Subscription plan "billing frequency" not yet available (Why?)

[mikesclub]

Once again, I am maddeningly frustrated with Square.

I want to sell memberships, via Square's subscription plan feature.

I created the item "Membership", and made it item type "Membership". I priced it at $25.

Then I created a subscription plan, also called "Membership", and added the item "Membership" to the "Membership" subscription plan.

In the subscription plan, I set up 3 billing frequencies: Monthly, Twice a year, and Annually. And by the way, they are called "Billing frequencies", which is supposed to mean how often the customer is billed.

Then I added the subscription plan to my online store.

When I tried to make a test purchase, I chose the Annual billing frequency. But when I checked out, it looks like Square will simply bill my credit card $25 each month for a year. Choosing a billing frequency doesn't actually change the billing frequency, it just sets how many months my card will be charged. 

So, first I went to the Square community forum, and found many frustrated customers with the same problem. The solutions offered by moderators all involve workarounds, like creating 3 different items, or variations, one for each billing frequency. That's not really a subscription, that's just 3 price options for the same item. 

Then (just now) I called tech support. I spent over an hour. The agent (who was great) had to keep putting me on hold so she could consult with the "advanced team". They tried several different things, before they finally told me "oh yeah, that billing frequency feature is not yet available. It's a feature request". 

What the hell, Square? 

Why do you present this feature to me if it doesn't work yet? 

Every online service in the world offers the ability to choose billing frequencies, even in undeveloped countries. 

I'm a membership club that can't sell memberships because I stupidly chose Square as my POS service provider. 

This is just another reason (and there are many) why I believe Square is still not a market-ready product. I'm stuck with it for now, because I've spent money on the hardware, and because my inventory and customer history is tied to it. 

Can someone (preferably a Square representative please tell me how to make subscription billing frequency options work? If it's still a feature request, when will it be operational? And if you know it doesn't work, why is it offered like it does?

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

Hello @mikesclub 

I feel your frustration. I've been trying to figure out workarounds for subscriptions since they were launched. 

Quite simply, the built in subscriptions feature Square offers is rudimentary at best. And this is coming from someone who swears by everything Square for my business and has no intention of jumping ship any time soon. It just needs that little bit of developer love that it hasn't seen to make it a great product. I know it'll sound like a broken record, but I do recommend adding this to the Feature Request section of this website. It may not seem like the teams are listening there, but I assure you they are. 

So for now unfortunately I think your best bet for fully customizable subscription services would be to look at one of the third party apps available in the App Marketplace section of the dashboard. 

[MayaP]

I appreciate your feedback on this, @ryanwanner, and your suggestions for workarounds. I know the feature request process isn't ideal right now, but I truly appreciate you sticking with us and continuing to share your insights.

[MayaP]

Hello @mikesclub - Thanks for following up. I completely understand how important this feature is for your business, and I know it is frustrating to still be without a solution.

At this time, there is no further update on the ability to offer multiple billing frequencies within a single subscription plan. I realize that is disappointing, especially given the workarounds you have already explored.

I have continued to share this feedback with our product team, and while I cannot guarantee if or when this will be added, your input helps inform future improvements. If anything changes the thread @ryanwanner provided will be updated. 

Thanks again for your patience and please let me know if there is anything else I can help with in the meantime.

[mikesclub]

I appreciate your response, but it only partially answers my questions.

Why is this stuff even available in the setup if it doesn't work?

When I create a subscription plan, and I add "frequency options", the column heading above my chosen frequencies is literally "billing period". What else could that possibly mean if not "billed monthly, billed quarterly, billed annually" etc?

Please either remove that section from the page, or plaster a big banner that says "don't try to use this yet - It doesn't work".

Also, when I wasted an hour on the phone with tech support, why didn't someone just tell me outright "this doesn't work yet"? Why did they keep telling me to try different configurations before eventually telling me "oh yeah, this doesn't work yet"? That time costs me money.

What exactly is a "membership" item type? What's its distinction from other item types?

Does Square currently offer any way to create billing that recurs annually?

And finally (I'm sure I'll think of more later), why does the subscription purchase require pickup as the fulfillment method?

Please answer these questions. I can't be the only Square user that needs this functionality?
PS: I just noticed something you said in your reply:

You said "there is no update on the ability to offer multiple billing frequencies within a single subscription plan."

Does that mean I can create multiple subscription plans for the same membership item, but with each having a different filling frequency?

[mikesclub]

Ok, first, an apology. I'm very frustrated with this feature, and I may have chosen my words poorly in my previous reply. I'm sorry.

Now, based on something you said, I tried an experiment.

I created a subscription plan called Annual Membership. I added an item, also called Annual Membership (item type: Membership), with a price of $300. Under frequency, I chose Annual.

I then purchased a subscription myself, using invoice as the payment method.

I received the invoice, which has the following details:

It says "Mike’s Club LLC sent you an invoice for $300"

It also says "recurring subscription"

And it says "Yearly subscription"

This all looks good. So here are my questions:

1. Does this mean that I will be automatically billed again next year? If so, this is exactly what I want.

2. Does it also mean that I can create other subscription plans, one with monthly frequency and one with semi-annual frequency, which will each be billed at those different frequencies?

This is not perfect, but if it works as it appears to, I can use it.

Please answer this precisely. I can't afford to have customers billed $300 every month when they actually purchased an annual subscription.

Please let me know if this is the way forward.

Thank you so much.

[Pintuna]

@mikesclub, this is Ashwin from Pintuna, we are a Square trusted partner. Our membership app is tightly integrated with Square and will provide a comprehensive member management solution. We have hundreds of Square sellers using it globally. Happy to demo the app if interested. Thanks!