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TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

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Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#311

Post by ceejayoz »

peanuty1 wrote: post #300
joshstrange wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I tried to leave the Stripe platform for lower fees and... well I'd give just about anything to go back in time and stop myself from doing something so stupid. Also in the end the %/per-transaction fees were barely lower AND they had a TON of hidden fees/charges. The processor lied about fees/rates, API/docs were absolute shit (and they were on the better end of what else I've seen but compared to Stripe they s…

Have you tried Square? https://developer.squareup.com/reference/square/payments-api

Square holds payments, too. Same 120 day window, too, because that's how long Visa, Mastercard, and Amex give customers to initiate a chargeback.

https://www.eseller365.com/square-holding-funds-business-120...

> Like other payment processors, we periodically review your sales to assess the risk of payment disputes. In a recent review of your account, we determined that we have to hold a portion of your transfer in a reserve balance. Beginning , 30% of each transaction on your Square account will be stored in your reserve balance, and will be released 120 days after the original transaction date.

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#312

Post by graeme »

jjoonathan wrote: post #275
civilized wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corporate process improvement is not an excuse for treating people badly. An individual human who treats people badly is not allowed to say "well I deal with a lot of people and I need algorithms and sometimes my algorithms don't work so I'm doing my best to improve them". Corporations should not get a pass because they need cheap processes that "scale" to maintain their profit margins. This is the perpetual moral ha…

Also: Stripe publicly emphasized the possibility that their customer might be a dirty rotten liar. I feel it is only fair to point out that Stripe might be a dirty rotten liar, too.

It turns out the poster did, in fact, omit extremely material info from their original post. They sold a used company van via credit card via their stripe account: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32264886

This is not something the business sells, and a huge chargeback risk

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#313

Post by civilized »

shepardrtc wrote: post #282
civilized wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corporate process improvement is not an excuse for treating people badly. An individual human who treats people badly is not allowed to say "well I deal with a lot of people and I need algorithms and sometimes my algorithms don't work so I'm doing my best to improve them". Corporations should not get a pass because they need cheap processes that "scale" to maintain their profit margins. This is the perpetual moral ha…

I think this negativity is uncalled for. They said that they do their best, sometimes there are mistakes on their end that they try to fix, and sometimes the person complaining is lying or leaving out details that would explain the situation. If you've ever dealt with people, you would know that they often "forget" things or downplay things that would make them look bad.

You're bringing negativity as well. Just applying it to the smaller, weaker party.

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#314

Post by baggachipz »

patio11 wrote: post #212
baggachipz wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe if the company had some way, any way at all, to reach an actual human being, this wouldn't be a constantly repeated problem on HN and elsewhere.

As I have observed in other contexts ( https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1463749947858165761 ), many people who say "Ugh, I cannot reach a real human" have in fact spoken to several humans, repeatedly and at length, and are imprecisely stating their desire to speak to a person who would agree with their view of the facts and swiftly enact the resolution that they prefer. We offer (human-powered, somewhat obviously?)…

"Am I so out of touch? No, it's the customers who are wrong."

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#315

Post by arwineap »

tomphoolery wrote: post #277
cdmoyer wrote: post #271

The OP later clarified that it wasn't a normal transaction. They sold a "cheap company van" using their stripe business account. That seems like a huge liability, since a used car seems extremely likely to cause a chargeback. I don't think dealerships would accept a credit card payment (other than deposit) for this reason. https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/wa1zob/dont_...

lmao why. why would you do this. just use square cash.

I enjoy the power of greenbacks, very visceral too.

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#316

Post by ciabattabread »

jjoonathan wrote: post #275
civilized wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corporate process improvement is not an excuse for treating people badly. An individual human who treats people badly is not allowed to say "well I deal with a lot of people and I need algorithms and sometimes my algorithms don't work so I'm doing my best to improve them". Corporations should not get a pass because they need cheap processes that "scale" to maintain their profit margins. This is the perpetual moral ha…

Also: Stripe publicly emphasized the possibility that their customer might be a dirty rotten liar. I feel it is only fair to point out that Stripe might be a dirty rotten liar, too.

