Horizon 7.5.4 Bug - Wrong Name on Payment Receipt

Update: A temporary fix to the 'crashing' side of the problem was implemented 11/1/16. The name of the borrower on the payment receipt has been replaced with the libary card barcode of the borrower. It only prints the last few digits of the barcode to help protect customers' accounts from being used for other services. But it should be enough to verify the account name and barcode together if they present the receipt later with questions.

Note: placing the barcode on the receipt did not correct the other part of the bug. It could still print the barcode for the borrower that's currently on the item record. But the fine payment is truly credited to the correct borrower.


UPDATE 2/2018:

Another issue is when checking in items and trying to print a return receipt in Horizon is that this will crash Horizon.  This is only when printing a return receipt. 

The only way to 'correct' the issue of wrong name printing on cki or payment receipts is to remove the name from payment or cki receipts altogether.

You can aso avoid the cki receipt issue by checking in and issuing a return receipt through CircIt.

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When we upgraded to Horizon 7.5.4 in October, 2016, a bug was introduced into the system. The payment receipt prints the name and/or barcode number for the borrower that’s currently on the item record (i.e. has the paid for item checked out) - not the borrower who's paid the fine. Don't worry though. It’s only cosmetic. The fine payment is truly credited to the correct borrower.

In this example, Julianne Starner paid fines on her account, but Lupe Vasquez's name appears on the payment receipt. That's because Lupe has the Deadwood item checked out.

Another symptom of this problem was that Horizon would crash during the payment transaction. The payment was still made to the correct account, but staff had to log back into Horizon.

We will probably have to live with this until the next upgrade. Simply cross out the wrong name and write in the correct borrower's name and reassure/show the customer their fines were indeed paid.

rev. 4/2018

Can't Pay Fines Online with Lost Library Card Barcode

If a customer tries to log into SmartPay with a lost library card, they will get the message: User type is blocked...(and their btype). It does not specifically state the card is lost. But SmartPay does not allow them any further access. 

Delay of SmartPay Payments - Very Rare

Your customer calls and says, "I paid my fines online last night, but it still hasn't hit my bank account/credit card yet." Here's what's happened.

On very rare occasions (i.e. twice in 12+ months), fines on their Horizon account are cleared when they make a payment through SmartPay. However, the transaction doesn’t make it to SmartPay's server for final processing. That transaction is flagged the next morning and System staff manually add it to the next night’s batch. So in that case, the customer would notice a 24-hour delay in the transaction posting to their credit card/bank account.

Double Payments in SmartPay Not Possible

Your customer calls and says "I paid my fines online and it charged my card twice." Actually the system is built to prevent double payments. Here's what happens.

If they used a bank debit card, the bank can place a hold on the funds in their bank account. This ensures the money will be there when the transaction is finally processed. Usually there's just a single hold on the funds. But if somehow the customer clicks the Submit button twice very quickly, there may be two holds for the same amount on the funds in their account. Eventually both of these holds will be removed when the funds are actually taken from the customers bank account. There is no way for the Library to release that extra hold on the funds. The bank places that hold and only they can clear it.

If the customer waits a few more days the second pre-authorization should go away.  If they dispute the second charge the bank is likely to confuse it with the real charge and take the real payment away from us and charge us $20, which will get charged back to the library. So see if the customer can wait a few more days.

But what if they hit the back button during the transaction? The transaction that actually charges the credit/debit card only takes place after the Horizon fines are cleared. Even if a patron hits the back button after paying, it will not post a second charge to the credit/debit card because the specific fines have already been cleared.

Waive vs Change Amount

If you wish to reduce a customer's fines because they returned an item, use "waiver" rather than "change amount." It's more like saying 'they owed us that money, but we forgave the debt.' Fresno discovered problems with their Debt Collect reports when fees are changed rather than just waived.

 

The appropriate use for "change amount" is when the customer was actually charged the wrong amount for a lost item or a processing fee. Use this to change the amount due for an individual block, rather than completely wiping it out.

In short, waive = forgive and change amount = oops.

Fines and Processing Fees on Returned Lost Materials

The Library's policy is to charge a processing fee for lost materials to recover the staff time it takes to replace the item. As of July 2017, this fee is set at $7.00 per item.

If an item's status changes to Lost, a series of related blocks will eventually appear on the account:

1. Lost Block - Cost of the item
When a Lost item is returned, the Lost Block is automatically resolved and the cost of the item is removed from the borrower's account.

2. Lost Processing Fee Block - $7.00
The Lost Processing Fee is not removed automatically. Staff must waive the fee manually. The borrower would then only owe the maximum overdue fine.

3. Fine Block - This block only appears on the account when the Lost item is returned. It will be set to the maximum amount allowed depending on itype/jursidiction. FCPL's maximum overdue fine as of July 2018 is $4.00 per item. Other jurisdictions' items can have a maximum overdue charge ranging from $2.50 up to the cost of the item. Local policy prevails for collecting overdue fines. Fresno staff may adjust the maximum fine to $4.00 at their discretion. If the Fine Block does not appear, waive the Lost Processing Fee down to $4.

There are several exceptions to the above:

> Kern County does not charge a Lost Processing Fee. Therefore, if a Kern County item is lost and returned, no Lost Processing Fee Block will be on the account - and so there's nothing to waive.

> The Fine Block will not appear on the account when a lost item is returned in some cases.
1) After 12 months, Lost status items will change to Missing status. If a missing item is returned, the item no longer contains the original due date, so it cannot calculate the fine (or)
2) The item was manually set to Lost status by staff and then returned prior to the due date (or)

3) The account is exempt from fines (FST - Staff, FVOL - Volunteers and FHB - Home Service). (Note: these account types will eventually be charged for the Lost item including the Lost Processing Fee, but the Fine Block will never appear on their account if the item is returned.)

*See the other Lost Processing Fee post to understand how the Lost Processing Fee is calculated.


rev. August 2017