How do I fix a double charge?

[lularoemonagatz]

I had a customer whose card was declined, then apparently accepted as we did get paid for her transaction. Her bank statement says she was double charged. We were only paid for the transaction that went through. What is the procedure for us to fix this?

[Chad · Accepted solution]

Hello @lularoemonagatz! I can provide some clarification on this transaction. 

If a card is declined the customers bank will place a pending hold for the amount charged. This pending hold will drop off after a few business days. So that is why your customer see's two charges. 

Did you send this customer an invoice or did you take the payment in person? 

[lularoemonagatz]

It was an invoice 🙂

[Helen]

Hi again @lularoemonagatz. Helen here, I'm jumping in for Chad!

It does sound like your customer's first attempt to pay the invoice was declined. You could ask them if they remember having to enter their card information a second time, or if they saw an error message when they tried to pay the invoice initially.

As Chad mentioned, when a card is declined the customer's bank places a pending hold for the charge. This will drop off your customer's statement in a few days! 

[eileenkropf24]

We accidently double charged a client. Three days later we noticed the double deposit into out bank account. We refunded the client but what about the double fees we were charged by Square? Is there any way to recoil that?

[eileenkropf24]

Recoup that.... not recoil...

[Helen]

Hi @eileenkropf24, I understand what you mean! 

When you issue a refund the full amount is always returned to your customer, and Square covers the fees.

This Support Center article has more detail about how refunds work but if you have any questions about this please let me know! 

[Hotsyjoe1975]

Customer was charged double need to make sure it was processed correctly and the refund was given back to customer 

[ashc]

Hi @Hotsyjoe1975 and welcome to the Seller Community.

I moved your post to a relevant thread in the Community around double charges and how that process looks on the customer's bank's end.

I don't have access to your account here from the Community to look into it with you but if it shows as double but doesn't show as double on your end- it'll drop off within a few days. If you had to refund one- here's the refund process.

[Pcitizen]

This is one of my regular clients and always use the same card. America express is showing paid but on my end it’s showing unpaid. Will the client get back the money so that I can recharge him? Super cornering that this is the 2nd time this has happen to my client. 

[JustinC]

Sounds like a declined invoice payment, yes? In that case, your client see a pending charge on their bank statement which means the payment was never complete. 

Pending charges usually fall off in a couple days depending on your customer bank's processing speeds. We suggest your client reach out to their bank to sort out the decline reason or use another payment method. @Pcitizen

[SmooV]

Why is square charging my client double fees? For example, a service is $35 and if they want to add a tip it’s $41.30. My clients are showing me their bank statements where it has pending charges for both. Why?

[Demi24]

Hi there! I have a client that has seen two charges on her bank account from my card reader. It's showing her the total and then what square has charged me. Is this just a pre auth? I'm super confused because non of my other clients has said anything about this. If it is just a pre auth, it will show back up in her account correct? Like in a few business days?? Please an thank you! 

[ashc]

Hi @Demi24 and welcome to the Community!
 

I moved your post to a thread where this question has been answered already.

Check out the Best Answer above for details. 

In the future, don't hesitate to search your question first here or on the Support Center for your quickest answer too!

[notedanddone]

Hi, 

A client's bank declined our payment stating we processed it twice, but I don't see two invoices for the same client. I only sent a reminder to them. Now the bank is saying is a mistake on our end. I haven't been paid because of this, and I would really appreciate some assistance.

[JJ_]

This must be frustrating @notedanddone. Declined payments may occur for several reasons and they won't necessarily be related to a double invoice. An example of this was if the Customer entered a part of the security information wrong like CVV or Billing Zipcode one time the bank could have protected their account from subsequent charges that day and time. Declines will also show up on the customer's account as PENDING but will eventually drop (24-48 hours).

 My suggestion is if your customer is able to show you a POSTED charge from Square and you are yet to see this in your balance, please reach out to our support team for them to investigate this for you. 

P.S. Welcome to the Seller Community ✨

[MidWest1]

Why are my customers getting charged twice for the same amount at the exact same time of processing ?

[Laurie_]

Hi @MidWest1, thanks for reaching out to us!

Is this happening for every transaction you process with a card, or only for a select few? 
 

When you check your Transactions page, are you seeing one record of the payment only? Where your customer is seeing two charges on their bank statement?

If this is the case, then what has most likely happened is while you've attempted to process the payment, the transaction may have become voided. This can be due to timeout, internet issues or the card itself hasn't been read correctly. When this happens, the card will need to be processed again but your customer may see multiple charges on their statement.

Rest assured, these are only pending charges and will drop off within a few days. We suggest reaching out to our Support Team for payment support as they'll be able to access your payment history to determine what may have caused this. 

If you'd like to speak with our Support Team by phone, you can give us a call at 1-855-700-6000 between 6 am - 6 pm Pacific Time Monday - Friday. If you call outside of these hours, you will be required to enter your Customer Code to validate your account.

You can also get in touch with our Messaging and Email Support Teams here: squ.re/contactsqsupport

[MidWest1]

Customer has not Contacted me yet however I just noticed a double charge on my side of the transaction history. And both payments were transferred into my account. The customer bought a rental through my website for one day and I got paid for two days worth With two separate transactions From the same card at the exact same time for the exact same price. 

[Laurie_]

@MidWest1, thanks for sending this information.

As far as I'm aware, payment will only be processed once you physically select Charge. I've not seen any reported incidents of accidental duplicate charges via the Square app. 

If you're positive you only entered the payment information and selected Charge once, but can see two successful processed card transactions on your end, you'll need to contact our Support Team for further assistance here. They may try to replicate this behaviour on your account to rule out any issues you may be seeing.

In the meantime, you can certainly process a refund for the duplicate charge so that your customer isn't out of pocket for too long.