Why can't I view notes and custom fields information via the API?

[CotillionGarden]

[The title of this thread has been edited from the original: I cannot get notes through the API]

Good evening Square Community Professionals.  We are in the process of writing a reservation engine for our RV Park which will complement our Square POS system.

We are leaving all customer data on the Square servers, and would like to use the Customer API to get all of a customers information.  This includes notes.  However, when I take a look at a customer that HAS notes, I am not seeing them.  What I am seeing in the notes field, is data that was previously known as a memo.

Where are all of the customers notes that we have been taking for the past several years.  We have been logging all of a customers reservations with us, conversations that we have other the phone with them, and any cancellations.  These notes are all available to view when we log in to the Square Dashboard, but not via the API.

What in the world am I missing?  Your expertise would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Martin

[isabelle]

Hey @CotillionGarden-

Thanks for posting in the Seller Community.

It sounds like you're wanting to retrieve the custom fields from the customer profile. These are unfortunately not retrievable at this time with our APIs. Sorry about that! 

I went ahead and escalated this as a feature request to our API Product Team. Thanks for surfacing this. 

[CotillionGarden]

This is quite distressing to hear, so I would very MUCH appreciate some clarification ...

In your reply you called the Notes section of a customer profile a "custom field".  Is this correct?

As an example (and it doesn't matter if we are talking about the Square POS app or your online Dashboard via www.squareup.com) ... I can log in to your Dashboard, click on the Customers button on the left sidebar, search and select any one of my thousands of customers, and in the sidebar that appears on the right is all of that customers information.  If I scroll through the customers information, one of the boxed areas THAT YOU PROVIDE is called Notes, with a link named "Add Note".

To me it seems unfathomable, that Squares online dashboard and POS app would offer their customers the ability to enter notes and not be able to retrieve them via the API.  Why would you even have a section in the customers profile that you can't retrieve?  

We have been doing so for YEARS, and now that we are trying to create a reservation system which EXCLUSIVELY partners with you as the credit card gateway, and market it to all RV Parks through the US, we now find out that 3+ years worth of note taking is all for not.

Is my understanding of what you said correct?  And if so, is Square willing to loose a customer that pulls in well over a half million a year in credit card receipts?

[isabelle]

Hey @CotillionGarden-

Thanks so much for your quick reply. So sorry for the confusion. I reached out to an API specialist regarding your post, and it appears I didn't provide enough initial explanation as to what you're asking. Again, apologies. 

The Customers API does return the note field when calling either ListCustomers or RetrieveCustomers. Are you seeing a customer with a note that isn't being returned by the API?

[CotillionGarden]

I appreciate you replying so promptly to my posts.

As I mentioned in my original question, when I use the API to view the Notes, I am not seeing any of the notes that we have entered since you drastically changed the API.

Let me try my hand at writing a more in-depth explanation.  More than a year ago, Square didn't have Notes, but rather Memos.  On or around 05-05-2018 Square performed some sort of a merge, and Memos were done away with and Notes were born.

Now, when I view a customer from your online Dashboard, those memos appear in the top Personal Information box under grey colored text called "Other".  When I use the following ...

$cust = $api->retrieveCustomer(' TheCustomersID ')->getCustomer()

What I get back in the raw data shows the following entry ... [note:protected] ... But what I'm finding in there is the old Memos which are now listed as "Other".  This is not what I expect to see.  Am I doing something wrong.  This catastrophe needs to be resolved.

[JustinC]

Sup @CotillionGarden! Stepping in for Isabelle 🙂

Our API Team would like to work with you directly so they can help out. Here is the portal to funnel your questions to them. Keep watch over your inbox when they email you back.