I'd been using Square for my small business for years. I'm a fine artist and sell my art in festivals across the US. I don't have a 24/7 retail store so my sales are sporadic. There are times when I can go months without a sale. Most clients/collectors prefer to pay by check/Venmo/Zelle. I sold two large original paintings last Sunday in a festival in Palo Alto, CA. Both clients hose to use credit cards when I arrived to deliver the art to their homes. I processed the charges and was given an APPROVAL by Square app. I installed both paintings and then left to drive 500 miles back to my studio. The next morning I recieved an email from Square notifying me that both charges were suspect. They needed me to answer 17 questions to the best of my ability about both clients. I did. Within 24 hrs the next email came and said my entire account had been DEACTIVATED without any specifics as to why. They recommended I refund both clients and seek alternative payment from them. Both clients are extremely wealthy and living in multi million dollar homes in one of the most affluent areas in the US. These sales were 100% legitimate and whatever 'overnight review' was done to determine their validity was done in error. AND there is absolutely nobody at Square that I could even talk to! Once they deactivate an account the phone number used for the account is put in a DO NOT ANSWER list. I was only able to reach customer service by using their online chat and after reaching several very friendly but completely uninformed agents I had to give up. It's been a week now and after writing several emails trying to receive help on how to best proceed to their customer service I still have yet to receive any information. Nobody is home! So, my biggest concern is that they can actually give you approval for the charges and then 2 days later just decide (or an algorithm decides?) they are too risky to process. Long after you've left the merchandise with them! I can appreciate that there is a system in place to deal with fraudulent activity and IU can understand the risks...but neither one of these clients were contacted in any way by Square. Any real investigation would have revealed that both parties were extremely wealthy, using these same credit cards successfully routinely without issues. Square actually punished me, the business owner for making two legitimate sales! Causing me to go through hoops of embarrassment, hours of confusion as to why and now perhaps another week or two to wait for refunds to be processed and then alternative payment received! Still can't even reach a live person to talk about the situation. Fortunately, both clients were understanding and are offering alternate payment solutions. But Square...is the WORST! Avoid using them at all cost as clearly in this case...getting an approval from a charge is meaningless and at any time your account could be burned to the ground for simply making a sale or two.

So we run 4 businesses on square, about month 1st red flag happened as they now do not refund transaction fees, meaning if client cancels transaction they refund transaction amount less their fees 2.9% +0.30c or so. Say client makes $1000 job and hets $950 (quick guess) as refund what do u think happens? Well client will write 10 page bad review... What square says? Well update your policies. Even if we put that in fine print we will look like scammer. What real summers are new squere owners (whoever they are)

Next week ago we opened another comany and dumped it on squate. Made 1st sale though invoice feture... transactin went ok... then over the sudden instead of deposit squre holds transaction and starts question it. Asling question that do not apply, like if we checks client id, how do we know if client is authorized transaction, why we enter card manyaly? Well 1 we did not enter card manually we used their service to submit invoice to for payment, we do not know who client is, we can not ask them for their SSN and and paper work (is it even legal to ask?) if u (payment platform) not sure if transaction is good well deny it and show erro r message and not take money and not give it to us. Sure bottom of this s card risk assemsnt with little side note. You ask those questions before on boarding client not after taking payment and holding it hostage.

Now 2nd red flag and its fina big one
Thye ask me to upload driver licens eto confoirm who i am, they ask me to give online access to my bank... now when i ask chat rep to say full name? Guess what im Muhamed thats my full name. Ummm well if you ask me full access to my financials and afraid to disclose real identity if perosn on other line that does not sounds right. When i ask how my info be handled what security is in place response is you accepted tersms of service, thats how we handle it. Guess what i do read docs i sigm they have caned blok but basically they have no security, or insurance procedures regarding client (comany) or private data. Even though they are PCI complaint by law. But PCI handles user transactions so ur comany bank aco$#*!m driver licesse, SSN can and will be shared with their partners, or most likely sold which is common between financial institutions.

Other side note, support not US based any more

So bottom line, Square was good stand against Sprak (closed), 2Check out or Chase Merchants... but now they are sub par, in fact much under the line then typical high risk processors.

Note about us, we are low to no risk company. Out of 4 companies over period of 12 years we had 2 charge backs, both decided in our favor

NO TRANSPERANCY
NO TRANSPERANCY! HOLD FUNDS HOSTAGE!

"At Square, we are committed to providing you, as a seller, with transparent and open communication on the products and services we offer to you." - Square
(quote on google)

I recently reactivated my account for seasonal bulk sales. Square requested I verify the accounts whose funds were already allocated into Square. I answered the 16 questionnaire that is requested.

Submitted: invoices and client info.

The approval process is "2-3" days I received an email notification in 20min. Heres what it entailed:

*acciunt deactivated
*no reason
*no call
*funds will be released in 90 days feb 2023.(today is nov 13th 2022.
*no chance of reactivation. Deactivation is FINAL

I have merchandise that needs to be released to stores for holiday but instead of reaching out to verify any possible flaw or missing information Square simply just choose to shut down my account with a non-transparent excuse and zero communication.

