Question
What can I do if a guest's card is declined or denied?
Can I recover a denied payment after a guest has left?
Why can't I recover a declined payment?
Answer
Declined payments occur when you attempt to process the guest's credit card and the card is denied by the processor. This can happen due to insufficient funds, debit blocks placed on the card, suspected fraud, or even a worn-out chip or magstripe on the card.
Toast card readers are PCI compliant, meaning no cardholder information is stored beyond the credit card time and the last four digits of the card. Toast is unable to re-process denied transactions.
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What can you do if a guest's card is declined? This can be an uncomfortable situation for both you and the guest. Toast recommends:
Express empathy.
Discreetly let the guest know their card has been denied.
Suggest another form of payment.
Confirm that Toast is not currently experiencing a service disruption by checking our Service Disruption Status page.
Confirm that there are no known issues with your credit card processor.
If your location is in Offline Mode, please note that all credit card transactions will be processed once your network or Internet connection is reestablished and your location is back online. You can find more information on processing credit cards in offline mode here: Outages and Disruptions: Set Up Payment Processing for Disruptions and Outages.
When a card is declined, Toast can't re-run the payment, and the restaurant is responsible for the unpaid amount. This most often happens with payments taken in Offline Mode that are declined once your connection comes back. To reduce this risk, set your Offline Mode payment settings to stop accepting cards while offline or to cap the amount you'll accept offline. See Prepare to Operate in Offline Mode During Service Disruptions or Outages. Also close out pre-authorized tabs promptly, because pre-authorizations can expire.
Note:If a guest leaves before you've closed out or attempted to charge their tab, this isn't a declined-card situation — no payment was attempted. Toast cannot process a charge without the guest's card present, so there is no self-service way to collect payment after they've left. Contact Customer Care to review the specific check.