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

I'm getting 401 on a server transfer. 10 minutes after I successfully transferred 2 other characters with the same card.

401s seem to happen if you use the same payment method multiple times in a day. You can't have all your accounts sharing the same payment method unless they are all on the same SE ID and you charge the account with enough Crysta to do all your transactions at once. Everyone I've seen that has been able to pay and then has had the error has had it happen after multiple charges in one day, usually the 2nd or 3rd charge to the same card.

well... unfortunately, web browser could indeed affect the way website works. But... reverting to the old IE were not really a great idea, especially on older OS such as Windows XP which won't be able to have the latest version of it. And most of PC user should already know how susceptible IE against things like malware and stuff. :p

And from what I read, this is really a very old issue that hasn't been fixed yet. Or worse, maybe not even care to. And I'm also talking about the old-401 errors too. :(

Btw, just recently discovered this revelation. Might be the way to remedy this problems:

http://i.imgur.com/NT1PNLE.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BeDPPCF.jpg

Yes, I'm talking about Steam Wallet, taken from XIV Mogstation. Apparently these were made available not only to purchase your subscription, but also all the extra additional services too. Unfortunately, it's also confirmed that this option only enabled for ppl who buy the game through steam.

Wonder if we could just buy a digital copy from them, then register to our own account to make them available for us? If it can, this would be really great since at least I can refill steam wallet though local payments. :)

Can you add crysta with steam wallet using that? It wouldnt really help 11 players otherwise.

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Originally Posted by Xaphina

I just went and tried all of this. It worked this time. I was able to add 2600 crysta to my account.

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Glad I could be of any help!

"Bump" for the new page so more people might be helped:

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EDIT: And here's the really stupid thing. After reading about this issue for the past few hours, I came upon a few posts urging people to simply try buying Crysta through Internet Explorer, with no Add-Ons running. It worked like a charm first time. I was hesitant because I had received a few 401 errors and didn't want to block myself for 30 days. However, this all seemed ridiculous since I had paid for the game with this same card previously with no issues.

I noticed when I payed via IE, a GlobalCollect animation appeared that I did not see in Chrome.

Evidently, this error can happen when the server receives an incorrect value from the web browser. Why it's lumped together like it is with other issues is beyond me.

So if you are not seeing that animation appear, give a bare bones browser a shot.

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I got IE to work, once, about a month ago, to renew my sub, but couldn't buy crysta. That char has since ran out of time. Since then no browser has worked including IE :/ I don't/didn't try that often, either. Definitely no reason to have a block on that account, especially since it went through. I was trying once every couple days to a week. So silly. At least WoD is fun and blizzard has no problems taking my money.

I don't really want to monkey around with my browsers or operating systems or anything. My PC works fine on all other websites.

I also don't want Steam or any other 3rd party payment option.

I want a direct Paypal-to-SE-management-system payment. And hopefully, judging by their responses so far, this is what is being planned.

PayPal is a third-party payment system though, if you consider Steam so.

The SteamWallet thing can work like Crysta though, in that you can charge your wallet ahead of time and have SE just pull funds from it for your subscription. They also sell Steam cards at various stores to charge your wallet, for people that can't use a credit/debit card. Also, selling trading cards from your games can fill your wallet, which can cover some of your subscription. The only downside I can think of is that you have to buy a copy of the game through Steam to be able to use the wallet, which is something console users wouldn't have done, and importers couldn't do.

Hey look, 15 months or more after this first started happening there's an official post on the website about it (that isn't a community rep/gm).

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/pol...ews23840.shtml

Now it should only take them another 15 months to actually fix it :<

It's some news, even if it isn't new news.

Hope to see you running around again eventually, Cali.

Wow, I feel lucky. I use Mozilla/Firefox and usually use my prepaid debit card to buy crysta, this month I was waiting for new regular card so I bought a prepaid Green Dot put $20 on it and it worked. I have been buying crysta everymonth with a prepaid since I couldn't get a game card anymore.

Well, my LS has all but fallen apart...

I've seen some people on Reddit, and my own LS seems to be a bit shy on numbers. This is what I was talking about earlier where the players that can still pay are affected because their friends can't log in, simply because SE won't accept their payment. It's pretty inexcusable to have this problem from such a big company. They are throwing away income, and turning off players of both their games, not just the ones that can't play.

