Square Appointments Update: Automated Contracts

[RMConsultingLLC]

Let me start by saying I love Square and I spend a lot of time defending the fees associated with this service but I finally have a frustration to voice.

With the new appointments levels you added the automated contract to the premium level.

As a consultant for the spa industry who has converted approximately 80 solo practitioners back to Square from your competitors in the last 60 days I’m frustrated to see the contract feature added to the premium level. And it’s causing me HUGE pushback from my clients who I sold on converting because of the lower costs of overhead.

As solo practitioners we have a high need to protect our income so I have the created a contract that includes a CCA with spa policies to auto send to every appointment to ensure we have proof that clients acknowledge spa policies. Which you require to defend chargeback requests.

That single feature now costs $40/month. As solo practitioners we don’t need the teams features and I have justified and quantified the $29/month for no-show protection but $69 for access to one of the most important pieces that YOU require to protect our income is a bit excessive seeing as the other features in that subscription level are centered around teams/employee tools which do not apply to solo business owner/operators.

Is there any possibility for Square to reconsider adding the contract feature to the professional level? $40 plus marketing, plus SMS, plus plus plus actually borderlines on making you less of a benefit than your competitors in the spa industry and one of the greatest selling points for square has been up until these recent changes to appointments levels the easiest way to convert my clients while safeguarding revenue during a pandemic. 

The spa industry did not receive any of the cost cutting benefits that the restaurant  industry did but we took a bigger hit as we were forced to actually close and many are still facing closures. This change feels like a huge hit as it compounds with record breaking supply increases.

I would greatly urge Square to reconsider adding the contract feature to the professional level instead of the premium level. As I truly believe this is going to cause both my Business and yours to take a great loss. 

thank you for your consideration.

[Kiss_MakeupNow]

As the creator of The Secret of Estheticians a group of over 42K beauty professionals as well as a solo esthetician who just invested in converting to Square from Vagaro to use this feature I am too upset by this change. I watch comments in my group regularly about Square pricing and have been referring everyone to @RMConsultingLLC but to pay $40 for a feature that help YOU protect my income against fraudulent chargeback requests seems predatory. All the other features in the premium level are related to Teams and multiple locations. So they are useless to solo practitioners who are trying to protect their income. Please consider moving the contracts feature to the professional level.

[RMConsultingLLC]

Your group is a great resource for spa professionals and where I answer 100’s of questions about square per week. Thank you for sharing your feedback on my thread!

[BeauSucre]

I have to agree with @RMConsultingLLC , who assisted in migrating my business from another platform to Square. Paying $40/Month for a service that has been bundled into the teams and multiple locations options seems unfair to the solo practitioners you have converted because of being affordable and focused on respecting the solo practitioner. I have no issues paying for the features I need to run my business. Still, I do not have staff members or multiple locations. I selected the plus level upon your announcement, which means I'll start paying for this service on February 20th even though your website says it's not fully implemented until March. I didn't care and agreed to pay early because I appreciate the time saved, but now my contracts are not sending because you updated it further to remove access to contracts. Please reconsider this decision and allow solo practitioners to use the contracts feature to provide you with the required information to keep our Square Secure profile settings accurate and verifiable.

[RMConsultingLLC]

Thank you for taking the time to support this request. You have been doing great since converting to square and I know how important the contracts feature is for your business.

[RMConsultingLLC]

@dshen  I would highly suggest reaching out to @BeauSucre 

[BeauSucre]

@dshen 

Hello Deanna,

Richard is great support for my business and manages my square and all the recent onslaught of upgrades. I can tell you that I would like the contracts feature, Square Online Forms, and Customer Profiles to have matching character lengths. 

Example: This is my initial intake form. I would like to add this to my contracts but the input fields are not long enough.

Also, when someone completes this form I can export it and upload it to their customer profile except the character limitation is set to 100 for profiles making it super time consuming because I have to export the form submissions and then edit the headers to make them under 100 characters and for some of them that is not even possible. 

