Square advertising on our email/text receipts + online order confirmations

[250986]

Square took away the ability to customize online order confirmations (along with email/text receipts) and made it impossible for online order email confirmations (along with email/text receipts) to come from any address other than "[email protected]" and a "reply-to" address that's both not recognizable to the customer as coming from our business and looks like a super long spam thread (we know it's not, but we're sharing what our customers are telling us). And....if/when customers reply to their email confirmation (or receipt), the message can only go to the Square dashboard message center -- because Square took away our ability to use our own "from" address, we can no longer route customers' messages to the right staff person, etc. We have to log into Square, click through to the Square message center, see if any customers have replied to the silly receipts they're getting from Square that barely look like they're from our business at all, and then copy and paste messages in an email to the correct staff person who then has to log into Square to get the customer's contact info in order to email them back, etc. It's all a terribly outdated and backward system that Square is backpaddling into. While most online sales providers are offering more and more customization options so make online sales more efficient, Square is forcing its customers into super outdated limitations.

What's more, Square defaults to add their own advertising and language and links that make our customers think they have to sign up for square in order to contact our business, get status updates on their order, and more. Again, we're sharing what our customers are telling us after they see the new online order email confirmation (along with email/text receipts) that Square has implemented. 

You can remove their free advertising from your business' online order email confirmations (and email receipts/texts) that looks like screenshot below under Settings--> Payments--> Receipts (that's right, Square is doing a really good job of hiding this by not putting these options in the common sense places like "Communications" or "Notifications" etc.) 

But Square doesn't allow any of the links or wording they've added that make it seem like our customers have to sign up for Square in order to contact us and/or see their order status. 

p.s. the new online order email confirmations (and email/text receipts) are super narrow and looks ridiculous on desktop/laptop. We've also received complaints from our customers who are placing orders for their workplace...sharing receipts with their AR, etc. is tricky because of all the links at the bottom tied to Square and the receipts they used to be able to print on one page now take 2-3 pages because the skinny column is so long. Overall, super disappointed in Square's moves on all this...taking away email customization and our own "from" address and forcing one and only ridiculously designed email confirmation (and email/text receipt) on us is a huge step back. We're moving as many as possible of our online sales sites off Square. There are tons of providers that offer the basic, entry-level e-commerce services like our own "from" address and customizing online order confirmation emails and lots more.

[Summer2024]

Hi, @250986 ! 

Yeah, I've noticed this has been frustrating for a lot of sellers lately. I believe Square changed how email confirmations and receipts are sent to make them more secure and consistent, but that also meant taking away some customization options like using your own “from” address.

Totally fair point about how that impacts branding and customer communication. A lot of folks are asking for that flexibility back.

For now, you can at least remove Square’s marketing links under Settings → Payments → Receipts and then scroll down to "Show referral banner" and toggle that off.

But yeah, routing replies and managing communication through the Dashboard is definitely clunky. Hopefully, Square listens to feedback like yours and brings back better customization soon.

I hope this helps provide some clarity!

[250986]

Wow, you marked your own reply as the "best answer" and set it as the "solution." 

And you also merely copied into your reply exactly what was written in our post (re: "You can remove their free advertising from your business' online order email confirmations (and email receipts/texts) that looks like screenshot below under Settings--> Payments--> Receipts")

Hope you'll take the feedback that this doesn't give us much faith in Square at all. You mark your own reply as the "best answer" and just repeated what we wrote -- that's not responsible or honest, and it definitely comes across as though y'all aren't "listening to feedback like ours," as you write. You're a Square Community Moderator and actions and replies like yours don't seem like you are "listening to feedback" when you close posts as though they have a "solution" when actually there is no solution and you just repeated what we wrote.

[Summer2024]

@250986 - the post certainly isn't closed out. Choosing "best answer" just provides what the best information is currently. Right now, the best information is that some Sellers are frustrated with this and how to remove the referral from the receipts. 

Yes, I did repeat what you said in the context of yes this can be removed and this is how you do it, in case another seller is looking for the answer on how to remove this from their receipts. 

This thread is in the "Help" forum whereas Feedback can be posted here. 

We do pass feedback along like this on the backend and there are several Sellers that are community members ( @TheRealChipA , @ryanwanner , @JTPets ) that can vouch for me that I do advocate for you all. 

I'm sorry you felt frustrated by my response; I will be more clear when responding, as I could have directed you to the feedback hub in my first reply. 

[250986]

Thanks, Summer2024. We'll need to remember that the person who posts isn't actually the one who selects the "best answer" or the "solution." That puts a whole new meaning behind the green solution checkmark next to community posts. Hope you'll take this feedback and reconsider marking your own posts as solutions and best answers. We'd have a lot more faith in Square if this was selected by the person posing the issues. We get that you are trying to help, and we hope you'll take this feedback as we're trying to help you/Square understand what it's like from your customers' perspective. We'll try to find the time to post this feedback in the feedback section, too. 

