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My Recent Experience With Square

jasongullickson.posterous.com

1–10 of 96 posts

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#3
I'm not sure why this guy had trouble understanding that he needed money in his account as collateral against the charge back. "Yeah, he'll probably send us the money if the charge back is upheld" is not a sustainable policy.

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#5
I have to disagree (perhaps unfashionably) with the author's sentiment and the comment below "I really like Square, but I always have this feeling that this company is going to be oe (sic) more paypal and with this story it´s confirmed."

- The customer service was pretty responsive and reasonably polite for a very fast growing company.

- The author notes he has paid Square hundreds of dollars in transactions fees so we can guestimate he's done $13k+ of revenue through Square (based on $400 fees & 3% average fee), $180 was hardly a critical amount for him

- What's the next best alternative, has anybody here experienced PayPal's customer service?

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#6
post #5

I have to disagree (perhaps unfashionably) with the author's sentiment and the comment below "I really like Square, but I always have this feeling that this company is going to be oe (sic) more paypal and with this story it´s confirmed." - The customer service was pretty responsive and reasonably polite for a very fast growing company. - The author notes he has paid Square hundreds of dollars in transactions fees so…

'PayPal' and 'customer service' should never be in the same sentence together.

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#7
post #2

I really like Square, but I always have this feeling that this company is going to be oe more paypal and with this story it´s confirmed. Hope they solve this issue and improve their customer service .

As much as I like to hate on Paypal because they deserve it for a variety of reasons, I'm considering lately that for financial services startups like this, it's possible they CAN'T do certain things differently, though perhaps customer service could make up for it and may not have in this case.

This phrase caught my eye in the story "Per the network regulations, the debit process is automated and will continue to attempt to hold the funds associated with the dispute until it is resolved.".

Network regulations like the contracts they have with banks? Credit card processors? A relatively small startup may or may not be in a position to negotiate their own terms on such things, they're dealing with established players they have to do business with unlike a lot of other startups in other fields. Perhaps Squares own terms have been influenced or dictated to them in part by their own financial partners.

On the other hand, this persons own bank was able to reverse the automated charge and the fees associated with it, which itself should give at least some measure of comfort in the system as it exists, even if it's frustrating to watch it all happen without much direct control.

It should probably be obvious that having a buffer of funds to handle things like this is a good idea for any business, particularly if the terms of service for the payment processor note that things like this may happen.

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#8
post #5

I have to disagree (perhaps unfashionably) with the author's sentiment and the comment below "I really like Square, but I always have this feeling that this company is going to be oe (sic) more paypal and with this story it´s confirmed." - The customer service was pretty responsive and reasonably polite for a very fast growing company. - The author notes he has paid Square hundreds of dollars in transactions fees so…

I don't believe the customer service was polite. They shouldn't scold the person right up front about multiple emails; maybe it's just me, but the customer pays you, they can send as many emails as they want. Also, it's confusing that he is told to respond to the first email (and that it's time sensitive) and yet they do not respond to his prompt reply.

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#9
post #5

I have to disagree (perhaps unfashionably) with the author's sentiment and the comment below "I really like Square, but I always have this feeling that this company is going to be oe (sic) more paypal and with this story it´s confirmed." - The customer service was pretty responsive and reasonably polite for a very fast growing company. - The author notes he has paid Square hundreds of dollars in transactions fees so…

Here's something ironic... I am just re-opening my paypal account after it was closed approx 8 years ago (oct 2004). There is a small sum outstanding on it due to an ebay sale that the buyer said "never got goods" and I said "but I sent them". As it was for a small sum, I didn't bother registered mail. I didn't bother trying to dispute the dispute but as my acct had zero in it, they "froze" it. Fast fwd to today, 2012. To re-open my account, I HAVE to send them in a cheque. No other form of payment is accepted. Can anybody tell me why this is ?? It seems crazy that paypal, of all people, insist on me posting a cheque ?!?!

Re: My Recent Experience With Square

#10
post #2

I really like Square, but I always have this feeling that this company is going to be oe more paypal and with this story it´s confirmed. Hope they solve this issue and improve their customer service .

As much as I like to hate on Paypal because they deserve it for a variety of reasons, I'm considering lately that for financial services startups like this, it's possible they CAN'T do certain things differently, though perhaps customer service could make up for it and may not have in this case. This phrase caught my eye in the story "Per the network regulations, the debit process is automated and will continue to at…

Absolutely square could do things better. How about for starters picking up the goddamn phone and making a call to talk to the customer in person?

It really shocks me that people are willing to entrust their business's finances with a company they cannot contact immediately.

I do exactly what the OP poster did - have a account that receives the funds and is immediately swept to an entirely different institution. I would not have even funded the account when square tried to pull from it. I do not make my main business account directly accessible via visa card, or direct transfers. Two different financial institutions are involved.

I especially am troubled by the assumption that because the OP is following this very good idea that square assumes that he is not viable.

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