Get Help With Duplicate Charges on Guest Credit Card

What should I do if a guest says they got a duplicate charge on their card?

You can take several steps to assist your guest with either refunding the identical payment if applicable or guiding them on the next steps for a resolution. One common cause of perceived duplicate charges is pre-authorization and pending charges. Banks often place authorization holds when a card is used, which show up alongside finalized charges until they drop off (typically within 1-5 business days). Additionally, payment adjustments, such as added tips, may cause a temporary secondary authorization, which appears on statements until resolved. Thusly, try these troubleshooting tips:

1. Confirm that there should only be one charge. In some instances, a guest can make multiple transactions in one day.
2. Ask your guest if their charge is showing as "pending" on their account. Pending charges can take several business days to drop off, depending on the card-issuing bank and their policies.
3. Look up the guest's last four digits of their credit card number using Find Checks & Issue Refund on the main menu of the Toast app under the Manager Activities section. Here is where you can confirm if there are duplicate transactions.  
   1. Select Find by Credit Card.
   2. Enter the Card Last 4 Digits.
   3. Select Search.
4. If there are multiple transactions, advise the guest to check their account for settled and pending payments. This transaction can be due to a voided payment or authorization. In this case, the guest should expect the pending charges to clear within several business days, depending on the card-issuing bank and their policies. Offline payment scenarios can also result in duplicate charges if the system processes a transaction again once it reconnects to the network. Encourage staff to review and confirm charges carefully to prevent such issues.
5. In case of an incorrect charge, you can follow the steps in the following article on , if applicable.
6. For checks with negative balances after handling a duplicate charge, add an open item to orders showing the negative balance so the check can close once at zero.

Guided Communication for Specific Scenarios

1. Voided Payments: Explain that a voided transaction will appear as pending but is not captured. Share proof from Toast records to reassure customers.
2. Split Payment Corrections: Reassure the customer that voided transactions from split payments won’t be captured and provide screenshots of voids and actual captured amounts from Toast.
3. Denied Charges: Inform customers that denied transactions might still appear as pending, but these are not processed. Pending amounts will expire and drop off as determined by the customer’s bank.
4. Invoices Not Matching Charges: Investigate unexpected discrepancies thoroughly by consulting the system. Report billing errors or duplicate security deposits to the Toast billing team for a final resolution.

Tips to Prevent Future Issues

• Use Ethernet for Auto-fire: Configuring the Toast system through Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi prevents system behaviors like order rejections or duplicate charges.
• Monitor Split Payments: Ensure all payment splits are accurately recorded and verified before closing tables.