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Hi @shanedelierrr ,

I figured out the issue – it was a plugin called “WP Logo Showcase Responsive Slider and Carousel” – prior to their version 3.8.7; they had a code conflict affecting widget saving.

Once I updated that plugin to 3.8.7; everything was working fine.

I thought it might be useful to know if anyone else has a similar issue.

Hi @lovingbro,

Thank you for the detailed explanation — the clarification about how a stale total can cause WooCommerce to bypass required checkout fields is helpful. We’ll begin implementing the safeguards you’ve recommended.

Before proceeding, could you please provide:

1. The recommended validation snippet

Specifically, we need:

• A snippet that blocks all unintended £0 orders only when no coupon or gift card has been applied.
• The correct WooCommerce hooks for WooCommerce v10.1+.
• Confirmation that this snippet will not interfere with legitimate £0 scenarios (e.g., when using the official WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin which may bring totals to £0).

We want to ensure we apply the snippet exactly as intended and avoid writing something that unintentionally blocks valid gift-card redemptions or future functionality.

2. Clarification on how the currency switcher might cause validation to be skipped

Your explanation makes sense, but to better understand how the user bypassed required fields entirely, could you clarify:

• Does WooCommerce skip all field validation automatically when the cart total is 0 at the process_checkout() stage?
• Is this behaviour expected, or is it something WooCommerce may consider tightening in future versions?

3. Any recommended logging for catching this earlier

Is there a hook we can log that fires before WooCommerce decides the checkout is free?
We already have cart-session logging in place, but if you can suggest an earlier or more specific action, we will implement it.

Once we have the validated snippet and your clarification, we’ll move ahead with the fixes on staging before deploying the changes live.

Thanks again for your ongoing help — we appreciate it.

Hi @shahzeenfarooq ,

Thanks for your reply.

1. Here’s the full screenshot of the order details
2. Screenshot of order notes for that order
3. Here’s the System Status Report
4. There were no fatal errors for that order

As we cannot replicate this issue; my main concern is ensuring these orders do not go to Processing – as it then interferes with the stock system (and do not want people to think they have bought something!)

Hi @lovingbro,

Thanks for getting back to us — much appreciated.

To answer your questions:

• The affected order was placed by an actual customer, not a test order.
• It has not occurred again since that incident.
• There is no custom code or snippet on the site that modifies cart totals, fees, or discounts.
• The site does use the official WooCommerce Gift Cards extension, though it was not used for the affected order.
• The site runs on WPEngine with NitroPack enabled for caching.
• We checked the logs from that period — there were no PHP errors or WooCommerce log entries at the time of the order.

Extensions that interact with pricing/totals include:

• WooCommerce Gift Cards (official plugin)
• Currency Switcher for WooCommerce

All plugins, including WooCommerce and PayPal Payments, have since been updated to their latest versions on Monday, but as the incident has not been reproducible, we’re still unsure what led to it originally.

We’d appreciate any insight into what core conditions could allow a non-zero product to process as a £0 order without a gateway being triggered. Our goal is to ensure that this cannot happen again, even as an edge case.

Hi @shahzeenfarooq,

Thanks for your reply.

1. Here’s the full screenshot of the order details
2. This was the first £0 order we have encountered – nothing like this has occurred before or since
3. Here’s the System Status Report

Thank you

Hi,

Many thanks for sending those instructions.

When we tried to follow the instructions that you sent us to sync the products, the site stopped responding and then we got the following critical error on the site “There has been a critical error on this website. Please check your site admin email inbox for instructions”.

We already spoken with the hosting developers but they can’t see is a server error.

Is there a private way for us to send you the WooCommerce status report?