Problems with Volusion 3D Secure Orders Notifications and Status
I am an E-Commerce Shop Owner in Ireland selling goods to customers in Ireland. We developed our Shop Using the Volusion GOLD Package. We opened our Shop in January 2013. We are having OnGoing Problems with Volusions Integration to 3D Secure’s or Verified by Visa’s Checkout.
We choose Volusion because we were looking for an E-commerce Solution that
• Worked in Ireland in Euros
• And had a 3D Secure Check out Process where we as the Retailer would be protected against Credit Card Chargeback’s should a Transaction be made with a Fraudulent Car or a Stolen Card.
The goods we sell online are over €300 and because they had a High ticket Value and a low Margin we were concerned about exposing ourselves to Chargeback’s. Elavon Credit Card Merchant Services who issues us with our Online Merchant Number only wanted us to run the E Commerce Site if we could Deploy 3D Secure.
We did some research and via Elavon we came across Irish company Realex who seemed to needed to integrate with Volusion to allow the 3D System to run. I believe Realex are described as the Payment Gateway. We pay Realex about €30 Monthly for their component REALPAY. We also Pay Elavon a Monthy Charge for the Web Merchant ID Number. And of Course we also Pay Volusion $125 a month for their Gold Package Shopping Cart System.
Anyway we opened the shop door and we started trading. Internet Orders started to come in.
It was at this point that I noticed that not all Customers transactions were using the 3D Secure Process. I submitted Support Tickets about this and eventually I learned that certain types of Credit Cards avoid the 3D Secure System. Namely Credit Cards owned by Company Directors.
Going on then we started to receive Orders into our Volusion Order Queue that had no Payment Applied to them.
Again I submitted more tickets to Volusion. Realex were able to tell me more and eventually I discovered that some Customers when they arrive at the
3D Secure Pop up Window would not know what to do or they would type in the incorrect 3d Secure password. Instead of been told “ Look you order has not gone through” they are being left in Limbo.
In this Scenario their Order Does go into the Volusion Order Queue and is given an Volusion Order ID. It is given a Volusion Order Status as being “New” Where as a Normal 3D Secure Transaction will come into the Volusion Order Queue as “Processing”
When you open the Volusion Order marked New you will see that there is no Payment Applied to that Order. There is a Big Volusion Orange Button Called “Receive Payment “on the Order.
Now if you click this Orange Button the System will go off and try to get Transaction Authorisation which in most cases it does but I have seen some come up as Declined.
So when you get this type of Authorisation on a Volusion “New “ Status order then the Payment will Go into your Bank and will Appear in the Realex Real Control Payment Panel. The Status of the Order will then Change to Processing.
But I then Discovered that this is not a 3D Secure Payment and that there is “No Shift in Liability” and that this means that if this Transaction is reported by the cardholder as been Fraudulently made then that I as a retailer will be exposed to a Chargeback. So you could send out your €300 Euro Package to the customer and then Discover 90 + Days later that the Card was a Stolen Card Number and that Visa and Master card will take the Money back from you.
If you Phone Realex and say “Should I ship the Order” They will Say. “We recommend that you don’t Ship”.
You could also Phone the Customer and Say “Look Put the Order in again and Do the 3D secure bit correctly” . At this stage most Genuine Customers will be at their wits end and sorry they even tried to submit the order. The Customer might say! Ok or they might say “Buzz off if you don’t trust me! “
Also normally when a Customer puts through a Successful 3d Secure Order via Volusion. Normally the Customer will receive an E-mail Order Confirmation and also I as a Retailer will receive the Email Order Confirmation. The Customer also sees an Order Success Splash Screen.
However when he or she Fails to navigate the 3D secure Screen he Sees Nothing even though the Order will arrive into the Volusion Order Queue.
He will also not receive an E-mail Notification as to the Status of the Order nor will the Retailer.
The Only Way the Retailer will know about it if he sees the Order in his Volusion Order Queue with the Status “New.”
