Wrong Payment Method Being Shown

[scarrott]

We are having a problem with the payment method that is being displayed on invoices after payment has been made. Our customers can choose to pay each invoice by bank transfer, Stripe, cheque/card over phone or Paypal, and they don't always pay the same way. When the customer makes a payment by bank transfer, cheque or by card over the phone, we go to the invoice, 'Add Payment', set the relevant payment method, and record the transaction there. However, after adding the payment, the invoice shows 'PAID' and the Payment Method is frequently different to what you have just entered. There is an additional 'Payment Method' option in the Options tab, which I don't really see the point of. The value that is displayed on the invoice, and that also shows on the payment confirmation email template, seems to be pulled from this additional option. 

When add a payment and tell the system that it has been paid by Bank Transfer why does it then show, for example, that the Payment Method was Paypal? This is very confusiing and means emails to customers show incorrect information. Could someone clarify if this is working as expected, and why this would be useful?

I've attached a screenshot. You can see that the transaction shows it was paid by bank transfer, but the payment method shows Paypal. Why?

[WHMCS Andrew]

An invoice has a payment method set on it that is separate to any manual transaction being added.

If you wish to update the invoice payment method, you should do so on the Options tab of the invoice.

Adding a manual payment from the Add Payment tab will not change anything on the invoice other than the status if the payment being added covers the invoice amount.

[scarrott]

But in the real world, who chooses the payment method on behalf of the customer? What is the point in setting the payment method, and then giving the customer the choice of 4 different payment methods to choose from anyway? There seems to be some very muddled thinking here. You don't go in the supermarket, get to the till and then get told how you are going to pay. 

We don't know how the customer is going to pay when we generate an order and an invoice. When they receive the invoice, or when they place the order, they will choose how they want to pay. When they renew, they may choose not to pay using the same payment method as before. This is normal behaviour. The only point I can see of setting a payment method is if you are saying the customer MUST pay that way. But then, the system gives them the choice at checkout anyway. I'm really not following the logic of how this is set up.

I basically want the payment method to be 'customer choice' every time. I also want to be able to note on the payment confirmation email, how the customer actually paid, as opposed to the entirely fictional and arbitrary "Payment Method" that we can show on there at present, which rarely matches the actual payment method.

Maybe i'm missing something important here, in which case i'd appreciate it if you could explain to me why this works the way it does and how that can possibly be useful?

[semden]

+1 to fix this unlogical usage with payment method.

Its better to show real payment method after invoice is paid.