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.

[RMConsultingLLC]

Thank you for replying @_Violet I agree with @BeauSucre that the value is higher for solo spa practitioners who are with clients when appointment requests come in. 

I would add something I hear a lot is that Vagaro requires waivers at the time of booking before they can even request the appointment. Since spa users are really using contracts currently to get an agreement to spa policies (soon to include editable fields.) It would be nice to be able to add waivers like the Cancellation Policy one.

[KBSkincare]

I am new to square opening next week and anticipated using the contracts feature. By moving it to the top tier I am no longer able to access this feature which is vital in the early stages of my business to set strong boundaries with my clients and set my spa policies. Please consider moving the contracts feature back to automatically send with appointment requests so I may collect my CCA and Signes Spa Policies. Thank you.

[LGathen412]

100% agree! Those starting out and solo practitioners, like myself, rely on these services to run a professional business and asking us to pay these increased prices for options that have be available for free is frustrating. 

[ReginaRMT]

Hi, I feel that there are options to all the contracts you want for free. You just need to ad one of the marketplace apps to your overall processes. like Jotforms or go canvas. There is also one other option to do this through having a google account. You can set up auto replies to send out contracts any time someone makes an appointment. You do need to have google workspace though, but with that you have access to 100's of automated programs. 

[RMConsultingLLC]

@ReginaRMT I am are not looking for free. As a matter of fact, I converted away from Google Forms, JotForms, and other integrations to keep all my operations synced for accurate KPI tracking. The issue mentioned here is that the Contracts feature was added to the Premium level of appointments which is really designed for multiple locations and teams. Solo Practitioners do not need those features but are now forced to pay for them to keep the contracts feature, which is required to compliantly maintain a CCA  to protect against fraudulent chargeback requests which are at an all-time high with COVID for spa professionals as clients attempt to mitigate the spa policies that cost us when they cancel last minute. The purpose of this thread is to have Square reconsider the contract's feature placement and ad it to the Plus level at $29 which also covers the No-Show Protection component. 

[ReginaRMT]

@RMConsultingLLC @Yes I understand what you are saying and I totally agree with you. I was just giving a few options if others had considered using square for its ease of use payment processing but need to integrate contracts for free. I was not trying to hijack the thread. Can I ask why you went away from google forms? I would love to have a one stop sign and use product as well. 

[BeauSucre]

Google forms is not a compliant way to store credit card information like collected on the contract in conjunction without cancellation policy authorized collecting fees. Square has to verify that the customer did not receive a treatment or inform the client of cancellation policies to protect us from fraudulent chargeback requests. Having my payment processor have direct access to that data under compliant measures ensures EVERYONE is protected to make the money we are earning.

[EstyGirl0023]

@REGINARMT, the whole point of my leaving another system for Square was to streamline my entire system and not have to cobble together bits and pieces of different systems (free or not).  I came onboard with Square with the idea I would have the contracts at a certain price point and as soon as I convert to Square, the option I need is at a higher price point along with other features I do not need.  I am not expecting to receive features I am not willing to pay for, however, I am a solo practitioner. It is  foolish to pay for features I cannot use and wonder if Square might reconsider this change.

[Manifest_beauty]

Is there any way you could help me set this up? I have been using square for almost a year, and it'd be great to have it automatically sent out when someone books?

[RMConsultingLLC]

I help spa professionals set up their square accounts. The first call is always free. You can schedule your appointment by visiting: https://www.richardmerrillconsulting.com/s/appointments

Richard Merrill, CEO (He/Him)

Richard Merrill Consulting, LLC

Spokane, WA, USA

Super Seller: I help others.

Beta Tester: I question everything.

Happy Selling!

[ReginaRMT]

@Manifest_beauty  I believe if you are using even the lowest cost version of appointments you can set up auto contracts from the home screen.  On the right hand side there should be a contracts section. scroll through that and choose or make your own to send out as needed or auto attach to all new bookings. But you need to be on appointments home page and have a subscription to appointments for this to work.

[dshen · Accepted solution]

Hi @RMConsultingLLC and team !

Thank you so much for all the feedback and discussion around the value and impact of Automated Contracts for your business. We’ve spoken with a few of you about this feature, your Square Appointments experience, and how important it is to have access to contract sends to protect your business.

Because of this, we’re excited to announce that this feature is now available in Square Appointments Free, which means you can access it with any Appointments subscription. You will be able to set business settings and attach your custom contracts with client bookings. More formal announcements will be shared at a later time, but you should be able to access this setting today. To learn more, check out this support article or let me know if you have any questions.

[RMConsultingLLC]

You all are the best!!! We all so appreciate you taking our feedback and always making this the best option to grow our business!

[withzinky]

Is there a way to add a custom contract to Square, or can we only create contracts using the Square app for contracts? The form I use for new clients is quite lengthy and it would be great to be able to send this via contracts, but the current template creator doesn't allow for such detail that I need to collect clients health history. Here's hoping there is a quick and easy solution for this?

[RMConsultingLLC]

The contracts feature has been updated to included data collection pieces such allowing it to be used for contract and intake form purposes, this feature is being rolled out in the dashboard and is not available in-app to my knowledge just yet. 

I’m happy to assist you in setting up your contract with a complimentary 60 minute call if you’re interested. Just visit my website in the link below and choose the Square Implementation call option. I will apply the discount at checkout.

Richard Merrill, CEO (He/Him)

Richard Merrill Consulting, LLC

Spokane, WA, USA

Super Seller: I help others.

Beta Tester: I question everything.

Happy Selling!