Payment problems

Card payments run on the front desk tablet, with a card terminal connected to it. FocalPOS uses Fiserv (CardPointe) terminals, set up by our team: email [email protected]. Clover and Stripe readers are also supported. See Get paid.

The tablet is stuck on “Sending to the terminal”.

1. Look at the terminal. The client may still need to tap, insert or sign.
2. On the tablet, press Check to ask the terminal for the result.
3. If nothing changes, press Cancel Payment. You see “Canceled. Nothing was charged.” when it’s safe to try again.
4. Try the payment again.

If the tablet says A card payment is in progress, a payment for this visit didn’t finish. Press Resume to keep waiting for it, or Cancel payment to stop it. Don’t take the card again until you know the first payment was canceled, so the client isn’t charged twice.

The card was declined.

The tablet says Card declined. Try another card. Nothing was charged. Ask for another card, or take cash. The decline comes from the client’s bank, which may show a reason after the message.

The tablet says “No card reader is set for this tablet”.

A member sets each tablet’s card reader in the web dashboard: Devices, the tablet’s ⋯ menu, Card reader, then pick the location’s terminal. See Tablets and devices.

Until then, if you run the card on a separate machine, turn on Take payment without built-in terminal, run the card on your machine, and press Record $x card payment so the visit shows as paid. (If Require integrated terminal is on in the tablet’s Settings, this option is hidden.)

The tablet shows “Terminal not connected”.

Check the terminal is on and connected to the internet, then tap the hardware warning at the top of the tablet and choose Reconnect. If it keeps happening, email support with the terminal’s serial number.

How do I refund a payment?

On the front desk tablet (full, partial, card or cash):

1. Open Transactions and press Refund on the payment, or open the visit and press Refund, then pick the payment.
2. Pick a reason (Service issue, Wrong amount, Duplicate, Customer request, Other).
3. Choose Whole rest or Partial and type the amount (and tip, if any).
4. Press Refund. An employee who may issue refunds enters their PIN.
5. For a cash payment, the tablet tells you how much to hand back to the customer (“Hand $20.00 back to the customer”).

In the web dashboard: Transactions, open the payment, Refund, write what happened, press Refund. The dashboard refunds the full remaining amount. For a partial refund, use the tablet.

A same-day card payment may be voided instead of refunded, so it never shows on the client’s statement.

The refund says “in progress” or “pending”.

Card refunds can take up to two minutes to confirm. If the tablet says “The refund is still pending. Check again in a moment.”, wait and check again. Don’t refund again: a second refund could pay the client twice.

If it says Refund not done, nothing was refunded and you can try again. Once a card refund goes through, it can take the client’s bank several business days to show it.

Was the deposit refunded?

Deposits taken when a client booked online are refunded by themselves, within about a minute, when:

• The client cancels before your free-cancel window (for example more than 24 hours ahead). A window of 0 means any cancellation before the start is refunded.
• You cancel the booking because of staff unavailability or a duplicate booking. These are always refunded.
• The client doesn’t show up and your no-show rule is Refund.

The deposit is kept when:

• The client cancels late (inside the free-cancel window).
• The client doesn’t show up and your no-show rule is Keep (the default).

A booking keeps the deposit rules it was made under, even if you change them later. Set the rules in Settings, your location, Deposits. See Deposits.

If an automatic refund fails, refund it by hand from the tablet (Refund deposit on the visit).

Does the client pay the deposit again at checkout?

No. The deposit counts as paid, so the tablet only asks for the rest. A full prepayment leaves nothing to pay (except a tip).

A client was charged but the visit isn’t paid.

Open Transactions on the tablet for that day. If the payment shows as In progress or Failed, use Check on the visit or contact support with the time and amount before charging again.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] with the time, amount and a photo of the tablet and terminal screens.