Forum Moderators: buckworks
I got a call this morning from a customer who had been contacted by the fraud department of her credit card company, wanting to know about the multiple large charges we had placed on her account.
We'd only made one charge, but she had fumbled around multiple times with billing address and CVV mismatches, causing a couple of declines to be recorded.
So, the combination of the declines, and a later accepted charge all piled up and triggered the fraud group.
I have to go through the same spiel every time explaining the difference between a hold and a capture, and that even declines place holds. When they ask why, I end up looking foolish with my "you know, I have no idea, its just how it works" response.
Does anyone know how long these holds remain and if there is anyway to remove them?
I imagine this must be an issue for other vendors, because we run across it fairly regularly.
I don't know the answer to how long the hold stays in place.
Does anyone know how long these holds remain and if there is anyway to remove them?
Max: 30 days.
There are several ways to remove them. You can cancel the transaction, complete the transaction (or, when you settle, the hold will drop and the charge will appear), or fax a letter to her bank/cc company stating that the hold can be removed.
They're harmless (as in they don't actually charge the card, and they drop off after a max of 30 days), but they do affect the cc customer's active amount of credit available.
Yes, they don't actually charge, but it isn't harmless. If I have 5,000 in my account and if I screw up twice trying to but a 2,400 TV, then not only can I not buy the TV, I won't even be able to buy dinner.
I had people/idiots try 20 times when there card was declined, totally emptying their account.
