6 Most Common Support Calls for Clover POS

While the Clover POS system remains one of the most reliable and easy to use systems we see in the market today, we wanted to put together a list of the most common questions we receive from merchants while using Clover equipment. Here are 6 items that our merchant support team receives in regards to the Clover POS:

1. My screen is frozen and it won’t turn on. I think the battery is dead, or; The charger is not working and the Clover Flex is dead.

There is nothing more frustrating than walking into your place of business Monday or Tuesday morning after being closed for two days to find that the Clover Flex is dead, won’t turn on. Is the device broken? Is the charger not working?

 

While we have seen some devices needing to be replaced because of an internal deficiency, usually when we see this happen, especially after finding out that the Flex was left on the charger over the weekend, its another reason – one that is easy to fix.

 

Sometimes, and we’re not entirely sure why, a Clover Flex will enter into what is called hibernation mode. Our best guess based on the hundreds of devices we have placed with local merchants is that sometimes the update from Clover and the inactivity of the device over a period of time (as little as two days) will sometimes send the Flex into hibernation mode. It will still have a full battery (especially if it has been on a charger the whole time), but won’t turn on.

Before you call tech support (remember to call KIS Support for 1st level support), try this:

  1. Take the Flex off the charger
  2. Hold down the Power button on the right hand side for 50 seconds (I usually use a stop watch on my phone to ensure its at least 50 seconds)
  3. Let go for 5 seconds (you don’t have to time this one)
  4. Hold the power button down again until you see the Clover symbol appear on the screen
  5. If after doing that, you see the Clover symbol then the Flex will reboot properly. If it doesn’t work, try again (make sure you hold the button down for at least 50 seconds). If that still doesn’t work, then give support a call.

 

Hopefully your Flex is just in hibernation and this quick fix will get you up and running right away! FYI – we have not seen the Mini’s go into hibernation mode. If you are not able to get the Mini to power on, call support.

 

On a side note, if you need restart your Flex or Mini and you don’t have access to the screen, or the screen is frozen, you can hold the power down (on the Flex on the right hand side, on the Mini, the power button is in the printer paper port), until you see the screen say Power Off. If the screen doesn’t respond, you can just hold the power button down until the until turns off (same as your Android device).

 

The Clover Station Pro power button is tucked away in the undercarriage of the customer facing device (looks like a Mini).

 

2. I need to add/modify a menu item!

The Inventory app comes with different Clover POS softwares – Essentials, Counter Service and Dining. These Clover POS have an app that downloads onto your device called Inventory.

Best practices – we have found that it is easy to add/change inventory items using the Clover Dashboard (access your account online through a connected device). You can also add and change items from your device. The video link below will show you how to add an inventory item via the Dashboard. Link to Video – Adding an Item to Inventory.

 

To add an inventory item through your device:

  1. Open the App called Inventory (not available on the Payments Clover App Bundle)
  2. Select Items Tab
  3. Select Add Item (Green button)
  4. There you can add the info:
    1. Item Name
    2. Show in Register and Show online toggles
    3. Fixed Price or Variable Price (defaults to fixed price, press arrow to choose variable price)
    4. Price (if you choose Fixed)
    5. Manage Availability (Manual means you decide when it is available – if you sell more than your stock count, it will still show available unless you change it. Automatic makes it unavailable when your stock count runs out)
    6. Stock Quantity
    7. Product Code
    8. SKU
    9. Categories (you can set up separate categories and then assign Items to individual categories)
    10. Labels (this is used if you are sending food items to a kitchen printer, or want to track different groups of items ie. Sports equipment)
    11. Item Colour (changes the colour of the identifier on screen)
    12. Taxes and Fees (Taxes are set up separately. Check our video on setting up taxes)
    13. Non-revenue item toggle (great if you want to track giveaways or items that are included but not charged)
  5. Then choose Save

 

3. How do I use modifiers?

You can add individual items that are part of an Order to make a full order, such as Small Pizza, Medium Pizza, Large Pizza, as separate items in your Inventory list. Or, you can add Modifiers (with Counter Service Restaurant or Table Service Restaurant softwares. Not available with Register).

 

Modifiers allow you to have an inventory item with different modifications (yup, that’s why they are called “modifiers”). Like the example above, you can have a item called “Pizza” and when you click on that item you can have Clover pop up an additional window and ask:  “Small, Medium or Large) as an additional modifier or type of pizza. You can also add additional modifiers, like toppings to items.

 

To add Modifiers, first you need to create Group Modifiers within the Inventory App (this can also be done on a spreadsheet and uploaded with all your items, categories, taxes and modifiers through the Dashboard).

 

For this example we will name the Group of modifiers “Pizza”. We are going to create 3 modifiers within that Group Modifier. These modifiers will be named “Small”, “Medium”, and “Large”.

 

But wait, you say, the price for a Large is very different than the price of a Small. No problem, we have you covered.

