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A payment failed or is stuck
By the end of this article you will know whether the money moved, why it did not, and how to collect again without charging anyone twice.
Symptoms
- A card was declined in the field or on a payment link, and the invoice still shows a balance.
- A payment sits at Pending or Authorized under Billing › Payments › Transactions.
- A customer says they paid, but the invoice is not Paid.
- A customer says the payment page refused their link.
- There is no way to take a card at all — the invoice email has no Pay now button and the technician’s phone offers none.
- A payout has not reached your bank.
Likely causes
- The card was declined. The row’s Status reads Failed. It is history, not money: it never counts towards the balance, and the invoice stays owed. If the card on file was reported unusable by its bank, the app switches it off so it is not tried again.
- The link expired. A payment link works for two days. After that the email’s button still opens the page, but the page refuses the payment and the link’s row reads Expired.
- The link was revoked, or the invoice changed. A revoked link is dead for good, and a link for an invoice that was voided or has no balance is refused.
- The payment is still in flight. Pending is a card charge whose result has not come back yet; Authorized is a card that was approved but not yet charged. Neither needs anything from you.
- Card processing is not set up. Until your application with our payment processor is approved, there is no card to charge anywhere — no Pay now in emails, no card option on the phone, no payment links. Billing › Payments shows where the application stands.
- A subscription charge failed. The customer’s plan charge is retried over the following days on its own; if it keeps failing they are emailed a link to pay that period, and you are notified.
- The payout is on its way. Card payments are gathered into settlements and paid out on the processor’s schedule — see the Settlements tab for each one and its state.
What to do
- Open the invoice and look at Payment Records. A Failed row means nothing was collected; Pending means wait; a Captured row that covers the balance means the invoice is paid, and the status catches up the moment the record lands.
- Declined? Collect another way: click Create payment link under Payment Links on the invoice, or take a cash or check payment. The technician in the field can email the same link from the phone.
- Link expired or “not working”? On the invoice, find the link under Payment Links and click Resend — it goes out again with a fresh two-day expiry. A Revoked link cannot be revived; create a new one.
- Customer insists they paid, nothing under Payment Records? Ask for the date and the last four digits of the card, then check Billing › Payments › Transactions for that day. Not there either? The payment did not go through on their side — a declined card shows an error on the page, so ask them to try again or send a new link.
- Pending for more than a few hours? That is unusual, and we are alerted when it happens; write to support@waxstak.com with the invoice number and the date rather than charging again. Authorized and never charged? The hold is released by the card network within seven days without any action.
- Cannot take cards at all? Open Billing › Payments. Continue Setup, Update Application or Resubmit Application each tell you what the processor still needs — see Get set up to take card payments.
- Payout late? Open the Settlements tab. A settlement that has settled is on its way to the bank account you gave the processor; if one has sat for more than a week, write to support with its date.
Good to know
- Never charge twice to be safe. A Pending payment can still succeed; a second charge on top of it is a refund you will have to make. Wait, or ask support.
- A dispute is different from a failure. Money that arrived and was then taken back by the customer’s bank is a chargeback — see Failed or disputed payments for the Disputes tab and its deadline.
- A voided invoice keeps its payments. Voiding does not refund; if a customer paid an invoice you then voided, refund the payment from its record — see Refund a payment.
- Who. Payments is open to Admin, Accounting and Viewer; refunds, disputes and payment links from the office need Admin or Accounting. A Technician collects in the field and can email the payment link from the phone, but does not see Payments.