There can be several causes of this. Below is the checklist that Modular Merchant's Tech Support team starts with when investigating scheduled order problems. This checklist has proven to be very affective in diagnosing scheduled order problems, so we've posted it here for our clients to use too. Let's review each item that can prevent scheduled orders from being processed:
1. Processing time(s) aren't set in the Subscription Products module settings
The first thing to check is the Subscription & Membership Products module settings, to ensure that times have been selected to process scheduled orders. These options are located in the store's administration area at: [Navigation Menu > Modules > Subscription & Membership Products > Module Options]. One or more hours of the day can be selected in the module options. (See Figure 1.)
Figure 1: Select the time(s) for your scheduled orders to be processed in the module's options.
In Figure 1 above, the store will attempt to process any scheduled orders that are now due every day in both the 3:00am and 5:00am hours. Note: The store won't process the scheduled orders at exactly 3:00am and 5:00am — a random time within that hour will be selected by the system. This prevents potentially overloading the server by trying to process every store's scheduled orders at the top of each hour.
Why select more than one hour in the day to process scheduled orders?
Selecting more than one hour is optional. Some clients schedule more than one hour in the day so that they can correct any declined orders that occur in the first hour so that those orders can be successfully processed when the system reruns again at the next selected hour.
2. The automated server task that processes scheduled orders is not configured.
The processing of the scheduled orders is performed by an automated server task called a "cron" task. These cron tasks are usually configured by Modular Merchant staff when a hosting account is installed. However, it's possible that these tasks have not yet been configured. The status of the website's cron tasks can be checked by logging in to the website's Plesk control panel.
To find the list of cron tasks within Plesk, click on the domain name at the bottom of your account page. On the next screen, click on the "Crontab" icon in the "Hosting" section of the page. This will load the Crontab screen, which will list all of the cron tasks running on your website.
If no cron tasks are running on your website, the screen will look something like Figure 2.
Figure 2: A crontab with no scheduled tasks.
Otherwise, the screen will list the cron tasks you have running, which will look something like Figure 3.
Figure 3: A crontab containing several scheduled tasks.
If your website doesn't have any cron tasks running, contact Modular Merchant support, and they will install all of the store's cron tasks for you ASAP.
3. An incompatible payment gateway is selected.
Not all payment gateways are compatible with automated subscription billing. Typically, any gateway that requires the customer to leave your store website and complete the transaction on the payment gateway's website will be incompatible with the store's automated subscription billing.
If an order is scheduled using an incompatible payment gateway, then a warning message will be displayed on the Search Scheduled Orders page in your store's administration area. (Located at: [Navigation Menu > Orders > Search Scheduled Orders].) (See Figure 4.)
Figure 4: A warning message will be displayed if a scheduled order is set to use an incompatible payment gateway.
Any scheduled order set to use an incompatible payment gateway will be declined when it becomes due, and it will remain on your list of scheduled orders, unprocessed.
4. No response received from the payment gateway.
Another potential issue that can prevent a scheduled order from processing is failure by the payment gateway. If the payment gateway is offline or otherwise fails to respond, then the scheduled transaction will be declined.
When this happens, it's usually easy to track down. Scheduled orders declined in this way are usually listed in the Declined Orders report, located in your store's administration area at: [Navigation Menu > Reports > Declined Orders]. Mousing over the "warning" icon will display a popup listing the reason for the order's decline. (See Figure 5.)
Figure 5: Most declined orders are listed in the Declined Orders report.
If a batch of scheduled orders is declined due to failure by the payment gateway to respond, then those scheduled orders will remain in your queue of due scheduled orders, and the system will attempt to process them again the next time your scheduled orders are processed. No orders will be dropped and there will be no need to reschedule those orders.
5. Bad/Missing Customer or Products Information
Deleting a product from the Search Products screen can cause any scheduled orders containing that product to fail. This is because deleting products in this way can result in a scheduled order containing products that no longer exist. If this is the case, then the customer's scheduled order may still be available on the Search Scheduled Orders page, but it will state that it contains no products. (See Figure 6.)
Figure 6: Deleting a product from your store catalog will prevent it from being included in a customer's scheduled order.
Tip: If products need to be removed from your store, it's recommended that they be made "inactive" instead of deleted. This will allow any scheduled orders that still contain the inactive product to be processed.
If the system attempts to process a scheduled order containing products that no longer exist in your store database, it can raise a security flag which will prevent this or other due scheduled orders from being processed until the suspicious scheduled order is corrected.
Note: Deleting a customer with a scheduled order from the Search Customers screen can also cause similar issues when scheduled orders are processed by the system.
The checklist above fixes 99% of the scheduled order problems that Tech Support encounters. If you have scheduled orders that aren't processing, start with the checklist above. If you have any other questions or problems with your scheduled orders, feel free to contact tech support!
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