Error 401 when trying to pay. This is UNACCEPTABLE.

[Hobo]

My friend in Taiwan was having an issue with payment on his account. I thought this might be a location based issue (He's in TW paying with a credit card from the United States) so I paid his account with his credit card from my location within the US. He was able to log into his account right after I processed the payment on his account on his behalf.

We were both using the Chrome so I think it's not be a browser issue.

[Raxion]

I don't want to appear rude or anything but why are YOU angry?
Your friend is having the problem not you.
There are problems with payment systems everyday it is not a rare thing.
I doubt SE actually have their own payment system that they actually make themselves so how can they personally fix it?
Has your friend tried to pay on a different PC if it is a PC account? Sometimes software on a PC can effect payment systems.
SE have provided multiple ways for people to pay. Get your friend to use one of those.
How do you know that SE are not doing everything they can do to resolve the issue?
I don't understand how is your friend locked out of their account for 30 days?
You know SE cannot talk to you about some body else's account don't you?
You must also know that throwing a fit on the forums will not resolve anything.
I doubt SE will lose even a tiny amount of people who have this problem because they will just go "awww shucks" and pick a different method.
Why would anybody deserve any kind of freebie for such a minor problem?

1. If you knew what having friends was like, you'd be upset that they couldn't play with you too.

2. She's been using the same laptop, from the same location, ever since purchasing the game.

3. She's tried direct pay, buying crysta, and going through ultimatepay, with THREE different cards. She didn't just hit one bump and cry that the world was ending.

4. This is far from a minor problem. People are getting charged a dollar every time they attempt to pay for their subscription, even if it fails. People are also getting locked out of their account for 30 days if they make too many payment attempts. So not only can they not play or pay for their sub, they're also getting charged to try and pay for it, and getting screwed for a month at the same time. I'd hate to see your definition of "major".

[Kewhi]

...So you're saying that you wouldn't be angry if your friend got booted out of school because the school's systems wouldn't let him pay his fees?

You're comparing the educational expulsion of an individual to that of one not being able to play a video game? I can certainly see where your priorities in life truly lie.

Now to the OP: I would have your friend contact customer support. After verifying account ownership, they may likely be able to lift this "supposed" 30 day restriction & take a payment method over the phone. Companies have issues with their billing systems all the time, but there is always a resolution to these problems. However, it is unlikely that a public outcry on the forums is one of them. Not to mention that you're on the wrong forums for such an issue.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/f...hnical-Support

[Sixmp]

...So you're saying that you wouldn't be angry if your friend got booted out of school because the school's systems wouldn't let him pay his fees?

No, because being angry wouldn't have any effect on the situation.

[Sixmp]

1. If you knew what having friends was like, you'd be upset that they couldn't play with you too.

2. She's been using the same laptop, from the same location, ever since purchasing the game.

3. She's tried direct pay, buying crysta, and going through ultimatepay, with THREE different cards. She didn't just hit one bump and cry that the world was ending.

4. This is far from a minor problem. People are getting charged a dollar every time they attempt to pay for their subscription, even if it fails. People are also getting locked out of their account for 30 days if they make too many payment attempts. So not only can they not play or pay for their sub, they're also getting charged to try and pay for it, and getting screwed for a month at the same time. I'd hate to see your definition of "major".

I have plenty of friends thank you.
Well tell her try a different laptop or pc. Which was the point of the question. As in could be a problem with software causing a conflict with the browser. like for instance she has an antivirus that prevents her credit card info going to unknown websites she would get a 401 error for ever. until she either told the antivirus about the webpage (adding it to a list) or she shut down her antivirus.

A major problem to me would be something like someone collapsing and needing to be rushed to hospital or maybe i am about to lose my house.

[Raxion]

I have plenty of friends thank you.
Well tell her try a different laptop or pc. Which was the point of the question. As in could be a problem with software causing a conflict with the browser. like for instance she has an antivirus that prevents her credit card info going to unknown websites she would get a 401 error for ever. until she either told the antivirus about the webpage (adding it to a list) or she shut down her antivirus.

A major problem to me would be something like someone collapsing and needing to be rushed to hospital or maybe i am about to lose my house.

She's trying something tonight that we saw in another thread about the same issue. She has to wait 24 hours from her last attempt to ensure she won't get the 30-day ban. Apparently if you don't have a card registered to your account, you'll end up getting the 401 error. I can't really say if this is true or not, as I don't remember registering my card to my account. If this doesn't work, she just won't have any available way to pay for the game.

[ashikenshin]

If you are in the EU or US and you had this error and you attempted several times it is best to try with crysta. Buy the ultimatePay card and if it still doesn't let you enter the code call the customer service from ultimatePay, they are A THOUSAND TIMES BETTER THAN SE with their customer service. They will see that you tried to use the ultimatePay card with final fantasy xiv crysta and add it to your account.

This error happens when you are not in the location of the credit card or trying to pay 90-180 days with a new account. It is better to start with 30 days base service so that they have a record of you.

[Arriverderci]

Welp, I'm back because I JUST re-subbed like 5 mins ago with my Debit.
It's weird people are having problems like this all across the board.
SE really needs to address some things, some of the dang time.

Edit: @ Ashikenshin: Yeah I did the 30 days so that might be it.

[fixitman]

I had issues with error 401, and it turned out a website script was being blocked by my browser. That was unacceptable behavior, but had nothing to do with Square-Enix.... I just turned off my security long enough to make the purchase, then turned the security back on after. It was a simple fix that, once again, had nothing to do with Square-Enix.

Yes, I was very angry with SE when it happened... especially considering they were useless in helping me. Once I figured out what the real issue was, I felt like the biggest dummy in the world. It happened twice, a couple weeks apart.... and I forgot about the fix the second time LOL

The moral here is- There is no way SE can fix an issue that has nothing to do with their server. Your browser could very well be the issue, and that has nothing to do with SE.

Edit: 401 will occur with a warning about repeated attempts blocking you, if the card service they use is blocked by your browser. In my case, I got the same warning, etc, but neither my bank, nor SE could see any type of transaction.

[JesseS]

Why not just use paypal / crysta and play the game now instead of screwing around with the credit card system? All you're doing is crying in a public place and it will in no way help your outcome.

I doubt SE will lose even a tiny amount of people who have this problem because they will just go "awww shucks" and pick a different method.