Split Check by Seat Number - Restaurant POS

[makedonas]

Servers need a button for splitting checks by seat number. Proper serving etiquette, especially for larger tables, is to place each guest on a seat number and place each guests order under that number.
When the server finds out that the whole table isn't all on one check, they can then press Split by Seat number and they will be taken to the split check screen and all the items would be grouped under each Seat Numbered Check. 
At this point, there would be 2 options: 

1. All the checks are ready to be printed by seat number. Here we would use the Print All Checks. 
2. The server would group items from certain seats together and then Print All Checks. 

here is an example:

1. A group of 6 guests. Each guest is numbered Seat 1 through 6. The server enters each guests drinks and food, under each designated seat through out their visit. 
Lets say that this table has 3 couples. The couples are not sitting next to each other. Girls grouped together. Guys grouped together. 
Each couple wants to pay their tab separately.
At this point, the server would then click on the Split by Seat number button and would be presented with 6 separate checks on the Restaurant Pos, with all the items ordered from each guest. 
the server would be able to easily group each couples ordered items and then Print All Checks. Done. 

Imagine if each person wanted a separate check. Or if it was a group of 10 or more. 
This would be a life saver for servers that are properly taking orders based of seat numbers. 
Servers that take orders by seat numbers also help contribute to better reports for guest counts. Average Sales per guest etc

[#2]

Thanks for the loop in, @AndySQ.

Hey @Jtay, I want to thank you for your honestly. The item splitting feature has been a long-standing feature request from sellers such as yourself, and I empathise with the frustration of its absence while being commonplace on other platforms. I can also see why not being able to organise seats within a bill would disrupt your day-to-day operations and your staff. 

Item splitting is firmly on our roadmap, and our team is actively working towards implementing it. Unfortunately, we don't have a specific timeline for its release at the moment, but we will be sure to be in touch whenever this feature can be tested or released on the Square for Restaurants platform. 

I have shared your feedback with our product teams in the meantime. Feedback like yours above helps us determine how we can prioritise new features for Square's payment platform. 

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with. 

[#3]

Looping in @aporti and @k_atie, who are working on our Split by Seat Beta and may be able to give a better idea of when you'll have access to more options for splitting tickets by seat and handling larger groups with more complex needs.

While I don't think that split by seat on its own will hit all of the requests that have come up in this thread, it is a step in the right direction.

It may not always feel like it but threads like this do make a difference, and we recognize that it puts you and your staff in a difficult position when our software doesn't meet their expectations.

I'm sorry that it's taken this long to make progress, and that there's still more work to be done to tick all of these boxes, but thank you for your patience and for reiterating how important these features are for you and so many other businesses that use Square for Restaurants.

[#4]

@Jtay Thanks for pointing out these gaps in Square for Restaurants that you'd like to see filled, and for being so unequivocal.  These are relatively small changes that would make a big difference, especially for businesses like yours!

All of these updates are being worked on by our product team, and unvarnished points of view like these from real folks do inform how and when we release new options.  Part of my job here is to amplify and share input like this to the right ears. 👂

I don't blame you for being cynical, especially in a thread that's been open for this long - But I hope we'll have good news for yourself and the other folks that need more options for handling items and seat-linked tickets in the future.

[Jtay]

As it is, this is still a half baked POS system.

If you’d really like some insight into why this should be a big priority for square. I suggest you go serve a table of 12 guests who all order food for the table individually along with wine, shots and oysters then during service they switch seats, add more guests and then finish their super fun happy evening by asking for separate bills but EXPECTING us to share items among them. In addition because people were moving seats, and others joining the group late inserting themselves into whatever part of the table they wanted. It all becomes a huge mess. So a table that comes in enjoys everything we do and offer cause this is hospitality and we’re good at our job is now **bleep**ed off at us because we cannot:

Move seats around to accommodate the fluidity of a big group mingling. For instance seat 1 moved to position 8. Perfect… a well executed POS allows us to move seat 1 bill to seat 8 this keeping it organized for everyone who may be cross serving that table. This happens all within the table so nothing is split off. We can leisurely move seats around like pieces on a game board. Nothing gets split off, simply stays on the table check

i don't even want to get into how absolutely clunky square is with a linear seating arrangement that forces you to split everything into seperate checks which causes mountains of work when everyone orders something or want to stay after the split and you have to pick up every single check and ring it in individually 

Secondly as has been clearly stated everyone asks for the feature to split items so why is this not done yet? Sharing items in a restaurant setting is ESSENTIAL. When I tell tables I cant do that simple thing in our POS and we have to put things on seperate bills so they can share ( say food on one and drinks paid individually) that means everyone will need to do TWO payments!

I am embarrassed with these situations. People think we’re being difficult because no one can comprehend that it’s 2024 and our payment system doesn’t do this. 

@AndySQ showed me the flow chart. I know it’s there and January was the target date. I’ve been a huge supporter of square for 9 years but Im now telling everyone in the industry not to use it. I will not recommend this half finished restaurant POS to anyone until this is fixed. As we open our second location I will not be using it and will be replacing Square in my current space once I decide which of the other options fits better for us.

I don’t know why square is deaf to the real passionate users of this product but it’s really unfortunate. And that story about the party happened last night. You know how they left my establishment? They were **bleep**ed off upset and felt like we were being lazy by not splitting their bills up properly. They won’t be coming back and what sucks is we served them well. The pain point was payment. It’s the last thing people remember which is quite simply the most important.
When you have a $1000 dollar bill and your POS can’t do the work. That is all people remember… except in this case they think it’s us. 1 star

@aporti @k_atie 

please understand this is not an attack or personal. You all do godd work. But This is your system in the real world being used by people who care about it. If we aren’t heard then it’ll never improve in the way that it has too. Not today but yesterday 

[Dsandwr]

100%! 

Get this done Square! January? We've been asking this for YEARS! Please!

[Whittles]

YES this feature needs implemented immediately.

[Jtay]

They don’t understand. Shipping every other lame unimportant feature except this

we’re going to work with PosiTouch. Really sweet restaurant POS that actually works with restaurants. 

square sucks. They don’t care.

[k_atie]

Hey @Jtay, @Whittles, and @Dsandwr. I want to thank you all for sharing your candid thoughts with us. We genuinely appreciate your honesty and understand how critical it is for Square to address the challenges you've encountered, particularly regarding the split item feature.

@Jtay, you've articulated a scenario that underscores the complexity of real-world restaurant operations, and we acknowledge the importance of accommodating such fluid situations seamlessly. The example you provided highlights the necessity for a robust POS system that can adapt to the dynamic needs of a busy establishment, especially when it comes to handling large groups and splitting bills efficiently.

We acknowledge your frustrations, and we want to assure you that the implementation of the split item feature is a top priority for us. We apologize for the delay, but please rest assured that our team is diligently working to make this feature available to you as soon as possible.

Your feedback serves as a valuable reminder of the real-world impact of these limitations on businesses like yours. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and assure you that we are actively working to address these concerns.

Thank you all once again for your candid feedback. Your insights are invaluable as we strive to enhance the Square experience for all our users.

[makedonas]

Hearing us out and saying this is of outmost priority is great, but the other big issue is that without timeline updates everyone is going to assume that this is going to take forever and making a decision to stay with Square or even choose Square is going to be directly affected. 

PS. I have had this feature request in for over 2 years now. 
I’ve been with Square for 8 years.

[Dsandwr]

Sounds like an ai response