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Originally Posted by bungiefanNA

I've seen some people on Reddit, and my own LS seems to be a bit shy on numbers. This is what I was talking about earlier where the players that can still pay are affected because their friends can't log in, simply because SE won't accept their payment. It's pretty inexcusable to have this problem from such a big company. They are throwing away income, and turning off players of both their games, not just the ones that can't play.

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Just losing Cali has lead to our LS almost completely stopping events. It isn't because we can't complete events without her, but because it's completely disheartening to our morale to watch our friend be frustrated because she can't play with us. It's completely ridiculous that it's taken over a year for it to even be looked into.

She can't even post on this forum anymore because her subscription ran out. I'll keep posting on her behalf til we see all our friends able to return.

She should still be able to post, even with an expired subscription, as long as she didn't expire her cookie by logging out or viewing her user profile. I was able to post for 5 of the 8 months I wasn't subscribed while fighting/waiting for my region change on my account.

Well this is just great... Now I'm the only person left in my linkshell of 7 because of this >.>...

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Originally Posted by bungiefanNA

She should still be able to post, even with an expired subscription, as long as she didn't expire her cookie by logging out or viewing her user profile. I was able to post for 5 of the 8 months I wasn't subscribed while fighting/waiting for my region change on my account.

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It kicked her off when she tried to get on after losing her account.

Hey, it's been too long...
And this is crazy...
So here's my money...
Fix your stuff maybe?

Every time you bump this, I get excited - hoping it's a new official response. By this point, Square has lost out on a good deal of subscription revenue. You think biting the bullet and putting up a default PayPal system and absorbing the related costs or risks would be worth it.

Unfortunately, we all know whenever the new payment method arrives, it will be too late for some. They'll have moved on to other things.

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Originally Posted by Sfchakan

By this point, Square has lost out on a good deal of subscription revenue.

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Could you back up this claim? ^^;

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Originally Posted by BobbinT

Could you back up this claim? ^^;

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Umm~ the number of people who've posted here repeatedly leading up to their accounts no longer being active asking for an alternative payment method informing SE that their time is coming up when they'll be unable to continue to play? I mean that source seems trustworthy enough to me.

Also, look at previous posts and see who doesn't have a character icon and profile by their name. That means their subscription is inactive.

Reddit and FFXIAH had several posts saying how some linkshells were decimated (or worse) by it. Note that this also impacts FFXIV, which has more subscribers, so is going to take a bigger hit.

I'm in the same boat, I have until 12/14 and then bam, I won't be able to log on. I am more than happy to pay, but since the first 401 error on 12/7, it's been pretty clear that this month's login event is screwed for me...So much for the Marduk's set I was gonna get with my points... Messed up part is that I did exactly what the SE employee told me to do on the chat system...still nothing.

Me too, my PAYPAL Ultimate Game Card crysta runs out at the start of 2015.

And since SEMS doesn't want to accept my UK bank cards / account, that means my FFXI account will be going Han Solo <Furnishings> mode in a month or so.

Will thaw Han out if/when Paypal option is added in the future.

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Originally Posted by Stompa

Me too, my PAYPAL Ultimate Game Card crysta runs out at the start of 2015.

And since SEMS doesn't want to accept my UK bank cards / account, that means my FFXI account will be going Han Solo <Furnishings> mode in a month or so.

Will thaw Han out if/when Paypal option is added in the future.

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My chat that just ended a few minutes ago made it sound like paypal MIGHT become available in under 30 days, but even so, we shouldn't have to go through this, period. I mean come on...How about this, SE, give me your mailing address, I'll send you a check/cash/money order/whatever and then you can have your money and I can play FFXI.

pretty sad when people can't even pay... if SE knew for months they were going to do this, why didn't they set up paypal before ending ultimate pay? Such a bad way to run a business. Not shocking though,

I mean this is the company that hasn't released a single older title for the wiiU eshop. I mean god forbid someone want to give them money, right? So I don't know why I expected FFXI to be more sensibly run than the rest of the company.

I feel for everyone affected by this, I was able to swing a CC to pay... not everyone's works. Worst part is with Xmas and everything it's such a prime time to play.

:(

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Originally Posted by SE

<player> Take my money!
<SE> \
<player> ... Take my money!!
<SE> \
<player> Um, Please? Please, take my money?
<SE> No soup for you! Come back one year!
<player> >.>

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If they're not going to accept people's money they should make it F2P, I mean seriously they need to get new management that knows how to handle this. The dishonor alone should have been enough to motivate change. Very dishonorable way to treat customers!

