Text message consent issue

[JTPets]

I had a customer initiate contact with me in a text message in Square. I reponded to their question. They asked about a discount. I tried to reply, Square blocked further messages because I did not have their consent to message about offers.

This is idiotic as they initiated contact. Consent is implied, and they should receive a message as such upon initiating 

[ryanwanner]

@JTPets  Right there with you on this reasoning. I actually had one time where I got the Consent Needed alert in the middle of an active conversation. I know that there are government regulations in play here, but I don't understand why this is so locked down. As you said: they initiated contact: that should be enough for consent. 

[JTPets]

This ^^^ middle of a chat and then ended by Square - Way to prevent a sale! Good Job! Square!

[VanKalkerFarms]

Sometimes it really feels like Technology is fighting against us.

[ryanwanner]

@VanKalkerFarms It starts with text message consent fights. It ends with Arnold transporting back in time to kill his creator. 🙃

[VanKalkerFarms]

[SVLFever]

That comment wins the internet for today!   Congratulations @ryanwanner !

[SVLFever]

So I'm not sure what the laws are in Canada @JTPets , but in doing some research here in the US, here is the general summary;

Yes, when a customer texts a business to ask a question, this action implies consent to receive a reply via text message under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) because they initiated the conversation and granted implied consent for that specific, two-way discussion. This type of interaction is known as conversational messaging, and the consent applies only to the relevant topic of the initial inquiry.

Now, with that being said, it seems some US states have more strict laws, and I doubt that Square is tracking all those, so I guess they are probably defaulting to the most strict, which is probably "no, that does not imply consent" (which I would personally call b******t).

I do agree with you though, and think that if a customer initiates contact, they are giving you permission, otherwise, why would they ask you the question via text in the first place.  I also think that most states/municipalities DO ALLOW this conversational messaging, assuming you follow the rules accordingly.

@isabelle  I'm tagging you here to see if this is a topic that can be forwarded on to the powers to be at Square???

[JTPets]

I believe it is our obligation to ensure we follow the law, we are liable as the business for any SPAM - Thanks for the support!

[JTPets]

@isabelle I would argue that the consent should be confirmed before they initiate contact with us, with instructions on how to revoke later. This customer thinks I ghosted them because they asked about a price

[ryanwanner]

@JTPets  @isabelle See this makes the most sense to me. How I could see the flow working:

[Cust] Text a question to [merchant]

[Square] We are confirming you want to start a conversation with [merchant]. Is this correct?

[Cust] yes

Merchant receives message, responds as needed

After a long period of inactivity (or AI assist to look for words stating the end of the convo like Thanks!):

[Square] It looks like you've completed your conversation with [merchant]. Would you like to continue to receive messages from [merchant]? If no, you can always reach back out to [merchant] but they can not reach out to you. 

This way the consent is given for that specific query or they can opt in to receive other communications. 

[ChryssaJ]

This just happened to me today as well. The customer initiated the conversation, we responded, went back and forth for a bit. Itʻs time sensitive, as they want an appointment in an hour - not days from now. Then the customer asked about price and our reply got flagged for consent and completely halted the conversation. Absolutely frustrating for everyone involved, and from the customer's perspective (getting a "permission to talk" text in the middle of a conversation), our tech sucks. So we moved the convo over to a phone for text messaging from a different number (how confusing is that for the client?) just so that we can finalize the appointment and move on.

This process is broken and needs to be fixed. Itʻs obviously not marketing/spam because we are answering the clientʻs question, not sending them an offer out of the blue.

I will be looking for a different service soon if Square canʻt fix this.

[amelieauryoga]

Has this issue been resolved, or did Square support provide any help? I just happened to me today, and now I lost a client because of that idiotic consent request when I was simply answering their question for which they initiated communication. Beyond frustrating.

[JTPets]

Nope.

@Summer2024 any feedback from the team in charge of this?

[amelieauryoga]

I contacted them. Here's their response:

I was able to pull up your account and I understand your issue of the automatic message consent request sent by the system. Let me provide you more information related to this message, due to customer privacy regulations Square is required to have customer's consent to receive messages, even though is a simple question what it was been asked this message will remain due to legal purposes therefore we're not able to edit it, remove it or change it. I  know it can be disappointing when a feature you need isn’t doing what you need for you and your business, especially when it would simplify your day-to-day work. I truly appreciate you bringing this up—it helps us improve and prioritize what our customers care about most.

The Feedback team is constantly improving the product based on feedback like this, so I’ll be sure to share your thoughts with the team.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for updates in our Seller Community.

I know sometimes from business perspective some actions on the system makes no sense, at first sight they affect your sales, however at the end this specific option is to improve and assure our service to you. I completely understand how helpful would be for your workflow to be able to remove this message, I’m really sorry it’s not available right now. Your feedback helps us see what matters most to our users, and I’ll personally share this with our product team for consideration

[Vanilla]

Yes!! I totally agree 😩. I’ve noticed this happens even with my long-term clients whenever I use words like “sale” or “discount,” if they haven’t signed up for text marketing. The worst part is I can’t respond until they reply “Talk then Yes,” which feels excessive, two confirmations just to continue a conversation! I get that it’s required by law, but it would make so much more sense if consent was collected upfront to avoid mid-convo blocking. I’ve had to resort to emailing, texting from my personal phone, or even DM’ing clients just to get them to reply “Talk then Yes” so I can respond because sometimes they overlook it 🫠.