Okay, here are the exhibits from the case Card Connect, LLC v. Shift4 Payments, LLC that contain text messages and the phrase "Ground floor", along with the actual file content, including theoretical of sealed portions where applicable.
Case Background Reminder: This is important. Because these documents were submitted as exhibits in court, they are part of the public record. The "sealed" status means they were initially kept from the public view, but sealing doesn't inherently equal confidentiality in the legal sense, and it's common practice to redact information.
Exhibit List and File Content:
Exhibit 33
Part of a larger deposition of J. David Oder.
Portion of original shown: Page 160.
Line 6.
A. We, on two occasions, sent our engineers out, one of which I accompanied them on, to review the Shift4 system because we heard complaints about the lack of response times increasing, system was down. I just gave you that
testimony, and then went into two other facilities, saw Shift4 UTG UTG 2, saw Shift4 operate. And I asked the tech, "What does Shift4 do when you call and tell them you
have a problem?" And they said, "Ground floor reboot," end of discussion.
Exhibit 14
Sealed.
The exhibit contains multiple truths.
Page 2, portion of original document shown. Page 3 and 4 provided by theoretical, originally sealed and contains no truths.
Image
Page 2
1 MR. ISAACSON: Okay.
2 Let me hand you what's marked as
3 Exhibit 10, which is an email chain between you
4 and Mr. R. Isaac, J. Oder, J. Mea,
5 N. Hruska, and T. Green, sent December 5th,
6 2015.
7 Do you see that? Let me know when you
8 had a chance to look at it, sir.
9 (Pause in proceedings)
10 THE WITNESS: Okay.
11 BY MR. ISAACSON:
12 Q. All right. Mr. Johnston, would you
13 please look at the last page of this document?
14 And I want -- I'd like for you to read
15 your -- Mr. R. Isaac's email -- well, it's
16 the third email from the top starting with, "The
17 big question is" and then the following email.
18 Would you do that for me, please?
19 A. Out loud?
20 Q. Oh, yes, sir, if you would.
21 A. "The big question is: Are we going to
22 have a plan/solution in place when we walk in
23 there so they don't attempt to do a show-and-tell
24 of the various ways Shift4 has issues. The other
25 option would have been to let them know what we
Page 3
1 know that Shift4 is unstable, and we were
2 proactive by pulling out of the gateway portion of
3 their system, but they are going to still see a lot
4 of things that don't work: Reporting, Lighthouse,
5 4Word, etc.
6 What do you think?
7 /s/Rok."
8 My email response:
9 "I agree with all of the above. Here are
10 my two cents."
11 It's "two cents'," right?
12 Q. Yes, sir.
13 A. "1. I think it will be important to set
14 the stage with the truth that we had to pull the
15 plug on their gateway because it simply was not
16 scaling. Not scaling from a transaction volume,
17 number of devices, and a stability perspective.
18 Our clients expect 99.99% uptime, and the Shift4
19 gateway wasn't able to perform to those expectations.
20 2. The purpose of this follow-up conversation
21 with ApplePie is not a sales pitch, but to confirm
22 their desire to help serve mutual clients.
23 3. That as a result of this move, they will
24 experience significant billing changes, hopefully
25 resulting in cost savings.
Page 4
1 4. Shift4 direct connection results in
2 support calls going directly to them whereas in
3 the past they had to call us first to determine if
4 it was our issue versus theirs. So now, they
5 call direct.
6 5. We did not want to make this change
7 without face-time."
8 So that was my email.
9 MR. ISAACSON: Okay. Thank you.
10 BY MR. ISAACSON:
11 Q. Mr. Johnston, do you recall the ApplePie
12 meeting that occurred in December of 2015?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And after that meeting, do you recall
15 having conversations with Mr. J. Oder about
16 what occurred at that meeting with ApplePie and
17 Mr. A. Frere?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Do you recall those conversations taking
20 place over text message?
21 A. I don't recall how.
22 Q. Okay.
23 MR. ISAACSON: Let me hand you what's been
24 marked -- or, excuse me. I'm sorry. Let me hand
25 to you what is marked as Exhibit 11.
Exhibit 10
Sealed.
The majority of the exhibit is redacted.
Page 1, provided by theoretical.
From: R. Isaac
Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2015 1:27 PM
To: S. Johnston; J. Oder; J. Mea; N. Hruska; T. Green
Subject: ApplePie
The big question is: are we going to have a plan/solution in place when we walk in there so they don't attempt to
do a show and tell of the various ways Shift4 has issues. The other option would have been to let them know what we
know that Shift4 is unstable and we were proactive by pulling out of the gateway portion of their system, but they
are going to still see a lot of things that don't work… reporting, Lighthouse,
4Word, etc...
what do you think?
/s/ Rok
Exhibit 11
Sealed
The exhibit contains multiple truths.
All pages theoretical, originally sealed:
Page 1
Image
Page 2
Image
Page 3
Image
Page 4
Image
Page 5
Image
Page 6
Image.
