checking out with gift certificate

My customers seem to have an ongoing problem with gift certificates and I think I've figured out why they are having confusion so often.

The usual complaint is that they've redeemed the gift certificate but it doesn't get applied to the order.

I tried duplicating the problem and here's what happens on my setup (1.39h) -

1. customer begins checkout and has a gift certificate code which they have not yet redeemed.
2. on the payment page, they enter the gift certificate code and a payment method.
3. Clicking continue brings the customer to the final checkout page with a message that indicates that they have redeemed the gift certificate successfully.
4. Gift certificate has in fact been redeemed but not applied to the order.

It seems that when a customer redeems a gift certificate during checkout they must also specify an amount to apply. I guess that makes sense but the "redeemed" message makes the customer think that they've done everything they need to do. And since they've now passed the payment page, there's no additional opportunity to use the gift certificate during the current purchase. Finally, the customer is puzzled and upset when they get to the confirmation page and there's no gift certificate amount applied to their order.

I've added all sorts of text on the payment page to try to make it clearer for customers, but this comes up several times a week, so that leads me to believe it's still confusing to customers.

One possible solution would be to automatically default to using enough gift certificate funds to pay for the whole order (or as much as is in the gift certificate balance) with an option to reduce that. But I don't know how to do that.

My Zen Cart defaults to using zero of the existing amount of the gift certificate until another amount is specified. I would imagine most customer want to use their gift certificate now rather than later so defaulting to zero seems counter-intuitive.

Ed

This really depends ...

Many buy Gift Certifcates to send to other people ... if they start redeeming the Gift Certificate and it automatically applies the amount then they will use the Gift Certificate on their own order ...

You could customize Gict Certificate ot_gv so that the Gift Certificate has a redeem button next to it and the Apply Amount always shows ... and maybe that will help your customers ...

Ajeh:

This really depends ...

Many buy Gift Certifcates to send to other people ... if they start redeeming the Gift Certificate and it automatically applies the amount then they will use the Gift Certificate on their own order ...

You could customize Gict Certificate ot_gv so that the Gift Certificate has a redeem button next to it and the Apply Amount always shows ... and maybe that will help your customers ...

If someone purchases a gift certificate for someone else, it won't be in their account until after they complete the purchase, at which point they can email it to the recipient. Unless they come back to the site to make another purchase, they normally would not mistakenly use the gift certificate themselves.

I would like the "amount applied" to default to the smaller of either the order total or the gift certificate balance which is currently available.

If a person doesn't want to use their gift certificate balance, then they should have the option of reducing or changing the amount applied to zero, instead of the other way around.

I would think that in the vast majority of checkouts, people with gift certificates want to use it now, so the default should be to apply the gift certificate with the option of not applying it if they want.

I've never had a customer tell me they checked out and mistakenly used their gift certificate balance.

But I get at least 3-4 people a week who complete the checkout without using the gift certificate that Zen Cart said they just redeemed, and then they want me to adjust the balance and apply their gift certificate to the order that is already complete.

Telling a customer they've redeemed a gift certificate during checkout and then not applying it makes for unhappy customers.

thanks,

Ed

In re-reading my last message, I think maybe I'm needlessly complicating this.

For me, the issue is that if a customer redeems a gift certificate DURING the checkout process, I would like to have the gift certificate balance applied to that order. Can this be done?

thanks,

Ed

You would have to work out the calculation to use based on the Total, Gift Certificate amount and existing Customer Balance ... but if you look at the code in the Gift Certificate ot_gv you could add this to set the amount to the specific Gift Certificate just redeemed:

        $_SESSION['cot_gv'] = $gv_result->fields['coupon_amount'];
        //          zen_redirect(zen_href_link(FILENAME_CHECKOUT_PAYMENT, 'error_message=' . urlencode(ERROR_REDEEMED_AMOUNT. $currencies->format($gv_amount)), 'SSL'));
        $messageStack->add_session('redemptions',ERROR_REDEEMED_AMOUNT. $currencies->format($gv_amount), 'success' );

I don't know the calculations off the top of my head ...

