No explanation account deactivation

[HeidiBroward]

I am stricken today with sadness, grief, and utter frustration at the way I have been treated with a no explanation deactivation of my Square account.  I am a little business and the past two years have been barely functioning.  I do an expo booth on Nov 1st and that is mostly all the business I have done the past two years.  I do bio/computer Aura/Chakra reports, Alternative Healings with color and brainwave frequency, and many other alternative healing type services.  I DO NOT, nor have I EVER, sold or attempted to sell CBD! Is this why I was 'flagged'?  Because I list my self as Alternative Healing and it was assumed I am selling CBD???!!!!!   I suddenly recieved a notice a couple of weeks ago that I am in violation of something and my account will be shut down.  I tried to ask what many times going through customer support who then escalated my questions.  It has been like trying to shout into a thunderstorm.  No response at all just further emails of the impending shut down.  I feel that this treatment is so utterly cold and unprofessional.  We are HUMAN BEINGS using your service!  We are LITTLE PEOPLE struggling to start busineses.  I have never received notice of being shut down before in my life.  I have received notice from time to time of my credit card on file not going through on some account.. which was due to me forgetting to update it.  How can such a big company like Square not even give a customer a CHANCE to remedy or even KNOW what violation they did?  I highly doubt I did violate anything as I have used Square so little.  I have tied Square into about 20 checkout carts on my website as well which now because of no explanation 'decativation' I will have remove Square from there.  How incomprehensably unfeeling to treat people like this.  

[TheRealChipA]

@HeidiBroward Sorry to hear this.  Unless you checked the "I do or plan to sell CBD related products" box in your business setup, Square would not (on its own) flag you as a CBD business.  Even then, as long as you filled out the CBD paperwork that is required by law you would have been fine.  I think you can quit obsessing about that very remote possibility.

That being said, you're jumping to a conclusion that Square made the decision here.  This is because Square is a customer of the card networks instead of us being the customer of those networks.  This means that Square MUST follow all of their rules or we ALL lose our ability to process cards through Square.  Quite often these deactivation decisions are made because of a complaint, or a card network flag, and such.  If a network tells Square "quit processing these sorts of transactions or we will cancel your privileges" then Square must do that.  Period.  

FYI, I did check out the business types that Square is prohibited from doing business with.  I didn't see anything that told me your business model got caught up in that sort of thing.  It could be one of these, however -- "high-risk products and services" or "medications of any kind without a physical visit." Those are only guesses, though.  Also, I'm wondering if you have a high number of returns/refunds?  

Maybe one of the Square moderators can help here.  At least they can reach out to the account team and try to give you a better explanation of what is going on.  I'll flag them to see if they can assist you.

@Kassi_@RSosebee1@_Violet@MayaP@Summer2024@Summer2024@Ellie_@Katie_SQ@Laurie_@Sammie_Cplease see above.  Can you help @HeidiBroward get more information?

[_Violet · Accepted solution]

Hello @HeidiBroward and thanks for the tag here, @TheRealChipA 

I understand that it can be frustrating to have your account deactivated. However, due to security concerns and the obligations of our agreements with card networks and other financial institutions, we cannot provide additional details. For more information about our policies on this matter, please review our Payment Terms, in our Support Center.

If there were any Terms of Service Violations, the sections that apply to your account will be quoted in an email from our Compliance Team. I recommend referring to any emails you may have received for more details. 

As @TheRealChipA mentioned, if you have never sold any products containing CBD, or provided any services that incorporate the use of CBD products, your deactivation should not be related to CBD. You mentioned you classified your business as, "Alternative Healing". Is it possible that you've listed any health claims for your products or services on your website or social media presence? If so, all Square Merchants are required for follow applicable network rules, which falls under Section 25 of our General Payment Terms.

I hope this information is helpful,