably less than 10 times.
So it was baffling to me, mid convention, when they decided to deactivate my account and after “comprehensive review,” made their decision final. They cited sections 11 and 12 of their general Terms of Service, which basically say they can terminate your account at any given time as long as they give you notice.
Which I did not receive by the by. I had to bother them on twitter for an answer.
If you have an alternative, use that. I’m not the only one this has happened to
This post will help: Best Mobile Payment Processing Apps
Nicole Adamson
I had a problem setting up my square account I rang the customer support line and spoke to a very helpful woman who not only helped with my problem but also waited on the line to make sure I could access my account. I could not have asked for better customer service, if only every company had such wonderful after sales assistance!
CPO
Hi Nicole,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!
Jeremy ward
This company is a joke I started a new business , month ago they have held my money on ever transaction I have made the last one was for 1700 dollars ,the company that I done work the forman that payed with card with company name on it and his name he had same last name as me ,I am no kin to him ,so they held money said couldn’t transfer funds from family or your self ,I have had enough with this company ,I work hard for my money ,to let them hold it over stupid crap.
This post will help: How to Avoid Fund Holds With Square
Renea
Out of the blue I got an email from square stating that I owed them money and the case is closed and they will not speak with me over the phone .
I had no idea what they were talking about or what happened .
The recovery team was extremely rude and took over 1000.00 finally stating that, ( over weeks and weeks) I owed because I knew someone in 2014 who owed them money so that made me responsible, according to some article 15 or some sort . The majority of my clients prepaid for services which put me in a bad spot, so I requested refunds .
I have copies where square stayed they would receive them within 10 days, but that never happened.
They will not return the money for services never rendered, they were extremely rude , refused to listen to anything and laughed about it.
This is fraud I am devastated and embarrassed because I know it puts doubts in my clients minds of my integrity .
It is outright stealing and unlawful.
Why are they getting away with it? Any other human being would be in jail right now and i f our laws let companies STEAL fraudently what does that say about our system? It IS NOT okay for anyone to steal. What can I do? I am beyond hurt, embarrassed and it set me back . I am
Not paying someone else’s debt, that’s ridiculous.:(
This post will help: How to Make Square Release Your Money
Angela
I will never use Square up again! Worse company ever! They are crooks, just like the Crooked Buyers that they protect. They don’t protect their Merchants at all! We are out $1600 now and we are out our merchandise! Tried calling and using text support and they are worthless! Worst company for Merchants ever! Period! Don’t use them or you will lose your money! And your merchandise! Crooks! All of you! Small businesses need to just stay away!
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
Erin
To the Management team of Square Up,
From one manager to a next, I can say wholeheartedly say that this was the worst customer service one of my companies has ever had to deal with. I am not sure who is in charge of actioning quality control at Square but it needs serious review. The service was so bad that the executive decision was made to never have it used in any of our companies ever again.
Tony, our accounting officer, called Square Up to verify our account – as we received an email from a representative stating that any other transactions such as this overseas would be deactivated. When Tony called, he stated to the representative on the phone that the person who received the emails at our company and was in charge of handling this issue was present with him since she had the basic understanding of what transpired, and the representative immediately said we would not be able to speak as she was present, even though Tony who is the holder of the account was on the phone. All we needed from Square was clarification to why our accounts are on hold and he could not answer because of the additional person who was handling the issue being present on the phone. The call ended where the issue was not resolved because Tony did not know what all the requests were without having our point person present. We finally sent in the documents and over a week now, we have not heard of any response from Square Up. This has been happening since December 2018 and we only just got received our money from Square min March 2019 which by the way they kept over $300 dollars of our money as it was over $900 we made and Square only give us back over $600 and some change.
Business owners who ask if they should go with Square, we will be sure to advise that its a definite no and to go with PayPal or another source.
This post will help: Why Credit Card Processors Hold Money
John Gill
Due to the necessity of developing my website thru Godaddy, I was required to use square for my credit card processing. After establishing their payment portal on my site and after getting connected for 30+ days, square while accepting my transactions – stopped depositing my payments. Credit card payments (luckily) are a small part of my business. It took me 60 days to notice this. Payments in excess of two thousand were withheld. It took Two service calls to determine the issue. The issue was some bogus two part question about the nature of my business. Square never reached out to me to attempt to resolve this. Their CS department is a joke. If you can find an alternative – use them.