So I've used the same bank and debit account since I started playing ffxi about 11 years ago. Gotten new cards as old ones expired but always the same account tied to it. The most recent card had been registered and working just fine for several months now... then randomly one night account deactivated and they say something is wrong of course everyone else in the world accepts the card and money and says it's fine but no not SE... then a few days later same thing with another account. Seriously what kind of business model do you guys run that literally tells customers that the money that they have been using for years is no longer good for no reason?

Wow! Seriously?

Then what the heck SE's doing? If what you guys claim were really true, maybe perhaps SE intends to close doors of XI in the future?

Right now, I want to hear if the amount of CC payer does make this game still survivable. :?

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Originally Posted by BobbinT

Wow! Seriously?

Then what the heck SE's doing? If what you guys claim were really true, maybe perhaps SE intends to close doors of XI in the future?

Right now, I want to hear if the amount of CC payer does make this game still survivable. :?

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It affects a lot of FFXIV players too, so it isn't an XI exclusive thing.

My Linkshell is now just me. Everyone else lost the motivation to play after a few of our favorite members were locked out. I think it may be too late for us :/

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Originally Posted by BobbinT

Wow! Seriously?

Then what the heck SE's doing? If what you guys claim were really true, maybe perhaps SE intends to close doors of XI in the future?

Right now, I want to hear if the amount of CC payer does make this game still survivable. :?

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The same payment system is used for FFXIV. If your card isn't accepted and you get a 401 error, it locks your SE Account from accepting payment for 1-30 days (lock time depends on how many times you tried to pay and got the error). It's a systemic problem, not just limited to XI. XIV just has the option of game time cards to pay for a month, but with no discount for Legacy players, and no option to buy additional services. XI and XIV are being impacted by this payment system problem. It's not there to kill XI, it's an amazing oversight by the SquareEnix staff that could have easily been planned for and avoided, but they'd rather go several months without being able to accept money from some players.

I was bored earlier and asked Cortana to tell me a joke on my phone. For some reason, it loaded up the billing page for FFXI.

So after being locked out for over a month (and since oct 2 on my main account), the other night ago my fiance tried to buy some stuff for 14 (his SE account has been locked too and he was unable to pay for 14 or 11) and it went through. I was able to get my mule through, too. My main account still gets 401 errors, though. It had been about 17-18 days since I last tried on my main account, so I'm guessing it has a 30 day block on it.

You guys are so full of s**t it's not funny. It's sad. Really, really sad. At least get your facts straight and pass them on to your employees properly so there isn't so much misinformation flowing around.

The credit card I finally got to work was a brand new one my fiance got that's tied to a relatives' bank out from of the country. So not only does the name not match, the address and country don't match what's recorded on our SE account pages.

Almost 3 months and no Paypal? 15+ months of 401/601 errors and it's still not fixed? What in the actual heck are you guys doing?

they are killing their own profits with poor planning. Maybe they mailed paypal a letter about possibly one day working with them and they forgot to put a stamp on it?

I honestly think SE has forgotten that in order to keep running this business they need to keep getting paid!

People wonder about current server player levels and think it's people quitting. I see the current levels and wonder how many people are waving money at SE and they're blatantly turning it away!?

How long until none of us are able to pay? The next payment arrangement update?

I cant imagine most people are as patient as Jeanna and willing to come back after all the stress SE has intentionally dished out?!

In the past when honor mattered, their entire billing management staff would have already committed harakiri and a new honorable staff would have been hired to take their place. (not saying I want them to die - just die from embarrassment at their failure and make things better!)

I'm not 100% sure yet, but I think I may have just been admitted to the billing error club. My sub was supposed to renew a few days ago and right before it did, I got an e-mail from SE saying there was a "processing error" with my payment and that my sub had been cancelled. I've been really busy lately so I haven't bothered to try manually resubbing again, and honestly, considering how poorly SE has went about handling this situation, I may just say screw it and move on to something else. Chances are it wouldn't let me resub now anyway.

In my close to 15 years of playing these games, this payment nonsense is truly unprecedented. And that goes for their lack of communication and action taken on it as well. Very unprofessional.

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Originally Posted by Jile

I cant imagine most people are as patient as Jeanna and willing to come back after all the stress SE has intentionally dished out?!

