Automatically cancel order after X days if no payment in WooCommerce

Question

I have managed to put this together after searching the web and yet, it does not work. My aim is to automatically cancel ALL orders with the status on-hold no matter the payment gateway if the order has not been paid after three days.

The code is obviously incomplete and I'm asking for help making it complete. I was testing it with -1 minute to see if anything happened. It did not.

function get_unpaid_orders() {
    global $wpdb;

    $unpaid_orders = $wpdb->get_col( $wpdb->prepare( "
        SELECT posts.ID
        FROM {$wpdb->posts} AS posts
        WHERE posts.post_status = 'wc-on-hold'
        AND posts.post_date < %s
    ", date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime('-1 minute') ) ) );

    return $unpaid_orders;
}

add_action( 'woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_submitted', 'cancel_unpaid_orders' );
function cancel_unpaid_orders() {
    $unpaid_orders = get_unpaid_orders();

    if ( $unpaid_orders ) {
        foreach ( $unpaid_orders as $unpaid_order ) {
            $order = wc_get_order( $unpaid_order );
            $cancel_order = true;

            foreach  ( $order->get_items() as $item_key => $item_values) {
                $manage_stock = get_post_meta( $item_values, '_manage_stock', true );
                if ( $manage_stock == "yes" ) {
                    $payment_method = $order->get_payment_method();
                    if ( $payment_method == "bacs" ) {
                        $cancel_order = false;
                    }
                }
            }
            if ( $cancel_order == true ) {
                $order -> update_status( 'cancelled', __( 'The order was cancelled due to no payment from customer.', 'woocommerce') );
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

Update 4

Note: in WooCommerce, there is already a function hooked in woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_orders action hook that cancel unpaid orders after 7 days.

I didn't find woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_submitted action hook, so I don't know if it exist and if it is triggered.

Now there is some mistakes in your code and you can better use wc_get_orders() which give you directly the correct array of WC_Order Objects instead…

Here are some different ways to make it (last ones are untested):

1. This last solution is tested and works When shop manager or administrator user roles browse the Admin orders list (only executed once a day):

   add_action( 'restrict_manage_posts', 'cancel_unpaid_orders' ); function cancel_unpaid_orders() { global $pagenow, $post_type;

    // Enable the process to be executed daily when browsing Admin order list 
    if( 'shop_order' === $post_type && 'edit.php' === $pagenow 
        && get_option( 'unpaid_orders_daily_process' ) < time() ) :
   
    $days_delay = 5; // <=== SET the delay (number of days to wait before cancelation)
   
    $one_day    = DAY_IN_SECONDS;
    $today      = strtotime( date('Y-m-d') );
   
    // Get unpaid orders (5 days old)
    $unpaid_orders = (array) wc_get_orders( array(
        'limit'        => -1,
        'status'       => 'on-hold',
        'date_created' => '<' . ( $today - ($days_delay * $one_day) ),
    ) );
   
    if ( sizeof($unpaid_orders) > 0 ) {
        $cancelled_text = __("The order was cancelled due to no payment from customer.", "woocommerce");
   
        // Loop through orders
        foreach ( $unpaid_orders as $unpaid_order ) {
            $unpaid_order->update_status( 'cancelled', $cancelled_text );
        }
    }
    // Schedule the process to the next day (executed once restriction)
    update_option( 'unpaid_orders_daily_process', $today + $one_day );
   
    endif;
   

   }

Code goes in function.php file of your active child theme (or active theme).

---

2. This third solution is tested and works: The function is triggered when any order change to "processing" or "completed" status (only executed once a day):

   // Triggered on orders status change to "processing" or "completed" add_action( 'woocommerce_order_status_changed', 'daily_cancel_unpaid_orders', 10, 4 ); function daily_cancel_unpaid_orders( $order_id, $old_status, $new_status, $order ) { // Enable the process to be executed daily if( in_array( $new_status, array('processing', 'completed') ) && get_option( 'unpaid_orders_daily_process' ) < time() ) :

    $days_delay = 5; // <=== SET the delay (number of days to wait before cancelation)
   
    $one_day    = DAY_IN_SECONDS;
    $today      = strtotime( date('Y-m-d') );
   
    // Get unpaid orders (5 days old)
    $unpaid_orders = (array) wc_get_orders( array(
        'limit'        => -1,
        'status'       => 'on-hold',
        'date_created' => '<' . ( $today - ($days_delay * $one_day) ),
    ) );
   
    if ( sizeof($unpaid_orders) > 0 ) {
        $cancelled_text = __("The order was cancelled due to no payment from customer.", "woocommerce");
   
        // Loop through WC_Order Objects
        foreach ( $unpaid_orders as $order ) {
            $order->update_status( 'cancelled', $cancelled_text );
        }
    }
    // Schedule the process to the next day (executed once restriction)
    update_option( 'unpaid_orders_daily_process', $today + $one_day );
   
    endif;
   

   }

Code goes in function.php file of your active child theme (or active theme).