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Alton Earle
Horrible. After six years of flawless service, they decided to stop depositing our funds. We switched to the German company with a sort of same name in the amount of time it took them to “review” my account (which hadn’t had a problem is six years). We’d used their Square Capital services a number of times, yet suddenly, with NO change in our business or transaction levels, they made an offer, promised a deposit in 1-2 days, and after 14 days declined the offer.
Fortunately, there are alternatives and they’ve lost a significant chunk of business.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Schools
Melissa Phipps
Do not use Square products. Once you insert your chip it is very easy for thieves to steal your money and you will never see it again. I will find the taxi driver who stole my money and shame on Squaree for allowing this with their equipment. It will come back to haunt you. I never knew this equipment existed but reading the reviews I can easily see I am not the only victim of their loop holes. Beware of Square and do not use!!! Absolutely no integrity.
This post will help: Beware These Square Customer Support Scams
Gaea's Blaze
This was ridiculous… Square inc. refused to honor a valid charge for three thousand dollars for the purchase of furniture. I was forced to refund the monies and try to get a check after the furniture was delivered. They arbitrarily decided that it was a fraudulent charge and even when it was explained to them what the purchase was for they simple refused to process. All they kept stating was they do not accept that prepaid cards, gift cards, or own credit card. None of these were the case.
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Al Robinson
Beware!!!
Square was recommended to me as an excellent resource to process debit/credit cards for my small business. My experience has been an absolute nightmare.
Lack of response with every inquiry
Making changes as they go resulting in holds and ultimately closure of my account
I PROCESSED ONE TRANSACTION that in my error did not label the setup of my business instead my name and the customer placed a chargeback. Square shut my account off.
That One chargeback that was found in my favor by the customers bank and they released my funds to square
HOWEVER Square decided they were going to hold these funds for 90 days
90 days passed, I received on the 90th day NOT MY FUNDS BUT an e-mail they decided to hold funds for another 30 days with NO EXPLANATION. After 5 or more emails I received a response they are sorry For my experience and was forwarding to the right department. Still waiting 5 days later and two more emails sent. BEWARE of the unethical business practices. Save yourself the aggravation and find another company
This post will help: How to Avoid Fund Holds With Square
Krysta Lynne Murnane
The Square has been Holding Over $42,000. Forty two thousand dollars. since September of last year 2018 The Square shut my account down and were going to hold the money with the balance of $42,000 and some change,In an email from the square supposedly until December 11th 2018. Well its sad but true we’ve had no Charge Backs Since September 2018 but the square has not released a dollar worth of our money yet. Its been over 6 months and now they won’t even respond via email to us. this has been a total nightmare. My company has since had to hire an Attorney but why should we have had to, is the point.The square is Criminal in. what they are doing to thousands of Businesses. !!!!!!!!!!!! the head quarters is over seas and the phone numbers are all automated so you can’t get any live person on the phone. the Square is 100% the worst credit card processor on earth id put money on it. If you have a successful business don’t allow these criminals the opportunity of steeling your assets because they will. They are not legitimate at all.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
frank
The WORST !!!! Business owners beware of this company. They do NOT protect you regarding any type of dispute. They are all about collecting your fees. The customer service is the worst ever.Try to get a person on the phone?? There are many other companies known as ISO’s that actually have reps who meet you in person. This company is the WORST !!!! BEWARE !!!
This post will help: How to Avoid Fund Holds With Square
Scott Kidman
Square requires a CUSTOMER CODE everytime you need help. i spend hours trying to find this BS stupid code. Dont waste your time with square until they get ride of the fucking customer code BS. what a hassle it is. If you are going to require this stupid code then make it easy to
This post will help: How to Contact Square
V
I am a bookkeeper for a local small restaurant who uses square. On the restaurant side I am sure it is wonderful, fulfilling all it promises to do. However, on the bookkeeping side it couldn’t be worse! It is completely useless. You cannot print a report or customize them to provide useful information. The reports don’t even export properly so you can create a report yourself. You literally have take information from multiple reports and manually enter them into a spreadsheet to get useful information (i.e. Taxable sales and sales tax, cash vs credit card…etc.) These things matter…you can’t just lump them all together. Entering things manually, going from one screen to another is a time consuming disaster that creates a greater risk for errors. I would never use Square or recommend it.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Accountants
JoAnn Lowe
I’m being charged a fee when I use my Debit Card at my hair salon. I thought it was the law that only credit card transactions could be charged a fee.
