This article is to advise best practices when it comes to taking payments. This will help you know how to handle different messages you may encounter while taking payments. This could include: declines, refunds, chargebacks, etc…
Declines
If a card gives a decline message, it could be for different reasons. Some reasons include: insufficient funds, incorrect card information, wrong billing address information, etc.
Here are some best practices to follow when handling declined credit cards. These practices help keep low decline rates:
- Do NOT try to process the same card more than 3 times within 24 hours.
- NOTE: Doing this could raise red flags with the processor and card brands which could impact your ability to continue processing transactions.
- Reach out to the customer to see if they know why it may be declining
- Send a Request Payment link to have the customer enter a new payment method securely
- Re-enter the credit card details on the Payment Info tab of the reservation or on the Financial Data tab on the Account
Refunds
If you ever get a notice about having a high refund rate, here are some best practices you may try to implement:
- Only Capture funds for services that you know you will be able to cover.
- Try authorizing the card and on the day of come back and capture the amount.
Chargebacks
For chargebacks here is some information you may find helpful is a dispute arises.
- You would get a chargeback notification via email with the details including a case#. If you have questions about your chargeback, please call (334)-329-6775, Option # 4