Learn how the Delay Capture function ensures successful payments during connectivity blips.
Understanding the "Delay Capture" Function
If you’ve ever encountered a "Delay Capture" message when trying to process a payment, don’t worry! The option to Delay Capture is simply a reliable backup solution for when you’re facing network interruptions. In this article, we will guide you through what this function does, and how it helps to ensure your payments are being processed successfully.
As always, if you have any questions about the steps below, please contact us via email at care@dines.co.uk.
What Causes a "Delay Capture" Button to Appear?
Before we look into what it does, it is important to understand exactly why a transaction might offer you the choice to Delay Capture in the first place. And quite simply, it’s all down to connectivity. When taking a payment for a particular amount, the payment processor first pre-authorises that amount with the customer’s bank or card issuer. This is to ensure that funds are available. Then, we capture that value to complete the charge and send the funds your way.
When connectivity is stable during the initial stage of the transaction and the bank confirms the funds are available, but the connectivity is lost or becomes unstable before the process can be completed, then the following message pops up on-screen:
In other words, we are unable to capture this pre-authorised charge, as the connection has dropped at the most imperfect moment, preventing the completion of the transaction!
We always recommend tapping the "Retry Capturing Now" button first, as the connectivity issue may have been a momentary blip. If the device’s network connectivity has returned and is stable again, tapping this button should immediately complete the transaction. However, if retrying fails repeatedly and you find yourself going round in circles, then it’s very likely that the network has dropped and is no longer stable enough for payments. In this situation, you can use the "Delay Capture" button instead.
By selecting the Delay Capture button, we will process the charge for you entirely in the background. This process is guaranteed to complete within two hours from the moment you tap Delay Capture.
After tapping Delay Capture, you’ll see a message like the one below. Simply tap "OK" and move on to your next sale with confidence, knowing that this charge will be completed for you in the background.
When the above message appears and you use the Delay Capture function, your customer will likely see a "Pending Payment" in their banking app or statement. Don't worry, however. No funds are lost, and the charge will still be completed within 2 hours (and the customer’s banking app will show that as a "Completed Payment" in due course).
If you are unsure whether a charge has been sent to the queue for the Delay Capture function, you can navigate to “Past Orders,” which is available at the bottom of the screen on the Dines - For Venues App, or on the left-hand panel if you are logged into the Dines Dashboard on a browser. When here, select the "Transactions" tab at the top. Payments where you have chosen to Delay Capture will appear in the Transactions tab with the status “Pending”, like the example below:
Once a Pending Payment has been successfully captured in the background by our system, you can return to that order at a later time (typically within 2 hours) to verify its status. By opening the order and navigating to the "History" tab at the top-right, you'll see that the order was completed within 2 hours of its creation. In the example below, the payment was completed in just over 90 minutes.
Additional Tips
-
Check Your Connection: If you’ve noticed that the option to Delay Captures is occurring frequently, we would recommend ensuring that your device has a stable internet connection. Please note that Dines does also have an Offline Mode if you find yourself in a situation with very weak connectivity.
-
Network Issues: Keep in mind that it is network connectivity issues that lead to seeing a Delay Capture option. In some cases, resolving connectivity issues may require assistance from your internet service provider, or the event manager if you are trading at a festival or event.
-
Device Updates: It’s always worth making sure that you are on the latest version of Dines! To check if you are on the latest version, head to Functions (⚙) > Troubleshooting > Open App Store. Updating the app will ensure that you have the latest features and fixes.
And that’s everything! Thank you for reading our article on the Delay Capture function. If you have any questions at all, or if you have suggestions for a Knowledge Base article you’d like to see, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team. You can contact us via email at care@dines.co.uk, or use our Live Chat and WhatsApp services here.