This post will help: Fee Sweep: Your Rate Negotiation Guide
– Phillip
Arty the Artist
I was told Square could be a great alternative for digital artists such as myself but my account was deactivated and funds withheld within one week of making it. One transaction was flagged as “suspicious” so I asked they look into it and their response was to deactivate my account. They did not provide a reason. I sent a very polite email to customer support(as both the forums and the call center are unavailable to deactivated accounts), requesting to know why this occurred. Their response was that they determined that they could not support my business and deactivated my account. When I asked again for a reason, they repeated this without giving me a specific reason. I refunded all my customers and will be returning to my previous method of payment. What absolute bollocks.
This post will help: How to Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
Pam Jenni
I’ve been trying to find out if it’s just me or what. But I’ve had square for a few years. I only use it for a few days a year, I sell pepper plants at the local herb fairs, 5 per year. No matter what, if I’m lucky the first one or two customers, the reader will take the card. The rest of the day every single card has to be keyed in. I charge the card the night before. When I’ve check the card at home it works fine. I’m so frustrated I’m looking at other options.
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QB
Horrible company , cancel my account saying they don’t support rental companies. Had to refund my customers and hope that I can send them another invoice and they pay.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Equipment Rental
– Phillip
Erik John Olsen
Square Terminated my Account without explanation or any type of help … Instant Termination…. The email went into Spam. I have been using Square for years without issue. This is outrageous
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Ed Henry
We have been using Square for 5 years now. We are a sit down restaurant with approximately $275,000 in credit card receipts. I just recently switched to Square Timecards and Payroll since the POS worked so well. I have been sold a product that does not work and they really don’t care that they have customers who bought their lie. They advertised multiple wages for individual employees, which the time cards accomplish. What they have neglected to do is allow the import of that data to Payroll. When Payroll imports it adds all the hours worked and places it on the first wage entered. Thus creating more work for me now because I have to manually correct each entry. Total lie…. Do not get suckered into Square Payroll. It is cheap and useless.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Restaurants
Demaree's
I already submitted a review and of course it never showed up. Worst company I have ever dealt with in 37 years of business. Use a credit card provider with an actual customer service and not somebody like Square that you can’t reach and will ignore you.
From The Editor
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Geoff Breitling
I opened an acct with Square, gave them my passport, banking and other info to verify the acct. My 1st payment was $2500 from a client and they immediately locked my acct with no explanation. Bc my acct was locked, I could not get a code they required to get support, so it was as if I had no acct at all. Meanwhile, my $2500 was locked for up to 90 days.
Stripe would not even talk to me.
The only way I got around it was I was thankfully able to refund the payment to my client and she paid me through paypal. If I did not have a great relationship w her or it were a payment for goods or something I would have been screwed.
Obvs, I think Square is a crap company with sucky customer service and I would never, ever consider using them for anything whatsoever at any time in the future.
From The Editor
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natascha snellman
As pissed as I am, I am sharing my experience so that other small businesses don’t get screwed like i did. I’m a mom and a small business owner. After a year of using paypal to accept my payments I decided to branch out to credit cards. Everything went well with square to begin with….until I needed to contact them. It’s not easy, it involves research and jumping through hoops. I received a large order and was excited, but I also decided to be smart and reach out to AMEX to make sure the card was legit. Amex told me because I didn’t have the full credit card number they could not check on their end and i should contact square to get the information needed. When I finally figured out how to get square on the phone and spoke to them they told me they can’t see the credit card number either and they can’t confirm with AMEX, but they assured me that there were no red flags on their end and that if the billing and shipping match there shouldn’t be a problem and they also let me know if anything did go wrong it was on me. Ummmm, ok why am I paying them if they can’t even protect me I wondered. I mailed the merchandise and made sure to get tracking and signature. A few months later I get an email from Square saying that a bank reached out to them and that this sale was under investigation and the client said they had not made the purchase. I was so pissed. So square said I could provide evidence and challenge the bank. Luckily I had all of the evidence needed….matching billing and shipping, email correspondence and proof of shipment and delivery signature. I got an email yesterday that the bank sided with their own customer….(why am i not surprised) and that I need to pay square back in full. I emailed requesting a payment plan, they responded giving me some options and then debited my account the full amount. Thanks for protecting a small business owner and thanks for taking funds out with no time wasted and putting me at negative. I’ll never work with them again. That’s not taking care of your customer.
