Second Square hitch

[Copperhead]

Received my Square reader late last week and have now used it for 2 transactions. First one was done on Sat, without any issues and the money was in my account first thing Monday am. I told the couple (elderly) bare with me this is new, she looked and said 'oh, that is Square isn't it!' She had seen the ads on TV!
The second one done yesterday morning with a German couple. A couple of hick-ups. Swipe took 3 attempts, I guess I held my mouth wrong with the first 2 attempts. Then the guy had trouble signing with his finger, nothing but one loop appeared and he attempted to redo but nothing worked. Then he had several errors before his email address was in correctly. He blamed it on his large fingers, which he had, but since this is on my phone it did not help matters. A tablet would be nicer - now added to my wish list.
For the time being I am keeping my traditional merchant account as well. Since I take deposits with card not present, the fact that Square may retain some of that $ for a month has me questioning going fully with it. I do understand their reasoning as they issue these readers to any Joe wanting one and keyed in sales are red flags..

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....
.

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....

I'll try this. I thought they would not work with the phones, thought the phone needed a heat touch of a finger.

 

[JBloggs]

Received my Square reader late last week and have now used it for 2 transactions. First one was done on Sat, without any issues and the money was in my account first thing Monday am. I told the couple (elderly) bare with me this is new, she looked and said 'oh, that is Square isn't it!' She had seen the ads on TV!
The second one done yesterday morning with a German couple. A couple of hick-ups. Swipe took 3 attempts, I guess I held my mouth wrong with the first 2 attempts. Then the guy had trouble signing with his finger, nothing but one loop appeared and he attempted to redo but nothing worked. Then he had several errors before his email address was in correctly. He blamed it on his large fingers, which he had, but since this is on my phone it did not help matters. A tablet would be nicer - now added to my wish list.
For the time being I am keeping my traditional merchant account as well. Since I take deposits with card not present, the fact that Square may retain some of that $ for a month has me questioning going fully with it. I do understand their reasoning as they issue these readers to any Joe wanting one and keyed in sales are red flags..

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....
.

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....

I'll try this. I thought they would not work with the phones, thought the phone needed a heat touch of a finger.
.

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....

I'll try this. I thought they would not work with the phones, thought the phone needed a heat touch of a finger.

You mean sign with your fingerprint? Yeah that's coming...

 

[Copperhead]

Received my Square reader late last week and have now used it for 2 transactions. First one was done on Sat, without any issues and the money was in my account first thing Monday am. I told the couple (elderly) bare with me this is new, she looked and said 'oh, that is Square isn't it!' She had seen the ads on TV!
The second one done yesterday morning with a German couple. A couple of hick-ups. Swipe took 3 attempts, I guess I held my mouth wrong with the first 2 attempts. Then the guy had trouble signing with his finger, nothing but one loop appeared and he attempted to redo but nothing worked. Then he had several errors before his email address was in correctly. He blamed it on his large fingers, which he had, but since this is on my phone it did not help matters. A tablet would be nicer - now added to my wish list.
For the time being I am keeping my traditional merchant account as well. Since I take deposits with card not present, the fact that Square may retain some of that $ for a month has me questioning going fully with it. I do understand their reasoning as they issue these readers to any Joe wanting one and keyed in sales are red flags..

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....
.

Picked one up at wallyw orld for $14 bucks. Got home and tested it with the next guest. Still not perfect but I think it is much easier than signing with finger.
Now off to ama zon to buy some more for a price that is not outrageous!

 

[Copperhead]

Received my Square reader late last week and have now used it for 2 transactions. First one was done on Sat, without any issues and the money was in my account first thing Monday am. I told the couple (elderly) bare with me this is new, she looked and said 'oh, that is Square isn't it!' She had seen the ads on TV!
The second one done yesterday morning with a German couple. A couple of hick-ups. Swipe took 3 attempts, I guess I held my mouth wrong with the first 2 attempts. Then the guy had trouble signing with his finger, nothing but one loop appeared and he attempted to redo but nothing worked. Then he had several errors before his email address was in correctly. He blamed it on his large fingers, which he had, but since this is on my phone it did not help matters. A tablet would be nicer - now added to my wish list.
For the time being I am keeping my traditional merchant account as well. Since I take deposits with card not present, the fact that Square may retain some of that $ for a month has me questioning going fully with it. I do understand their reasoning as they issue these readers to any Joe wanting one and keyed in sales are red flags..

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....
.

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....

I'll try this. I thought they would not work with the phones, thought the phone needed a heat touch of a finger.
.

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....

I'll try this. I thought they would not work with the phones, thought the phone needed a heat touch of a finger.

You mean sign with your fingerprint? Yeah that's coming...

.

Nope, but you are right it may be next.

