USB Cash Drawer opens after slight delay

[sammyg]

The title of this thread has been edited by a Square Moderator from the original: "USB Cash Drawer opens with a 4-5 second delay all of a sudden??"

As of yesterday, for some reason, there is a delay opening the drawer by 4-5 seconds after cash transactions. There must have been a new update that pushed this new behavior through (there's also a new alert that says "transaction recorded.").

4-5 seconds doesn't sound like a lot, but this is majorly slowing us down. We crush through cash orders in a rush. Can we please go back to the old behavior where you hit the cash button and BAM the drawer opens right up?

Hitting "open drawer" still happens immediately. It's only when you input a cash transaction that there's a 4-5 second delay.

[#2]

Hello,

I finally do have an update for you guys. Our team is issuing a fix, 6.31 and that should be available on 12/15/23. If for some reason anything changes with the release date we will make sure to let you guys know. I know this is not ideal with the holiday season coming up and apologize for the huge inconvenience.  I cannot thank you guys enough for your tenacity and continued patience while we address this. 🙏

[mandyflagg]

I am also having this problem, as well as my orders not transferring to the KDS system.....

[abcoffeecake]

Also having the same issue!

[MayaP]

Hey there @sammyg I appreciate you reaching out and bringing this to our attention. I do understand any delay can slow down your workflow. What Square device are you using the drawer with? Also, confirm the brand and model of the USB cash drawer. Which version is your Square app on right now? 

[sammyg]

We are using a Square Register and the USB drawer is this one : https://squareup.com/shop/hardware/us/en/products/cash-drawer-16-inch

Our Square Register is fully up to date.

[_Violet]

Hi all, Violet here, following up for @MayaP. It looks like you still need help with the cash drawer delay issue, so I kept the ball rolling on your inquiry.
 

In order to get started on your case, our engineering team will need to take a closer look at your specific device. The quickest way for them to do that is to look at your device’s diagnostic report. Diagnostic reports contain essential logs that will help us diagnose and resolve issues faster.
 

We will need you to submit a diagnostic report immediately after opening the cash drawer so we can assist you further.

To submit a diagnostic report from your Square Register:

1. From the navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, tap More > Support.
2. Under Troubleshooting, tap Send Diagnostic Report.
3. Once you tap Send Diagnostic Report, you can leave the screen and continue using your Square Register normally while the report is sent in the background.

Note: Diagnostic reports can take 2-7 minutes to upload—please ensure you have a strong internet connection and your device is powered on during this time.
 

Please let me know once you’ve sent the diagnostic report so I can notify our engineers.

I'll keep an eye out for your reply 👀 Thank you! (cc: @sammyg @mandyflagg @abcoffeecake)

[sammyg]

Just sent the report!

[_Violet]

Thank you for doing that, @sammyg and @mandyflagg! I've just let our engineers know that you sent over the diagnostic reports.

I will be sure to come back to this thread with any updates as I receive them 👍

[_Violet]

Hi there again, @sammyg and @mandyflagg 👋

Our engineers took a look at the diagnostic reports you sent over. Here's what they let me know, "It seems like the cash drawer is either losing connection pretty often ranging from every 5-10min or is purposely being disconnected. There is nothing in the logs attached when searching for “Cash Drawer”. We haven’t made any recent changes that affect cash drawers so it seems like this is more likely to be a hardware issue rather than a software issue."
 

If you haven't already, I suggest going through the troubleshooting steps for your Square Register listed here. If this doesn't improve things, please reach out to Support directly by logging into your Square account and heading here for further assistance.

I hope this helps!

[sammyg]

Hi Violet!

I appreciate you checking with engineering, BUT I do believe they are missing a change that went through a week or so ago. There is new behavior with the cash transactions besides the delay. There are two new messages that pop-up after you hit a cash transaction and the drawer does not pop open until both messages go through (see attached). Can you loop back through with them and check on these new message screens? These are the ones that are holding up popping the drawer out and this is brand new behavior.

[sammyg]

Hi! Wanted to check back on this. Did engineering have anything to say about the new messages and them causing the delay?

[_Violet]

Hi there, @sammyg - Thanks for following up on this!

I know it has been a few days since my last update here but I promise that I haven't forgotten about you. I've been working with an engineer on this but based on the info you provided in your last reply, we had to loop in another team.

I'm keeping an eye on the support ticket we created for this issue and I'll let you know once I hear back from them. Thank you for your patience in the meantime! 🙏

[sammyg]

Fantastic! Glad you're looking into this! Hopefully it fixes the delay.

[sammyg]

Hi Violet!

Has there been any update to this?

[_Violet]

Hi @sammyg - I'm still trying to push our engineering team to look further into this 😓 We've had a couple more Sellers report this issue as well since I started on this so I'm hoping that adds more validity to the issue.

Thanks again for your patience 🙏

[sammyg]

Thanks for the update. Yeah, it's a real drag on service and (in theory) it seems like an easy fix as it wasn't doing it before lol. Appreciate you staying on it.

[_Violet]

Hi all - Thank you so much for your patience here 🙏@sammyg @mandyflagg @abcoffeecake @mainscoop4321 @Hideawaysc 

I received an update from our Engineering Team. Here's what they let me know:

“We must wait for the payment to be recorded and approved before we can open the cash drawer. We want the sale to be fully validated before we give the customer their receipt and change. So, unfortunately, there isn't a way to make the cash drawer open sooner in this case. Approving the payment takes a couple seconds because we need to talk to the server, which can take a variable amount of time depending on network conditions. When it moves to the final screen where it says “No change out of $ amount“ is where we actually send the commands to print the receipt and open the cash drawer.”

All this to say yes, this is a new and updated change to the cash payment workflow so this is expected behavior. However, this cannot be changed or edited.

I apologize for all the back and forth here but now we have a final answer. I hope this information is helpful but please do let me know if you have any additional questions.

[abcoffeecake]

Violet, I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, “This is unacceptable! Please fix it!” We are running on 5G and the technical equipment is right next to our register. It worked fine until late July. This 3-4 second delay may seem minor if you are not the one uncomfortably looking at the customer as you wait to complete the sale as he waits for change. We’ve even started opening the drawer with the key immediately upon recording the sale; and I can have the change completely counted back to the customer before the drawer makes the opening clicking sound.  Please, please fix this issue!  The “approval of the sale” language is flawed. When customers pay with card, the sale registers instantaneously and many customers are surprised at the fast rate of approval/completion of sale. 
Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Betsy

[JasonApp]

I am considering throwing this pos in the trash.. maybe the people writing the programing should have to actually use it in the real world.. SLOW! Used to be so fast!

[MikesCountry]

I agree with you.  

[MikesCountry]

I agree please fix this issue.  I am so happy to finally find this thread.  I have called Square multiple times and keep being told it is my internet provider causing this delay because my internet isn't fast enough.  I have been told they have no clue of this issue with anyone else.  At least now I know it isn't the case.  This has caused issues with the way we are preforming business with our customers.  Very frustrating.