If the internet goes down
Bina keeps selling with no internet — but only some things. Here's exactly what still works, what needs the connection back, and what those pills at the top of your screen mean.
The 20-second version
When the internet drops, follow the till’s checkout status. An already configured, unlocked till may allow takeaway or delivery cash sales to be saved locally. Do not bypass a cashier, register or payment warning. A locally saved sale is not yet confirmed on the server. Everything else on this page — dine-in, splits, refunds, card payments, the kitchen screen — needs the connection back.
Do not close the tab and do not restart the till just because it says Offline. It is designed to keep working. Restarting is only for when something else is actually broken.
What still works with no internet
| You want to… | Works offline? | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Ring a cash sale (takeaway / delivery) | ✅ Yes | Where the till permits it, the original sale is saved on this device and queued for the server. Local printing and drawer actions depend on your configured hardware. After reconnection, check Sell → Orders and any review warning before assuming the sale and payment are confirmed. Do not take payment a second time. |
| Print a receipt or kitchen ticket, open the drawer | ✅ Yes | Configured local printing may work while the internet is down, but the till must still reach its helper and printer over USB or the shop network. A local-network outage can stop printing too. An unknown print outcome is not permission to resend it repeatedly. |
| Scan, search or tap to add items to the cart | ✅ Yes | Your menu is already loaded on the till. Building the sale never needs a live connection. |
| Park a sale, then bring it back | ✅ Yes | Park saves it on the till itself, not the server. |
| Automatic promos that were active at start of day (happy hour, %-off) | ✅ Yes | The till uses its last-synced pricing and supports only the promotions it can calculate locally. The server rechecks the sale on reconnection. A changed price or refused promotion can require manager review; do not assume the drawer and server total match until checked. |
| Stock-out protection | ✅ Yes, against last-synced counts | The till still warns when an item would sell out (based on the last stock sync minus what this till already sold offline) and asks for a manager PIN — the PIN is checked by the server when the sale syncs, and the override is logged. |
| Send a takeaway/delivery order to the kitchen | 🟡 Queues, but the kitchen screen won’t see it yet | It saves the same way a cash sale does and shows up on the Kitchen screen once the connection is back — not the instant you send it. Tell the kitchen verbally during an outage. |
| Reopen the till after a reboot or power blip | ✅ Yes, if it stays signed in | The till remembers itself and your recent menu, so a restart mid-outage doesn’t strand you. But a SIGNED-OUT or brand-new till cannot start offline — signing in needs the connection. Don’t sign out during an outage. |
What needs the connection back
| You want to… | Works offline? | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Start a new dine-in order (pick a table) | ❌ No | Bina needs the server to open a table before it can take the order. You’ll see “Could not open the table tab.” Switch to Takeaway, or wait. |
| Split a bill between two or more people | ❌ No | Splitting only works once the order is saved on the server — that saving step needs the connection. |
| Refund a sale | ❌ No | Refunds always talk to the server directly. |
| Void an order | ❌ No | Same as refunds — always needs the connection. |
| ⚠ Collect payment on an order you sent earlier | ❌ No — even for cash | This one surprises people: even though the customer is handing you cash right now, this specific action always talks to the server. It will not work until you’re back online. |
| Apply a promo code or redeem loyalty points | ❌ No | The server has to check and price these before you can quote the customer a total. (Automatic start-of-day promos like happy hour still apply on their own — see above.) |
| Email or WhatsApp a receipt | ❌ No | Receipts are sent by the server. Hand over the printed receipt — you can resend the digital one from Orders once you’re back online. |
| Apply a manager-PIN discount | ❌ No | The PIN has to be checked by the server before the discount is allowed through. |
| See or update anything on the Kitchen screen | ❌ No | The kitchen tablet is a separate device — it checks the server for tickets every few seconds and shows nothing new until it’s back online. |
| Look at Orders, Reports, Z-Report, Inventory, Team, Settings | ❌ No | Every other page in Bina needs to fetch live data from the server to show anything useful. |
The QR-ordering trap during an outage
If your shop uses QR table ordering, watch out: the customer app talks to the server directly, over the customer’s own mobile data. So while your shop’s internet is down, customers can keep placing QR orders that your kitchen screen and till cannot see until the connection returns.
During an outage, either take the QR table tents off the tables, or have a manager watch Sell → Orders from a phone on mobile data and relay orders to the kitchen.
About card payments
Treat card, Apple Pay and Google Pay as unavailable the moment the internet drops. Take the payment on your bank’s card terminal like normal — it is the bank terminal, not Bina, that actually needs a live connection to approve a card. If your shop’s whole internet is down, that terminal is very likely down too. Don’t try to force a card sale through — cash-only until you’re back online.
If a customer genuinely cannot pay cash while you’re offline, note their order on paper and settle it properly once the connection returns. Don’t mark it "Paid — Card" in Bina unless the card was actually, successfully charged on the bank terminal.
What the pills at the top mean
| Pill | Meaning | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Offline · N queued | No internet right now. Cash sales you ring are being saved and will send themselves later. | Nothing — keep working normally. |
| 🟠 Syncing N orders… | Internet is back and your queued sales are being sent to the server. | Wait a few seconds — it clears itself. Don’t close the tab mid-sync. |
| 🔴 N sale(s) need review | The original outcome needs checking. A refused or lost response does not prove that there is no order, payment or stock movement. Cash may already have been taken. | Tap the pill, keep the original sale reference, and ask a manager to check the original order, payment and drawer. Do not re-ring or take payment again. Cashier/register holds and unverified older sales keep Retry and Discard paused; changing cashier does not resolve them. For an ordinary refusal, a manager may use Retry now only when the original outcome and cause have been checked; it keeps the same request and reference. Discard is only for a reconciled sale and requires a verified recovery copy. Never clear browser data or reinstall to hide a review warning. Contact support when the outcome cannot be established. |
Testing it yourself before you rely on it
Use a designated test till and test order, not a busy live checkout:
- With support, simulate loss of internet while keeping the local printer network available. Do not unplug a cable used by the printer or your remote-support connection.
- If the till permits offline checkout, ring one labelled cash test sale and confirm it is locally queued. Check the receipt and drawer separately. If checkout is blocked, stop; do not change cashier or register merely to get around the warning.
- Restore the internet connection. Watch for Syncing… and any sale needing review.
- Check Sell → Orders — confirm the original reference appears exactly once, with the correct payment, tender and change. An empty queue alone is not a complete check.
If anything looks different from that — the sale is missing, duplicated, or you see the red "failed to record" pill — stop and get help before trusting the till on a busy shift.
Can’t find it? Ask Bina — the assistant inside your dashboard answers questions about your own store.