We have been using Square for about 15 months, and only on a computer in the office. So far we average about 1-2 credit card transactions per week and everything has gone very smoothly. But we expect to do much more credit card business now because of the virus problem; we are now discouraging checks or cash, and we are trying to convert as much business as possible to credit cards.
On average, our services are performed 3 or 4 days AFTER the customer has placed the order, sometimes a week or more. We are given credit card information at the time the customer calls and orders service, but we do not run the credit card transaction until the day AFTER we have provided service. The reason for the delay is that we don't know the services were actually performed until the drivers check in at the end of the day, and by that time the office is already closed until the next morning.
It has not happened yet, but eventually we are certain to have a credit card transaction declined AFTER we have already provided service.
So my question is this: how can we verify the validity of the credit card information that we are given at the time of the order? We would like to be able to do a "test" transaction of the credit card number, expiration date, the security code and zip code at the time the customer orders service. Is that possible?
Here's a real-life example of why this is important: we got an order today, and the client gave us his credit card information. But he had trouble reading the code on the back of the card. Assuming the client is honest and all the other info he gave us was correct, the transaction will still be declined if we do not have the correct code.
