Reader Damaged

[noggin1]

I have 3 square readers. 2 are a couple of years old and one brand new and never used. All of them are saying "Reader damaged". I've tried a hard reset (long press until blinky red lights) and still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? Or just really unlucky? and what possible damage, my older readers have just been sitting in a drawer.

[Laurie_]

Hey there, @noggin1,

Thanks for flagging this with us and sorry to hear you're seeing this message when attempting to connect with your readers.

Generally, the 'Reader damaged' messaging indicates a major fault with the reader and there aren't any troubleshooting steps we're able to offer to resolve this. We'll be able to confirm the reader damage from our side when looking at your Square account.

I've had a quick look on my end and I can confirm that all three readers are showing as damaged. The Square Reader has an in-built mechanism designed to prevent people from tampering with these devices. If your reader is knocked around or dropped, this mechanism can be triggered. In rare cases, the mechanism can be triggered randomly, which sounds like the case here given your readers were stored safely in a drawer.

The good news here is that the two readers I can see listed on your Square account (serial numbers ending in 4457 and 0773) look to be eligible for a warranty replacement. According to your shipping history, they appear to have been purchased within the last 12 months. You can submit a warranty claim for replacement devices here. 

I cannot find the purchase information for the older reader, however. For this, see if you're able to submit a claim for this reader with the above steps. If the serial number is rejected (you can locate the serial number on the back of your Square Reader), you'll need to reach out to our Support Team directly and ask if they're able to issue a replacement reader. 

I've ensured you'll have access to phone support for the next 24 hours when calling in from the number listed on your Square account. You can reach the team at 1800 760 137 (Mon - Fri, 9 am - 5 pm Melbourne time).