Dev - Anyone from SE - Can we seriously please get a response to payment problems?

[Jeanna]

Even if I can re-sub after 30 days, 30 days is a pretty long time to be locked out of an MMO, especially when you play pretty extensively in endgame/with a LS. I don't wanna make it sound like I'm being egotistical and that I'm absolutely essential my LS or anything, but I'm a main Yagrush whm with a whole slew of other jobs that are commonly used (stun scholar, smn for bc zergs, extra brd/cor mule buffs, etc). During events I usually play 2 characters so we can low man stuff better. With my absence, what they can do is cut down pretty effectively, meaning they just stop events entirely or recruit new people, which might put me in a weird spot if I can ever come back, not to mention I feel pretty guilty for being forced to just leave them out of the blue.

Seriously, due to the nature of MMO's... locking someone out for a month is really just not a nice thing to do :/

[Kornflake]

Tried to pay again after 24 hours. This time using different browser, removing adblock, making sure all the addresses match. No luck.

After my subscription ends, there is basically no way to continue playing anymore.

[Jeanna]

Chances are if you tried more than once in a smallish period of time the block is longer than 24 hours. It can be anywhere from a few days to 30 days. When I called, the guy went and talked to billing and told me there were enough attempts that it was probably at 30 days. You might wanna call and see if they can guesstimate how long the block might be, because every time you retry, you reset the block. (So very mindboggling)

[Camiie]

No, they just aren't good at the basics of running one. They are like a really talented artist that has little idea how to make money off their work, but manages in a half assed way to get by.

They seem to operate with the mentality of a game company from the 80's or early 90's. Produce a game, box it up, ship it out, and that's it. Anything beyond that is beyond their comprehension. Service and support? Payment system? <I don't understand.>

Look at how long it took them to start communicating with the players, and they still haven't mastered the art. You can say the same about content updates although they have certainly made improvements. This game has been out for over a decade and they still haven't got the basics down.

Say what you will about the style and content of other MMOs, but at least their customers can pay them and at least they address issues. They don't always get it right either, but the ones I'm familiar with show a far better understanding how to operate in this day and age than SE does. Even companies that are far smaller and far younger than SE seem to know what they're doing while SE can't or won't modernize their approach. It's sad really. They've managed to squander so much of the respect they once enjoyed.

[Kornflake]

Here is an email I got from SE regarding the issue. It's what we already know and doesn't really resolve anything.

Thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX support,
If you are receiving an error 601, 406, or error 401 when attempting to update your payment method, then there is an issue where the financial institution is declining the authorization attempt. Unfortunately as SQUARE ENIX is not the financial institution, we are not provided with any information as to why the authorization was declined, only that it was. Please confirm that all billing information is entered correctly on the SQUARE ENIX Account in question. Please also note that once an authorization has been rejected, that form of payment cannot be attempted again for a full twenty-four hours, and any further attempts before that time will automatically be rejected. If you would like further information about this specific authorization attempt, please contact your financial institution.

Please ensure the personal information listed on the Square Enix account matches the information listed on the credit / debit card. For example, name of the Square Enix account holder must match the name that's listed on the credit / debit card itself. Keep in mind that only certain pieces of personal information on a Square Enix account can be adjusted (street address and email address) after creation.

Make sure that the card you're trying to use isn't already being used to pay for another account. Problems may arise if the an attempt is made to use the same card to bill two separate accounts simultaneously. If this is indeed your situation, please wait 24 hours between reactivation attempts

Make sure that your card provider allows $1.00 preauthorization holds. This billing attempt is made in order to make sure that the account is valid for billing. After 1 to 2 business days, these funds will be placed back on the account. If your card issuer does not allow such preauthorization holds, you may want to contact them.

If you attempted this method of payment multiple times with a failed result, there is a possibility of a longer block being placed on the account. This block can last 30 days.
Thank you for contacting the SQUARE ENIX Support Center.
___________
For additional assistance with this issue, you can reply to this email directly. For assistance with a new issue, please visit the SQUARE ENIX Support Center at http://support.na.square-enix.com

[Kincard]

I've had no problems with paying for my account since I've been using my credit card for a long while now (knock on wood), but I just want to say I feel for you guys having to deal with SE's customer service. Based on my experiences a few years ago they're probably the absolute worst I've ever had the deal with, and it baffles me that how little its improved over a decade of playing this game. I remember half the time I called in the person was incredibly rude (I make an effort not to act rude/agitated to customer service people in case you're wondering) and the times they weren't they basically told me that they could do absolutely nothing about just about anything I asked, which I guess I can't really blame on the guy answering the phone, but it makes me wonder why SE bothers having customer service if they arn't going to allow them to actually do anything.

Unfortunately I'm not even sure how much help posting around here helps given the role of the people that browse our posts. I've heard XIV's been having a couple of the same problems though, so hopefully they'll wise up to this stuff since its also affected their "flagship" MMO as it were.

[Jeanna]

So I just tried again on my last mule account that's still active, haven't tried registering anything on that account on the 6th, and don't have any reason to believe that account has a 30 day block.. still got a 401.. (yes, I've logged into the Visa site and registered an address with the prepaid card, so there shouldn't be any conflicting information going on).

Really, really wish I knew what the hell was going on. I can't even begin to explain how incredibly frustrating this is.

[Spectreman]

let me second this -
my 3 accounts are all now down. I can't pay, and SE has lost themselves ~$40/month until they find a way to accept the money I'm trying my hardest to throw at them.

That really sucks. Idk why SE is such a bad company for simple things like paypal payment.

[Comeatmebro]

They ninjaed in a warning not to spam your card or it'll get locked out, so they must at least know the problem's occurring.

Wonder if they plan to fix it or they just call that good enough.. I'm sure the people who are locked out of their accounts would really appreciate a response!

[Camate]

Hello, everyone.

We definitely understand the frustration that certain customers are unable to pay for their subscriptions due to the removal of the PlaySpan payment option – specifically those customers who used Ultimate Game Cards and PayPal.

At the moment, we are working on implementing a PayPal payment option and we hope to have this up and running soon. In the meantime, if you do encounter errors when attempting to register your credit card please contact our Support Center for assistance.

I apologize for the inconvenience in the meantime, but rest assured that we are doing our best to provide a payment solution for everyone.