What the Payment line on the tracking page means
Every order on your ordering website has a Track Order page. In the order summary it shows a Payment line, and the wording tells you and your customer exactly where the money stands:
| Payment line | What it means |
|---|---|
| Paid | The card payment went through, or the order has been settled. |
| To Pay Cash | The customer chose Cash at checkout and will pay when they collect or when the order is delivered. |
| Payment not completed | The customer started a card payment that never finished. The order was not sent to your store. |
| Unpaid | The store has the order but no payment has been recorded against it yet. |
| Refunded | The payment has been refunded. |
The page only says To Pay Cash when the customer actually chose cash at checkout. It never assumes an order is a cash order just because no payment has been recorded.
What "Payment not completed" looks like
If a customer's card is declined, or they close the payment window before it finishes, and they later open the tracking page for that order, they will see:
- A red Payment not completed notice in place of the usual order progress steps, explaining that the order has not been placed and the store has not received it.
- A Back to Menu button so they can order again.
- Payment not completed in red on the Payment line of the order summary.
The card payment steps and "Order Received" progress are not shown, so the customer cannot mistake it for a live order.
Note: "Payment not completed" means no money was taken. Stripe only charges the card when the payment succeeds, and an order in this state was never sent to your kitchen or till.
Why this matters
Before this change, the tracking page treated any order without a recorded payment as a cash order and displayed To Pay Cash. A customer whose card had been declined could open the page, read "Order Received" and "To Pay Cash", and turn up to collect an order your store had never seen.
Now the page tells the truth in that situation, and To Pay Cash is reserved for orders where the customer chose cash.
What to tell a customer who sees it
- Reassure them that they have not been charged and that the store has not received the order.
- Ask them to press Back to Menu and place the order again.
- If their card is declined again, suggest they try another card or choose Cash at checkout if your store accepts it.
If a customer arrives for an order you don't have
Check the order in Back Office. If it is not there, or shows as unconfirmed with no payment, the payment never completed and the order was never placed. The customer will see Payment not completed if they open their tracking page. Offer to take the order at the till.