[Summer2024]

I've unmarked my first response as the solution. 

[JTPets]

@250986 Summer is an amazing support rep. But she is only a rep. She cannot mandate the direction the people above her go. She will take our posts seriously and bring forward anything she can for escalation, but this is a giant ship and it moves very slow.

[JTPets]

Summer I will make an additional thread about this to highlight, but Square is also sending text alerts to my customers from generic numbers with no clear way for customers to know it is not our store line. I had a customer tell me for days they were calling trying to get ahold of me.

The line needs to answer and give a message about how it is a text line only and to contact business directly though alternative means.

[250986]

p.s. Square "support" told us that we're the only ones bringing these issues to their attention (which we find very difficult to believe)...that's the opposite of what you wrote: "Yeah, I've noticed this has been frustrating for a lot of sellers lately." Just another inconsistency from Square...

[Summer2024]

I've seen this frustration come up here in the Community for sure. I am not sure what our Support advocates are experiencing in their chats or phone calls.

[Laurie_]

Hi @250986,

Like Summer, I’m also a member of the Community team, and I wanted to jump in to share that after reviewing this thread and passing your feedback along to our Product Team, they’ve asked me to provide a bit more context around this change and what they're hoping to achieve moving forward.

For now, I’ve been asked to share the following update from the team:

We know that losing some of the previous email customization options can be frustrating, and we really appreciate you taking the time to share how this change impacts your business.

This update moves all order-related emails to Square’s Digital Receipts platform, the same system that powers in-store receipts for millions of Square sellers. The goal is to strengthen email deliverability, improve reliability, and create a more consistent experience for your customers across every channel.

While custom “from” addresses and fully custom templates are no longer available, you can still personalize your receipts with your business name, logo, and brand color. We also hear your feedback on wanting more flexibility for branding, and our teams are actively exploring ways to expand these options in the future.

I expect we’ll see a number of updates and improvements coming through the pipeline around email and SMS receipts, as well as order confirmations, as our team continues their work in these areas. From my experience, the first big change is often just one step in a larger plan, and your feedback is very much part of that process. While some updates can take time to roll out, please know that your concerns are heard, and the team is actively working to address them.

[250986]

Sorry, @Laurie_ Nothing you've written helps at all. It's clear Square just wants free advertising via us, its paying customers. Taking away basic, entry-level email customization and our own "from" address and adding square advertising, branding, email address, and more is difficult to take as anything more than a clear sign that Square doesn't value its customers as much as it values using them to get free advertising and make even more money off of us. It shows that Square isn't even interesting in keeping up with basic e-commerce services and is out of touch with doing business online today. It shows that Square prioritizes its own interests way above those of its customers. 

And nothing about increased releasability holds water either...our customers tell us their online order confirmations are going to spam and dealing with all of this is causing us a lot of staff time and frustrated and confused customers.

And to make an already bad situation even worse, we haven't received email notifications of our online orders since Oct 18. We didn't make any changes to settings or anything at all...and we were receiving email notifications of online orders up until Oct 18 and none since (despite customers successfully placing online orders and yes, we checked spam, etc. and yes, everybody else except square is successfully sending emails to this address). Tried to get help on this...Square chat was an unhelpful waste of a ton of time as usual. We submitted email request for support on this...wonder if it'll be like every other email support request we've submitted: Square sends an automated reply that they'll get back to us in 1-3 business days but then never, ever does.

Moving our site to another provider this weekend. SO ready to be done with Square.

[GAF2021]

Yes, This is so frustrating. I used to get an email that said that I had a sale, and then I could click to the information of who the sale was to, and if they had any special requests, requirements or questions. I no longer get these. I get a message that says money has been sent to me from square. I have no idea if it is from my online store, one of our authorized helpers (we are a 100% volunteer non-profit). 

Also the loss of the kind note we offer saying that 100% of their purchase goes to help children and families in Guatemala is not longer there. We just look like a commerce site for profit. This is so sad. That coupled with my total and complete confusion about my Weebly site, and my square site, and being sent across from one team to another, and trying to figure out how it is or isn't linked is a nightmare. Also, I was told there is only a certain window, not to long before my renewal, and not after where I can request a non-profit rate. Can you just sign us up as a non-profit, which we are. We cannot change our status. We will always be a non-profit. I would love to get some support for that. 

And please, if we could have the emailed custom receipt sent. It was a draw for us to use this platform even though it is really geared for restaurants. But perhaps you are looking to discourage users other than restaurants?  Please Help return customized receipts, and emails with details of where the sale was made and how we can fill it. When I go to Square orders, it says no orders, when I go to weebly, it also says no orders. I have to look all over to find out why money is being sent to us. It could be a donation, a sale, but I need that information. And I need to send a custom receipt and THANK YOU for helping our non profit to the purchaser and/or donors. Please help.