 

There are two ways to accommodate different prices for different modifications:

  1. Set the base price of the cheapest item and then add the upcharge or price increase to the other two modifiers.
    •  Price for Small might be $8.00. Set your Inventory item price for $8.00
    • When you add the modifier for Medium and Large, you can include an additional price that will get added on to the base price. For Medium you might add $2.00. That way when you choose Pizza, the price will be $8.00 and when you choose Medium as the Modifier, it will add $2.00 to the total, bringing the price of a Medium to $10. Remember to set the Small Modifier price to $0.00 as we don’t want to add anything on if they choose a Small Pizza.
  2. The second way to do this is to set the item price at $0.00 and put the full price of the item in the modifier pricing. Small Modifier $8.00, Medium Modifier $10.00, Large Modifier $12.00.

 

4a. Add a modifier group (below is the description from your Clover Dashboard)

  1. From a browser, log in to your Clover account.
  2. Select Inventory > Modifier Groups.
  3. Select Add Modifier Group.
  4. Enter a modifier group name, for example, Steak Cooking Temperature or Frozen Yogurt Toppings.
  5. If you’re taking orders online, enter the online name you want customers to see.
  6. Add another group if you want.
  7. When you’re finished, select Done.

 

4b. Add modifiers to a modifier group

  1. If you just created a new modifier group, scroll the list of modifier groups and open the one you just created by selecting its name.
  2. If you want to work with a previously created group, select Inventory > Modifier Groups and select the group name.
  3. Add basic information. Under Basic Info, complete these steps:
  4. To list this group and its modifiers on a POS device for servers to see, check the box to Show upon order entry on POS.
  5. Under Required, enter the minimum required number of modifiers a server needs to enter. If modifiers are optional, there is no minimum.
  6. Add online ordering details. Under Online Ordering, repeat the previous step with information you want to show to online order customers.
  7. Add modifiers to the group:
  8. Scroll and select Modifiers.
  9. Select +Add and enter the name.
  10. If this modifier has a cost, enter the price. If this modifier has no cost, leave the price blank.
  11. Optionally select +ADD ANOTHER MODIFIER, enter a new name, and if the modifier has a cost, a price.
  12. Select Done to finish.
  13. Add items to sell with these modifiers:
  14. Scroll and select Items.
  15. Optionally show more item details by choosing More and checking the boxes for details to show.
  16. Select +Add and search, scroll, and check the box for each item you want to add. (If this group already has items, select +/-Edit instead before checking the boxes for items to add.)
  17. Save additions.
  18. Optionally set the modifier sequence for servers and online order customers to see:
  19. Select Change Layout at the top right.
  20. Use the double horizontal bars to drag and drop the modifiers into the order you want.
  21. Use the A to Z sorting option to alphabetically sort the modifiers.
  22. Save your changes.

 

5. How do I add a new employee?

Depending on our Permission settings, you can access the Employees App from your device, or if you have Admin Rights, you can access the Employees Tab on the Dashboard.

 

  1. Once you have access to either the Dashboard or Device and have logged in as an Admin, find the Employee App.
  2. At the bottom (on the device) you will see a Green plus symbol (‘+’). Click on the plus symbol.
  3. Add the name of the Employee, and change the Role (defaults are Employee, Manager and Admin).
  4. Below you can set a 4 digit pass code for using the device (this 4 digit pin is required to login to a device to do payments if you have not turned Quick Access on).
  5. Email is optional, however, those employees with an email will be sent a login link to connect to the Dashboard.

 

Once you have clicked on Save, the Employee will be added and can access any Clover device using their 4 digit pin that is on your system.

 

If you want to see how to add an Employee on the Dashboard, you can check out this video:

Adding an Employee on the Dashboard

 

6. How do I set tax rates?

Setting taxes is even easier than setting up Employees (isn’t it always the way with expenses, easy to setup?)

 

From your device:

  1. Login in as an Admin
  2. Choose the Setup App
  3. Chose Taxes and Fees (near the bottom)
  4. Click the toggle button to Allow taxes and fees to be removed from an Order, or leave it unchecked so that Taxes can’t be removed
  5. Click on Tax rates and Fees below
  6. Then click on the Green plus (‘+’) below.
  7. Name the Tax (eg. PST, GST, HST)
  8. Type in the tax rate (eg. 5%, 7%, 12%)
  9. Click on the toggle for Default if you want any item you deem to use the Default tax rate. For example, if your items need to predominantly have PST and GST on them, you can add PST as a tax rate, add GST as a tax rate and set each of them as the Default rate. Then, you can set up your items with the tax rate of Default and it will attach both taxes.
  10. Then click on Save

 

You can set each item with the appropriate tax amount or with no tax when you set up your items (see above).

 

This is a link to a video that shows how to setup taxes through your Dashboard or on the device. Please note, there has been an update to the Clover Dashboard and the Setup Tab is now part of the Account and Setup Tab at the bottom of the page.

How to set up taxes.

 


If you have more questions about Clover or would like to get set up to use Clover Payment systems, you can contact us toll free at:  1.888.484.3389 or email us at info@KISPayments.com. If you are an existing KIS Payments customer, and you have a support question, please feel free to call or email us at support@KISPayments.com.

 

KIS Payments provides 1st level support for all of our Payment Processing customers ensuring that you have a live person who understands your questions and can respond to your individual requests.