Customers were charged but no order came through. Is the money lost?

Usually not. A completed payment is recorded in your provider’s dashboard, and most often the webhook that should update your shop failed. Once that is fixed, the missed orders can be checked and matched by hand.

Why do orders stay on pending or on hold after payment?

Because the provider’s webhook did not reach your shop or your shop could not process it. The URL may be wrong, a firewall or security plugin may block it, or it returns an error. The provider dashboard usually lists the failed attempts.

Why is my WooCommerce checkout not working?

Most often a plugin or theme conflict, a cached checkout page, wrong payment keys or a failing webhook. WooCommerce › Status › Logs and the browser console normally show which of these it is.

Why does checkout work for me but not for my customers?

Often because you are logged in as admin and see an uncached page, or because only certain browsers, countries, currencies or payment methods hit the error. A test in a private window and on a phone usually shows the difference.

Why did my checkout stop working after an update?

An update can change how a payment plugin, the theme or a cache handles the checkout page. Rolling back that one component on a staging copy shows whether it is the cause, and we can then repair the conflict properly.

Can you fix Stripe, PayPal or Mollie checkout problems?

Yes, in most cases, when the cause is in your shop, the plugin settings, the webhooks or the server. Problems inside the provider’s own systems have to be solved by the provider.

Do you work on Shopify shops?

Only on what you control: theme code, custom scripts and app settings. Shopify’s own checkout and payment systems are managed by Shopify.

Why does fixing a web shop start from €450 excl. VAT?

Payment problems cost orders and need careful testing on a live shop without losing any. That makes the work more involved than a simple site fix. You get the fixed price after the free diagnosis, before any work starts.

Web shop checkout

Checkout or payment not working: causes and how to fix it

The short answer

Every customer who cannot pay is an order you lose, and some will not come back. Tell us what they see. We find where the payment breaks and quote a fixed price first.

Get it fixed

Backup before every change
Fixed price before we start
Remote, anywhere in the world
Free diagnosis

A payment passes through several links: the checkout page in the browser, your shop, the payment provider and a webhook, which is the message the provider sends back to your shop to say “this order is paid”. When one link fails, customers see an error or you find paid orders stuck as pending. Each link leaves traces in the browser console, the shop logs and the provider dashboard, and that is where we start.

Sound familiar?

Signs that checkout or payment is not working

The checkout button does nothing, spins forever or shows a general error
Customers are charged, but the order stays “pending” or “on hold” in your shop
Payment methods are missing, or only some customers can pay
The provider shows test payments, or an error such as “invalid API key”
Card payments fail at the extra bank check (3-D Secure), or the bank window never opens
The problem started after an update, a theme change or a move to another host

Causes

Why checkout or payment stops working

API keys in the wrong mode

Test keys on the live shop, live keys in a staging copy or keys from another account make the provider refuse or ignore real payments.

Webhooks fail

The provider cannot tell your shop that a payment succeeded, because the webhook URL is wrong, blocked by a firewall or returns an error. The order then stays pending.

JavaScript error or plugin conflict

An error from another plugin, the theme or an optimisation tool stops the payment form from loading, or blocks the 3-D Secure window where the bank confirms the payment.

Checkout pages are cached

A cache plugin, the host or a CDN serves a stored copy of the cart or checkout, so tokens and totals are outdated and the payment is rejected.

SSL or mixed content

An expired certificate or scripts loaded over plain http make browsers block the payment fields, which only work on a fully secure page.

Currency, tax or shipping settings

A currency the payment method does not support, a missing shipping zone or a minimum amount hides payment methods or blocks the order.

Try it yourself

Checking a failing web shop payment yourself

Before you change anything, try these checks. Test with a small real amount or the provider’s test mode on a copy of the shop.

1 Place a test order yourself in a private browser window and note exactly where it stops and which message appears.
2 Open the browser console on the checkout page. Red errors there often name the plugin or script that breaks the payment.
3 Log in to your payment provider’s dashboard. Check that the account is active and in live mode, compare its keys with those in your shop settings, and look for failed webhooks or error events.
4 Exclude the cart, checkout and my-account pages from every cache: the cache plugin, the host’s cache and the CDN.
5 On WooCommerce, look under WooCommerce › Status › Logs for entries from your payment plugin.
6 If it started after an update, roll back that one plugin or the theme on a staging copy and test again.

Our approach

How we fix a checkout that is not working

1

You tell us what customers see

Send a short description and, if possible, a screenshot or an order number. We tell you which access we need.
2

We back up the shop

We copy the files and the database, including orders, before we change anything, so nothing is lost and every step can be undone.
3

We find the failing link and quote

We check the browser console, shop logs and provider dashboard to find where the payment stops, then send a fixed price.
4

We fix, test and report

After your OK we fix it, run test payments, check that orders update correctly and send a short report of what changed.

What we need

What we need from you

An admin login for your shop (WooCommerce, Magento, custom or other)
Access to your payment provider’s dashboard, or a user with developer rights
Hosting control panel or SFTP/SSH access, for logs and files
One or two order numbers that went wrong, and when it started

We ask for the least access that does the job. Payment dashboards let you create a limited user for us that you can remove afterwards. We never need card data.

What we cannot fix

We cannot fix outages at the payment provider, accounts the provider has frozen or still has to verify, or decisions made by a bank or card scheme. On hosted platforms such as Shopify we can only work on your theme code and app settings, not on the platform itself. If the cause lies there, we tell you quickly and help you contact the right party.

Price

Price and what happens next

1

Free diagnosis

We find the cause and tell you what is wrong.
2

Fixed price

You get a price and a time estimate. Nothing starts without your yes.
3

Fixed and reported

We repair it, test it and send a short report.

From €450 excl. VAT

Fixed price, agreed before we start

Is it urgent? Say so in the form or in the chat. We start as soon as we can and give you a realistic time estimate with the quote. If priority work costs extra, you see that in the quote before you agree.

Get it fixed

Questions?

Checkout and payment problems: FAQ

Also see

Tell us what is wrong

Answer a few short questions. You get a fixed price before we do anything.

Step 1 of 5

On which platform are you experiencing the problem?

Website App Software

Checkout or payment not working: causes and how to fix it

Signs that checkout or payment is not working

Why checkout or payment stops working

API keys in the wrong mode

Webhooks fail

JavaScript error or plugin conflict

Checkout pages are cached

SSL or mixed content

Currency, tax or shipping settings

Checking a failing web shop payment yourself

How we fix a checkout that is not working

You tell us what customers see

We back up the shop

We find the failing link and quote

We fix, test and report

What we need from you

What we cannot fix

Price and what happens next

Free diagnosis

Fixed price

Fixed and reported

Checkout and payment problems: FAQ

Related problems

SSL certificate error

Broken after an update

HTTP error 500

Tell us what is wrong