Your site says my card was declined, but my credit card company says it went through.

Your site says my card was declined, but my credit card company says it went through.

Your site says my card was declined, but my credit card company says it went through.

I think you double charged me!

It is possible for your credit card company to show a pending/processing charge even though we have declined the charge. We know this doesn't sound right, however, it is just how the system works. If we declined the charge your pending/processing charge will automatically be removed by your credit card company. This normally occurs within 72 hours and we have no control over this, nor can we manually remove the pending charge for you.

A brief explanation on how a declined charge can show up as pending. 

To protect your security we require that your address and card code (those 3 or 4 digits on your card) match what your credit card company has on file. This added security prevents fraud, and believe it or not is not required by your credit card company. These security measures are used by most online sites and prevents fraudulent charges. Due to how the system works, these security measures can cause a charge that your credit card company approved originally, to also be denied microseconds later if your address or card code was wrong. 

Here is how it actually works. 

  1. When you submit your transaction: your card number, expiration date, and transaction amount are sent to your credit card company for approval.
  2. Your bank either approves or declines it. If declined nothing further happens.
  3. If approved, an approval number is issued and your credit card company records a pending charge.
  4. At the exact same time (after we get approval) we submit your address and card code for verification.
  5. If they are verified, we approve the transaction, add the credits to your account, and send a settlement request to your credit card company for the transaction amount.
  6. If the verification fails, we decline the charge and do NOT send the settlement request. However, the pending/processing charge will stay on your account. Your credit card company holds the pending/processing charge and waits for our settlement request. Since we see the transaction as declined, we won't send the settlement request and it will be dropped from your account.

As you can see, a transaction that was originally approved by your credit card company can be declined on our end. If our site said that your charge was declined, but your credit card company says it went through, it is only a temporary hold and it will be removed automatically as detailed above. 

If you need further assistance with a credit card issue please contact us.


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