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Bought two chip readers from different places - both say ‘permanently damaged’ - Really?

I’ve set up Sqaure so I can take a payment from a client via credit card. $40 and two chip readers later and i’m Nowhere with it. Both devices say Damaged and start me on the warranty process. Logic dictates it doesn’t make sense. 

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Hi @Foxtoons,

 

Thanks for getting in touch and sorry to hear you've had trouble with your readers - this certainly sounds like bad luck.

 

If you can send me a PM with more info on where you bought the readers I'd be happy to look into this further, alternatively, you can also get in touch with our support team on 1800 760 137 - lines are open Mon - Fri 9am-5pm, Melbourne time.

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Hello Square - we operate out of 20+ stores and are using the square contactless readers in each store. In one particular store we have had 3 readers in row showing “reader is damaged”, in another store we had two contactless readers showing “damaged status”, and in yet another store we had 1 reader showing damaged status. We don’t know what may be causing this issue, but we felt perhaps the electronics in the reader are sensitive to electrical spikes and working on this assumption we changed the USB power adaptor at each of these stores to a high end branded USB adaptor. In the 10 days since we did this, we have not had any more readers at these 3 stores getting “damaged”. 

 

Having said this, it would be good to get some feedback from square and from other sellers who may have experienced this issue as to whether our analysis is correct or is something else the likely cause of this issue.

 

Thanks

 

KA

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Hey @aggarwak,

 

Thanks for the detailed feedback. This is actually quite helpful for us to know, as we'll often hear reports of cluster of damaged readers - what you're describing could absolutely be caused by electrical spikes in cheap/faulty USB AC adaptors. I'd be interested to know:

 

1) What brand were you using?

2) What you swapped to?

3) Would you be interested in sending us further info about them (such as pictures of the technical specs on each model of USB charger you've used)

 

It can be really difficult to isolate clusters of damaged readers, but you seem to have done a pretty good job in this case. Let me know if you'd like me to reach out via email to get more info from you.

 

We also see clusters of damaged readers more frequently in kitchen or food truck environments. Close proximity to coffee grinders can be a problem due electromagnetic interference and the presence of lots of coffee grinds (which can get into the readers). Likewise if readers are in close proximity to any sort of heavy duty industrial machinery, or places they may be exposed to extreme heat or a lot of moisture.

 

 

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Hi Sheamus

 

Happy to help and get to the bottom of this.

 

We are certainly happy with Square overall and planning to increase our use of the platform.

 

So here's the specifics from the readers that failed at 3 locations (of 23 total):

 

SITE 1

 

Problem

 

We were using an "entry level" Keji dual port 5V 2.4A USB charger from Officeworks with square reader connected to one port and a Samsung tablet connected to the other port. We had three conseutive Square readers failing ("reader is damaged") but the tablet was fine.  Once we changed the USB charger to a more expensive single port USB charger from a different brand, we have not had a reader failure for over 10 days now. So it's looking good so far.

 

Original USB charger

 

Keji Dual Port DC 5V 2.4A charger  purchased from Officeworks.

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/keji-usb-dual-port-wall-charger-2-4a-black-cowcde2...

 

Replacement USB Charger

 

Comsol single port USB wall charger DC 5V 1A purchased from Officeworks,

http://www.comsol.com.au/Products-by-Category/USB-Wall-Chargers/COWCS10BLK

 

SITE 2 

 

Problem

 

At this site we were using a legrand brand wall outlet with two built in USB ports in it.  Square reader was connected to one USB port and a Samsung tablet connected to the other port.. We had two conseutive Square readers failing ("reader is damaged") but tablet was fine.  Once we changed the USB charger to a COMSOL single port USB charger from Officeworks, we have not had a reader failure for  4 days now.

 

Original USB charger (wall plate)

 

Legrand wall plate with 2 USB ports connected to mains power.

http://www.legrand.com.au/products/switches-and-sockets/excel-life/usb-powerpoints/

 

Replacement USB Charger

 

Comsol single port USB wall charger DC 5V 1A purchased from Officeworks,

http://www.comsol.com.au/Products-by-Category/USB-Wall-Chargers/COWCS10BLK

 

SITE 3

 

Problem

 

At this site we are using a wall outlet with two built in USB ports in it.  Square reader was connected to one USB port and a Samsung tablet connected to the other port.. We have had one Square reader failing ("reader is damaged") but tablet is fine.  At this stage we have simply replaced the card reader and have not attemtped to change the USB power source. If the reader fails again, we will change the USB power source.

 

Original USB charger (wall plate)

 

Wall plate with 2 USB ports connected to mains power. We are seeking further details about the specific wall plate brand used at this site.

 

Replacement USB Charger

 

Not applicable - we are still running on the original USB charger and have replaced a single Square card reader so far.

 

I hope this information is useful to Square and the Sellers community in general. Please feel free to reach out to me by email for any other details. I am also in touch with Declan and Colin on other matters.

 

Thanks

 

KA

 

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The other point of interest I would like to add to my observations is that our tablets at all sites use WiFi on 2.4 Ghz frequency which is the same frequency as Bluetooth. Perhaps this could be cause of the problem - not USB? However, this does not explain why we have only experienced the problem at 3 of 23 installations.

 

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Hey @aggarwak,

 

Thanks for providing such detailed info! This certainly gives us more of an idea about what may be causing these issues, even if it's still not 100% clear it's great info to add to our knowledge of these issues to date.

 

Given the frequency this is occuring in 3 specific locations, it does seem like something environmental. I doubt it would be 2.4Ghz frequency though (given how frequently this is the case in many businesses using WiFi and Square readers).

 

It's more likely to be what you've already suggested (faulty or cheap electrical equipment), or close proximity to heavy duty machinery (as a laundromat) or maybe even really old/faulty wiring within the physical locations. Or a combination of some or all of these factors. Hopefully you'll have a bit more luck now you've changed out some equipment, but do keep us / and or your account managers up to date if you're seeing any further issues.

 

All the best!

Seamus
Square, Australia
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Hi Sheamus

 

all good now, we have received feedback through account managers that the readers were inadvertently getting “squashed” during use and triggering tamper proof circuitry.

 

we have something to work with now and can solve this problem.

 

thanks for fielding our enquiry!

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Good to hear @aggarwak - that certainly makes sense given you're using custom-build hardware to house the readers - let us know if you're seeing any more issues though 👍

Seamus
Square, Australia
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