What do the error messages in my reports mean?

Did a charge fail in one of your reports? Our error messages come to us from the payment processor and/or Mindbody, and some of them can be hard to understand. Here are some common error messages you’ll see, a translation of what they mean, and some suggested ways to resolve them.

This is a limited list, and you may encounter more. Please feel free to reach out to us if you encounter an error not on this list.

First, let’s start with the common ones:

• Stored card can not be found: The customer doesn’t have a stored card on their account. We suggest you ask the customer to store a card! If you’d like to require customers to store cards, you can setup alerts.

• Card Authorization Failed Do not honor: This customer has an invalid credit card for whatever reason - likely one that has been canceled. Please ask the customer to update their billing information on file.

• Card Authorization Failed Pick up card (lost card): The customer’s card was reported as lost. Please ask the customer to update their billing information on file.

• Card Authorization Failed Insufficient funds: The card does not have sufficient funds and/or available credit. We recommend politely asking the customer to resolve the issue so future charges will go through.

• Card Authorization Failed Your request has been declined by the issuing bank: The customer’s card was declined by the bank for an unknown reason. Please ask the customer to update their billing information on file.

• Card Authorization Failed Your request has been declined by the issuing bank because the card used is a restricted card. Contact the cardholder’s credit card company for further investigation: The cardholder has been traveling or has used their card outside of their normal spending habits. This decline comes directly from the card-issuing bank. Please ask the customer to contact their bank, and if necessary, update their billing information on file.

• Card Authorization Failed mb.Core.BLL.Transaction failed validation Credit card is expired: The card has expired and needs to be updated. Please ask the customer to update their billing information on file. For a larger list, you can check out this support article from Mindbody.

Next, the cryptic ones!

• mb.Core.BLL.SalePayment failed validation The SalePayment requires a PaymentMethodID: This typically means that there is an issue with the merchant account configuration at your location or the credit card number stored on the customer’s account. It needs to be 16 digits without spaces. It could also mean that no Merchant Account is setup, or that your Mindbody site does not accept that type of credit card. For example, we are trying to charge an American Express card when your site only accepts Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. We recommend trying to process the charge manually through your Mindbody Retail screen and seeing if it goes through. If it does not succeed, please ask the client to update their stored payment information.

• Card Authorization Failed Index and length must refer to a location within the string: This typically means that there is incorrect information in the customer’s stored credit card, such as the expiration date not having 4 digits, but instead, being set to 2 digits (ex: 19). We recommend trying to process the charge manually through your Mindbody Retail screen and seeing if it goes through. If it does not succeed, please ask the client to update their stored payment information.

• Card Authorization Failed You submitted a request that is not parseable: This typically means that the the location this client late canceled and/or no show’d at does not have an active Merchant Account and does not accept live credit cards. We recommend trying to process the charge manually through your Mindbody Retail screen and seeing if it goes through. If it does not succeed, please reach out to us and/or Mindbody support for help setting up a merchant account for that location!

• Object reference not set to an instance of an object: This means that the customer has a partially-stored credit card. Perhaps one that was previously stored and later deleted. Please ask the customer to update their credit card on file.

• Card Authorization Failed Index and length must refer to a location within the string. Parameter name: length: There is incorrect information in the payment information, such as the expiration year being set to 2 digits (yy) instead of 4 digits (yyyy). It would be best to ask the customer to update their credit card information.

• Card Authorization Failed Invalid account number (no such number): For some unknown reason, the bank has determined that the card number is invalid. The card number may have been entered incorrectly. It would be best to ask the customer to update their credit card information and retry the transaction.

• The input payment total (?) does not match the calculated total (?) for the entire cart: There is an issue with your tax configuration. Please reach out to Bitlancer Support and we can help you resolve this!

• The charge failed for an unknown reason: Charging the customer’s credit card failed, but the cause of the failure is not known. We recommend retrying the charge manually, or asking your client to update or store a credit card.