Trying to use Pre-Authorization: Won't Work

[Merandino24]

Hi, I have been a user with Square for almost a decade now.  I feel really confident in knowing the in's and outs of the POS system and the management dashboard. For the life of me, I can not get Square Pre-Authorization to work. I have updated my iPad to the most recent version. I followed all the directions (more>add ons>open tickets then go into settings and toggle on open tickets and no pre-authorization button or toggle appears like in the pictures). I checked my POS permissions, devices and team and can not get this to work. Any help - or - anyone else in this situation? 

I have messaged with and called square and sat on the phone for almost 2-3 hours twice now and they just keep telling me to do an update on my ios system or to delete and re-download the app and nothing seems to be working... 

Any help is greatly appreciated! 

[TheRealChipA]

Hey @Merandino24.  How crazy!  I thought that BarTabs/Pre-auth was still in beta and hadn’t been rolled out.  But I was able to find the live help article you referenced. And, when I followed its steps in the latest version of sPOS, I couldn’t make it work either.  I’m starting to think that someone posted that help article way too soon and jumped the gun.  I’ll get back to you ASAP.

[vinesandrushes]

Looks like the help doc is erroneously posted as Pre-Auth is currently still in active beta but seemingly getting close to launching.  I know they have a few major conflicts to be worked out but it's going to be a fantastic upgrade when it's out.

[TheRealChipA]

@Merandino24 

See @MichelleSQ’s reply to this thread. At this point, pre-auth/bar tabs is still in beta. In order to access the functionality you need to follow this link to join the beta, or wait for out to be released to everyone. 

[AndySQ]

Hi @Merandino24 Thanks for exhausting your options and reaching out here!  You currently use Square for Restaurants on one location (Gardner) and Square Point of Sale on another (Shawnee). 

To avoid a fragmented experience for businesses that use both Restaurants and Point of Sale (which have distinct Pre-Auth Beta tests and distinct limitations), the Pre-Auth option will not appear in SPOS unless you are manually removed from a holdout group. 

I can take this step on your account for Point of Sale, if you need access in that application.  Once I've removed you from the holdout group, you should see the Pre-Auth slider under Open Tickets where you've been checking.

For Restaurants Pre-Auth, it's a distinct Beta with a few bigger limitations (Square terminal, coursing, seating, auto-gratuity, offline mode are not yet supported).  It doesn't look like any of these would be a problem, based on your current setup at Gardner, but we do want to make sure that business owners know they won't have the same options between SPOS and Restaurants when using Pre-Auth.

Our support team isn't always aware of these distinctions, and I'm sorry that left you in a position where you had to waste time and didn't get a clear answer!