Remind customers about unpaid orders

Updated 7 October 2026

Remind customers about unpaid orders (0:29)

Some customers open your form, start the payment, then close the bank page. BCL keeps the order as pending, and about 30 minutes later cancels it and fires Payment Cancelled. This automation then emails the customer a link to finish the payment. So you do not lose the sale when a buyer forgets to pay.

What you need

Only a payment form that customers pay online. Orders paid by COD or manual transfer are never auto-cancelled, so they never reach this automation.

Build it

Start from a blank automation (see Create an automation):

Go to Automations, click New Automation, name it “Unpaid Order Reminder” and click Create.
Click Add Node and choose Payment Cancelled. Double-click the trigger, set Payment Source Type to Payment Form, and click Save Trigger. To limit it to some forms, choose them in Specific Form.
Click Add Node and choose Send Email. Double-click it, fill it in as below and click Save Email.

Field Type

Action Name Unpaid reminder

Recipient Email {email}

Email Subject Your order {order_number} is still waiting

Email Content The message below
```
Hi {name},
We noticed your order {order_number} for {amount} was not paid, so it has been cancelled.
Still want it? Open your order and try the payment again: {receipt_url}
Or start a new order here: {form_url}
Thank you,
{business_name}
```
Click Update Automation.

Field	Type
Action Name	Unpaid reminder
Recipient Email	`{email}`
Email Subject	`Your order {order_number} is still waiting`
Email Content	The message below

The finished workflow:

The workflow canvas with Payment Cancelled connected to Unpaid reminder

{receipt_url} opens the order’s receipt page. For a cancelled online payment, that page shows a Retry Payment button. This button sends the customer back to the bank with the same order. {form_url} opens the form for a new order.

Test it

The test takes about half an hour because BCL waits before it cancels the order:

In Test Mode, fill in your payment form with your own email and click Complete Payment. Close the bank page and do not pay.
About 30 minutes later the order turns Cancelled in Transactions.
Open the automation and click Overview. The run appears in Execution History. A delivered email shows as Completed.

Tips

A few ways to get more from this recipe:

Wait longer before you send the email. Add a Delay of, for example, 2 hours between the trigger and the email. So the message arrives when the customer is more likely to be free.
Do not use this with the unchanged Incomplete Payment Follow-up template. That template also emails cancelled payments, so customers will get two messages. Remove its cancelled branch, as in Follow up on failed payments.
Keep the tone light. Sometimes the customer paid another way or changed their mind. One friendly reminder is enough.

Common issues

When exactly does Payment Cancelled fire?

BCL cancels a payment that is still unpaid about 30 minutes after the customer started it. This cancellation fires Payment Cancelled. COD and manual transfer orders are never cancelled this way.

Can I send the reminder on WhatsApp instead?

Yes. Use a Send Wabot, Send Wasapbot or Send Nakwasap step instead of Send Email, with {phone} as the number. The Abandoned Cart WhatsApp template is a ready-made version that waits an hour first.

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