I am seriously considering one of these services and heard about them initially by reading an article by NPR yesterday posted on facebook about Square. Square is what I initially wanted to go with, but there seems to be a lot of concern from people in regards to their customer service and not having a direct phone line on their website. In your blog you mentioned how great their website is…is it a bit different when you become a member and log in? I did see a help page with frequently answered questions, but otherwise did not see any way that their website was unique or overly helpful. I left it feeling like none of my questions about it were really answered. The gopayment website definitely explained the process better, but I was confused about the “redeeming issue” as well. I have a gut feeling about square, but would like to know a bit more about it. Do you have anything new to share since your initial blog? I would appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

How do they do receipts with square? I saw with gopayment that you can enter the customers email address to send them an email receipt. Does square offer this or something similar?

when i signed up for square in october square told me they would get me a card reader as soon as possible. so far they have failed to deliver one…i write this 2/15/2011. multiple email requests through their website have gone unanswered. in the meantime, they make more money on each transaction because the fees are higher for transactions that are keyed in. what a surprise.

Square recently (about 2 weeks ago) lifted the 15 cent per transaction charge .. so the only fee is the 2.75%.. NO EXTRA FEES.. my wife runs a nail salon & the 2.75% fee is right in line with the credit card processor (actually, the processor charges about 1.71% but when you add all the extra fees — and they are numerous — it’s right at 2.7%.. if you then add the monthly phone line charge, however, the old-style credit card machine is MORE than 2.75%..).. we still use the old-style credit card machine with the built-in receipt printer because my wife really, really likes the instant-paper-receipt.. i prefer the cool-ness of square, and you can text a receipt as well as email a receipt.. my wife also complains about the small screen of a cell phone when using square, but with tablets available like the ipad, screen size is no longer the issue.. check out this pic in a pcmag article about how a business is using an ipad in conjunction with square:

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/261352/1-Cool-Business-Uses-for-the-iPad

I am currently looking for a widget or other way to print a receipt immediately from square; so far i’ve been unsuccessful.. conceptually, when square asks if you want to send a receipt via text or email, i envision an app that captures the receipt and sends it wirelessly to my wireless printer.. heck, i’d even settle for a wired connection from my phone or tablet to a printer.. anything that frees me from a credit card processor’s machine AND contract AND painfully confusing fees WHILE still keeping it competitively priced is a welcome business tool.. so, anyone know of a way to print a square receipt?? and thanks, lan, for this post!

I am debating on switching from quickbooks credit card to square. After adding all the fees and such, the quickbooks is about 4.11%. Quickbooks is ending support for this for 2008 edition soon so I would have to upgrade to QB 2011 to continue.
Does square deduct the fees before or after depositing money into your account?
Has anyone tried to integrate the payments into quickbooks from square?

Just to throw some info into this conversation, my wife has been using square for a few months now and had our first issue with a client denying a charge.  We did however find a number to contact them on another forum and they are taking action assisting us. the number we located is 415-375-3176.

I will speak as an user of both.

Enrollment: Both are extremely easy, in fact, i had several questions with intuit and they called me right away and answered all my q’s, to the point i did my enrollment through the phone and their customer service agent was beyond excellent.
I had a few q’s towards squareup and they did e-mail me quite quickly too, responding to all my q’s.

I did however, hate that they have no contact number.

Delivery: I received my free intuit within days, the packaging was a yellow envelop, nicely padded with all information inside, what i did like was that the gadget itself comes in a small transparent carrying case, which is great for protection when put on a bag, purse, etc…
My squareup arrived rather quickly too, the packaging is visually stunning, as well as the inside of it. The gadget is well protected in it’s packaging squared foam. The only con is that is has no case to carry it with, which is no mayor since its quite small, but it is a sensitive gadget so you should fine a nice hard case for it.

Both have worked wonderful for me, i’ve had no problem what so ever with neither one. But in all reality and like with any product, they will work differently depending on the person needs and likes. Intuit will work for some people better, and squareup will work better for others, so for someone to compare them they would have to do it based on their own experienced with the product.

This was a very good customer based post, i really appreciate you posting this.

how do i contact square

So, a shameless plug…  If you are taking in more than $500 a month, you should check with a Merchant services professional (and know what questions to ask so you don’t get ripped off with hidden fees and equipment leases).  There is a break-point between $500 and $1,000 a month when it costs more to accept charges from a service that charges a flat rate like the ones mentioned.  This break-point varies based on the equipment you use (or if it is totally on-line), your number of transactions a month and their average amount, and how you are charged for fees.  (Interchange Plus is almost always the least expensive way for a merchant to go.)  

