What to do when the reader stops working

First, keep trading

Before diagnosing anything: if your provider supports tap to pay on a phone, turn it on now and take the queue. Everything below is easier once the shop is not standing still.

Then work through it in this order

Is it the reader or the connection? If the screen lights up, the reader is alive and the problem is between it and the network. If it does not, charge it for ten minutes on a cable you know works before you conclude anything.

Is it your internet or everybody’s? Load a page on a phone using mobile data, then on the shop Wi-Fi. If the shop Wi-Fi is down, the reader is fine and you are looking at a router.

Has the pairing dropped? Bluetooth readers lose their pairing after a firmware update or a flat battery. Forget the device and pair it again. This is the single most common cause, and it takes ninety seconds.

Has the card scheme had an outage? Rare, and never just you. If two shops on the same street are stuck, stop diagnosing and put a sign up.

What to do about the sales you missed

If you took names and numbers, send payment links that evening. People pay them. It feels awkward to send and it almost never is.

What to fix afterwards

Keep a charged spare, even a phone. Write the support number somewhere that is not the phone that might be the problem. And check what your provider promises: a replacement in the post today is a different business from a replacement in five working days.

Tillio’s line is staffed 7am to 8pm and a replacement reader goes out the same day. We would rather answer the call than read about it later.