I do see the contracts are now attached to client profiles so making the contract input form characters long enough that I can replace this online form with one step for my clients would make everything smoother.

https://www.beausucre.com/client-information-and-consent-waxing

Also, It would be nice if appointments were automatically approved after the contract with the waivers was completed. Vagaro requires waivers before the client can even book their appointment and I find I spend a lot of time begging clients to complete their contract and intake form and have to cancel many of my appointments because they do not complete the intake forms and my insurance will not protect me without them.

As I think of more I would be happy to share.

[RMConsultingLLC]

@dshen This is a HUGE request that would help SOOOOO Many. thank you for detailing this request with examples.

The question character counts should be much longer, especially for waiver needs.

[NakedAlchemy]

I’m definitely looking into other programs now. As a solo esthetician this is steep for me. 

[RMConsultingLLC]

As a Consultant for solo spa professionals I do research regularly on the other platforms and still believe Square is the best solution. 

I just really believe this was an oversight on squares behalf not realizing that the feature is required to remain a compliant financial practice and the other features in the top tier are not needed for solo owner/operators creating an unnecessary financial impact to maintain the contract feature.

I’m hopeful that with us speaking up in the community they reconsider and add it back to the Plus level.

[CateC]

I did my research thoroughly before opening my business and choosing Square for Booking and Processing. I hate that as a solo esthetician I can not justify paying for the highest tier and will now be looking at other companies again. 6 years later.

[RMConsultingLLC]

@CateC you do not need the top tier as a solo practitioner. That is the point of my post. If square would move the contracts (even if a limited version of contracts) back to the middle tier that contains no-show protection. The problem is resolved. But if you are concerned about the subscription fees in general I'm happy to assist you created a solution that allows you to continue using square. I do believe even with the changes square is still the most affordable all-inclusive option for spa professionals. My thread was not intended to have you reconsider square but rather provide a conversation to voice how the removal of contracts from the tier for solo business owners is a hindrance. I would be happy to schedule a free call with you to help you find the solution that helps you keep square and the features you love. (They have done some amazing updates that have improved functionality... so the fees are actually quite generous based on my research)

[Shimmer]

I 100% agree with @RMConsultingLLC on this. I am a business coach for solopreneurs. Not just in the beauty industry (although those are the majority of my clients), but all service based industries. Square is 100% what i recommend for my clients so they aren't bubble gum & duct taping 10 different apps together. But honestly, price is a factor when we are talking about micro businesses. This new structure is not micro business friendly. Please take in to consideration the changes proposed by @RMConsultingLLC .

[RoxyMcGhee]

I agree. I have been loyal to Square for CC processing since my first day in business and I’ve always been very satisfied with their service. I am fine with paying for no show protection, but this has me exploring other options

[Kristen3]

I agree I’m already in happy with the changes as it is the whole reason I used square was all the amazing features I got for free and the two main ones I really use are not in the $40 category. I’m not happy at all and might be changing platforms now.

[EstyGirl0023]

@RMConsultingLLChas just brought me to Square from one of your competitors by showing how Square will help protect my income and help me run my very small business better. I have to say @RMConsulting must work harder for you than your best sales person, because he is working hard for the members of the spa industry to help us succeed. Please reconsider this latest change in your pricing. Running our small businesses is already hard enough.  

[SummerRayne]

This is very disheartening and frustrating! 

[RMConsultingLLC]

@SummerRayne thank you for sharing your frustration. Other than the contracts feature moving to the teams level subscription are there any other items adding to your frustration. I do still believe Square is the best tool for solo spa professionals as well as the large spas. But, I would love to support you if there is any way to do so.

[BethanyBB]

I agree with the RMConsultingLLC. I am a solo practitioner and am now losing 2 important  things that I use because of the tiers… I cannot justify paying the higher price for just those two things. Plus since I already pay for marketing, the cost of the third tier on top of that is just too cost prohibitive for me… please reconsider your decision on the contracts issue. 

[RMConsultingLLC]

Thank you Bethany, for taking a moment out of your busy schedule to share your feedback. As you know I’m constantly defending Square pricing structures. I’m hopeful this was an oversight they are willing to revise. I appreciate you!

[RMConsultingLLC]

@dshen  ^^^