Problems with Tessitura Accepting Certain Maestro Cards

Hi,

This really is one for UK Users only.

We have been having problems with Tessitura accepting certain Maestro Cards in payment (error message is usually 'Card Type does not match payment method' or 'Not a Valid Credit card' etc. etc.)

We currently don't take International Maestro cards (a source of additional frustration for both us and our customers - but that's another issue), but these were definitely UK Cards that were being refused.

One lady (a Friend of Covent Garden) wished to buy Top Price tickets for Così fan tutte - at £170 each. Unfortunately she was only in possession of a Coutts Maestro Card which kept producing the 'Card Type does not match payment method' error every time the operator either tried entering it by hand or swiping it in, and we were forced to send her to the bank to draw out cash!! Needless to say she was not very happy.

Checking the version of the TR_CARDTYPE Table we approached Tessitura to get an updated version - luckily one was hours short of being released and when it was ready we applied it overnight.

The version we applied was TR_CARDTYPE_BACKUP_PRE_50UK. I really wish I could say this was the end of our problems, but sadly they seemed to increase threefold. In addition to a tripling of Maestro Card refusals we were also being forced to take a 'Start Date' for all American Express cards (luckily, our eagle-eyed DBA noticed that the 'Format Start Date' Column in the TR_CARDTYPE Table had a date format in both of the American Express Card rows and swiftly removed it). The Amex problems ceased from then on.

Eventually, worn down by the sheer number of refusals and a nagging suspicion that we were losing money and customers, we reverted back to the old version of the TR_CARDTYPE Table. We still get refusals on Maestro cards, but not in the sheer volume we were getting when using the newest version of the table.

What I would like to know is:

1) Have any other UK Users had similar problems (and have they been able to resolve them)?

2) Are the TR_CARDTYPE Table versions tested before releasing them for use by Tessitura Users?

This is fast becoming a very real problem for us; costing us not only money, but the good will of our customers.

Yours

Keith Bursnall
CRM Systems Development Manager
 
Royal Opera House
Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7212 9408
Email: keith.bursnall@roh.org.uk
 
Website: www.roh.org.uk
YouTube: www.youtube.com/royaloperahouse
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[edited by: Keith Bursnall at 10:56 AM (GMT -6) on 4 Feb 2010]