Okay. I had an issue tonight at the Wyandotte Street Art Fair. My iPhone would not connect to the Internet and thus, I lost a $35 sale for my square account could not connect. This is frustrating because I have been reaching for sales at this show and this one that walks away hurts more!
Has this happened to you? I called Verizon tonight and they said to power off your phone and restart. Does this work?
By the way, they said they would go to the ATM and get some cash. But I know and you know too, that once they leave your tent, they'll never come back. This indeed was the case this evening...
Comments
rebooting has worked for me I have ATT
There is no reason to lose a sale. Record the information (CC#, expiration date, zip code and security code) and enter it later. The only time I had this problem, it was not the Square device, it was too much traffic on AT&T network. No one could do anything, Square or otherwise.
Sorry about your loss sale Scott. I had lost a $200 sale at Winter Park with a similar problem with Square. It's not always the network, I believe it's the square system at times. Try restarting, helps at times. For insurance, I now also have an account with Phone Swipe. It's a device similar to Square. It has no monthly fees, and charges 2.69% per swiped transaction. The best thing about them, it also has Store and Forward! That means, if the network is down you can still swipe the card. Later, when you are in cell coverage you can then upload the transaction(s). It's risky, because the card is not approved until the transaction is uploaded, however it's much better than losing a sale. Plus it's easier and you get a better rate than if your using a knuckle buster (which is now my 3rd backup). I did lots of research and this is the only phone swiper I found with no monthly fees with the store and forward feature. Hope this helps.
I bring a small stack of the paper carbonless cc slips with me to all shows and use a pen to rub the customers credit card thru....date it, get the cvc and the zip code etc... so I get a signature
then I run it later. My carrier says the same thing, turn the phone off, bring it back up etc... but that is unnerving in front of customers so I pull a rub and sign out and then re vamp the phone and put it thru. Some shows where coverage is just non existent I rub and sign all day and run all the charges at night. We also bought a signal booster but it does not work very well at all....I do not recommend that.
donna if you have a smart phone you can usually tether on to it with your iphone. ck your phone and see if can tether.
The only times I've found that I couldn't connect it was due to having a "cover" on my phone!! Once I took the "otter case" off, it worked. But I too have ATT. You could also try searching for a free Wi-Fi network while you are at the show and see if connecting to that helps. Some shows are nice enough to let you know what's available.
I got a i-Touch a year ago, thinking I could run all my credit card payments on it, but underestimated the problem of Internet connection. i-Touch does not get internet without wi-fi available - it is not a full phone, but runs apps and gets internet where wi-fi is available. Later this year we will be switching (because our phone contract is up), but I pace the floor feverishly until that day.
Meanwhile I just write out credit card info on credit card forms (they are cheap) - get signature and phone number with other info and no one has questioned me on it. I put the information into Intuit GoPayments later - it has worked so far, but I really want the regular connection with my phone to be more professional about it. Indoor environments work much better for me - I can swipe if there is wi-fi. This has been a frustration for a while.
At a regular market we do in Allegan Michigan, Verizon changed the cell tower dishes during the off season and practically no one, not even Verizon users can run an credit cards this season. Calls to Verizon for help is like contacting Mars. So we punted. Take down all the particulars including their zip code and run the sale the next day. Our price point is usually about $45 and we would have lost out on almost $200 last month. You do what you have to do because no one else is out there helping us.
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