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I'm actually not planning on coming back to the game. I logged on my mule for about 5 minutes and had zero motivation to play. A lot of my friends have burnt out/moved on. My fiance managed to buy crysta which he'll use for his 14 account, and I don't really have any desire to play on mules till/when/if they fix this bullshit. My main account has been locked out since Oct 2 and I'm still 401'ing on it. Three months while they ignore me (and everyone else) and treat us like shit - yeah, I've moved on from XI lol. At this point even a free years worth of sub wouldn't motivate me to play again.

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Originally Posted by Jeanna

I'm actually not planning on coming back to the game. I logged on my mule for about 5 minutes and had zero motivation to play. A lot of my friends have burnt out/moved on. My fiance managed to buy crysta which he'll use for his 14 account, and I don't really have any desire to play on mules till/when/if they fix this bullshit. My main account has been locked out since Oct 2 and I'm still 401'ing on it. Three months while they ignore me (and everyone else) and treat us like shit - yeah, I've moved on from XI lol. At this point even a free years worth of sub wouldn't motivate me to play again.

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That's really sad :(

I just got out of this live chat with an actual helpful rep. I am going to post the experience I had in here. I was having problems with my account for about 2 weeks and plenty of unhelpful reps in the other days only telling me to wait and that they could not do anything.
I am still waiting for the 10 minutes to go. I will actually wait more than 10 minutes just to be sure. edit: can finally subscribe now.


Agent Melinda S: Hello and thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX Customer Support. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
You: hello and good morning
Agent Melinda S: While I look over your ticket information, may I have your first name please?
You: XXX
Agent Melinda S: Hello XXX. May I have the SQUARE ENIX ID?
You: XXX
Agent Melinda S: Thank you. You are encountering an Error 401/601. Is this correct?
You: yes
You: I have been having this error for about 2 weeks now
You: including on other accounts I have
Agent Melinda S: What are you attempting to purchase?
You: when trying to purchase crysta I get 401. when trying to subscribe to FFXI I get 601
Agent Melinda S: May I have the last four digits of the card you tried using?
You: XXXX
Agent Melinda S: Thank you. One moment as I look into this issue.
Agent Melinda S: I apologize. I am still looking into your issue. I will be back with you as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.
You: No problem. I don't mind waiting
You: already been waiting for 2 weeks so it's nothing. As long as you can help me
Agent Melinda S: Thank you for holding. For future reference, please refrain from trying a card an excessive amount of tries. Also, make sure to stay consistent on using the same card to prevent triggering the automated security system>

Other than that, it appears that the account looks good to go. Please wait "10 Minutes" before your next payment attempt, and it will go through.
Agent Melinda S: Are there any different issues I can assist you with right now?
You: thank you very much! why was the other agent I talked to before worthless and you were able to help me?
You: can you help me with the other accounts as well? or was the block just to my card?
Agent Melinda S: The information that the previous agent was correct. However, keep note that this is an exception we made for you. You still take note on not using the card excessively for the future.
You: my other accounts were XXX and XXX
You: Ok
Agent Melinda S: The card should work on the SQUARE ENIX Account you have provided me earlier. You can attempt making a payment on the other account too. However, there are no guarantees. You may need to pace the payments out to be safe.
You: ok, can I ask something? why were the other agents unable to lift this block like you did? what was the exception on my case?
Agent Melinda S: Through thorough investigation, we have determined that you were consistent using the same card which eliminates the possibility of suspicious activity.
You: I see
Agent Melinda S: Any last questions before we conclude this chat?
You: was the block on the card or just on this one account?
Agent Melinda S: At first it was tied to the card. However, it should work now.
You: SE ID XXX and XXX also got 401;601.
You: I havnt tried now but it was before I talked to you.
Agent Melinda S: Again, please try after 10 minutes. It will work for the account XXX. If you are attempting to pay for multiple accounts, please pace out the payments.
You: so I wont have any problem paying all 3 accounts with 24hr between them now?
Agent Melinda S: You should be able to pay for the accounts, if you are consistent using the same card and avoid using the card excessively.
You: ok thank you. that is all
Agent Melinda S: Thank you for visiting the SQUARE ENIX Support Center! Take care and hope to see you online!
Agent Melinda S has disconnected.

I hope this helps somebody out there or brings them hope to keep trying.

That's another factor that I didn't anticipate, needing to space payments out across time.