From elsewhere in this page:

> I used Stripe for about a year to run a small cell phone store in Denver, CO area. [1]

> We sold a cheap van in the company name. [2]

Yeah, that explains how they arrived in Stripe jail.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32261868#32264335

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/wa1zob/comme...

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#317

Post by ceejayoz »

TekMol wrote: post #185
patio11 wrote: post #177

(I work for Stripe, and since many of my colleagues are currently sleeping, taking the liberty of saying this on their behalf.) We are looking into things. As someone who ran businesses for a long time myself, it would be very alarming to me if customers felt they were being ignored while repeatedly talking to people who work for us. If that ever happens, please bring in literally anyone at Stripe, inclusive of other…

Quoted post unavailable.

/u/patio11 is publicly very skeptical of cryptocurrency. https://twitter.com/patio11/status/1536687513204625409

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#318

Post by antman »

patio11 wrote: post #177

(I work for Stripe, and since many of my colleagues are currently sleeping, taking the liberty of saying this on their behalf.) We are looking into things. As someone who ran businesses for a long time myself, it would be very alarming to me if customers felt they were being ignored while repeatedly talking to people who work for us. If that ever happens, please bring in literally anyone at Stripe, inclusive of other…

Customers are publicly asking for your answers for your what in their opinion is an ill conceived and/or villainous process. Not answering claiming that it violates your privacy process from which they specifically exempted themselves could also be considered even more ill conceived/villainous.

They are waiting for your answers, it is a public matter as per your clients repeated requests, it affects more people, money is involved, we are all waiting for your resolution and future mitigation actions. Or rebuttal ofcourse.

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#319

Post by toss1 »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #305
toss1 wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly stated by someone who has never run a legitimate small business. As someone who has run them for decades, it can be a SERIOUS issue at the wrong time. Sure, there are good times where it'll hardly be noticed, and can be dealt with in due course. However, there are OFTEN other times when $3K failing to show up when expected can create real problems. Cash Flow is key. To even suggest that it is OK for a company…

I have run a small business, and I am somewhat familiar with payments infrastructure. From my perspective, it is the room that is ignorant. Have you ever had a customer fail to pay an invoice on time? Have you ever not been reimbursed for expenses in a timely manner? Have you ever been charged the wrong amount? Had a supplier go bankrupt? If 3k cash flow made or break my small business, then I would've been toast wit…

>>Is it theft if I pay my bills late?

Depending on how late you pay them, YES, it is theft, and can be so judged in court.

>>. Have you ever had a customer fail to pay an invoice on time? Have you ever not been reimbursed for expenses in a timely manner? Have you ever been charged the wrong amount? Had a supplier go bankrupt?

Yes, all of those things. And I pointed out that SOMETIMES, they can go by almost unnoticed and dealt with in due course, but OFTEN they can create real problems. It is one thing when they happen by accident, but when it is the result of capricious and hostile decisions by a vendor, it is an outrage.

Your own argument points this out - if $3K is supposed to be so manageable to a small biz, then it is not even a daily rounding error for Stripe, and THEY should give him the benefit of the doubt, and not externalize these costs onto the small biz.

I'd also point out that just the fact that you're justifying paying your bills late as "well it isn't theft" already tells me that you are in the class of ethically-challenged shady operators with whom I work to avoid.

Just because you make a profit does not mean that you are running a sound or ethical business or personally have either of those properties. I'd suggest you do some rethinking.

Re: TIFU by using Stripe as a payment processor for my small business

#320

Post by whiddershins »

sph wrote: post #264
patio11 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking generally, chat and phone support are designed to provide immediate round-the-clock service to a wide range of issues but not literally every type of issue that a financial institution has to be able to deal with. Sometimes, a financial institution might only be able, due to staffing or other considerations, to deal with you asynchronously in writing, perhaps from e.g. a group of professionals who are not as…

This is a roundabout non-answer that doesn't explain why chat and phone support were/are greyed out. Are you just trying to say "we're so short staffed, there's no one to answer your messages, let alone your calls?"

What he is saying is that in the instance of a fraud concern, they don’t have people who can talk about it available 24/7.
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