 

[gillumhouse]

Received my Square reader late last week and have now used it for 2 transactions. First one was done on Sat, without any issues and the money was in my account first thing Monday am. I told the couple (elderly) bare with me this is new, she looked and said 'oh, that is Square isn't it!' She had seen the ads on TV!
The second one done yesterday morning with a German couple. A couple of hick-ups. Swipe took 3 attempts, I guess I held my mouth wrong with the first 2 attempts. Then the guy had trouble signing with his finger, nothing but one loop appeared and he attempted to redo but nothing worked. Then he had several errors before his email address was in correctly. He blamed it on his large fingers, which he had, but since this is on my phone it did not help matters. A tablet would be nicer - now added to my wish list.
For the time being I am keeping my traditional merchant account as well. Since I take deposits with card not present, the fact that Square may retain some of that $ for a month has me questioning going fully with it. I do understand their reasoning as they issue these readers to any Joe wanting one and keyed in sales are red flags..

Before you invest a bunch of money in a tablet, got to a store like Bes t Bu y and buy a stylus for your smartphone. Might work better for you....
.

Picked one up at wallyw orld for $14 bucks. Got home and tested it with the next guest. Still not perfect but I think it is much easier than signing with finger.
Now off to ama zon to buy some more for a price that is not outrageous!
.

I just ordered some on Am a zon for $2.51 for a 3 pack. Will let you know how they work when they get here.

 

[Anon Inn]

Some very late arriving guests triggered the " I will now charge the card, and send the "We have charged your one night deposit, per the policy you agreed to at booking " response, only when I went to retrieve the card information in order to do the 'card not present' charge, I found I could not access the three digit security code the guest had entered into the online booking system. With Square, that code is needed. I contacted the online booking representative who told me I would not be able to retrieve that number as it is illegal for them to keep it. This is not really a Square hitch, but an incompatibility with our online booking system, which is set up to use with Authorize dot net.
I will have to find a way to work around this, or phone each guest with an "In order to complete your reservation, may I have the three digit code from the back of the card you used to book?".
I was loving Square, and loving my online booking company. Now I have a potential problem. I've only had to charge a no-show once, and the late arrivals did make it, so no harm this time, but I need that security. Any ideas?

Don't use Square. ReservationKey stores the information, including the CVV, at least until the reservation has been completed and for a few days after in case you need to run additional charges.
If you're using Authorize.net, then you can run the charge on their virtual terminal. All that is required there is the zip code that is associated with the card's billing address..

At some point I will likely switch to ResKey, but my current company is giving me a deal that would be crazy to walk away from. For now, I'm good.

 

[gillumhouse]

Does anyone offer a stylus to sign with, rather than a finger tip? Guests might find that easier to use..

Does anyone offer a stylus to sign with, rather than a finger tip? Guests might find that easier to use.

I went to good ol' Am a zon and got a pkg of 3 styli (is that the plural?) for $2.51 total (1 cent for the item and 2.50 shipping). Came in less than a week. Guest used one this morning - worked like a charm.

 

[Hillbilly]

Some very late arriving guests triggered the " I will now charge the card, and send the "We have charged your one night deposit, per the policy you agreed to at booking " response, only when I went to retrieve the card information in order to do the 'card not present' charge, I found I could not access the three digit security code the guest had entered into the online booking system. With Square, that code is needed. I contacted the online booking representative who told me I would not be able to retrieve that number as it is illegal for them to keep it. This is not really a Square hitch, but an incompatibility with our online booking system, which is set up to use with Authorize dot net.
I will have to find a way to work around this, or phone each guest with an "In order to complete your reservation, may I have the three digit code from the back of the card you used to book?".
I was loving Square, and loving my online booking company. Now I have a potential problem. I've only had to charge a no-show once, and the late arrivals did make it, so no harm this time, but I need that security. Any ideas?

Don't use Square. ReservationKey stores the information, including the CVV, at least until the reservation has been completed and for a few days after in case you need to run additional charges.
If you're using Authorize.net, then you can run the charge on their virtual terminal. All that is required there is the zip code that is associated with the card's billing address..

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.
.

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.

Yep, it's great. Not cheap by any means, but a worthwhile expenditure for the business.
.

It's cheaper than using square. They also have an app you can use to swipe cards on a smart phone just like square if you like that! It's free to use. I have been using them for almost a year. It works great. Most credit cards charge well below 2% to the consumer. People think its a lot more. A few rewards cards charge above 3%. This is where people think they are saving with square. When you put them all together it's below 2%. This is how square makes there money. If your an innkeeper and run more than $7000 a month on avg, you should not be using square. Unless someone is using a rewards card.

 

[gillumhouse]

Some very late arriving guests triggered the " I will now charge the card, and send the "We have charged your one night deposit, per the policy you agreed to at booking " response, only when I went to retrieve the card information in order to do the 'card not present' charge, I found I could not access the three digit security code the guest had entered into the online booking system. With Square, that code is needed. I contacted the online booking representative who told me I would not be able to retrieve that number as it is illegal for them to keep it. This is not really a Square hitch, but an incompatibility with our online booking system, which is set up to use with Authorize dot net.
I will have to find a way to work around this, or phone each guest with an "In order to complete your reservation, may I have the three digit code from the back of the card you used to book?".
I was loving Square, and loving my online booking company. Now I have a potential problem. I've only had to charge a no-show once, and the late arrivals did make it, so no harm this time, but I need that security. Any ideas?