Ok, thanks.

Yes, Zen Cart already handles an amount placed into the "amount to apply" box nicely and even holds the value if you decide to leave the checkout flow and then come back to it later.

So I think that all I need to do is to get the gift certificate value into the variable for "amount to apply" instead of it defaulting to zero. Once there, Zen Cart should automatically calculate what is allowed.

I'll continue looking at it to see if I can figure it out.

thanks again,

Ed

This is a change in the newer versions of Zen-Cart right? I have an older Zen-Cart store that does not do this. When a customer enters a gift certificate code during checkout and clicks Continue, it brings them back to Step 2 again and prompts them to enter the amount they want to redeem. Although annoying, this makes more sense.

I have a 1.3.9h store that does the same thing as edadk described above, and it is terrible, SO confusing for customers!!! What would I need to do to make it work the way it worked in older versions of Zen?

Thanks.

I have the same problems as the OP...any chance of an easy fix?

I am not following just what you want ...

What version Zen Cart do you have?

You want to have when the customer enters the GV redeem code that they just go on to the checkout_confirmation?

Or, do you want that they stay on the checkout_payment with the message that the GV code was redeemed so they can enter the amount?

Or what are you asking for? :unsure:

If a customer redeems a gift certificate during the checkout process, I'd like ZenCart to assume that the customer intends to actually use the gift certificate right now.

I would like it to default to using the maximum amount of the gift certificate balance possible/required, with an option to change that or not use it for this purchase.

Examples.

1. A buyer is purchasing $20 worth of goods and redeems a $25 gift certificate during the checkout process. The default action should be that the gift certificate balance covers the entire purchase amount without the buyer having to specify, but the buyer can change that if they wish.

2. A buyer is purchasing $100 worth of goods and redeems a $25 gift certificate during the checkout process. The default action should be that the gift certificate balance reduces the balance due on the order and the customer pays for the rest of the order using usual payment methods available.

Using v1.39h

edadk:

If a customer redeems a gift certificate during the checkout process, I'd like ZenCart to assume that the customer intends to actually use the gift certificate right now.

I would like it to default to using the maximum amount of the gift certificate balance possible/required, with an option to change that or not use it for this purchase.

Examples.

1. A buyer is purchasing $20 worth of goods and redeems a $25 gift certificate during the checkout process. The default action should be that the gift certificate balance covers the entire purchase amount without the buyer having to specify, but the buyer can change that if they wish.

2. A buyer is purchasing $100 worth of goods and redeems a $25 gift certificate during the checkout process. The default action should be that the gift certificate balance reduces the balance due on the order and the customer pays for the rest of the order using usual payment methods available.

Using v1.39h
Exactly...I am using 1.39 and the same thing happens: customers go to use a gift cert code and end up not knowing that they need to apply the amount to the total. They end up not using the gift certificate and mad at us for not taking their amount off the total of the invoice! It should automatically subtract the total amount as applicable and reflect this on the order confirmation.

I just started using Zen Cart this year and I am using v1.39h. I just encountered this exact same problem that you are all describing. It seems this thread was never resolved. I read the whole thread hoping it resulted in a solution! I would like for checkout to go back to Step 2 rather than go on to Step 3 (sounds like it did in older versions of Zen Cart), so that the customer can apply the amount in the "Apply Amount" box. Or is there a way to add the "Apply Amount" box in Step 3? That would solve the problem too so that the customer doesn't need to hit the back button to get to Step 2.

Can I just copy and paste the Apply Amount box and stick it somewhere in Step 3?

For now, I just added these instructions on Step 2. As long as the customer applies the amount at the SAME TIME they redeem, it seems to work. Hopefully that will help avoid any issues.

"If you are redeeming a new Gift Certificate, type the number into the box next to Redemption Code and make sure you fill out the 'Apply Amount' box to the right. That amount will be applied to your shopping cart and any remaining funds redeemed will be added to your account when you click the continue button."

