What Happens When a Payment Fails?

When a lesson payment fails, Tutonomi works through a set of automatic steps before anything needs your attention. Here's exactly what to expect.

What Tutonomi does first

The moment a payment fails, Tutonomi categorises it based on what went wrong — whether that's no card on file, a card that needs updating, or a declined payment. From there, the system takes over: it retries the charge where possible, and sends reminder emails to the pupil prompting them to take action.

During this stage the payment sits in the Pending Payments table. You don't need to do anything while this is running.

The final reminder

If the pupil hasn't resolved the issue after the automatic attempts, Tutonomi sends them a final reminder email. This is the last automated step the system takes on your behalf.

When it reaches you

Once the final reminder has been sent, the payment moves into the Failed Payments table. This is your signal that the system has done everything it can and the situation now needs a personal touch.

At this point you have a couple of options: send the pupil an additional payment reminder email directly, via the View Options link, or if the pupil is unwilling or unable to resolve it, delete their account which will write off any outstanding payments and cancel all scheduled lessons.

Good to know

• Most payment issues are resolved automatically before they ever reach the Failed Payments table.

• The Failed Payments table shows the failure type for each entry, so you can see at a glance what went wrong and what your options are.

• For a full breakdown of failure types and what they mean, see the guide on soft fail vs hard fail explained.