Consumer complaint received 2023-12-06
Company: Block, Inc.
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Fee problem

Complaint:
XXXX. I have a Square checking account and I made a donation to my Square checking account on XXXX XXXX, 2023 in the amount of XXXX dollars. 

XXXX. XXXX in Escalations Dept. refused to provide checking account information. " Would not be able to provide that information to you '' she said. 

XXXX. Square assessed a transaction fee in the amount {$46.00} to the Square checking account on XXXX XXXX, 2023 in connection with the above-referenced transaction. 

XXXX. The donation was made at XXXX XXXX. ( All times XXXX ). 

XXXX. I did not receive an email notification of the donation to XXXX. 

XXXX. Despite the donation having been made, and despite Square advertising instant access to funds, I did not see the funds showing in my balance right away, nor for the next approximately XXXX minutes. 

XXXX. Later I learned that even though the funds were placed into my Square account balance, because of a hold placed by Square of which they did not inform me ( please see below ), I could not see the funds reflected in my balance showing on the App nor were the funds available for transfer. Please see screenshot. 

XXXX. I have been aware of news reports and emails from Square both reporting that in recent months there have been Square outages affecting the ability to process payments or make transfers. Therefore, I thought there was probably an outage and that the outage was the cause of the funds not showing as available to me. 

XXXX. I issued a full refund using the Square App, initiated at XXXX XXXX. according to XXXX, created at XXXX, and then effective at XXXX XXXX 

XXXX. I received an email confirmation from Square to XXXX regarding this refund. Please see attached. 

XXXX. No automated email was generated to the customer at that time ; however, XXXX at Square composed and sent an email confirming the refund is in process. 

XXXX. The refund of {$1500.00} to the customer is still currently pending. 

XXXX. On yesterday, XXXX XXXX, I attempted to reach Square through the App but they were closed. 

XXXX. On today, XXXX XXXX, I called and spoke first with XXXX and then XXXX in Escalations. 

XXXX. According to XXXX, Square Customer Service, with whom on XXXX XXXX, 2023 the account was placed " Under Review '' at XXXX XXXX 

XXXX. According to XXXX, XXXX can not confirm when the account was placed Under Review. XXXX said she can only confirm when the transaction was refunded, when the review was removed, and when the email was sent. 

XXXX. XXXX and XXXX both confirmed that I did not have instant access to the funds as the merchant from the donation because of the Review. 

XXXX. XXXX also confirmed " If your account was Under Review, the funds would not be in your balance and would not be available until review was complete. '' They would technically be in my balance but they would be in a " held '' status, XXXX. According to XXXX in the Escalations Dept., Square removed the Review, at XXXX XXXX. That is when Review was removed according to XXXX , and the following email was sent ( please see below regarding non-informative nature of email 's content ). 

XXXX. Square sent an email at XXXX XXXX to the email account XXXX as follows : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, Thank you for using Square. We noticed you process online payments with Square. Due to the higher risk of these types of payments wed like to share some best practices with you : Match billing and shipping zip codes. If you are shipping an item, check whether the billing and shipping zip codes match. If they dont match, reach out to your customer for verification. Their answer should make practical sense. If it doesnt, refund the payment. 
Be cautious of requests for immediate or expedited shipping. Additionally you can check to see if the shipping address is a private address. Mail drop locations such as XXXX stores, and freight forwarders, are commonly associated with fraud and as a result, we do not recommend shipping to them. 
Regularly monitor declined cards. Declined cards can be a sign that someone is trying to pay using stolen credit card information. If you notice an order with mismatched billing and shipping information, review possible attempts to use multiple cards by logging into your Dashboard, selecting the Sales tab, then the Transaction Status tab on the left. If you notice a customer attempted to pay with multiple cards within a short time frame, refund the successful payment. 
For more information on best practices for e-commerce payments, please visit Best Practices. 
Please keep in mind that you are responsible for any disputes or fraudulent payments taken on your account. 
If you have any questions, or suspect you may have a suspicious buyer, please reply to this email. 
Sincerely, Square Account Services Square Secure is here to help protect you so you can focus on running your business. Click here to find out more. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. The email sent at XXXX XXXX. failed to state that the account was Under Review, failed to state that funds were being held, and did not state that documentation was being requested by Square. Was just " advice that we recommend when taking payments '' according to XXXX in Square Escalations Dept., confirming that the email did not state the account was " Under Review ''. XXXX described this email as " a Risk Manager notification ''. 

XXXX. At no time did I receive any email saying my account had been placed Under Review, nor that the Review had been lifted. 

XXXX. In my conversation today, it was revealed to me by XXXX about the Review that apparently occurred on XXXX XXXX, XXXX 

XXXX. I also asked about XXXX debits on my account for which I also did not receive any explanation by email, phone, text message, mail, or any other means. There had been an unexplained " Adjustment '' on my XXXX acct. on XXXX XXXX, XXXX for {$6.00} that just said " Adjustment '' and for which I received no communcation. And there had been an unexplained debit from my linked checking account ending in XXXX for {$40.00} about which I received a notification by email that did not actually explain why that amount was being debited. 

XXXX. It was later revealed to me that the {$6.00} and {$40.00} added up to the total transaction fee ( stated above ) of {$46.00}. 

XXXX. I requested in all fairness and reasonableness a refund of the {$46.00} given the fact that ( a ) I had intended to pay for a service that was instant access to funds from a donor ; ( b ) I did not receive instant access to said funds ; ( c ) I had every reason to believe there was a system malfunction ; ( d ) I was not notified at the time of any " Review '' ; and ( e ) therefore, I did not receive the service for which I paid. 

XXXX. XXXX and XXXX both refused to issue said refund for the transaction fee that I requested. 

XXXX. I indicated I would file this complaint and arbitration regarding the transaction fee. 

XXXX. XXXX provided me emails confirming the refund of the {$1500.00} donation ; however, the refund has not been received by the customer to date. XXXX indicated it could take two to seven business days. 

XXXX. XXXX said she knew of no specific issue that would prevent the refund after I noted that ( XXXX ) the Review was completed two days ago ; and ( XXXX ) the transaction fee has been fully funded with the XXXX debits noted above. 

XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation