GivebearTroubleshooting Kiosks
Diagnose kiosk setup, sync, payment, and device problems without guessing.
When a kiosk problem appears, start with the symptom and work backward. Do not change settings randomly while donors are waiting. Gather evidence, isolate the layer, then act.
First questions
Ask the person at the device:
- What screen is visible?
- What was the donor trying to do?
- Which organization and fund are shown?
- Is the device online?
- Is the Terminal reader connected?
- Was the donation one-time or recurring?
- Did the donor see an error?
- Is this happening for every donor or one donor?
Troubleshooting map
| Symptom | Check first | Likely area |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong funds shown | Publication state and sync time | Dashboard data sync |
| Kiosk says organization is not ready | Stripe and Givebear billing readiness | Payment setup |
| Reader will not connect | Reader power, Bluetooth or network, Terminal state | Device and Terminal |
| Recurring gift fails | Internet connection and recurring support | Online payment path |
| Offline payments stop | Pending count, pending total, per-payment amount | Offline limits |
| Branding is old | Sync and organization settings | Dashboard data sync |
| Staff cannot find gift | Transaction timing, pending offline state, Stripe state | Finance reconciliation |
Use diagnostics
Dashboard diagnostics such as logs, screenshots, device details, and remote actions are there to reduce guessing. Capture evidence before restarting devices or changing organization settings.
Good support notes include:
- Device name.
- Organization name.
- Time of issue.
- What the donor selected.
- Amount.
- Whether the device was online.
- Reader state.
- Screenshot or logs if available.
When to escalate
Escalate when:
- Payments may be duplicated or missing.
- Offline pending payments did not resolve after internet returned.
- A dispute, refund, or finance record looks wrong.
- The device appears paired to the wrong organization.
- The same payment failure happens repeatedly after readiness checks pass.
Escalation is faster when the support note includes evidence from the kiosk and dashboard, not only a description of the symptom.