Clover POS Review – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

People like it. It’s simple to use, simple to set up (right out of the box), and very intuitive for employees to use. Integration options are very good (see Clover app market). It’s a good solution for smaller businesses if you want to keep it basic and you want an easy-to-set-up and easy-to-use system.

However, there is a downside to Clover. Please read on.

Clover is a little pricey (hardware cost + monthly software subscription), so upfront costs are considerable. Also there are some hefty complaints about the apps not working correctly, or not working as described. There are also a lot of problems that come with owning a Clover system: the more you have going on in your business, the more problems you run into, and Clover struggles to help you solve those complex problems, both technology-wise and with in-person support.

First Data (who owns Clover) is a merchant processing company first, not a POS company first. This leaves customer service hanging in the lurch. They don’t care about you as much as they want your payment processing revenue. First Data and Clover support is substandard. Trustpilot gives Clover 44% 1 star ratings for an average rating of 3.7 stars out of 5 (“Average”). Clearly there are plenty of happy customers, but also a large number of very discontent people. Which one will you be?

Trustpilot Clover Reviews:

Purchasing Clover can be confusing. You can purchase through Clover directly, or you can purchase through a third party merchant services company (but: they will always be under First Data). Note: When you choose a processing company, you have to use that same processing company FOREVER. You cannot change, unless you buy an entirely new Clover system. It is NOT reprogrammable.

This is perhaps the most conspicuous downside to owning a Clover system: you are stuck! Thankfully we have a solution that can solve this problem for you. If you love your Clover system, by all means keep it. But let us help you get competitive pricing for your merchant services to take the pressure off your wallet!

Sick of being stuck with one Processor? We have the solution!

You have only two options if you want to stay with Clover but switch processors to get a better rate and save money:

1. Buy a brand new Clover system with the new processor.
2. Use a non-integrated POS solution and bypass your existing processor altogether (while still using your existing Clover system).

Both options are possible if you embrace Cash Discount (our preferred rate structure) which will reduce your merchant account fees to zero. When you understand how much money this will put back in your pocket, you won’t flinch at the prospect of purchasing a brand new Clover system. Cash Discount (dual pricing) takes the bold step of having the cardholder pay for the processing fees when they pay by card. In this case, a 4% service fee is added to the transaction to cover that cost. If they pay by cash or check, the service fee is not applied, hence “cash discount”. Take a look at the Cash Discount Cost Analysis below:

The Cash Discount cost analysis above shows a merchant doing just over $16K in business volume. Usually this would cost about $345 per month in fees. But with Cash Discount, all that money goes right back into the merchant’s pocket! That’s an annual savings of over $4K. How much does a Clover system cost? This cost could be recovered in just a few months of applying Cash Discount to your bottom line.

But wait! There is another option!

The alternative is to keep your existing Clover system (don’t buy another one) and use a non-integrated processing solution. Basically we’ll give you a free credit card terminal to place on the counter next to your Clover system. It will have Cash Discount already installed, and you’ll run all your card transactions through that machine. If you are uncomfortable with Cash Discount, we can give you a traditional processing setup at interchange plus 30 basis points (which will no doubt save you money over your existing setup). In either case, our goal is to save you money, and we will demonstrate this by doing a cost analysis on your existing merchant account. Then register an “additional payment tender” in your Clover system, call it “Cash Discount” or “Credit Card Machine”, and close out each Clover credit card transaction using that tender. Much like you would hit “Cash” to close out a cash sale, you’ll hit “Cash Discount” or “Credit Card Machine” to close out your credit card sales in Clover. This will keep your books straight and your reporting system reconciled and in order. The processing relationship you had before through Clover will just be ignored. At some point you can even cancel it, but for now you just won’t need it.

Below is the free PayAnywhere A920 credit card terminal we’ll give you. Note that our processing agreement is month-to-month (no long term contract) with no early termination penalty. You can try us out risk free!