From The Editor
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Ryan Warner
I will not ever use this agency again they are frauds they hold your money for no reason and then close the accounts so you can get your money owed….
From The Editor
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Julia Collins
Square deactivated the business I work for’s account (an Acupuncture clinic) within 3 hours of us receiving an email that we are a “high risk merchant“. High risk? We are a wellness clinic! There was absolutely no contact in person (we tried for several hours to get someone on the phone) and we still have yet to receive any kind of communication. We have been using square for more than a year and our business depends on it. Seems that Square has gotten too big to look out for the small businesses and is absolutely no longer looking our for our best interest. There have been thousands of other complaints just like this one.. if you are a small business who is thinking about using Square, think again. They can deactivate your account, tie up your funds, and give you absolutely no explanation within a matter of hours. I am completely bewildered how Square can do this to so many people and families who are depending on their services and software to make a living.
From The Editor
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Kenneth Wildenstein
When I went to set up my square account, I somehow entered the wrong account number for my deposits. I figured this would be an easy fix for square as I am certain I am not the only one who has ever made a typo.
However, I was concerned that the bank verification was made because my EIN and name on the account were obviously different than the number I provided Square.
Square had told me that they only verify that the bank account is in fact open and valid. Not that the names match on the account, which is what led to this fight I am in right now.
I contacted my bank, because of new Federal Laws, the bank is not allowed to remove the money from the wrong account and re-route to mine. The duty falls on Square because Square initiated the ACH. However, I have been calling Square 2-3 times a week, because their customer service is lacking service and I receive no return phone calls. I have been fighting this now for almost a month and everyone at Square I talk to is repetitive at best, puts me on hold for great lengths, and says the same thing, ‘it’s not our issue, we can’t do anything about it. Talk to your bank” even though Federally it is Square’s responsibility.
So I am now out $1800+ with no way of seeing that money.
Square is ok if you dont make a typo, but their customer service needs a complete overhaul. I at once would have recommended Square, but now, I will warn others to be wary when you need assistance. And dont make any human errors. They wont be able to help.
This may be something that has to escalate beyond Square’s incompetent customer service team.
From The Editor
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Angie Cornelison
No response, no access, no numbers to reach customer service. Square is holding $1100 of my money and there is no way to speak with an actual person to get info.
From The Editor
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David Hsu
Used by scammers. Was scammed using square by account SQ*JACKSON NARVAEZ CAR S. Added extra to the limo fee. I have disputed charge with Chase, but they seem indifferent. They are overcharging passengers out of LaGuardia Airport, issuing handwritten receipts using other legitimate limo companies’ names. No way to contact square to report fraud unless you are registered as a Square customer. Square is fundamentally insecure and will be used by small time scammers like the limo pickups at the airport.
From The Editor
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Melinda
This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. If can’t get anyone on the phone they deactivate your account and keep your money for 90 days!!! Ridiculous!! It doesn’t take that long to deposit your money! Do not use this company.. Look at their reports on bbb website.. Stay away from these people.
From The Editor
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Skylar
Just got out of a taxi in Miami. The driver, Alexis Rivera, added $20 as a tip on a $12 ride. I asked for a receipt and asked how I could tip him. He scammed me. I called AMX and am disputing the charge. I did not add a tip on.
