Square to stop firearms related sales Jun 9

[MoJo]

I just learned that after June 9,2013 Square will not process payments for guns, ammo, and gun parts. Although I only use them periodically for "training services" I am switching to something else that isn't anti gun. Intuit's service looks pretty good so far I haven't found any anti gun in all the fine print.

[RottenApple]

Yup. Just looked up their seller agreement.

By creating a Square Account, you also confirm that you will not accept payments in connection with the following businesses or business activities: (1) any illegal activity or goods, (2) buyers or membership clubs, including dues associated with such clubs, (3) credit counseling or credit repair agencies, (4) credit protection or identity theft protection services, (5) direct marketing or subscription offers or services, (6) infomercial sales, (7) internet/mail order/telephone order pharmacies or pharmacy referral services (where fulfillment of medication is performed with an internet or telephone consultation, absent a physical visit with a physician including re-importation of pharmaceuticals from foreign countries), (8) unauthorized multi-level marketing businesses, (9) inbound or outbound telemarketers, (10) prepaid phone cards or phone services, (11) rebate based businesses, (12) up-sell merchants, (13) bill payment services, (14) betting, including lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, off-track betting, and wagers at races, (15) manual or automated cash disbursements, (16) prepaid cards, checks, or other financial merchandise or services, (17) sales of money-orders or foreign currency, (18) wire transfer money orders, (19) high-risk products and services, including telemarketing sales, (20) service station merchants, (21) automated fuel dispensers, (22) adult entertainment oriented products or services (in any medium, including internet, telephone, or printed material), (23) sales of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury (24) internet/mail order/telephone order cigarette or tobacco sales, (25) drug paraphernalia, (26) occult materials, (27) hate or harmful products, (28) escort services, (29) bankruptcy attorneys or collection agencies engaged in the collection of debt.

[terryg]

I just sent them the following message via their support web form:

I just learned about the upcoming policy change regarding firearms related purchases via Square. I can see no sound reason why a for profit company would single out a category of legal transactions other than to make a political statement. The fact that this category of product is explicitly protected by the 2nd amendment makes this decision even more egregious. I wonder how well it would be received if Square decided to no longer process payments for 1st amendment protected activities such as purchasing newspapers or magazine subscriptions.

I wanted to inform you that I will no longer allow any payments for any purchases by me to be processed via Square. I use a rewards credit card that I pay off each month, so I tend to use that card for all purchases. In the future, however, when I am faced with a vendor who uses Square to process credit card transactions, I will either shop elsewhere (while letting the vendor know why) or I will pay with cash.

Sincerely,

[rotor]

They seem to be based in San Francisco. Does that explain anything?

[surprise_i'm_armed]

They seem to be based in San Francisco. Does that explain anything?

Sure... that's where Nancy Whine-stein is from.

You know - the gal who complains about gun safety, then has her picture taken with her
finger on the AK-47's trigger? :-)

SIA

[psijac]

They are going to lose a lot of business because of this. I can see them continue this line of nanny, "i know better than you" line of thought until there will be nothing you can buy using square.

[OldCannon]

I just learned that after June 9,2013 Square will not process payments for guns, ammo, and gun parts. Although I only use them periodically for "training services" I am switching to something else that isn't anti gun. Intuit's service looks pretty good so far I haven't found any anti gun in all the fine print.

You should be ok with Intuit, so long as you don't sell firearms. Then again, wouldn't surprise me if they went down that path too.

Funny thing: Most of us in the firearms biz have always known that Square disapproves of firearms in any form. They finally codified it in their terms.

[E.Marquez]

And i just signed up for a square account last month to accept payment for motorcycle and machining services.

Oh well, they just lost another user.

[rotor]

Intuit seems the same as Square. We need the NRA to offer a service. Rather see them make the profit anyway.

[sjfcontrol]

Take a look at these guys...

http://www.gopai.com/shooting/?mtcCampa ... l=68968550" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[terryg]

Here was their reply to my message:

Hello terryg,

Thanks for writing in.

It is against our Seller Agreement to use Square for anything related to sales of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury.

To learn more about Square’s Seller Agreement, please visit: https://squareup.com/legal/seller-agreement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Best,

To which I replied:

Wow, what a horrible response to negative customer feedback. The most insulting thing a company could do in this instance is to copy the policy that the customer is complaining about. The customer has obviously read the policy which is why they are offering the critical feedback in the first place. A good response would look something like this:

---
Hi Mr. terryg,

We are very sorry to hear you will be avoiding our services in the future. We understand your passion but we feel very strongly that this policy is the correct course for the Square corporation. I will forward your feedback to our corporate management team. If you decide to change your stance in the future, we would love to have you as a Square customer.
---

[Timba]

I just sent them the below message, and will post any reply (hopefully something more useful than regurgitating the policy):

Greetings,

I just discovered that your user policy prohibits "... sales of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury."

The primary non-sport use of firearms is self-defense, and they are used for this purpose over a million times per year in the USA (see Wikipedia). Your misguided policy results in punishing the law-abiding, and has no effect on criminal misuse of firearms.

As long as this policy remains in effect, I will not use your services, and urge all fellow law-abiding firearms owners to do the same.

Sincerely,

T. Reedy

[Wes]

Intuit seems the same as Square. We need the NRA to offer a service. Rather see them make the profit anyway.

Gopai.com referenced above is a NRA Business Alliance member, so definitely a good choice.I don't know much about them but their site does show a mobile smart phone option available. It is disappointing to see Square take this stance and unfortunately they are just doing what every one else does it seems.

[Timba]

Here's the response from Square:

Hello T.,

Thanks for writing in.

From time to time we revisit our policies governing the use of Square to ensure they are consistent with our values and in the best interests of our customers. Updates to the policies in our Seller Agreement are in no way intended to reflect a position about the legitimacy of any business or business operations.

Thanks for your understanding.



Theodore
Square Support ​

[RoyGBiv]

I just sent them the following message via their support web form:

I just learned about the upcoming policy change regarding firearms related purchases via Square. I can see no sound reason why a for profit company would single out a category of legal transactions other than to make a political statement. The fact that this category of product is explicitly protected by the 2nd amendment makes this decision even more egregious. I wonder how well it would be received if Square decided to no longer process payments for 1st amendment protected activities such as purchasing newspapers or magazine subscriptions.

I wanted to inform you that I will no longer allow any payments for any purchases by me to be processed via Square. I use a rewards credit card that I pay off each month, so I tend to use that card for all purchases. In the future, however, when I am faced with a vendor who uses Square to process credit card transactions, I will either shop elsewhere (while letting the vendor know why) or I will pay with cash.

Sincerely,

Hope you don't mind that I stole most of this for my message to them... Thanks.

I just learned about the upcoming policy change regarding firearms related purchases via Square. I can see no sound reason why a for profit company would single out a category of legal transactions other than to make a political statement. The fact that this category of product is explicitly protected by the 2nd amendment makes this decision even more egregious. I wonder how well it would be received if Square decided to no longer process payments for 1st amendment protected activities such as purchasing newspapers or magazine subscriptions. I wanted to inform you that I will no longer allow any payments for any purchases by me to be processed via Square. Any merchant using Square will lose my business until Square decides to change this anti-Constitution policy.

FYI... Here's the CONTACT page... https://squareup.com/help/en-us/contact" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;