What can I do if a guest's card is declined?

• What can I do if a guest's card is declined or denied?
• Can I recover a denied payment after a guest has left?

Declined payments occur when you attempt to process the guest's credit card and the card is denied by the processor. This can happen due to insufficient funds, debit blocks placed on the card, suspected fraud, or even a worn-out chip or magstripe on the card.
 

What can you do if a guest's card is declined? This can be an uncomfortable situation for both you and the guest. Toast recommends:
 

• Express empathy.
• Discretely let the guest know their card has been denied.
• Suggest another form of payment.
• Confirm that Toast is not currently experiencing a service disruption by checking our Service Disruption Status page.
• Confirm that there are no known issues with your credit card processor.
• If your location is in Offline Mode, please note that all credit card transactions will be processed once your network or Internet connection is reestablished and your location is back online. You can find more information on processing credit cards in offline mode here: Outages and Disruptions: Set Up Payment Processing for Disruptions and Outages. 
   

Note: If a guest leaves before you've closed out or attempted to charge their tab, this isn't a declined-card situation — no payment was attempted. Toast cannot process a charge without the guest's card present, so there is no self-service way to collect payment after they've left. Contact Customer Care to review the specific check.