Stripe cancel a pre-authorization

Question

I am using Stripe in a 2 part payment process. i.e.

Pre-authorize the card calling the Charge object with capture = false
Do some database work
Charge the card using charge capture

Do, or should I attempt to cancel this pre-authorization, using the refund method, if step 2 fails (i.e. the DB work)?

I am concerned that if I don't then customers will get irate if they see a charge appear on their account for a couple of days. i.e. before it expires naturally.

Its good practice to issue the refund – Matthew Arkin Oct 20 '15 at 08:56 — Matthew Arkin, Oct 20 '15 at 08:56

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 20 '15 at 10:05

If you know for sure you will not capture the charge, it's definitely better to cancel the authorization (by refunding the uncaptured charge) rather than letting it run out. The sooner you cancel the authorization, the sooner the charge will disappear from your customers' credit card statements.

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 23 '17 at 19:03

3

From Stripe Documentation, there is no distinction between a VOID and REFUND, it's basically a reversal of the charge. A VOID would be issued if auth is not captured, that's my understanding.

answered Oct 23 '17 at 19:03

scubatan

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Stripe cancel a pre-authorization

2 Answers2