smartcodSMART COD PRO · Included in every PRO plan
Your COD rules stay in place after a failed payment.
A failed online payment can send a customer back to pay for an existing order. When they switch to Cash on Delivery, your restrictions, fees, advance payment and email verification still apply.
How it works
The first checkout is not the only place customers choose how to pay.
A customer places an order, but their online payment fails. Later, they use the order’s payment link and select Cash on Delivery. This is a payment retry for the same order, with its saved products and delivery details.
Smart COD PRO evaluates those order details before accepting COD. A payment failure alone does not mark the customer as unreliable or hide COD: the response comes from your configured rules and enabled protection.
Your checkout, your rules
Keep the same control when the payment method changes.
If your rules hide COD, it stays unavailable for that order. If COD is allowed with a fee, an advance or email verification, the payment page shows the applicable option and amounts.
The check uses the existing order’s products, amounts and delivery details. Switching back to full online payment removes the COD fee or advance requirement from that payment route; it does not require a second cart or a duplicate order.
Practical example
Example scenarios
Illustrative rules and amounts. You choose the values that fit your store.
| When this happens | Your chosen result |
|---|---|
| 1. An online payment fails | A homeware shop’s order remains unpaid. The customer returns through the payment link for that same order. |
| 2. The customer selects COD | The shop’s rule requires an advance for this order’s basket value. The payment page shows the amount due online and the balance due on delivery. |
| 3. The customer chooses how to proceed | To use COD, they must complete the required advance. They can instead select another available online method and pay the full amount. |
What the customer experiences
A payment failure does not mean starting over. The customer sees the available payment options and applicable totals for the existing order, including an advance or email code when your settings require one.
Settings & setup
Set it up in your store
Use the same COD rules, fees, advance-payment methods and email settings you configure for checkout. They also apply on WooCommerce’s payment page for an existing unpaid order; there is no separate set of retry rules to maintain.
Questions about this feature
Does a failed card payment automatically block COD?
No. The failed payment is not itself a negative delivery-history signal. Your configured restrictions, history protection and other COD settings determine the result.
Does this retry or fix the failed card payment?
No. It controls the COD option when the customer pays for an existing order. Authorization of an online payment remains with the selected payment provider.