Update.....apparently Teleflora CC processing has experienced a hiccup in the system and this is a nationwide problem. They are being deluged with freaked out florists with teleflora pos systems. This is not a Chelsea Village Florist problem but a POS problem. I blocked my credit card and they are at work reversing charges. Anyone else having this issue with Teleflora POS?
YES!
Here is what happens: The TF florist processes a customer CC via TF Dialup. The florists system contacts TF. THEY pass the info on to the CC processing company. The processing company contacts the bank. The bank issues an authorization. The processing company passes the authorization to TF. TF passes the authorization on to the florist.
If all of this happens without an error, then the customer will have ONE authorization for the purchase amount.
IF there is a "glitch" (does anyone know where this word came from?) at ANY POINT from the bank to the processing company to TF to the florist, then the florist will not get an approval and the software in the florist's terminal will say, "OOPS let me try that again."
The process will repeat.
Usually, this does NOT happen. But it CAN happen several times. Each time it happens, the bank will authorize an additional purchase amount.
At the end of the day, the florist will CLOSE their batch. If only one authorization was issued for each transaction, everything is "Hecky decky." (Thanks, Muppet Show!)
BUT, if there are more AUTHORIZATIONS than there are SALES, then the customer's bank will say (to itself) "OK I have several additional approvals on this customer's account. I think I'll wait a few days to see if the other orders come through. If they don't, then I will CANCEL the authorization on those funds."
In the meantime, if the customer accesse his/her online account, the account will show more than one transaction with XYZ Florist. So the customer contacts the florist and threatens to firebomb them if they don't IMMEDIATELY refund ALL the overcharges. The florist, of course, has received only ONE paymrnt and cannot do anything useful to help the customer.
The "Waiting Time" varies from a day or two to as much as a week, depending on the
customer's bank. In the meantime, the customer does not have access to those funds. Neither does the florist.
Who has access to those funds? THE CUSTOMER'S BANK!
This is the electronic equivalent of the "float" that was prevalent in the "good old days" of physical checks.
There's an (electronic) sucker born every minute.
Bill