Don't use Square. ReservationKey stores the information, including the CVV, at least until the reservation has been completed and for a few days after in case you need to run additional charges.
If you're using Authorize.net, then you can run the charge on their virtual terminal. All that is required there is the zip code that is associated with the card's billing address..

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.
.

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.

Yep, it's great. Not cheap by any means, but a worthwhile expenditure for the business.
.

It's cheaper than using square. They also have an app you can use to swipe cards on a smart phone just like square if you like that! It's free to use. I have been using them for almost a year. It works great. Most credit cards charge well below 2% to the consumer. People think its a lot more. A few rewards cards charge above 3%. This is where people think they are saving with square. When you put them all together it's below 2%. This is how square makes there money. If your an innkeeper and run more than $7000 a month on avg, you should not be using square. Unless someone is using a rewards card.
.

If your an innkeeper and run more than $7000 a month on avg, you should not be using square. Unless someone is using a rewards card.
Bob, Almost every credit card I get is a rewards card. Probably the only ones that are not are Amex and that had higher fees than anyone, which is why I did not take them. I do now....

 

[Arks]

Some very late arriving guests triggered the " I will now charge the card, and send the "We have charged your one night deposit, per the policy you agreed to at booking " response, only when I went to retrieve the card information in order to do the 'card not present' charge, I found I could not access the three digit security code the guest had entered into the online booking system. With Square, that code is needed. I contacted the online booking representative who told me I would not be able to retrieve that number as it is illegal for them to keep it. This is not really a Square hitch, but an incompatibility with our online booking system, which is set up to use with Authorize dot net.
I will have to find a way to work around this, or phone each guest with an "In order to complete your reservation, may I have the three digit code from the back of the card you used to book?".
I was loving Square, and loving my online booking company. Now I have a potential problem. I've only had to charge a no-show once, and the late arrivals did make it, so no harm this time, but I need that security. Any ideas?

Don't use Square. ReservationKey stores the information, including the CVV, at least until the reservation has been completed and for a few days after in case you need to run additional charges.
If you're using Authorize.net, then you can run the charge on their virtual terminal. All that is required there is the zip code that is associated with the card's billing address..

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.
.

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.

Yep, it's great. Not cheap by any means, but a worthwhile expenditure for the business.
.

It's cheaper than using square. They also have an app you can use to swipe cards on a smart phone just like square if you like that! It's free to use. I have been using them for almost a year. It works great. Most credit cards charge well below 2% to the consumer. People think its a lot more. A few rewards cards charge above 3%. This is where people think they are saving with square. When you put them all together it's below 2%. This is how square makes there money. If your an innkeeper and run more than $7000 a month on avg, you should not be using square. Unless someone is using a rewards card.
.

They also have an app you can use to swipe cards on a smart phone just like square if you like that! It's free to use.

Bob, can you tell me where to find this? I've looked all over the auth.net website and can't find any mention of it. I know it must be there somewhere!

 

[Hillbilly]

Some very late arriving guests triggered the " I will now charge the card, and send the "We have charged your one night deposit, per the policy you agreed to at booking " response, only when I went to retrieve the card information in order to do the 'card not present' charge, I found I could not access the three digit security code the guest had entered into the online booking system. With Square, that code is needed. I contacted the online booking representative who told me I would not be able to retrieve that number as it is illegal for them to keep it. This is not really a Square hitch, but an incompatibility with our online booking system, which is set up to use with Authorize dot net.
I will have to find a way to work around this, or phone each guest with an "In order to complete your reservation, may I have the three digit code from the back of the card you used to book?".
I was loving Square, and loving my online booking company. Now I have a potential problem. I've only had to charge a no-show once, and the late arrivals did make it, so no harm this time, but I need that security. Any ideas?

Don't use Square. ReservationKey stores the information, including the CVV, at least until the reservation has been completed and for a few days after in case you need to run additional charges.
If you're using Authorize.net, then you can run the charge on their virtual terminal. All that is required there is the zip code that is associated with the card's billing address..

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.
.

I just started using Auth.net yesterday with ResKey. Got my first reservation and was great to not have to hassle with inputting the cc info. I also chose to use the CIM which allows me to just click a button and charge the balance when I'm ready.

Yep, it's great. Not cheap by any means, but a worthwhile expenditure for the business.
.

It's cheaper than using square. They also have an app you can use to swipe cards on a smart phone just like square if you like that! It's free to use. I have been using them for almost a year. It works great. Most credit cards charge well below 2% to the consumer. People think its a lot more. A few rewards cards charge above 3%. This is where people think they are saving with square. When you put them all together it's below 2%. This is how square makes there money. If your an innkeeper and run more than $7000 a month on avg, you should not be using square. Unless someone is using a rewards card.
.

They also have an app you can use to swipe cards on a smart phone just like square if you like that! It's free to use.

Bob, can you tell me where to find this? I've looked all over the auth.net website and can't find any mention of it. I know it must be there somewhere!
.

Oh sorry! It's a free App you can download if you have an iPad or iPhone! Just go to the App store.