There have been times in the past when KampSight's connection with our credit card processor -- Paymentech -- has been disrupted or lost. As a result, your credit card transactions did not process for that period of time. An example of this occurred when Paymentech's processing center in Tampa Florida lost power during a hurricane and credit card processing was "shifted" from Tampa to another one of their processing centers in Salem. This "shifting" caused credit card processing to stopped for a couple of minutes. This can also happen as a result of a power outage on the campground.
If we are experiencing this kind of problem with Paymentech, you will be able to recognize it at the end of a reservation or registration involving a credit card transaction when you press the ENTER key. If the credit card system is down, you will get a 'Timeout' error which means that Paymentech's computer took longer than our computer expected to complete the transaction. If this occurs, you will be tempted to press the ENTER key again, but don't. This could result in mulitple charges on the camper's credit card.
First of all, be patient. This is difficult advice when you have campers staring you in the face, but it really does payoff in the end. If you impatiently keep pressing the ENTER key, you may have multiple charges for a single transaction when the system finally comes back online.
Secondly, call the support line to report the problem. Our support staff may already know about the problem, but they can advise you on the status of the problem and help you to continue taking care of your guests.
Lastly, you will obviously have campers to checked in. Until the credit card system comes back up, you have two choices:
Go manual. Each campground should have an emergency backup supply of paper forms to run their campground in the event of a system outage or a loss of network connectivity. The Credit Card system with Paymentech RARELY goes down but if it does, you will likely still have a connection to KampSight. You just won't be able to charge credit cards. If you use paper forms for credit card registrations, you can register those campers in KampSight when the Credit Card system comes back online. Please be aware that any time you run on a manual system, you run the risk of running a credit card transaction that would not normally authorize. Should you have any questions, contact Paymentech directly for a voice authorization.
Another option is to use KampSight to register campers. However, when you get to the Charges and Payments screen, use the 'ZN' (Zon/Terminal paid) payment code. This is a code used by campgrounds before they are live on credit card processing. It tells KampSight that it was a credit card transaction that was processed OUTSIDE of KampSight. KampSight will print a receipt for the transaction as it normally would for your records.
When the Credit Card system comes back up, 'swap' the 'ZN' payments on the campers you registered with the appropriate credit card. The process is outlined below:
Complete the registration using the 'ZN' payment code.
When the Credit Card system comes back up, go to menu option #4 'Work with registered campers' from the main menu. Place a 'C=Charges' on the line next to the name of the camper.
On the Charges and Payments screen, either scan the credit card or type in the information for the credit card payment. Next, position your cursor on the second line and enter a 'negative payment' (refund) to the 'ZN' payment type on the second payment line. (Be sure to use the 'Field Minus' key } ).
Press ENTER. This process will take away the payment originally made with the 'ZN' payment type and process a new credit card payment.
Lastly, make sure to run a Credit Card Transaction report and an Operations Summary report and compare the credit card transaction amounts to make certain they balance. Click here to see how to balance these two reports.