From The Editor
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kerry foster
I thought it would be a good idea to have another option for credit card processing
So I ordered a square
I downloaded their app as instructed
Linked my bank account as instructed
Began processing two payments from my customers
I total of $1625
Then I found out there’s a hold on my phones
Until I’ve answered endless questions
After doing so I find out my account has been permanently deactivated and email would be sent to me with a correspondence link
I received a no reply email with no information about how to retrieve my funds I’ve been searching and Leslie for phone numbers to call this company
And as a endless loop of phone prompts with no human being available to talk to
Their chat system will not recognize my responses
I highly recommend anyone thinking about getting this device not to do so
From The Editor
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Christian McFarland
I have tried to get a square account for my business. However, square has been unable to link my bank account on four separate occasions. When I tried to get in touch with square, it refuses to give me a customer code. So, I can’t get in touch with anyone. When I tried email, no response either. But, when I tried to deactivate my account, it refused to let me do so because my bank link was denied. I would give square a 1 or 2 out of 5 because of their inability to have a support system that works.
From The Editor
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Russell lloyd
I took out an account with square just three weeks ago and all I can say is what an absolute disaster.
Two days after starting with them they send me an email saying my account is on hold pending information. I send page after page of information to them and finally they continue processing. I told them how much I process by card every year and they stated it was fine. I had a call with them just yesterday regarding charges due to the high volume I put through. They requested a I send in information from Worldpay to confirm the spend. So far so good. This morning I have an email stating my account has been deactivated. What an absolute joke. No warning no notice just bam and your out. They clearly cannot handle the volume. I also noticed every call
Made to them when they eventually answered the phone it was always the same
Person. Seems to me a two bit company. Looking at the reviews it’s not good. Stay well clear many far better processing companies out there.
From The Editor
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William bates
They have stolen thousands from me and I will and never will use them. They continue to take money from my account and I have never used them and no one answered the phone to find out why. I have to close my accounts now to stop them. Don’t ever trust them
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This Post Might Help: How to Contact Square
Arlene
What is happening with Customer Service at Square? I used to get such great service with them. Now, what I get is a lot of scripted responses and “instant replay” of what I just said. Can’t they just hire people who can have a conversation? And when they say they are sorry in every sentence is sure sounds insincere. Frustrated customer.
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This Post Might Help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service
bud francis
I have used Square for 4-5 years. My account was hacked and people started calling me saying they had a charge on their card from my company. The money did not go into my account and I never charged them. I tried to contact Square but couldn’t talk to anybody without a code # I could not get into my Sq. account because it had been hacked so I couldn’t get a code. I sent them a message on Facebook every day to get them to contact me but they never did.They sent me a message saying they would get back with me shortly. In the meantime more and more people were being charged on their credit cards and the funds must have been diverted to somebody else’s account. It went on and on and Square never got back with me until one day they tried to take $2200 out of my account to cover the customer’s disputed charges, which never ever went into my account to start with. My bank caught this and made Sq. put the money back into my account. The very next day they tried to take another $1400 from my account which my bank made them put it back in. They have still never contacted me and I have since had to change my account to keep them out and I still have not been able to contact Sq. to close my account. They have blacklisted me with other credit card companies so I can’t accept cards anymore. Luckily I have had a credit card company for my office credit card for 17 years and they kept me. This Sq. company is the worst company I have ever dealt with in my 37 years in business. I would stay as far from them as possible. Get your card reader and service elsewhere where you can actually talk to somebody when you have a problem.
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Michael D
I had a square account set up through my business I never had issues until recently .Once all the appliances and materials arrived to the client’s house and the first day of work begin she came home demanded. Receipts to the appliances and materials I informed her once the job was complete she will get all the receipts and invoices showing paid in full… 20 minutes later she returned with three of her India friends in a hilarious attempt to intimidate me. They demanded the full deposit be refunded meanwhile all the appliances and materials are still on her property. She made threats to have me trespassed then ask me to come back and get everything and refund the money I said I would not be returning for fear of being trespassed that she purchased them with the deposit she gave to my company and I will provide her the invoices for those amounts.. My National Distributor ( Ewing) sent her the invoices showing paid in full she then try to say they falcified documents and invoices and even went as far as saying she never got the appliances or materials…
She tried to claim that Ewing charged her card and she wants her money back when that didn’t work she tried to get a credit back and keep the appliances and materials through Square and my bank. Through Legal advice I blocked that and was informed this is a civil matter. I showed all the text messages verifying she had the product and pictures from her own phone showing the product on her back porch. She lied to get a credit which basically means she keeps product and not pay for it.. Square refunded the money to the client just recently after months a of silence and zero communication with me which essentially is allowing the client to steal products ,not pay for them and get awarded her deposit back. Square emailed me yesterday an invoice saying my account is negative $5,0000?!..I unblocked her phone number and I Immediately received a text saying I have 2 days to get the appliances and materials off her property or she will take that as Im uninterested. Square has now helped her commit fraud…. She is now listed with Hillsborough county with possession of stolen property with intent to sell.. I have registered the outdoor kitchen serial numbers as wellvas stolen.It appears Square will side with client everytime for fear of a ” Client” review.Square clearly is not there to help businesses even after showing proof with pictures..emails and text messages..they allowed her to keep product and made no attempt to get product back or help… Theives amongst Theives..
