i2501 Permanent Error?

[TheBlastMage]

My friend's gametime has finally expired and we are still unable to get his account renewed.

When he first tried to purchase game time with his Visa card, he got an i2501 error. After trying one or two more times in case he had mis-typed something, he even tried to use a Game Time card, and still he gets an i2501 error.

We have waited 24 hours, 48 hours, multiple times and even contacted support to no avail. VPN is off, cookies cleared, every troubleshooting step in the FAQ and from support has been attempted multiple times.

Is there anything else we can do? It is absolutely baffling that a pre-paid time card would be denied, especially since Gamestop won't refund them. Can this error be permanent if we've tried too much?

[TheBlastMage]

So I figured I would update here in case this information may help anyone else in the future:

My friend finally was able to subscribe using the 60-day game-time card, here's what we ended up doing.

First we followed all the usual steps, disabling anti-virus, clearing cookies and such.
Second we enabled Two-Factor Auth. I feel this may have had a huge impact on him being able to finally get past the error since people frequently have issues when two-factor is not enabled on an account.
Lastly, we waited for around 4-5 days, enough time for his sub to expire and then another day or so after, before trying again. It finally registered the card after this!

So until Square can figure out their billing issues, I would advise not following the usual 24-hour wait times for the i2501 error. Instead, enable two-factor and wait around 4-5 days before trying again. Also avoid Visa Debit cards at all costs. I know some people have reported that Visa Credit cards are ok, but I'd personally be too afraid to try them with how many issues are going on.

Stick with Paypal and buy Crysta, or use pre-paid game cards, but if you ever get the lockout error, wait a week before trying again.

Hope this helps someone else out there!

[RethDaron]

Experiencing it myself for the first time ever, and I've been playing since 1.0. I already have Dawntrail preordered and only a few days left of my subscription. Always used a Visa debit.

I got the error yesterday and support told me to wait 24 hours and try again in Incognito. Gonna wait it out until the last day of my sub on the 2nd and try then, will update for anyone experiencing the same issues.

Hoping I won't have to buy a gametime card and pay more for my sub since I'm legacy.

[Sphere_huntress]

Where are we able to get the pre-paid game cards? Sadly, my bank does not like working with Paypal so that option is off the table for me.

[Enkidoh]

The Square Enix Store (the same store where you can buy FFXIV itself and it's expansions, it is not the same thing as the 'FFXIV Online Store' which sells in game content for the game), sell the time cards. For EU, that's here (default for me is the specific Australian store as shown in that URL but scroll to the bottom left of the page and change the country to your region and it should change the page accordingly).

[Yarxideyn]

Greetings Adventurer!

We are happy to hear that you were able to resolve this issue.

This thread will be moved to the 'Closed Concerns' sub forum as a result.

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