---

3. So you can try with woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_submitted action hook:

   add_action( 'woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_submitted', 'cancel_unpaid_orders' ); function cancel_unpaid_orders() { $days_delay = 5; // <=== SET the delay (number of days to wait before cancelation)

    $one_day    = DAY_IN_SECONDS;
    $today      = strtotime( date('Y-m-d') );
   
    // Get unpaid orders (5 days old here)
    $unpaid_orders = (array) wc_get_orders( array(
        'limit'        => -1,
        'status'       => 'on-hold',
        'date_created' => '<' . ( $today - ($days_delay * $one_day) ),
    ) );
   
    if ( sizeof($unpaid_orders) > 0 ) {
        $cancelled_text = __("The order was cancelled due to no payment from customer.", "woocommerce");
   
        // Loop through orders
        foreach ( $unpaid_orders as $order ) {
            $order->update_status( 'cancelled', $cancelled_text );
        }
    }
   

   }

Code goes in function.php file of your active child theme (or active theme).

The function code should better works. For the hook I really don't know.

---

4. You can try also with woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_orders action hook instead.

Answer 2

Just adding to @LoicTheAztec's brilliant answer. I modified it into a plugin, and added a settings page where you can enable/disable this feature, as well as change the number of days delay from the Admin settings. Here's the code:

<?php
/**
* Plugin Name: Cancel On-Hold Orders After X Days
* Plugin URI: https://smartairfilters.com
* Description: Cancel orders that are in an 'on-hold' status after a certain number of days. Uses wordpress cron to trigger
* Version: 1.0.0
* Author: Paddy Robertson
* Author URI: https://patrickrobertson.uk
* Requires at least: 5.3
* Requires PHP: 7.0
*/

add_action('woocommerce_cancel_unpaid_orders', 'cancel_onhold_orders');
function cancel_onhold_orders() {
  if (!get_option('cancel_onhold_enable')) {
    // only run if feature is enabled
    return;
  }

  $days_delay = get_option('cancel_onhold_days_delay'); // <=== SET the delay (number of days to wait before cancelation)
  echo "days delay   xxxx " . $days_delay;
  $one_day    = 24 * 60 * 60;
  $today      = strtotime( date('Y-m-d') );

  // Get unpaid orders (5 days old here)
  $unpaid_orders = (array) wc_get_orders(array(
    'orderby' => 'date',
    'order' => 'DESC',
    'limit'        => -1,
    'status'       => 'on-hold',
    'date_created' => '<' . ($today - ($days_delay * $one_day)),
  ));

  if ( sizeof($unpaid_orders) > 0 ) {
    $cancelled_text = __("The order was cancelled due to no payment from customer.", "woocommerce");

    // Loop through orders
    foreach ( $unpaid_orders as $order ) {
      $order->update_status( 'cancelled', $cancelled_text );
    }
  }
}

// Settings page
function cancel_onhold_register_settings() {
  register_setting( 'cancel_onhold_group', 'cancel_onhold_days_delay');
  register_setting( 'cancel_onhold_group', 'cancel_onhold_enable');
}

add_action( 'admin_init', 'cancel_onhold_register_settings' );
function cancel_onhold_register_options_page() {
  add_options_page('Cancel On-Hold Orders', 'Cancel On-Hold', 'manage_options', 'cancel_onhold_options_page', 'cancel_onhold_options_page');
}

add_action('admin_menu', 'cancel_onhold_register_options_page');
function cancel_onhold_options_page() {
  ?>
  <div>
    <h2>Cancel On-Hold Orders after X Days</h2>
    <form method="post" action="options.php">
      <?php settings_fields( 'cancel_onhold_group' ); ?>
      <table class="form-table">
        <tr valign="top">
          <th scope="row"><label for="cancel_onhold_enable">Enable/Disable this feature</label></th>
          <td><input type="checkbox" id="cancel_onhold_enable" name="cancel_onhold_enable" value="1" <?php checked(get_option('cancel_onhold_enable')); ?>" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr valign="top">
          <th scope="row"><label for="cancel_onhold_days_delay">Enter number of days after which on hold orders will be cancelled</label></th>
          <td><input type="number" id="cancel_onhold_days_delay" name="cancel_onhold_days_delay" value="<?php echo get_option('cancel_onhold_days_delay'); ?>" /> days</td>
        </tr>
      </table>
      <?php submit_button(); ?>
    </form>
  </div>
  <?php
}