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Keisha
It’s a fraud site money not protected. I honestly think they hack people accounts. They six hundred dollars of my money. The receiver never got the money. We called on three way and they asked both of to send the exact amount so they can refund the money
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Y.R.
I really hope this review helps someone who went through the same incident as myself. This review is for people who had three (small or big) cash transactions taken out of their checking accounts. I am not a merchant. I do not have the Square Up app, nor the Square Cash app on my phone. I deal with many merchants that use Square Up. I paid a merchant that uses Square Up. I swiped my card, and signed. The purchase was done on a Saturday.
I checked my checking account on Monday and right after that point of sale transaction there were 3 $10 cash debits totaling $30 from Square Cash. I transferred all of my money out of my checking account into another account. I called my bank, canceled my debit card, & was informed I would be credited back the $30 and any fees occurred from me empting my account. My bank informed me that due to the small amount there would be no investigation by my bank or Visa.
If you are not a merchant there is no telephone number that you can call to contact Square Up or Square Cash. I emailed Square Up informing them of what happened. I received an email informing me to contact Square Cash. I emailed them again informing them I cannot contact anyone in Square Cash because I am not a merchant nor do I have the app. I received the exact same email response but at the bottom of the email it had my first email and a case number. I have received no assistance regarding what happened. This happened over a period of three days.
I contacted the District attorney’s office of where I live, & I was able to speak with the investigator. He informed me because the amount was small my police report might not even be accepted. He did say what occurred to me was identity theft. He told me what I needed to do. All 3 of my credit reports were already locked, and frozen because of what happened with Equifax a few years ago. I contacted TransUnion online and informed them I was a victim of identity theft. This information was documented on my credit report and TransUnion forwarded that information to Experian, and Equifax.
I contacted the Fair Trade Commission online and filed a complaint for identity theft. The entire process took approximately 15 minutes. They will ask for your checking account number and routing number. After what happened I’m a little paranoid so I gave my routing number but not my checking account number. I do believe the more info you give the more they have to go on, but I gave all other information that was requested. You need to give a statement, and you only get a certain amount of letters. I went straight to the point and gave the info that I believed was most important. They ask if you want to set up an account at the end of the process, and I opted to just in case something else happens.
Many merchants still use Square Up, and unfortunately this company is still active. One of the merchants I deal with requires me to use a credit/debit card to reserve an appointment. I’ve done this every time since January 2018, but a few months ago it saved my card info. I honestly can’t remember if it asked me or if it automatically did it. I allowed it, because it was convenient to not have to enter my card info each time. There’s my debit card info sitting available right in Square Up’s system.
After this incident I removed that card (which was already canceled), but the merchant I deal with requires a card to reserve an appointment. I know there are many people out here who do not believe in using credit cards and prefer cash or debit, but the protection we have can be limited. There are many credit cards that have zero fraud liability. So whether the thieves take $5 or $25,000 you are not liable, and it’s not your cash they are stealing. I have opted to using a credit card, especially if it’s a merchant with Square. This time it did ask me if I wanted to save my card on file, I opted not to.
I truly believe if more and more people file reports with the Federal Trade Commission, they eventually have to investigate this company. Hopefully, this will also call attention to how Square is conducting business with the merchants that have entrusted Square with handling their transactions. I know this review was long, but I want to give details that might help someone, or keep someone from having to go through this.
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This Post Might Help: How to Contact Square