Dive Gear Express processes payment card transactions a little differently than most other on-line merchants in that we do not actually charge your card at the time the order is placed. Instead we request an authorization only from your card issuer and later charge your card shortly before your order ships.
If you choose to make payment by card (as opposed to payment via PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay), then during checkout we conduct an "Authorization Only" transaction with our merchant processor gateway at the moment when you click the Place Order button. Our merchant processor then communicates electronically with the card issuer (typically a bank) to request an authorization. Depending on your card issuer policies, an authorization transaction might reduce available credit or funds but is NOT a settled charge, it will appear as "pending" transactions if you view your on-line transaction history at the card issuer website or in their mobile app. You might also receive an SMS text message from the card issuer advising you of the amount, although the text may not disclose the nature of the transaction as an authorization only. Assuming we receive an authorization when you Place Order, when the order is released to shipping then a charge transaction will be submitted for settlement (which requires the previously issued authorization).
All actual settled charge transactions require an authorization, but it is important to understand that not all authorizations will become settled charge transactions. That can happen when the order is cancelled before we have released the order to shipping and submitted the transaction for settlement. We can also submit transactions that settle for an amount different than the authorized amount, for example when there is a change to the order or a store merchandise credit is applied. This process is similar to restaurants, gasoline stations, hotels where the authorization amount can differ from the amount of the settled charge.
In the US, pending authorizations that do not charge and settle will typically expire within a few days but international pending transactions can take longer (as much as 30 days depending on the card issuer) because the cross-border settlement process can be complex and time-consuming depending on the financial infrastructure of the country for the card issuer. The policy of your card issuer in handling pending authorizations that do not submit for charge settlement varies considerably between card issuers and is completely outside our control. Contact your card issuer for more information.
Declined Authorizations
The card issuer can refuse to issue the authorization, typically because the card is expired or the amount of the transaction exceeds the credit limit or available funds (called a "hard decline"). Our merchant processor gateway can also refuse to accept the authorization because information provided with the transaction such as the billing address, or CVV code supplied does not match the card issuer records. Either the card issuer or the merchant processor can also refuse to issue an authorization because something about the nature of the transaction seems like it might be fraudulent. These types of refusals for security reasons are called a "soft decline". Hard declines are not to be resubmitted but with soft declines the consumer can change the information, or may be able to contact the card issuer to reassure them the transaction is legitimate, and then retry the transaction.
There is a rare problem when an authorization is issued by a bank with an archaic processing systems (notably some card issuers in Mexico and South America), but then refused by our merchant processor gateway. The issuing bank may immediately deduct the funds from the card holder account, however because the authorization was refused for security reasons by our merchant processor the funds will not be received by our bank. The funds are essentially unavailable to neither the card holder nor us, held in between by the card issuer. These situations are completely out of our control, the customer MUST contact the card issuer (the number is on the back of the card) and request the authorization be cancelled and the captured funds be returned to them. Otherwise you can wait until the card issuer automatically returns the funds back to the card holder when the authorization does not settle, however this can take as long as a month in the case of international transactions.