ipad app for tabs

hey all,

its a new year & i'm ready to change up a few things at our shop starting with not giving credit card companies so much money.

i know a lot of shops are using square register and that is what we are moving to. the issue is prepaid accounts and tabs. i'm currently on coffee shop manager so i've been able to receive payments and set up accounts in lieu of gift cards. it's been great. we have over 500 customers set up this way.

i really don't want to go to a paper file system but i also don't want to lose the ability to serve our customers in this way. we also will hold open tabs on the rare occasion for regulars.

have any of you had this problem and how did you fix it?

patrick

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Permalink Reply by Rob Morrisey on January 17, 2013 at 8:17pm
Wow I did not realize Starbucks was using them.

I'll admit that I haven't read the small print yet and don't know much about them. I keep trying to find the "to good to be true" issue. I thought the complaints from these individuals was it. But after reading what you posted I realize that all of them complained about large transactions over $2000. This protection service makes sense though. It seems Square is better for small sales businesses. I'll keep looking into it. We're a small company, but last month I spent close to $700 in service fees. I could have saved over $400! I'm looking very forward to using them and hope I don't find a catch.
Permalink Reply by Rob Morrisey on January 17, 2013 at 9:00pm
One thing that I'm noticing is that in this thread and another, everyone is mentioning percentages. Not sure how new this Square feature is, but they mention on their site a flat $275 per month fee. Again I haven't read the small print yet but how can they do this?!
Permalink Reply by Dan Gorder on January 18, 2013 at 4:20am
I've been using the $275/month option for about six months...love it, and when people are concerned about paying with a card for a $2 coffee, I tell them no worries!

I suggest you just try it. You can go to office max or target and pick up a card reader for $10 (which they reimburse you for) and download the app to a phone or tablet and you can literally be up and running in ten minutes. Run a handful of transactions and go from there.
Permalink Reply by Rob Morrisey on January 18, 2013 at 9:29am

Thanks Dan for all your input. I'm going to do just that!

Permalink Reply by Southeast Grind on April 26, 2013 at 12:36pm

The $275 flat rate only works up to about $21,000 is sales per month. If you go over that amount, square just switches to charging you the 2.75%. It's really fair. I've been using square since September 2012 and love it. 

Permalink Reply by sean garcia on April 26, 2013 at 1:01pm

i've never had money held back in two years.   i get a deposit every evening monday thru friday.   it's seriously great!

Rob Morrisey said:

I found this link in PC Mag. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380586,00.asp They gave it a great review. However, if you continue reading to the bottom of the page where they have the reader comments, it becomes quite negative! It seems they're holding back a majority of the charges for 30 days and in some cases not giving money back at all. No customer service and BBB getting many complaints. Any of this sound familiar to you guys?
Permalink Reply by Erin on April 27, 2013 at 8:14am
We are using a new app called "Tab Here". It has worked pretty well for us. It is also a rewards program so we don't do have to mess with Belly/punch cards. Everything is online so customers can check their tab and get emailed notifications when their tab is low. We know the guys who designed it and they are really helpful with any issues, especially since this is a new business for them. You can email arthur@tabhere.com if you want to learn more.
Permalink Reply by Janice on July 24, 2013 at 9:30am

We've been using Square for almost a year - love it! For gift cards, we just use a third party gift card processor (Mercury) and ring them up with a separate card swipe. We'll just ring all our GC sales through square as cash to keep track of things. Works pretty well. Still haven't figured out a good option for open tabs - right now, we just hold the credit card and write orders down on paper as we go, and then ring it all up at the end. Its been working fine.

On processing, we've been paying in the ballpark of around 1.8% total on all processing with the monthly plan ($275 for the first $20K and 2.75% after that). Best part - no hidden fees or charges. I can't even tell you how awesome I think Square is. There are also some great iPad cases that are made to work in a retail environment with Square - we use the Freeform stand and its been phenomenal. It allows the customer to interact a little bit and tips have gone up substantially for the baristas, and the wood design fits the feel of our shop (not one of those crappy plastic ones). Check it out: http://freeformwoodworks.com/

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