topic Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access in Restaurant Operations

Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

JackieR — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 16:33:14 GMT

Good afternoon! I am fairly new to Toast, but very seasoned in POS support for other brands, and I support a small group of restaurants that switched to Toast late last year. We recently made a decision to require all managers to use mag cards for POS access, and have disabled the POS access codes. They are using gift cards for swiping in and approval, which should not be an issue, but all six locations are reporting problems with their mag cards not working. They're re-registering the cards when they fail, and in some cases just reverting back to POS access codes to get them by for a day or two. One location opened a case with Toast support, but didn't get anywhere with it, so I recommended that they order a case of cards directly from Toast (or at least the company that Toast uses for all mag card needs) - they should have them in the next day or two. I don't think there should be anything wrong with the gift cards that they have been using, so just reaching out here to see if anyone else in the community has come across this? I have not directly supported the managers on this case (our company has an internal IT department that I am a senior member of), because I figured I would be in the way if I tried to help troubleshoot, so I don't have a play by play on actions. Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

au79teahouse — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 16:38:11 GMT

Out of curiosity, could you share more detail on how card does not work consistently?

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

JackieR — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 17:05:01 GMT

I don't really have any other details to share other than what I posted above - is there anything specific you are wondering?

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

rcmck — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 17:16:18 GMT

Have they tried just cleaning the swipe readers? With everything pretty much being chip or tap now mine get very little actual use, they could just be dirty. Obviously they are working somewhat though since you need a working reader to register them. Has anyone actually been on site yet to see? I know I have employees exaggerate things, telling me something is not working restaurant wide and you get there to find it's really just one terminal intermittently. If it's all locations and all cards though, maybe something else is going on.

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

JackieR — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 17:32:00 GMT

Unfortunately I know these managers would not be complaining this loudly if if weren't a real issue, and the hardware at all 6 locations is just 6 months old. Toast support was not helpful, and I work remotely and am not a part of daily operations. I posted here hoping that we are not alone, but I honestly don't need basic hardware troubleshooting tips - I've been doing POS installation, repairs, programming, networking, and support for a couple of decades for a very large number of restaurants. There's no reason that I know of why a mag stripe should be unrecognized at multiple locations randomly for POS Access on every device, but they are able to turn around and activate the same card again, then run into it again later. Could be user error or a lack of intuition, I really don't know, but if I don't learn anything here, I will just have to keep digging and reopen the case with Toast support if it continues to happen. Thank you for your time.

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

rcmck — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 17:53:07 GMT

Gotcha. 👍 No, not experiencing this issue.

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

Rob — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 19:42:15 GMT

Hey @JackieR, whatever is causing this issue might be the same for all the cards involved; to figure out what is happening, I will need a point of contact at a specific restaurant location, from here there are a few tests we can run with cards that are not working and figure out what's happening, this includes a swipe test.

I also see you have ordered new cards, which should solve all the issues if you cannot provide a contact for troubleshooting.

Note:
Manager swipe cards will work among all Toast Tap Devices and will work among all eDynamo and MSR devices. But if a manager card is set up on a Toast Tap device, it will not work on eDynamo and MSR devices and vice versa. You can only have one EMV reader at a time on a terminal.

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

au79teahouse — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 20:04:28 GMT

We also use mag card for activities that require manager approval. So far from my experience, I notice that the toast MSR (magnetic stripe reader) does not stay activated all the time. The first swipe usually won't register because card reader is not activated so it does not read cards. On the second swipe it would usually work. However, Toast MSR may not read cards consistently depending on the quality of card's magnetic stripe. The other issue that I can think of is system sometimes does not recognize the MSR for unknown reason suddenly. When that happens, you will see a message that says "searching for BBPOS reader" pops constantly on the system. If that's the case, you need to go to setting on terminal and do a device search. The micro-usb port on the terminal may be defective and you can try to plug the MSR to a different port on the terminal to see if the issue is fixed. After all, there could be many different reasons that may cause MSR not working consistently and properly.

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

josh212 — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 04:50:01 GMT

Have them just trying to use one of their credit/debit cards. Generally they are much higher quality then gift cards (because the banks dont want to replace cards), I use my debit card and have never had an issue. You can even have them use some of those left behind credit cards in the cup behind the Bar POS that have been there for 6 months. It just needs to be a magnetic strip

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

JackieR — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:45:47 GMT

Thank you very much for the offer to assist. I have spoken with the operations director, and they are hopeful that the new cards will fix the problem, which have just been distributed in the past 24 hours. I will update this thread when I know more.

Re: Mag Cards Not Working Consistently for POS Access

JackieR — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:49:00 GMT

Thank you so much for your insights! They have insisted repeatedly that there are no hardware errors appearing on the POS for this, but again, I have not been present or directly involved in the troubleshooting, and they are and are hopeful that the new cards will fix the problem, which have just been distributed in the past 24 hours. I will update this thread when I know more.