Error Message - No Support from Square - Customers cant checkout - waiting weeks! HELP!

[Stranger]

I logged this issue with square weeks ago and no one is coming back to me. My customers keep getting this error message above "We are unable to complete your request at this time. Please try again." My retail is closed due to lockdown in Melbourne I count on my online sales. Why cant my customer shop and why is Square NOT addressing this and calling me / emailing me with an update???

[Boris]

Hi @Stranger, I'm sorry to hear that this is an ongoing problem with your Square Online checkout. I'd love to deep-dive in to the account, but am unable to do so on this public forum. I have taken a look at your website and was able to add something to my cart and proceed to the checkout. I can see that a member of our team was in touch in mid-August, and at that time we were unable to replicate the error message. 

Do you find that the error message appears after an order is placed? Does this error message appear during every transaction or only occasionally?

Our website sometimes encounters errors when trying to connect to one browser that it will not experience in another. Which web browser are you using?

Feel free to contact the team over the phone on 1800 760 137 - we're here from 9-5 Melbourne time and would be happy to take a closer look at the site with you.

[Stranger]

This is happening on and off for my customers. I have already logged this with support with a promise from support to come back to me. This is a common theme of support never coming back and me having to chase up. Support has all my contact information email and phone, it would be fantastic to have a proactive approach and have support reach out to me.

[mhweft]

Hi Stranger, I am getting a similar problem (Canberra) where my customers try to finalise the transaction and nothing happens.  I finally got it to replicate on Friday while standing beside the customer using my own computer.
You are not mad - there is a problem.

Support came back to me today asking for a screenshot of my customers screen when they had the error - I have pointed out the difficulty with this

[Stranger]

Whats really IMO ridiculous is that this is a system-generated error, as in it was programmed to output this error due to 'X' the fact that customer support has no idea what causes the message to appear, what the message means, or have even heard of the message before is a real concern and ultimately zero follow up after logging the issue. Very poor customer service. I feel that Square while good for me will be an interim solution unless they pick up their customer support.

[Seamus]

Hey @mhweft and @Stranger,

I checked in with both our support as well as eCommerce engineering teams here and it doesn't look like we're seeing any widespread issues - however it was noted that it's possible that a generic error could be displaying here when there may be a legitimate reason the transaction declined (eg declined for some reason by the customer's bank, or the payment fields were not complete). So I can get a better understanding of each of your scenarios:

• Are you seeing this issue very frequently, or is it happening every now and again?
• How many customers are reporting it on average each week?
• Do you know which devices / web browsers are being used when the errors occurred?
• Have you checked with support to see if there are any corresponding declines on your Square account that correlate with the date/time/amount of the transactions your customers attempted?

Thank you!

[mhweft]

Hi Seamus,

I have provided an email to the help desk and have supplied a screen shot and am waiting on a reply but I can definitively say:

 - regularly, between 1pm and 3pm.  The exact times vary but its almost always in that window.

- how many customers?  I have reports of about 2 per day but that's only customers who then make the phone call. 

 - devices and browsers.  Iphone, Ipad, Android pad and Phone, Microsoft surface.  On the last try I then tried to help the customer process the sale on my surface, running chrome, all fully updated and I witnessed the fault.  The cart process - perfect, detail entry - perfect.  Press pay - nothing.  The button showed as being pushed and it sat there. Tried 3 times, 2 different cards.  Then tried with my iphone - exact same outcome.  I have had people report same problem (sometimes with a spinning blue wheel) on chrome, safari, edge.

 - yes.  they have no reports of the transaction or refusals.  With the above case where I processed the card, I processed the card on the square terminal 5 minutes later without issue.

[Licorice_]

I am also having this issue ( only identified with three different customers this week) in North Brisbane/ QLD. Is there any thing that we can do moving forward. I find that unless my clients are regular, they won't find alternative methods to contact me to place their weekly order. 

[Arie]

Hi @Licorice_,

Thanks for writing in to the community, I noticed it's your first post, welcome 👋 🙂

It might be worth giving our support team a call on 1800 760 137 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Melbourne time), to see if there are any declines on your Square account that match the transactions your customers reported. It would be helpful if you could find out which browser, and device they were using as well. 

Please let us know how you go!

[Licorice_]

I called the support team and for me, the reason my customers were unable to check out was due to additional security features that have recently rolled out. When they check out they are asked for their 'post code'. To be able to check out the post code needs to match the one where their debit card, credit card is registered to.

[mhweft]

@Licorice_ what is your cart conversion rate compared to your conversion rate?  My conversion rate is half the cart conversion rate which is a significant loss but would be explained by people not being able to check out.

@Seamus - can you offer the abandoned cart feature for a month to both of us so we can track when and where?  What does your data tell you about our cart abandonment, is it at the payment stage or is it prior?

[Seamus]

Thanks @mhweft, I was able to locate your support case and added this info the the ticket that support has filed. They should be able to continue to update you on the status of this - the intermittent nature can make issues like this difficult to identify, however the more reports we see the more we can learn about what might be happening.

@Stranger were you able to get in touch with support for any further assistance in your case at all? Are you still experiencing this issue at the moment?

[mhweft]

Hi @Seamus  - This problem has occurred big time last night.  I had one order at 20:26 last night and then nothing.  I have just had a customer arrive at the store and describe the same outcome as described by @Licorice_ and @Stranger but slightly different messages but ultimately - can't complete the transaction.

How many documented cases is it going to take before this is being investigated as a real problem?  If you would like me to gather more evidence, I will go out to our facebook and instagram community and get more data.

While these regular problems are occurring without a solution, are you able to organise a reduction in square charges?   

[Licorice_]

I hope this information also helps you as it helped me.

When checking out, the customer is asked for their postcode for security reasons. Ths postcode needs to be the same as their CC or DC. I called the help desk, and with this information was able to help two customers with errors process their order. It is a new security feature that has recently been rolled out to decrease the chances of fraud activity on someone's card. Hope this helps.

[mhweft]

It could very well contribute.  I will try a facebook etc story to highlight this as an issue to people.  I don't feel its everything, but my be part of the issue.  Cheers and thanks