I'm new to this, and will be attending my first market in a couple weeks. Does anyone have advice on using Square card readers versus Paypal? I intend to get the one with the chip reader, if that makes a difference.
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Your problem is not with the reader it is with the TERMS OF SERVICE. Paypal is not a bank. They settled a lawsuit with Elliot Spitzer for NYS in 2002 so that they wouldnt have to act like a bank. They are the judge jury and executioner. Whatever money is in your PAYPAL account belongs to Paypal and if you link it to your bank account they can freeze those funds as well. If there is a dispute and the buyers know this is really easy to do. They will ALWAYS LAND on the side of the buyer.
Square is a Merchant Account. If there is a dispute you have the opportunity to defend yourself. This is a no-brainer.
Additionally if you use Paypal and sell internationally.... you will get screwed. It is only a matter of when and how much.
I had a single phone call, with a very discortious Square representitive. When I requested her supervisor, she hung up on me. When I tried to call back, I found my "customer code" (the unique number necessary to call in to them) had been frozen. My account had been locked ! I was now unable to use it and could not communicate with them.
Square goes to great lengths to conceal phone numbers for us to call into them. If you do call, an automated system requires the valid, unlocked, "customer code" in order to allow the call to go through to a live representative.
Eventually, I found a forum to post the issue along with the legal process I was initiating. A manager emailed me. I then was able to speak with the manager. She said the representatives have the ability to lock & block your account if they feel or recieve "threats".
She then listened to the entire recording of my interactions with the representative. She told me there were absolutely NO THREATS of any kind. The representative was completely wrong. She felt I had valid complaints and had been courteous and professional throughout. They restored my account and credited me with free service for $1,000 in transactions.
( a small pittance for the work involved in my efforts). The idea that a low level rep can have this ability with OUR money / account is scary. They can do this without any notice or confirmation from supervisors. Then we cannot even call Square to correct the issue.
I may have been able to work around the matter, this time, however the resolution was inadequate. The trust is gone, the dangerous empowerment without checks & balances, which they do NOT have in place, makes this a very bad company.
Would anyone deal with a bank that did this?
Square is dangerous in this way. I am switching to other Merchant services.
Larry Sohn... What is the forum you mentioned where you were able to get results? many of us would be interested to know...
I wondered the same thing. I use Square exclusively.
Is this something that happens mostly to high frequency and/or high dollar amount users? Or has it happened also to low frequency/low dollar users.
It has never happened to me with square. i have spoken to customer service people at square only 2 or 3 times and it has always been positive...
I understand it never happened to you. Perhaps it has never happened to many people ... OR ... perhaps it HAS happened to many people. We would not know. Not everyone has the where-with-all to find resolution or publicly post reports of same.
I have dealt with many organizations without incident. The issue is, if one does have an issue with Square, the aforementioned problem may occur. Is that worth it with our money? I have my documentation and proof, that is why I was able to speak of legal channels and achieve some results with a manager.
Often we do not know of serious problems with a company's customer service until we experience a problem with it.
I seek to share / educate others artists before they become victims.
You state you "have spoken to customer service people at square only 2 or 3 times..." were you ever able to do so without punching in your customer code? This is how they are able to lock you out of reporting a problem with their personnel. They have the ability to lock out / disable your customer code.
Think, what if a bank you do business with were able to block you from calling them? Square is a financial institution also. The idea that they have access to our finances, bank accounts, information and can block us by the whims of low level representatives, is untenable.
Would you deal with a bank that would not allow you to call and speak to ANY live representative without a secret code that they could disable at any time?
I have spoken with others who had funds removed from their account by Square improperly, however I do not state such as fact as I was not witness nor directly involved. I have only made claim to what I have facts of.
For those that like and are satisfied with Square, good luck, may it always serve you well. However, be warned, investigate, call Square and ask if they can block your customer code. You will find what I state to be true. If you continue to use Square, do so at your own, now informed, risk.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Looks like the choice is pretty clear.
Definitely better going with Square. The chip reader works flawlessly.
I also bought the PayPal bluetooth reader for $150 last year and could not get it to work. After several calls to their tech support they agreed that it was defective but I got a tremendous run-around and a bunch of BS from their customer service department and could never get a refund.
That is too bad that they won't refund for a clearly defective product. $150 is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a product you never got to use.
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