Close the Loop When Transactions Fail

Whitney tmp

In NetCommunity Spark, there needs to be an automatically-generated error message or notification to the user in the event that the user's credit card is not processed. This week, we had an alumni call because her credit card was not ever charged for an online transaction she made through Spark. She was highly irritated that the system is not a "closed loop" and had she not checked her credit card statement, she would have assumed her gift was made. This was not a case of an incorrect cc number or expiration date. The system simply failed (for an unknown reason) and the donor had no way of knowing her gift was not recieved. Her comments, which were very "hot" do not lay the groundwork for positive donor relations or future contributions.

Nicole S

Did she get the BBNC confirmation page or the acknowledgment email? Did you see a transaction in the plug in?

Whitney tmp

No, there was not BBNC confirmation page or acknowledgement email. No, we did not see the transaction in the plug in. She alerted us to the problem because she checked her CC statment, and the transaction did not appear.

Nicole S

Is the attempted transaction on your BBMS report?



I am inclined to say that the absence of any confirmation should have clued her in.

Whitney tmp

No, the attempted transaction is not on our BBMS report.



Our intent is not to leave donors wondering whether or not their gift was receieved successfully. That is simply not good customer service or positive donor relations.

Ryan Beggs

Hello Whitney,

When a user requests to process a card through Spark, any error returned from the credit card processor is displayed back to the user. We do track these failures in the database and support should be able to determine if the user was notified their card did not process. 

Thanks,
Ryan