I wanted my cart to default to applying the maximum balance available and still allow the customer to change it if they want to. For me it was as easy as changing one little spot to populate that field with the available balance instead of 0.00.

I use 1.3.9h so keep that in mind when making modifications.

In /includes/modules/order_total/ot_gv.php, line 48 looks like this:

    if (!zen_not_null(ltrim($_SESSION['cot_gv'], ' 0')) || $_SESSION['cot_gv'] == '0') $_SESSION['cot_gv'] = '0.00';

Change it to this:

    if (!zen_not_null(ltrim($_SESSION['cot_gv'], ' 0')) || $_SESSION['cot_gv'] == '0') $_SESSION['cot_gv'] = $this->user_has_gv_account($_SESSION['customer_id']);

Basically you're replacing the '0.00' withe function built into zen cart that pulls the available balance from the database. Hope it works for you guys and be sure to BACKUP your file before making changes.

Lanbo:

Basically you're replacing the '0.00' withe function built into zen cart that pulls the available balance from the database. Hope it works for you guys and be sure to BACKUP your file before making changes.

Thanks, Lanbo! Will this work if the customer's available GV balance is greater than the order total?

AvaAdorn:

Thanks, Lanbo! Will this work if the customer's available GV balance is greater than the order total?

It works for me. Tried on an account with $11.37 for an order that was $9.33. Left it defaulted to 11.37 and on the confirmation page it changes it to 9.33. Must be some functionality built in to zen cart by the zen gurus that does that automatically.

Just updated my code and it works like a charm. Thanks again!

This works great, EXCEPT for when the customer has an existing balance and then redeems a new gift certificate. It does not update the field with the NEW gift certificate account balance.

For example, customer has a $2.50 balance leftover from previous gift certificate. Redeems a new certificate worth $5.00. Balance in the box still shows $2.50, even though the customer's gift certificate balance is now $7.50.

Any idea how to get it to repopulate the field when a new gift certificate is redeeemed and there is a previously existing balance?

Interesting. I didn't check on that. I'll have to look at the code to see what it's doing when I get a chance, but somebody else may already know and can respond more quickly.

EDIT: And the same goes for if they don't have a balance at all and redeem during checkout.

Okay, guys. New code to get it to work better thanks to input from abcisme (good catch).

This works for me. So to consolidate:

In /includes/modules/order_total/ot_gv.php, line 48 (for me) looks like this:

    if (!zen_not_null(ltrim($_SESSION['cot_gv'], ' 0')) || $_SESSION['cot_gv'] == '0') $_SESSION['cot_gv'] = '0.00';

and needs to be changed to:

    if (!zen_not_null(ltrim($_SESSION['cot_gv'], ' 0')) || $_SESSION['cot_gv'] == '0') $_SESSION['cot_gv'] = $this->user_has_gv_account($_SESSION['customer_id']);

The new change (lines 263-264 for me) looked like this:

        //          zen_redirect(zen_href_link(FILENAME_CHECKOUT_PAYMENT, 'error_message=' . urlencode(ERROR_REDEEMED_AMOUNT. $currencies->format($gv_amount)), 'SSL'));
        $messageStack->add_session('redemptions',ERROR_REDEEMED_AMOUNT. $currencies->format($gv_amount), 'success' );

and needs to be changed to:

		$_SESSION['cot_gv'] = $this->user_has_gv_account($_SESSION['customer_id']);
		$messageStack->add_session('redemptions',ERROR_REDEEMED_AMOUNT. $currencies->format($gv_amount), 'success' );
        zen_redirect(zen_href_link(FILENAME_CHECKOUT_PAYMENT, 'error_message=' . urlencode(ERROR_REDEEMED_AMOUNT. $currencies->format($gv_amount)), 'SSL'));

(please note the first new line to pull the new gift balance)

This will redirect it back to the payment page after processing the gift certificate and it will update the amount to use to be their new balance. They can then change it if they want to before proceeding.