This will place any business in a horrible position! It is clear this company is not to be trusted if it is capable of the above and below.

So I called.
1st point of contact mentioned the reason I was deactivated - my answers are weak then proceeded with "there's nothing we can do once account is deactivated."

Called again.
The 2nd person basically hung up on me. No concern.
( I wanted a solution for the funds as I am currently sitting on merchandise that goes out for holiday but Square wants to hold funds in a way that not even a bank does)

I called again:
3rd person... I am thankful that someone was actually concerned for my business.

BOTTOM LINE:
A company that works with sellers, hold funds hostage for 90 days and allow one to falter with consumers or merchants with lack of communication is not a great nor good company to work with. To say my answers or response was/is weak is weak on Squares behalf with absolute lack of communication, and far from committed.

- JQ

I've been with Square Up for over 3yrs now. And haven't really had a problem, until recently. I noticed an alert stating my payment processing was not enabled anymore. That meant that via the online store and websites I had created through the platform, I was unable to take payments. When I contacted the customer service department to find out why, I was told they had no clue. I was then transferred to ecommerce after being on the phone for about 30mins with the 1st department, then I was on the phone with them for another hour. After the hour of, I don't know, they told me I needed to speak back to payment processing to clear up. I was so frustrated, I requested the agent's name or ID and was refused. I asked for their manager's name and was refused. I was told that I was put into a que. After waiting another 30-40mins for that, someone by the name of Dan, stated his was a escalation agent and acted like he was attempting to address and resolve my issues. After another hour, he transferred me back to ecommerce or payment processing and stated he will advise the agent's of the issue to help them help me, without having to repeat the same things that I've been repeating for the last 2 1/2 - 3hrs. To no avail, I had customer agents giving me sighs of frustration, talking over me, not listening to my complaints, one even muted me, and eventually hungup on me. I called back again to make a long story end, they told me after 5 hrs on the phone, that this was a problem only account services could handle, but they will email me. Not transfer the call to that department, wait on an email when my businesses were unable to process payments. No name to follow up with in that department, just someone will email me. That is not how respected companies should treat their customers, clients etc. I will be cancelling everything with this farce of a company. And starting up with Stripe. They will never get my business again, and I hope anyone who reads this NEVER SIGNS UP WITH THEM AS WELL! DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE CROOKS!

First of all, as I'm writing this, I've been on hold for 58 minutes and 45 seconds.

I've been using Square to run my business for nearly 6 years. Had a few minor problems but they've usually resolved it fairly quickly in the past and everything else has run pretty well.

That is until I started getting unauthorized charges for my payroll subscription starting back in February.

I called in March to see what was up and the rep told me that it was a glitch on their end. They'd refund me the charge but I would have to close my payroll account and open another one in order to avoid getting charged.

This was frustrating and something I couldn't do in the middle of tax season on top of RUNNING A BUSINESS.

I told them as much and said that I won't be able to do so and will call back in a few months when I can address this and will need a refund for these charges as well.

They said ok.

Two weeks ago (middle of August) I finally had just a little time to address the issues and was trying to get in touch with support to get this fixed.

I started through email support. The rep not only took 3 days at a time to respond to me but had no idea what I was talking about. Said the charges were authorized.

After explaining in detail the situation MULTIPLE TIMES they finally say "I've been authorized to refund 2 months". Which was unacceptable out of 6 months of unauthorized charges.

I requested to speak to a manager in the email before receiving this response, nothing happened in that regard.

I call two days later and am on the phone for 45 minutes. Explaining to a new rep the situation. She's going back and forth between her manager and me and telling me what they are saying. They finally admit once again that they changed their service offerings and so the subscription that I had paused previously was charging me again and the only way to stop the charges is to close the account and open a new one.

Which again-is absolutely ridiculous. But I am willing to do so once I get my refund.

The 45 minute call time was simply because I had to explain the case over and over again until they were all on the same page. By the time something could actually be done with it I had to go into a meeting and could not stay on the phone.

Fast forward a week. I've called once again to try and speak to a manager to get this handled.

First rep says there's no managers available but he'll put me on hold while he's looking to see if he can get one. 15 minutes later, he doesn't come back.

I hang up and call again. The next one says that they can't just simply transfer to a manager and have to request an escalation. They submit a request, the manager accepts or denies, and then they will reach out in 2-3 days.

I'm extremely aggravated at this time. That Square who is doing business with business owners think that the time of their support time is more valuable than ours. I agree for them to do so and wait to be called back.

6 DAYS GO BY AND NOTHING.

So now I'm calling for the last time. The rep already said they were speaking with the manager and then now I'm on hold for over an hour.

This is absolutely unprofessional and by far THE WORST customer service I have ever experienced. And that is saying something.

As I've been writing this, I finally got into contact with a manager. Mind you, I'm now at 1 hour and 15 minutes.

