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Element Double charge

Frances O'Connell
$organization

Hi everyone,

We use Element for CC processing.  In the last couple of months, we've had complaints about 3 or so double charges. These charges are not represented in Tessitura, so I typically confirm by logging into Element merchant site and searching by card, date and amount, where there are in fact two charges.

I can credit the transaction via our merchant account with Element.  I've been told by Element customer service that they have seen this behavior before, but I'm wondering if we can do anything on our end to either find out earlier or stop this entirely.  Has it happened for anyone else?

(Forgive double post from Finance forum)

Thanks,

Frannie 

Parents
  • $organization

    Hi all,

    Yes, this has been happening to us on a regular basis since we went live with v12. We've had a lot of dialog with Tessitura support on this one. To make a long story short... We experience this primarily when someone authorizes a card in a ticket order, but then does other things - like adding a CSI - before pressing Done to complete the order.

    Our current theory is defect 3931, which is resolved in v12.5, will help minimize this for us. 3931 resolves an issue causing Tessitura to crash when adding CSIs. But, we don't know for sure whether that bug is the only factor.

    Here are some tips based on what we have learned along the way:

    1.     Encourage staff who process orders to press Done immediately after authorizing a credit card (or as soon as possible after doing so). If other actions are needed, like adding a CSI, just use Load Last Order after pressing Done and then do the CSI. By doing this, you minimize the chance of a crash in between CC authorization and completing the order.

    2.     Make regular use of the Incomplete Credit Card Transactions report. This is a standard report and it essentially queries the t_cc_server_log table to identify potential 'orphaned' credit card charges. I believe our ticketing staff runs it daily now, and it allows us to resolve these issues sometimes before the patron notices.

    3.     As much as possible, try to encourage those processing orders to document specifically (step-by-step) what happened if a crash occurs. The more information that can be collected, the higher the chance Tessitura will be able to replicate some of the issues causing the client to crash. Of course, that's often easier said than done, particularly when things are busy.

    I hope that is helpful. I too am thankful to hear we are not alone in this!

    Thanks,
    David

     

    From: Tessitura Technical Forum [mailto:forums-technical@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Frances O'Connell
    Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 3:48 PM
    To: David Frederick
    Subject: Re: [Tessitura Technical Forum] Element Double charge

     

    Glad to hear it's not just me! We've had I think 4 in the last year that I am aware of. Though, I would not be surprised if it's more and no one has caught it.  And we similarly don't have a great way of tracking them 

    From: Mark Sackett <bounce-marksackett2712@tessituranetwork.com>
    Sent: 5/6/2015 2:56:19 PM

    Hi All:
    We are also seeing intermittent double charges that do not show up in Tessitura, but do show up in Element.  We have experience the same thing with unrelated credits.

    Though it is only intermittent, the behavior seems to have begun only a couple of months ago.  It is time consuming for our staff to track down and do what they can to correct the issues.

    I'm curious to hear just how widespread this might be...  Any others?

    Kindly,

    Mark




    This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Technical Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Technical forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums. In the interest of keeping the forum posts from becoming cluttered, we encourage you to delete previous message text from your reply before sending. Thank you!

Reply
  • $organization

    Hi all,

    Yes, this has been happening to us on a regular basis since we went live with v12. We've had a lot of dialog with Tessitura support on this one. To make a long story short... We experience this primarily when someone authorizes a card in a ticket order, but then does other things - like adding a CSI - before pressing Done to complete the order.

    Our current theory is defect 3931, which is resolved in v12.5, will help minimize this for us. 3931 resolves an issue causing Tessitura to crash when adding CSIs. But, we don't know for sure whether that bug is the only factor.

    Here are some tips based on what we have learned along the way:

    1.     Encourage staff who process orders to press Done immediately after authorizing a credit card (or as soon as possible after doing so). If other actions are needed, like adding a CSI, just use Load Last Order after pressing Done and then do the CSI. By doing this, you minimize the chance of a crash in between CC authorization and completing the order.

    2.     Make regular use of the Incomplete Credit Card Transactions report. This is a standard report and it essentially queries the t_cc_server_log table to identify potential 'orphaned' credit card charges. I believe our ticketing staff runs it daily now, and it allows us to resolve these issues sometimes before the patron notices.

    3.     As much as possible, try to encourage those processing orders to document specifically (step-by-step) what happened if a crash occurs. The more information that can be collected, the higher the chance Tessitura will be able to replicate some of the issues causing the client to crash. Of course, that's often easier said than done, particularly when things are busy.

    I hope that is helpful. I too am thankful to hear we are not alone in this!

    Thanks,
    David

     

    From: Tessitura Technical Forum [mailto:forums-technical@tessituranetwork.com] On Behalf Of Frances O'Connell
    Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 3:48 PM
    To: David Frederick
    Subject: Re: [Tessitura Technical Forum] Element Double charge

     

    Glad to hear it's not just me! We've had I think 4 in the last year that I am aware of. Though, I would not be surprised if it's more and no one has caught it.  And we similarly don't have a great way of tracking them 

    From: Mark Sackett <bounce-marksackett2712@tessituranetwork.com>
    Sent: 5/6/2015 2:56:19 PM

    Hi All:
    We are also seeing intermittent double charges that do not show up in Tessitura, but do show up in Element.  We have experience the same thing with unrelated credits.

    Though it is only intermittent, the behavior seems to have begun only a couple of months ago.  It is time consuming for our staff to track down and do what they can to correct the issues.

    I'm curious to hear just how widespread this might be...  Any others?

    Kindly,

    Mark




    This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Technical Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Technical forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums. In the interest of keeping the forum posts from becoming cluttered, we encourage you to delete previous message text from your reply before sending. Thank you!

Children
  • $organization in reply to David Frederick

    Unknown said:
    Our current theory is defect 3931, which is resolved in v12.5, will help minimize this for us. 3931 resolves an issue causing Tessitura to crash when adding CSIs. But, we don't know for sure whether that bug is the only factor.

    We've encountered the double charge issue occasionally since switching to Element in 2013, and have also encountered the above CSI-related bug, or one like it. Very interesting to read about this.

    I made a custom report for our accounting staff to run against data we download daily (see TASK solution #32) which among other things reveals charges that have no corresponding Tessitura payment record. These crop up less often these days than they did earlier in our v12 life, but still need to be watched out for.

  • $organization in reply to Chris Jensen

    Hi Chris,

    Our Finance department is interested in this sort of report. I can't find it in TASK for some reason - it's solution #32 in the Shared Reports workspace?

    Thanks,
    Frannie 

  • $organization in reply to Frances O'Connell

    Unknown said:

    Our Finance department is interested in this sort of report. I can't find it in TASK for some reason - it's solution #32 in the Shared Reports workspace?

    Hi, Frannie--

    The utility that downloads Element data (including an SSRS report, iirc) is in solution #32 in "Version Upgrades and Patches"; it is an optional component.

    The report I referred to is a custom SSRS report that I made to replace a custom IM report we had used with Transcend and which our accounting folks were used to. I'd be happy to share it if it sounds interesting.