Cancelling additional Retainers

[WindyGamer]

I have paid for additional retainers [2] for a few months and would like to cancel these additional retainers from my subscription.

However, I can't find this option on the Mogstation site. Google searches provide pictures that show "Manage Service Options" button, but I can't find this on the page I see. Maybe the site has changed.

I have two questions:

(1) I no longer need the two additional retainers. Please show me how to cancel this service from my subscription to FFXIV.

(2) I have, unfortunately, upgraded the class of one of the additional retainers to level 42 PLD and would like to keep that retainer while discarding the other retainers that have no upgrades. I found the gear on the dialog and have reordered the retainers so that the bottom two on the list have no inventory items and are the ones that I would like to discard, however, I see some note somewhere that tells me that the retainers discarded might not be based on the list of retainers, but based on the "Order" of hiring. This would cause me to lose my inventory - as currently set - and the work in leveling the retainer to level 42 PLD. Which of these is true? Are retainer lost based on the list or based on the "Order of hiring"? What is the list for, if not to determine which retainers are lost when the subscription is cancelled?

I no longer want to pay for additional retainers, and signing up and cancelling this service is as complicated as it can possibly be. Can you please consider making it more straight forward and easy to understand?
Thanks a lot.
wg

[WindyGamer]

I see under "Account Services", Retainer Service, an option at the bottom of the page for "Manage Retainer Service". This button takes me to a page which allows management of the retainer service, however there are two problems on that page:

(1) It is not clear which retainers will be removed if the number of additional retainers is reduced: By list order or by "Hiring Order".

(2) The pull down list does not contain the option to have ZERO additional retainers. It shows I have two additional retainers, and allows me to reduce the number to one or increase to any number up to seven. But no option to have NO ADDITIONAL RETAINERS.

Looks like bugs on the website to me.

THanks again.

[WindyGamer]

And it just occurred to me that I can do this? What happens in this case?

I have 4 retainers on one of my characters on the account. Only One character has more than two retainers. So what if I use the Retainer Advocate to delete the two retainers I no longer need. Two with level 1 classes and empty inventories. And then unsubscribe to the additional retainer service to reduce it to the TWO BUILT IN RETAINERS? Will I keep the TWO RETAINERS that are left on that character in the account?

Why is this so confusing?

[Iscah]

Don't delete your additional retainers. They can be left sitting dormant while you are unsubscribed, with all their inventory intact. Use them for long-term storage if you like.

In any case, deleting them doesn't stop the game from seeing that you are eligible to hire up to four retainers.

If there isn't an option to select "no extra retainers", is there a blank slot at the top of the drop-down menu?

Worst case, if you can't get it to turn off AND you pay for your sub in a way that you can let it expire, that will cancel extra retainers and they don't automatically come back when you subscribe again. (In my case, I pay with a debit card and the payment fails if I haven't put enough money on the card at the time when it renews.)

[WindyGamer]

Worst case, if you can't get it to turn off AND you pay for your sub in a way that you can let it expire, that will cancel extra retainers and they don't automatically come back when you subscribe again. (In my case, I pay with a debit card and the payment fails if I haven't put enough money on the card at the time when it renews.)

I saw a reddit thread from a long time ago that said this was how you unsubscribed from extra retainers. Let your whole sub lapse and then reup without them. Seems like an awful hack to me. I'm hoping support will answer this thread with the "Real" solution to the problem.

Nope. I can't find a blank or other way that might be ZERO extra retainers on that pull down.
And of course, I need to know how to preserve my hard work leveling one of my retainers if that's possible.

Waiting for someone from SQX to notice this thread next week.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I knew I wasn't gonna retain these retainers for very long, and was silly to level one beyond the first two. But there it is.

[Packetdancer]

I think the way to go to zero extra retainers is by going to the 'Retainer Service' page and picking 'Cancel Subscription'.

Note that on the main page, you have 'Cancel Subscription' and 'Cancel Service Account', both of which clearly refer to the overall account.

In contrast, on the Retainer Service page, you have 'Cancel Subscription', 'Manager Retainer Service', and 'Manage Payment'; the second option changes the retainer service settings, and the third option manages the payment options for just the retainer service. I haven't clicked the first 'cause I do still need my retainers, but based on the fact that the other two refer specifically to the Retainer Service subscription, I would assume that 'Cancel Subscription' on that page is for just the retainer service (which is considered a separate 'subscription' on the service account).

This would also explain why you can't change the retainer service to be for less than 1 retainer; if you went to 0, you're not using the service so you'd be effectively cancelling it anyway.

(I got no clue what happens if you remove the other retainers. I know that if you don't do anything else, they vanish in the order hired, not the order in-game. But if you only have 2 retainers active—if you've fired the others—I would hope that it just keeps the two you have.)

[Dynratygus]

Good morning and thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Forums,

We do apologize for the delay in responding. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist with the issue you are describing in the Technical Support Forum. In order to receive the proper support, please contact the North American Support Center. To assist with contacting them, we have gone ahead and opened a support ticket for you. The ticket number has been sent to the email associated to your Square Enix ID.

This thread will be moved to ‘Support Center Ticket Created’.


Thank you for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.