Square VS. Go payment
I have both and if I can avoid not using either then I will. However at times I travel to tradeshows and it is vital to offer credit card services to customer, especially if you are traveling outof the U.S.
With that being said Square only works in the US and and according to gopayment, the processing feature works in Canada.
Well after two days at a tradeshow in Canada and arriving back in the US on the third day. I received a call from gopayment that my charges would be on hold and I have to submit bank statement, valid US ID and at least two bills that come to my house. I submitted all of the documents and called twice a day for three days. Each day my file and funds were being processed. On the third day I was told that I should always give a writen receipt to all customers to prove I sold them merchandise! That is crazy since the customer signs electronically and a receipt is sent directly to the customer via e-mail. Gopayment claims this would never happen again since I have submitted all information. However I have not attempted their service since July 2011. I have not had an issue in the US with Square, but I am aware of the customer service issues and the long holds on the accounts if the charge is greater than $500 and or if have been a customer for less than 1 year.
At least you can get a person with gopayment although it can be frustrating, it is still better than no support at all.

I operate a cleaning company in north carolina, Elite Shine, inc.
I have used both Square and intuit go payment. In my opinion square has a better product. Intuit go payment has high hidden fees for transactions etc. intuit does have better customer support but I use only square now. I just think they are a better service when you look at the overall picture.the only thing that bothers me with square is the fact that it takes 3 days for the transactions to deposit into your bank account.

Bui Brothers, did you know this was going to take on a life of its own?  I have just been sitting back for a while reading as I learned as much as I could on this.  First, the Disclaimer:  I work with a merchant services broker, which means I have a lot of options available to me and that there is always more to learn.  So bear with the length of this post.  I know it is long.  But I’m going to offer you a quick course in how we get paid so you will have a better understanding and not pay too much for these services.
First, you guys  have made for some really great discussion here – better than I have seen on most industry sites.  I hope you don’t mind, but I’ll probably tick a few processors off by telling you what I tell my clients.

SQUARE:
Square is something I don’t recommend due to their poor customer service.  However, if someone is running only a few transactions (maybe $1,000 or less a month) and doesn’t need customer service or the reporting, then it is a viable option.  Keep in mind that since they don’t prescreen anyone (or very few) that they have the right to reserve your funds for a month while they check you out and freeze your account if they suspect anything.

WHAT YOU ARE PAYING FOR:
Most of what you are paying are the fees that the banks that created the cards are charging to run their cards.  (The Durbin Amendment capped what some banks can charge on some cards.) This is the same cost to every processor (whether it’s me or Square).  These are made up of percentages of the sales AND transaction fees.  Then you have the processor fees on top of that.

PCI  CHARGES: 
Locksmithy hit the nail on the head.  PCI fees are out of control and totally subjective.  It makes me sick when I go into a business that is being charged $25-$30 a month for PCI compliance.  PCI charges are determined by two levels:  the wholesale processing service and the processor (either an independent agent/agency or a Bank).   Banks are the WORST offenders for these fees.  Evalon isn’t far behind.
I have wholesalers that charge $5-$10 a month or an annual fee (usually less than $30), and ones that don’t charge anything.  Depending on the solution the client needs, I only pass through what the wholesaler charges (if anything).  Usually, I don’t have to because my preferred wholesaler doesn’t charge.  MONTHLY FEES:Fees are very unregulated in this business.  I always discuss with my clients how we get paid so they don’t ever pay too much again and can spot someone walking in their door trying to get unwarranted fees/leases etc.  What is pretty standard:  When you are using a service, you will usually be charged a monthly fee.  (Mine is $10.)  Some processors will charge an annual fee or higher monthly fees or no fees.  If there are no monthly fees, they sure as heck are making them up somewhere else because they are paying them.  These fees are because I can make LESS than $2 a month on an account through processing charges.INTERNET FEES:If you use a Gateway for payments online, you may or may not be charged an additional fee because the Gateway (where you enter your info) usually charges us.  ($5 is usually wholesale.)  If you use a shopping cart, you may have an additional fee that ranges from $15-$25 a month, though I’ve seen them go much higher.  (It should be at the lower ranges.)  Sometimes, to try to keep confusion down, processors will bundle these fees together.  If you use a wireless reader, then you shouldn’t have to pay these fees. PRICING STRUCTURES:We can either charge you Interchange Plus or a Tiered Pricing structure.  The Durbin Act lowered fees for debit/credit cards from certain banks.  You will only see this drop if you are on Interchange Plus.Square (and all the other flat-rate, no fee processors) are on Tiered pricing.  That’s why you aren’t paying a monthly fee.  In addition, you will be charged for transaction fees through most processors.  We are charged them.  Sometimes you pay them in addition to your Tiered pricing.  For instance, you don’t pay if with Square if you swipe the card, but if you manually enter it, you pay 3.5% AND a .15 transaction fee.You may also have a Batch fee if you are on interchange plus because fees aren’t hidden in the tier pricing.THE BOTTOM LINE Bottom Line: If you are doing more than $2,000 a month in Square (or any other flat rate processing service), you are almost certainly paying much more than you would if you use a processor that will charge you Interchange Plus who has low fees.  It’s all in the math.  You should expect customer service. This is a competitive industry.  What Square and the others have done is turn this into a commodity.  But you shouldn’t have to pay to have customer service. If you want to discuss your individual situation, I won’t try to sell you.  I’ll educate you the best I can on your situation.Lynda@myCCMS:twitter .net

Oh, and Square is in San Francisco. 