Often I see Customers in this Situation Submitting One order after the other into the Volusion Order Queue because they don’t know if the Order has been placed. One Customer Submitted her order in our Volusion Queue 15 Times. This makes the Customer very Frustrated and anxious about their Credit Card Details.
Sometimes we open the Volusion Order marked “NEW” and make the decision to Ship the Order and we click on the Volusion Orange “Receive Payment Button” When we do this the customer will still not receive Email Notification Nor will I as a Retailer Receive Notification.
Now If I press the Orange Button and Ship the Order. The Customer would be entitled to turn around when he receives it and Say. “Look I did not know that this Order was placed and I don’t want now because I went off and got it Elsewhere” So in this case we would have to go out and collect the order.
I would Say that 40% of the Orders that we have received via the Volusion E Commerce cart have been received as Non 3D Secure Orders where we Intervene Manually and had to make the Payment Manually and then run the Risk of Chargeback’s.
I have written detailed Support Tickets to Volusion about this over 15 Times since Last February 2013. Each Support Ticket might take me an Hour to write and I would also do my very best to give Order Id's Etc and to be very detailed. Over the Year over 15 Different Volusion People from Support have responded. Their Emails are always very Wishy Washy . VeryOptimistic , Very Happy, Thumbs Up Stuff but never fixing the problem.
Volusion “Kick the Can” down the Road more or less urging me to stop complaining and that they say they are working on it. I also tried to appeal to Volusion on the Security Side of this Problem because I believe it exposes Retailers to unnecessary Security Risks and Worry. I asked to alert the Volusion Security Manager and I was fobbed off hard on this Saying that they Say there is no security concern from a customers Perspective.
I don’t believe that it’s reasonable that Software Bugs can take 10 months to fix. I don’t believe it’s acceptable.
What I think should happen. To improve the Volusion to 3D Secure System.
Some Retailers will not want any Orders at all that have not passed 3D Security. If this is their Setting then I believe the Customer should be told by a Splash Screen and by an Email.
“Look you did not get through the 3d Security Page for your Credit Card and this Retailer only accepts 3d Secure Transactions. The Retailerdoes not have your Order and it has not entered his Order Processing Queue. Can you please contact your Bank and Set up your 3D Secure Password and then Try Again to place the Order.”
Or If a retailer is willing to allow failed 3d Transactions to enter their Volusion Order Queue then I think if this is their Setting then
“If a Customer fails 3d Security then they should be told they have failed 3D Security but that the Retailer has their Order and will be touch with them the following working day to discuss the order. They should see a Splash Screen saying this and then receive an E-mail. You might also recommend to them that they contact their bank to set up their 3d secure password for future E-commerce Orders on other Ecommerce Sites.”
The Retailer should receive E-mail Notification of the Existence of this Order. And also be high lighted on the Email that it’s not a 3d Secure Order.
I am also going to post it to some E-commerce Forums to see if Other Volusion Retailers are experiencing the Same Issues.
Concerning the Issues that I have raised I don’t believe that Volusion is being fair to the Customers or the Retailers. As a Retailer I am paying a lot each month for the service to Elavon to Realex and to Volusion. I am Paying for the Gold Package with Volusion which is expensive and in fact Recently they have started charging me extra money for Bandwidth Charges. Its supposed to be a Slick Automated System E Commerce Solution. We are only a small operation hoping to get busier. As it is we have to send a Huge amount of time looking at orders , Manually receiving payments and then worrying about chargebacks.
I believe that there are number of E Commerce Cart alternatives that don’t have the problems that Volusion Have regarding 3D Secure.
But I have just spent a Year Setting up a Volusion Website and going through the Learning Curve. I also paid a Volusion Partner recently to Upgrade our site’s Template. It would be very frustrating for me to have to change to a different E-commerce site and to start all over again. But It is something that I will Look at soon if Volusion doesn’t Fix these Issues.
Had I known about these 3D Secure Problems with Volusion I would not have chosen Volusion as my E Commerce Site for doing business in Ireland. These Problems have cost my company a lot of Money and Business in Lost and Abandoned Shopping Carts and a huge amount of Unnecessary Extra Administration work.
