My client says they were twice, what happened?

[Kina-Kréa]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: Client charged twice

A client contacted me to say her card was charged twice. I only have one transaction in my records and was only paid for one transaction. Her card was accepted on the first try, so it's not because her card was declined, then accepted.

Any idea what happened? 

[Joe]

Hi there, @Kina-Krea! Thanks for letting us know about this issue. This kind of situation can present itself often, and I think we can provide a bit of clarity.

Firstly, I will say that a definitive tool that will always give you a truthful indication of your transaction status will be the Online Dashboard. Both the Reports tab and the Transactions tab should accurately display your payments, and therefore give you insight on whether or not there are multiple transactions taken that are similar. While I'm sure you already know this, I always remind our Sellers that this tool can be fully trusted! On the other hand, I don't blame you at all for being skeptical as to how many times the transaction went through (I would too if it showed up twice on my customers statement 😅). Yet, in my time at Square, I have never seen the Dashboard be incorrect. 

Is it possible that your customer paid using a debit card? If an attempt to pay using a debit card is unsuccessful, that will often create a pending authorization on your customers statement. This authorization will not fully post to your customers bank, due to the transaction attempt being unsuccessful. Pending authorizations tend to fall off of your customers statement after 24 to 48 hours, but if you would like them removed more quickly, your customer can contact their card-issuing bank to cancel the pending authorizations. 

Lastly, I will say that pending authorizations can be tricky - and often times there are a lot of moving pieces. If you are ever needing to confirm a transaction in a more solidified manner, our Support Team is always available and willing to help! We want to make sure you are well supported.

Let us know if you have any additional questions. Cheers!