To determine why a transaction has a General Error status, you need to know the value of the Response Reason Code – the code that provides more details about the transaction results.

If the transaction was submitted using the Advanced Integration Method (AIM) the Response Reason Code will be a 1- to 3-digit code that is returned in the third position of the Gateway Response. If the transaction was submitted using the Server Integration Method (SIM) instead, the Response Reason Code may be returned back to your website using the field x_response_reason_code. Once you have the Response Reason Code, you can find additional information on the error by using the Response Reason Code tool at http://developer.authorize.net/tools/responsereasoncode/.

If the transaction was submitted via the Virtual Terminal, please e-mail the transaction ID of the error to Customer Support using the following form: http://www.authorize.net/support/inquiryform/