Why are my voids or refunds being declined?

There are a few common reasons why a void or refund might be declined:

Transaction Limits on Your Gateway or Merchant Account

Many gateways and merchant accounts have limits on the maximum dollar amount that can be voided or refunded. These limits are typically in place to prevent fraud or abuse.

Benji Pays does not control these limits. To increase them, please contact your gateway or merchant account provider directly.

Refunds Cannot Exceed the Original Transaction Amount

Refunds are always tied to the original transaction and cannot exceed the total value of that transaction.

If you've already refunded a transaction partially or in full, any additional refund attempts will be declined once the total refunded amount reaches the original transaction value.

Example:

• Monday: You process a payment for $100

• Wednesday: You refund $80 – approved

• Thursday: You attempt to refund $50 – declined (as this would total $130, exceeding the original amount)

• You would still be able to refund up to $20 in this case

Voids Only Apply to Unsettled Transactions

You can only void a transaction before the batch it belongs to has been settled. Most gateways automatically close the batch at the end of the business day.

If a transaction’s batch is already settled:

• A void will fail

• You’ll need to issue a refund instead

Check your gateway settings to see if batch closing times can be adjusted.

Moneris: "sendMessage(): Merchant Could not initialize db object for request"

If you're seeing this error message when attempting a void through the Moneris gateway, it means the transaction has already been settled and cannot be voided. This message is returned directly from Moneris.

To resolve this, you’ll need to process a refund instead.

I Don’t See a Void Option?

If you're not seeing the option to void a transaction in Benji Pays, it may be because the gateway you're using does not support voids (e.g., Clover, Helcim and Stripe).