AbleCommerce Shopping Cart Software

In some circumstances we need to tweak the charges on an order to properly reflect additonal work we have to do to satisfy what the customer is asking for.

This additional amount is computed using the PIOOYA (Pull It Out Of ...) method of high finance

We are not clear on how charges to the customer's CC card will work.

When the customer initially places the order their card is "authorized" for X $.

If we then subsequently change this amount during order processing does ABLE handle this OK - re-authorizing the amount etc?

Then when we finally ship the thing we assume the customer's card is charged the original $ amount plus whatever we had to charge extra to do the work for our customer.

Could someone help explain the way Able handles CC processing as it relates to after-the-fact additional charges?

I hate to say this, but it depends.

Some payment gateways will allow you to modify the amount to be captured - but each one has different rules. So you might be able to authorize for $100 and capture up to $120 without a problem.

Other times the only solution would be to re-authorize the card - either because your gateway does not support this feature or because the amount you want to charge exceeds the allowable overage.

There isn't a reauthorize feature. What you would do is note the card details from the existing payment, add a new payment for the updated amount, then void the original payment.

Within the Configure -> Security -> General menu is an option for saving card data. Once you "capture" a payment, the account data will be removed from the database. If you need to retain the account information for a business purpose you can use this to facilitate. Note that an "authorized" payment will still retain the account details, so it may not be necessary for you to adjust this option.

So Able allows you to authorize a payment upon order, capture upon shipment? When exactly does the capture occur? Is this settable?

It sounds like the simplest approach is to just put in a different transaction using my CC processor's online tools to enter a seperate amount for the extra work we do for the order. Taking the CC info off the original order before it gets captured and goes away.

Does this sound about right?

Yes, if your gateway supports both Capture and Authorize/Capture. The setting is in your Gateway setup screen. I believe the capture is a manual step though - I'm not aware of an automatic capture upon shipment setting but that's not to say it doesn't exist.

I've tested both modes and prefer capture. If you're set to Authorize/Capture, I believe the capture step is an option on the Tasks dropdown in the Order - Payments screen.

The procedure question boils down to your customers. If they're ok with it, you could just go back into the order and add the additional charge resulting in the order having a balance. I think AC7 will then allow them to pull their order up on their side and supply payment information to pay the remaining balance.

That would give you a safety net in that your customers both see and approve the additional charge prior to final payment. That may or may not work for you in your situation.