Guide

# Customers Charged Twice? Why Duplicate Charges Happen and How to Stop Them

Double charges, duplicate orders and pending holds that look like two payments: what causes them, how to refund safely and how to fix your checkout so it never happens again.

By the Wisconsin Tech Shop team · Updated October 31, 2026

**Short answer:** Most “double charges” are either a pending authorization that will drop off in a few days, or a checkout that let the customer pay twice. Check whether both charges actually went through, refund the true duplicate, then fix the checkout so a second submit can’t create a second charge.

## Common causes

- **Authorization holds:** the card was authorized and then charged, and the hold looks like a second charge until the bank releases it.
- **Double clicks or slow pages:** the customer pressed Pay twice.
- **Retries:** a website or app retried a payment after a timeout with no duplicate check.
- **Duplicate order events:** an order system created two orders from one payment.
- **Two cards:** a declined card was retried with another one, and both went through.

## What to do now

- In your payment dashboard, check whether both payments succeeded or one is only authorized.
- Refund the true duplicate right away and tell the customer when to expect the money back.
- Note the time between the charges. Seconds apart usually means a double submit.

## Fix the cause

- Disable the pay button after the first click and show progress.
- Use idempotency keys so a retried request can’t create a second charge.
- Make order handlers ignore payment events they have already processed.
- Set an alert for duplicate charges.

We fix checkouts and payment integrations remotely. See [Stripe integration](https://wisconsintechshop.com/payments/stripe-integration/) and [payment gateway integration](https://wisconsintechshop.com/payments/payment-gateway-integration/).

## Frequently asked questions

### How long does a pending charge take to drop off?

Usually a few business days, depending on the customer’s bank. The business can often release an authorization early by canceling it.

### Will refunding a duplicate charge cost me fees?

Many processors don’t return the original processing fee on a refund, which is one more reason to stop duplicates at the source.

## Related services

- [Stripe Integration Services](https://wisconsintechshop.com/payments/stripe-integration/): Connect Stripe to your website, app or point of sale the right way: checkout, subscriptions, invoices and webhooks that update your systems and reconcile cleanly. (From $750)
- [Payment Gateway Integration](https://wisconsintechshop.com/payments/payment-gateway-integration/): Integrate Stripe, Square, PayPal, Authorize.net or Braintree into your website, app or software, with secure tokenized payments and clean reporting. (From $750)
- [Payment Fraud & Chargeback Prevention](https://wisconsintechshop.com/payments/payment-fraud-prevention/): Cut fraudulent orders and chargebacks with tuned fraud rules, verification steps and dispute workflows, without blocking good customers. (From $450)
- [Accept Credit Card Payments on Your Website](https://wisconsintechshop.com/payments/accept-credit-cards-online/): Add a secure way to take card, Apple Pay and Google Pay payments on your website: pay buttons, payment forms, deposits or full checkout. (From $375)

## Related quick fixes

- [Got a Chargeback](https://wisconsintechshop.com/fix/chargeback-response/)

[All tech fixes](https://wisconsintechshop.com/fix/)

## Tell us what you need

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- Big projects and small ones are all welcome
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Source: https://wisconsintechshop.com/guides/customers-charged-twice/
Contact: hello@wisconsintechshop.com · https://wisconsintechshop.com/contact/