They said that they only have a 3 month cap for subscription charges even though they've charging me without my authorization for 6. So they are refunding me for 3 months.

Shame on Square.

I will be initiating chargebacks for the charges with my bank and switching payment processing services. You had multiple chances to correct the issue. I will also be telling every business owner I know and come in contact with to never use Square or Block.

So I just started using squareup for my Handyman/Remodeling business. The first time used it was for a $907 payment in which they took $24 for using the device and still the money did not become available to my account after linking them due to a "Review Time" of my account! After not having access to the money i just earned, I had to answer 20 more questions for "My Protection" they send me an email the next day saying my account has been deactivated and they will send my money to my bank after 90 days! Biiiiiiiiiiiitchhhhhhhhhh!

Yesterday June 1,2022 Square went offline. Apparently their system crashed. Shortly after a few hours came back online. During that time in off-line mode I swiped the customers card and the payment went through. Once the system was back up and running the payment had been declined and the customer had long been gone. Square cannot give me any information on who the customer was. The lady on the phone did say she tried to try the card again in the transaction did not go through. Later finding out that this cannot be done! Square was not allowed to do that. What the lady offered me for compensation was not what the email actually said. During that time it was after hours so I called in the morning. The compensation was they would waive fees for me up to $1000 or so I thought. But the email said it would be waived for $1000 in sales. The transaction was declined for $90. Now you do the math there. If a customer comes in and buys $1000 worth of merchandise from me, Square takes 3.5% plus $. 10. Leaving me with only roughly if not less than $35 that I saved in processing fees. I immediately called square in the morning because that is not fair with me being a small business. Basically they just threw a number at me when I was on the phone to try to get clarification from the lady she just agreed when in reality she had no idea what she was talking about. I called customer service again and talk to Tish, we were both a little bit confused on how things were being worded, but soon we both we're on the same page. Now I was a little upset but I didn't get mad at Tish because I know it was no fault to her. She was so polite she stayed calm the whole time and we were on the phone for about an hour and a half. She went through everything to try to help me but then she was later notified by her team that there was nothing I could do. I just asked for $2000 more that they did not give me. They would in no way shape or form compensate me for the $90 that I lost while their system crashed. Take it only offer me about $35 worth of free processing fees. It was no fault of my own that squares system went offline and that the payment was declined. If square was still online I would have known and I would have taken a different form of payment from the customer. I am very disappointed in square as a corporation. Currently I am looking into canceling Square and getting a different credit card service. But I just want to say that Tish in customer service was the best ever. I'm so glad that there's actually good people that work for crooked corporation.

I recently wrote a blog about my experiences with square, I invite you to have a read, and contact me if you are interested in participating in a class action law suit against these monsters.

http://www.professionalchefsfoodnetwork.org/2021/12/08/honesty-transparency-and-customer-service-are-not-square/?fbclid=IwAR2XHx_EGSUjD8jI4Kp_8RikdBicCIkL58D9xFtIHdHT7AtreB2wrXq3TTg

I had $950 cash within Square Inc's Cash App. I lost access to this account for multiple years and I tried to get my money back. Square had been holding my money for so long that it is supposed to remit the money to the State's Unclaimed Property department.

However, it hasn't done so for years and continues to hold the money. I have sent numerous requests to their Support team and they just keep dodging my requests with unreasonable questions such as the PIN number, etc. I lost access for years! Why would I need their help if I had the PIN!

I contacted their Unclaimed Property Department (*******@squareup.com). They replied to me only once, simply asking me to contact the Support. Then they no longer reply to me.

This company is completely irresponsible and robbing money from consumers like me.

After 3 weeks of account recovery hell, Im having to give the solutions to the Tech Support. If the owner could see this shameful display of incompetence. I think a room full of teenagers would yeild a more adult outcome. I get responses like the rep is someone on the other side of the world who doesnt speak one word of english and has to run my emails through a translation process, while sitting in a sweat shop office and has one american pamphlet on trouble shooting 101.
Noone with any real tech experience would be saying what they do, or taking this long, and saying thats all they "think" they can do -when they havent dont the "basic " IT Account Reset Protocals that any normal business would use. Like resetting a wrong email address so you can recieve the password reset link, not ask the customer why they didnt use the "wrong email " to reset. Who in a IT Field wouldnt know you cant get into a email address you dont own. I cant even call that 3rd world?
I suggested the normal password over ride and/or generating a temp password so I can go in and fix the wrong email. WOW. I want a paycheck from Square for my work.
THIS IS THE WORST NEVER ENDING TECH SUPPORT EXSPERIENCE EVER and HAS MADE ME DELETE MY SQUARE APP, GIVE AWAY MY CARD READERS, AND CLOSE MY ACCOUNTS. IF THEY CAN EVER DO THEIR JOB I WILL SHUT DOWN THE PAGE. THIS ISNT WORTH THE STRESS AND DISRUPTION TO ANYONES LIFE.