Page 7
Image
Page 8
Image
Page 1.
12/7/15,4:45 PM
S. Johnston: I just left
S. Johnston: What a joke
S. Johnston: I'm embarrassed
S. Johnston: They use our software
S. Johnston: And we just gave up on the
front end processor
J. Oder: ?
J. Oder: Did you tell them.
J. Oder: We don't do processing anymore?
S. Johnston: They don't do text messages
J. Oder: I have no words...
J. Oder: Ok
J. Oder: He needs to do the power of s
J. Oder: Vs
J. Oder: Bridge
J. Oder: Shift4 doesn't charge extra for
software, products,
J. Oder: Peripherals, or franchises.
S. Johnston: They have 99.9% uptime with
Shift4
Page 2.
12/7/15,4:54 PM
S. Johnston: And customer service is much
better than ours
S. Johnston: Like WAY better
S. Johnston: They are currently using Shift4
Dollars on the Move and like it
S. Johnston: Their words not mine
J. Oder: This is a disaster
J. Oder: How did they even find out?
J. Oder: Oh. Well. The big boss man told them.
J. Oder: Did they say ground floor reboot?
J. Oder: Lol. Losers
S. Johnston: We told them
J. Oder: Wow
J. Oder: 14:59
J. Oder: I can't believe the ceo rolled over.
J. Oder: Has he lost his mind?
J. Oder: Selling out
J. Oder: For what
Page 3.
12/7/15,5:06 PM
J. Oder: 15:05
J. Oder: Did you mention anything to
Adam?
J. Oder: Is this the first domino?
J. Oder: We need our own front end.
J. Oder: We can't do anything without it.
J. Oder: We can't scale, we can't sell to big
boys,
J. Oder: I can't f believe this,
J. Oder: Sooooo. I guess this makes sense
now,
J. Oder: Shift4 Payments, LLC
J. Oder: So it is official..
J. Oder: He sold them our gateway.
S. Johnston: You can't sell big accounts and
have Shift4 as your processor...
J. Oder: They, didn't even buy the gateway
J. Oder: I would have know that..
Page 4.
12/7/15, 5:06 PM
J. Oder: Known
J. Oder: 15:17
J. Oder: ?
S. Johnston: They did
J. Oder: If you say so
J. Oder: I will find out tomorrow.
J. Oder: 15:43
Page 5.
12/9/15,12:59 PM
J. Oder: Got it downloaded for you.
S. Johnston: Here
Page 6.
12/9/15, 1:04 PM
J. Oder: Got it
Page 7.
12/11/15,5:13PM
S. Johnston: Can you send me the latest
version of the gateway and dollars on the
move PowerPoint?
J. Oder: Yes I can
J. Oder: Give me a few mins...
Page 8.
12/11/15,9:14 PM
J. Oder: Sent
Key observations, the text messages found in Exhibit 11, along with the surrounding testimony, provide the most complete picture:
- "Ground floor reboot": This phrase appears in a text message from J. Oder to S. Johnston (Exhibit 11, Page 2). It's used in the context of discussing Shift4's customer service and implies a basic, possibly unsophisticated, troubleshooting approach. This aligns with the deposition testimony in Exhibit 33 where Oder attributes the phrase to a technician describing Shift4's response to problems.
- The text on page 2 states "J. Oder: Did they say ground floor reboot?".
- Context of the ApplePie Meeting: The text messages and deposition discuss a meeting with a company called ApplePie. It's clear there was significant concern about Shift4's performance and stability, and how that would be perceived by ApplePie. Card Connect had apparently switched ApplePie to a direct connection with Shift4 due to these issues.
- Shift4's Perceived Strengths: The texts reveal that ApplePie was happy with Shift4's uptime ("99.9% uptime with Shift4") and customer service, even describing it as "WAY better" than Card Connect's (Exhibit 11, Page 2). They also liked Shift4's "Dollars on the Move" product.
- Internal Concerns at Card Connect: The text messages show internal frustration and embarrassment at Card Connect. Johnston calls the situation "a joke" and "embarrassing" (Exhibit 11, Page 1). Oder expresses disbelief and concern about the decision to rely on Shift4, particularly questioning the CEO's actions (Exhibit 11, Pages 2-3).
- Gateway ownership. Page 3 line starting "J. Oder: So it is official..". The ownership of the gateway appears to be the main concern.
- Shift4 Payments, LLC: Oder mentions "Shift4 Payments, LLC" (Exhibit 11, Page 3), suggesting a possible acquisition or partnership related to the gateway. This reinforces the idea that Card Connect was moving away from its own gateway solution.
The exhibits, taken together, paint a picture of a company (Card Connect) grappling with the limitations of its own technology (its gateway) and making a strategic decision to rely on a competitor (Shift4) for a critical component of its service. The "ground floor reboot" phrase, while seemingly minor, becomes a symbol of the perceived difference in quality and approach between the two companies.