Address Mismatch Still Charges Account - Authorize.net

Hey everyone.

I'm using Authorize.net with Zen-Cart.

Doing some initial testing, I logged into my client's Auth.net account and turned test mode to OFf.

I went into Zen-Cart Admin and changed the payment module to Production mode.

I just ran my own credit card through, using bad address information to see what would happen.

Zen-Cart alerted me that there was an address mismatch...great!

The problem....I looked at my bank account, and the amount was charged to my account.

Neither myself (customer), nor the store owner has received any order confirmation emails.

Will this transaction be declined and not charged, or is it actually going to go through?

If it helps at all...

I just went into Authorize.net and did a search for "Pending Transactions".

Both of the transactions I posted about are showing declined in the Transaction Status.

I think this is a good thing, but I still don't understand why the amount was still charged to my account?

I'm confused. You said you ran your "credit card" through authorize.net, and it was declined.
Then you said you checked your "bank account" and found money withdrawn.

Is your credit card tied directly to your bank account ?

It sounds like you have a problem on the authorize.net end and should be talking to their tech support folks.

Sorry about the confusion. It's a Visa debit card, so yes, it is tied to my bank account.

I put my card's information into my shopping cart, with the wrong address.

The shopping cart gave me the "wrong address" error (red bar at top of page)

I checked Authorize.net....the transaction was in a "declined" status....good.

I checked my bank account. There was a transaction sitting in the "Pending Transactions" section. The transaction has not posted yet.

I'm thinking maybe Authorize.net will cancel the transaction in a day or so and this "Pending Transaction" will disappear?

Hope that helps explain my dilemma better.

Is it an actual withdrawal ("capture") or is it just a pending charge ("authorization") ?

funkdrmr:

I checked my bank account. There was a transaction sitting in the "Pending Transactions" section. The transaction has not posted yet.

I'm thinking maybe Authorize.net will cancel the transaction in a day or so and this "Pending Transaction" will disappear?

"Pending" sounds like it's only an authorization, which, in a few days, will expire.
It may be treated as a partial hold, but I suspect it'll be deleted after a short time.

I would argue that authorizenet shouldn't have put a hold on those funds, but that may actually be something your bank has done when the attempted auth wenth through. You might want to talk to your bank about their policies in that area.

I can't see anything wrong with the way Zen Cart is interacting or displaying things though.

I just called Authorize.net and they told me this is pretty standard.

When the address didn't match at my bank, it told Authorize.net to decline the transaction, and they did.

The bank may keep the funds in this status for up to 30 days. Authorize.net said this is standard for the C/C industry. If I want to have the funds released earlier, I can call the toll-free number on the back of my card and give them the 6 digit authorization code for the transaction to release the funds.

New question:

I'm using the Authorize / Capture setting on my Payment module. If I change this to only "Authorize", will that change how this situation is handled?

funkdrmr:

I just called Authorize.net and they told me this is pretty standard.

When the address didn't match at my bank, it told Authorize.net to decline the transaction, and they did.

The bank may keep the funds in this status for up to 30 days. Authorize.net said this is standard for the C/C industry. If I want to have the funds released earlier, I can call the toll-free number on the back of my card and give them the 6 digit authorization code for the transaction to release the funds.

New question:

I'm using the Authorize / Capture setting on my Payment module. If I change this to only "Authorize", will that change how this situation is handled?

unfortunately not - when any credit card processor tries to do an address verification.. they have to authorize a little bit of money in order to get the verification. putting it to "authorize" will make it so that the store owner has to go in there and manually capture all funds.. its OK for small stores but not for larger ones

capturing is basically taking the authorization a step forward and marking the transaction as "received" or "shipped".. so it would be on its way to your bank account when the batch is settled at night

Thanks samad! I just read another site lining that out, but you helped tie up a few loose ends for me.

I think that's it for this one...I'm sure I'll be starting more threads soon, though! :-)