This review is documented with words directly copied and pasted from actual e-mails from Square Up. It is extremely difficult to talk to them, they prefer e-mail. I have put quotes around the text copied from their e-mails.
We are in a high risk business, but that doesn't mean our charges are not legitimate. In our business you have to authorize and pay before you fly.
We had a customer charge over $40,000 in private jet charters between 30 and 60 days ago. Last Thursday they disputed those charges. Square turns around and sent us the following information in an e-mail -
"We've received a $23,634.10 payment dispute from your customer regarding a transaction you processed on April 19,2015.
If you would like to challenge this dispute or refund your customer, please respond to our Information Request Form within 7 days from the date of this notification.
Please be aware that a $22,806.76 hold will be placed on your Square account. If your Square balance is less than the hold amount, your linked bank account will be debited to cover the difference. The funds will remain in your Square balance until the dispute is resolved by your customer's issuing bank."
They take the money out of your bank account directly. This was one of the two notices we received on the same day.
The next day that had withdrawn almost $40,000 from our bank account. Here is what we received in an e-mail:
"Square will debit your Wells Fargo account ending in 821 in the amount of $39,907.03. The funds will be withdrawn in one to two business days. To view your deposits / withdrawals, visit the deposits page on your dashboard.
This withdrawal is a result of issuing a refund, receiving a chargeback, a renewal of subscription pricing, or an account adjustment."
It wasn't one or two business days, it was overnight. You have no protection from them.
Later that morning we received another credit card payment of about $23,000. They proceeded to inform us they are holding these funds for an additional 90 days because of our high risk business.
Here is the e-mail we received from Square within 24 hours of this series of events:
"Were sorry to inform you that we are deactivating your account. Our Account Services team reviewed your account and found a pattern of transactions associated with high-risk activity.
For further information about our policies, you can review section 42 of the Square Seller Agreement.
We regret that, starting today, you will no longer be able to process transactions using Square. Any funds currently in your account will be held for 90 days before being released to your linked bank account.
If youd prefer to receive funds more quickly, you should consider refunding the payments back to the original cards and seeking alternate forms of payment. (Please note that we will refund all the fees, too.)"
Finally, when you do complain, by e-mail, here is what you get:
"Thanks a lot for sending us a message.
We have assigned your message to a team member who will reply as soon as possible.
In the meantime, feel free to return to the Square Support Center for instant answers to frequently asked questions.
Thanks again,
Square Support"
We no longer use square and would not recommend that you use it.