What Should You Do If a Guest's 1-Time Credit Card is Declined?

[kam]

If you can believe it, after 3-1/2 years I have just had MY FIRST DECLINED CARD!

OK, I was able to go online and see who it is for. This particular card is one that the guest's bank lets her create as a 1-time card. I guess it is a temporary number that will be used once and then is no longer valid. Not sure if that makes sense or if anyone else is familiar with these. I told her I would not be submitting the show until the beginning of April and it had an April Exp Date.

But, anyway, what do you guys do? Should I try re-submitting the info I have on the chance that it might have been my typing error? Is there a consequence to trying to submit a credit card again? Just thinking I would like to try re-submitting the number again without contacting the guest.

 

[PCLaurel]

I always resubmit and assume I typed incorrectly the first time. There is no consequence to resubmitting. If it fails a second time, call the customer in question. It's possible that the April expiration is what tripped it, but it isn't always easy to figure out the problem. Try to get a different card number from her. I have heard of these single use numbers - not as an actual physical card, but more for web transactions. I can't imagine that the type of card would have tripped our system, but I suppose it's possible.

 

[NooraK]

The bank I work for issues those. Our system allows the customer to create a number with a set dollar amount and a set expiration. Once that number is used at one merchant, it cannot be used at another merchant even if the original charge wasn't as much as the dollar amount set. Also, the line is not revolving like the actual credit card.

There are a few things that may have happened:

• She had already used the card at another merchant
• The dollar amount she entered wasn't sufficient
• The card was declined for other fraud prevention reasons
• As mentioned above, information was mis-keyed into P3

I would suggest re-typing the number, and if that doesn't work, let the customer know. Tell her you want to make sure you got the card number right, and if so, let her know you think it might be some kind of a fraud prevention thing (proactively letting her know you don't think she doesn't pay her bills). The customer can always call Customer Service for her CC to find out what's going on.

 

[kam]

I always resubmit and assume I typed incorrectly the first time. There is no consequence to resubmitting.

If it fails a second time, call the customer in question. It's possible that the April expiration is what tripped it, but it isn't always easy to figure out the problem. Try to get a different card number from her.

I have heard of these single use numbers - not as an actual physical card, but more for web transactions. I can't imagine that the type of card would have tripped our system, but I suppose it's possible.

Excellent - I just didn't want to cause problems by re-submitting a number that might actually be invalid.

The bank I work for issues those. Our system allows the customer to create a number with a set dollar amount and a set expiration. Once that number is used at one merchant, it cannot be used at another merchant even if the original charge wasn't as much as the dollar amount set. Also, the line is not revolving like the actual credit card.

There are a few things that may have happened:

• She had already used the card at another merchant
• The dollar amount she entered wasn't sufficient
• The card was declined for other fraud prevention reasons
• As mentioned above, information was mis-keyed into P3

I would suggest re-typing the number, and if that doesn't work, let the customer know. Tell her you want to make sure you got the card number right, and if so, let her know you think it might be some kind of a fraud prevention thing (proactively letting her know you don't think she doesn't pay her bills). The customer can always call Customer Service for her CC to find out what's going on.

Thank you for the explanation. When she told me what it was, I thought it was very interesting.

She set it for $10 more than the amount. When she explained it to me I was afraid of the expiration date since it was going to be into April until I submitted and she said it was fine.

I am really hoping I just typed it in wrong! I will try it as soon as I get home!

Thanks!

 

[NooraK]

Thank you for the explanation. When she told me what it was, I thought it was very interesting.

She set it for $10 more than the amount. When she explained it to me I was afraid of the expiration date since it was going to be into April until I submitted and she said it was fine.

I am really hoping I just typed it in wrong! I will try it as soon as I get home!

Thanks!

Most of the time, it's nothing you or she had any control over, but it's more likely to be a fraud prevention reason.