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Hello,
I understand that orders can be stuck in reviewing status when Google Checkout thinks something is fishy. I have the system set to automatically authorize/charge the transactions, but some do get stuck in the inbox.

When this happens, we hear from the customer who gets to the point of downloading the product, only to find that the link is missing. Inevitably, we look bad because it appears that we've collected money without giving them a way to download the product. We get emails saying "wheres the download link?"

3 questions:

1) Is this supposed to happen this way? Is the link being withheld until Google transacts?

2) What can we do to fix this and/or make sure the customer understands what is happening?

3) How can I remove Google Checkout from my cart temporarily? I expected to see a checkbox, but I don't see one. Remove the merchant info?

Thanks!

To address your questions in order:

1) We do not issue thank-you emails, downloads or codes until the payment processor confirms that payment was good and completed; even without detecting anything "fishy", Google Checkout still sometimes fails to complete a payment instantaneously and may lag a bit (but still nowhere near as bad as PayPal has been lately!).

2) Inform affected customers that Google has not actually completed their payment yet and that the process is not always "instant", but once they do complete payment, then their link will be issued automatically. You can also use the "Send free thank-you email/download link/codes" function of your Seller Admin to placate irate customers.

3) If you wish to disable Google Checkout, just delete your Google Merchant ID and Key from your Seller Admin > Edit Profile screen.

BTW, in the case of PayPal payments only (not for Google, alas), you can bypass waiting for payment confirmation and just issue thank-you emails/download links/codes immediately by unchecking the "Wait for PayPal..." setting in your Seller Admin > Edit Account Preferences -- note that in this case, you would assume all risk of a payment falling thru after the buyer has already received their downloads/codes.