Managing Duplicate Transactions with MerchantTrack

Introduction

Sometimes, a guest may contact you about a duplicate charge on their credit card. When you go to check the transaction within PCS, you only see one charge. This is caused by some interruption during the PC Pay checkout process. Something interfered with the process- perhaps the guest removed their card too early, the internet dropped for a moment, or there was an error fully reading the card. When this happens, the original charge may get stuck in an "authorized" state. This means that the transaction is authorized to go ahead, but PCS abandoned the transaction because the connection to the payment network was interrupted somehow. If this scenario occurs, there are a few steps you should take to help resolve it quickly for your customers. 

Checking the Order in PCS

First, you'll want to search for the order made in PCS. Once you find the order the customer is associated with, navigate to the payments tab. We want to first ensure that there is only one successful payment within PCS. 

The order may have a Failed Payment History, which we will want to check as well. This could give insight as to why the customer has two charges.

In this example, we have some sort of system error that prevented the original transaction. While PCS lists this as a failed transaction, this particular charge actually made it to the "Authorized" state which can be seen within MerchantTrack. Another common error that may be seen here is "AVS Settings Error"; this means that the address entered does not match what is exactly on the card. Transactions that fail by this method may reach the "Authorized" state.

Checking the Order in MerchantTrack

Once we have confirmed that the customer has only one charge in PCS (And checked to see if there was anything strange about the order), we'll want to pull it up within MerchantTrack. We'll go to "Transaction Search" at the left-side toolbar to do so. This will allow us to search for the possible duplicate transaction.

Often, duplicate or failed transactions will not be associated with an order, so searching by the transaction number or invoice number will not work. Searching by the last 4 digits on the credit card or the transaction date will work best. Here is our example transaction within MerchantTrack:

We see two transactions within minutes of each other. One is batched (Charged correctly) and the other is still Authorized. PCS will not attempt to collect the charge on the Authorized transaction, but that charge may show up on the customer's credit card statement. No money has been taken, but it may appear as a pending charge to them. Credit charges should fall off within 7 business days, but some customers may want it gone faster. Fortunately, these transactions can be voided.

Voiding a Transaction in MerchantTrack

Clicking on the transaction ID will bring up a new page with some more order details. At the right side of the screen, there will be an action menu.

If the charge is Authorized, then the above menu will appear. Batched charges will say "Refund" instead. Clicking "Void" will allow you to void the authorized charge, which may help the charge fall off faster. The exact time the charge will fall off varies between facility and bank, but voiding a charge signals the system will not collect on the charge sooner.

Once this has been completed, the customer should see the charge disappear in the next few days!