PAYMENT212: Gateway refused the payment
What this means
The payment gateway the cashier chose on the tender pane refused the payment, or ended without taking it. A gateway refuses in one of three ways: it answers with a failure and its own message, it hits an error while it runs, or it tries to send the customer to another site, which the POS can't follow.
The gateway's own message, or a line naming the other site, is on the toast at the till and on the log row.
A gateway that only rejects what was typed, such as an email address it won't accept, shows its message on the payment form instead, under that field or below the fields, with no error code.
Your data
The POS recorded no payment. The order is unchanged, with its previous payment method put back, and its balance is still owed.
If the gateway hit an error after it had started, the store adds an order note asking you to check with the payment provider whether money was taken.
Troubleshoot
At the till — do this before the customer leaves:
- Read the gateway's message on the toast or the log row.
- Correct the details (the email address, the option chosen) and send again.
- If the gateway keeps refusing, take a different payment method and tell the store owner.
On the store — for the site administrator:
- Check the gateway's settings on the WooCommerce payments page; a gateway that refuses every attempt is usually misconfigured or missing credentials.
- Look under WooCommerce > Status > Logs. The WCPOS log, source
woocommerce-pos, records a gateway error or a redirect to another site; many gateways keep their own log there too. - Check the order's notes for a note from the store about the payment attempt.