GO SUB: Handling Payment Failures and Order Creation Flow
If the subscription payment fails, the order will not be created and the contract will have a "Failed" status. By resolving the cause and returning the status to "active," you can reinstate the contract and retry creating the order. In this article, we will explain the flow of the response and the precautions that may occur depending on the timing of the return (possibility of orders being created twice in a short period of time).
If payment fails
Orders for failed payments will not be created. The contract will be in the "failed" status and will be displayed in the subscription contract list/contract details on the management screen.red "failure" labelwill be displayed. No further orders will be created until you reinstate it.
Steps to return to active
① Check the cause of failure
The error details will be displayed in the "Billing" field on the contract details page. The response varies depending on the cause.
Out of stockInsufficient inventory. is displayed. This is not a card error, but an out-of-stock issue.
Card related errorPAYMENT_METHOD_DECLINED etc. This is due to payment refusal by the credit card company.
② Eliminate the cause (in case of card-related error)
Basically, card-related errors cannot be handled by the app. The customer will contact the credit card company to resolve the issue. If you need to update your card information, you can request a change to your payment information.
Request from the management screen:From the "Billing" section of the contract details > "Change", we will send an email requesting to change the payment information to the customer (*In the case of ShopPay, the customer needs to make the change from their Shop Pay account)。
From your customer account:You can change your payment method by sending an email from "View details" > "Change payment method" and clicking the link.
③Return the status to "active"
From the admin screen:Open the target contract (red label "Failed") and select "Change" > "Active" for the status.
From the customer side:You can also return to your account by clicking the "Show details" > "Resume" button on the account screen.
④Order creation will be retried
When reactivated,Order creation will be attempted within approximately 1 hour(Not instant). You can check the creation status in the contract details.
[Note] Depending on the timing of your return, two orders may be created in a short period of time.
When reactivating a contract that failed to settle,timing of returnIn some cases, two orders may be created within a short period of time for the same contract. Please be especially careful if you have enabled "Delivery date-based order creation".
If you return within this period, the order for the return and the recalculated next order will be created consecutively, resulting in a double order. If you want to avoid double orders,Before the original next order date, orAfter the next delivery date has passedWe recommend that you restore it.
Behavior seen in setting example
The following settings are used as an example to show the behavior depending on the return timing.
- Store minimum lead days2 business days
- Holiday settingsNone
- Original order creation date and timeApril 1st 9:00 (this time's payment failed)
- order cycleEvery month (originally 5/1 → 6/1...)
At this time, the danger period is "original order date 5/1 - next delivery date 5/3 (5/1 + lead 2 days)".
Order creation based on delivery date: OFF(Invalid/based on order date)
| Item | Pattern ① | Pattern ② | Pattern ③ | Pattern ④ | Pattern ⑤ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment failure timing | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 |
| Change payment information/ status change |
4/1 9:30 | 4/3 10:00 | 5/5 10:00 | 5/1 8:00 | 5/1 10:00 |
| Create order | 4/1 around 10:00 | 4/3 around 11:00 | 5/5 around 11:00 | 5/1 around 9:00 | 5/1 around 11:00 |
| Possibility of second order within a short time | None | None | None | None*1 Reference | None |
| Next order creation date | 5/1 9:00 | 5/1 9:00 | 6/1 9:00 | 6/1 9:00 | 6/1 9:00 |
Order creation based on delivery date: ON(valid)
| Item | Pattern ① | Pattern ② | Pattern ③ | Pattern ④ | Pattern ⑤ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment failure timing | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 | 4/1 9:00 |
| Change payment information/ status change |
4/1 9:30 | 4/3 10:00 | 5/5 10:00 | 5/1 8:00 | 5/1 10:00 |
| Create order | 4/1 around 10:00 | 4/3 around 11:00 | 5/5 around 11:00 | 5/1 around 9:00 | 5/1 around 11:00 |
| Possibility of a short second time | None | None | None*2 See | Yes5/1 10:00 (about 1 hour later) | Yes5/1 12:00 (about 1 hour later) |
| Next order creation date | 5/1 9:00 | 5/1 9:00 | 6/1 9:00 | 5/1 10:00After creating the second item: 6/1 10:00 | 5/1 12:00After creating the second item: 6/1 12:00 |
Even if you return on 5/1, OFF will not become a double order because it will be determined that the original order date and time, 5/1 9:00, has already passed, and the next order will be sent to 6/1. On the other hand, with ON, the order is counted backwards from the delivery date, so the next order will always be around May 1st, resulting in a double order.
*1 (OFF/pattern ④ is a borderline case)
If the order is created exactly before 9:00, it will be sent to 6/1, but if it is created around 8:00, 5/1 9:00 will be used, resulting in a double order at 9:00 on the same day. If you change your payment information around 8 o'clock and it is picked up in that batch, a second order may occur.
*2 (ON/Pattern ③ varies depending on the number of lead days)
If the lead is 2 days, the next delivery date is May 3rd, so it is safe to return on May 5th as the danger period has passed. However, if the lead is 5 days (such as a contract where the customer postpones the delivery date), the next delivery date will be May 6th, and the return on May 5th will be within the danger period → a double order will occur.
About order time when double order occurs in ON
For ON patterns ④ and ⑤, the order time for the second and subsequent orders will be fixed to the time of return (e.g. 10:00/12:00). Even if the order time is fixed in the plan, it will not return to the original 9 o'clock.