901 Mission St
San Francisco, CA, 94103-2905, United States  I also found this number.  I haven’t tried it though.I’m sure it goes into an automated system.Phone            +1.415.281.3976      

I had a problem with square not depositing funds all of a sudden to my account! I called the number and left a message to the phone number and they got back to me within 6 hours and resolved the issue for me right away. I give this service a serious thumbs up!

A lot of my friends and fellow gift show vendors have started using square and so far they all are happy with it.  One told me it was hard to change information if you input it incorrectly when signing up, another told me that they got fast response to email if they had issues.  After reading all the negative comments about square’s lack of customer service on this blog, I decide to try gopayment.  I use QuickBooks and TurboTax and have had good service from Intuit.  However, I’m not doing so well with their merchant payment deivision.  I went to sign up on line and the first thing they ask is my social security number.  My business is an S-Corp so that I don’t have to provide personal information.  I called their customer service number and the rep tried to sell me on a different service.  I told her I wanted the gopayment service and we filled out the application over the phone.  However, she still wanted my SSN because Intuit wants me to personally guarantee…I’m not sure what since they get the money first.  The rep did not understand at all when I explained to her that as a corporation, I can’t personally guarantee anything or I lose my corporate status.  She didn’t really get it but she went a head and submitted my applicaton with a dummy SSN.  I got an email the next day saying they needed my SSN and I had to personally guarantee the account.  I faxed them a copy of my EIN from the IRS and my Certificate of Incorporation.  They sent me another email that said they still needed my SSN and my personal guarantee.  The only companies that don’t need someone to personally guarantee the account is a company with a publically traded ticker symbol.  If I didn’t want to pesonally guarantee the account, I needed to fax them 2 years tax returns and P&L statements and 6 months of bank statements.  I’m irritated that they can’t understand the legal issues behind chosing a corporation for a business structure and the legal implications of disregarding that structure.  You’d think a company that makes tax software would be more knowledgable.  I haven’t heard from them yet as to whether they will let me use their processing system.  It has not been easy signing up for it.  I don’t know if square will be any easier about protecting our corporate status but my lawyer has advised that I may have to not use gopayment if I want to keep my corprate status.  I have to say that I’m already disappointed in gopayment and Intuit.  And they do have hidden fees, higher fees for rewards cards and some others.

webpage to contact them via email:
https://help.squareup.com/customer/portal/emails/new
 

Since there are a number of people who can get a merchant account, and/or run higher volume than these alternative services are really geared toward, is there room to discuss how to get a far better deal on TRADITIONAL PRocessing?

If So…..

done with getting my rate changed to INTERCHANGE PLUS .5% ( half
of one percent ) plus 5 cents per transaction. This is projected, BEFORE
getting a mobile device, to lower my monthly processing by about 27%.
This is because I no longer have to deal with TIERED rates, where all
sorts of things drop you to a worse position. I think myself, Allen
Murphy and a few others will work the processor to where they will offer
Interchange-Plus. They claimed on the phone they do not offer it if the
volume is under 1 million a year. I am about 1/4 that in volume. No
statement fee, no monthly fee, no escape hatch fee. This is the first time I have been able to nag my way to getting Interchange Plus.This
is one example of where purchasing as a GROUP benefits over being a
lone wolf. Vendors line up for access to a group. Less drain brammage.NEXT TASK… Mobile Reader to get the swiped rate on our off-site service sales. Our processor does have readers, but they charge 299.99 setup plus a 5.00 monthly fee….. I am SURE the business review dept can be negotiated with on this. My overall rate is already in between the swipe and hand keyed rate, because I do a decent volume per month. If volume was low, I would use PayPal Here, another variant of Square or GoPayments… but with better service and the abiluity to fund from PayPal, as well as credit cards.With CC Processing, EVERYTHING is negotiable. You just have to learn their lingo, and get the dept that can overide the sales dept pricing. Remember, you are dealing with cubicle-dwellers; most do not care or like their job, but if you get fortunate, you find one that will direct you to the right people who can be of use. If you do not  get help, thank them kindly, dial again… eventually you will get someone more motivated.Jeff