We can see that the extended messages from authorize.net are available to the administrators. Perhaps its possible to extend this in some way that I can't see, but it would be great to allow the users to see why their credit card was declined, particularly if the decline happens because a zip (postal) code doesn't match, or some other small issue with address verification.
Tue, 12/08/2009 - 13:07
Re: Expose Authorize.net verbose payment decline messages to Cus
In general, I think it would be a bad idea to inform the customer about the details of why a card was rejected. This is for the same reason that when a login fails, you don't tell the user which of the username/password was wrong. That is, being explicit about what is wrong is actually the same as telling them what is *correct*. If the rejection is because of a hacker trying to use a card you don't want him to know what part of the data is good and what isn't. Likewise, you don't want to reveal what parts of the data are being checked and what aren't. The true cardholder should have the correct information, or be able to get the correct information off his bill. In the case of a typo when entering information, the true cardholder should be be able to examine the data and tell where the error was.
No message displayed to user at all
In final testing against live Authorize.net:
When the card is declined there is NO messaging appearing at all on the Review Order page. The page refreshes but looks identical.
I have looked to see whether the theme is hiding the message but I don't see anything in the page source.
Where would this message be?
The decline, the order's status in admin, and the information on Auth.Net's site are all correct. But the user doesn't know that the page was even processed.
Re: No message displayed to user at all
Yes, one of our clients also would like the customer to know when the order fails because of a declined credit card.
According to her, when a customer's credit card declines, they're not getting a message telling them that. The page either just won't load or they get bumped back to home page. She says this happens a lot, as they often have large purchases that credit card companies decline trying to protect themselves from fraud.
TR's concern is well taken. But is there some other way that at least a simple message could be presented to the customer? That way at least the customer would know that the problem is with their credit card rather than an issue with the website.
Jim