Payment Method Registration Errors [Error Code 401 and 601]

[sasakusaku]

So to no big surprise, I hit error 401 today trying to pay with a pre-paid CC. I have used this method of payment successfully with many other game companies like: Blizzard, Steam, TrionWorlds, SWToR, Origin, etc.

I tried multiple times, trying to register this card only to find out right NOW with this thread that there is a 'lockout' of 24 hours to 30 DAYS on unsuccesful attempts. Why the hell is there this lock out, no other game company does this!

Btw, feel free to show info on the ACCOUNT page concerning this stupid lockout because I sure as heck never knew until reading the forums.

p.s. I just added 5 bucks to my steam account using this CC so at least some companies want my $$.

LOL, so I just checked my pre-paid account and SE has charged me $5.10 for 5x attempts to charge. Now they are stealing my money and still not allowing me to pay. What the hell man.

[Sirch]

Well living on NZ I tried the game.co.uk digital game card order but they cancelled my order twice with no definite reason. So now I ordered the physical game card from amazon.co.uk. They shipped the day I ordered so it should be here today.

[sasakusaku]

Update: actually found UGC cards at one store in town: used it to buy crystal and now I have 30 days added. Now to go back and buy a few more.

Sadly, instead of 13 bucks a month, this game now costs me 20.

So moral of the story is: SE does not want me to pay with a credit card and will lock me out for a ?? amount of time before trying again if an error occurs. Also, they charged my CC $5.10 for NOTHING.

The biggest irony here is that I used that same CC they 'rejected' (and took fees off each time) to pay for 3x UGC cards.

If you are in Canada and have the same problems I (and others) did: most major retailers up here sell the Ulitmate Gamer Card. ie. Future Shop, Best Buy, E&B games, London Drugs (some do anyways), etc. I actually helped the assistant manager at the store where I found them who also was having problems trying to get SE to accept her card by testing the UGC and making sure it works. This is not a problem only encountered by a few people; it's quite wide spread. I can only think of one reason why this is happening: some thing's seriously messed up with your account page and it's causing a large amount of people grief.

[Guammasa]

Still can't pay, Still waiting for SE to "contact me" in regards to what Global Collect has told me and escalated my complaints to them to SE's accounts division. So, I guess in short, still out of luck and SE still gives not a fuck.


Lets see how long it takes before we get another bullshit excuse from SE mods on this thread...or how long before it just outright is removed. Taking the Dev tracker posts into consideration, this SHOULD have been at least commented on by now, but apparently the Mi'quote asses not being the right shape are more important and deserve more attention.

1st post was in reply to the closed thread from early September(which was virtually zero help) and its now October 11th so its been slightly past a month where this issue has plagued customers.

Legally, there has to be something we can do to light a fire under their asses.

[Garbar]

Here is a copy of my time with the useless chat over the last 4 days. Hopefully it stops someone else wasting time with them, Basically your only course of action is to send in a copy of your CCard and then wait 4 days for them to press one button and un block your CCard.

After trying to tell you its on your end while they do nothing.

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SEE Agent Juliane: Hello and thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX Customer Support. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
SEE Agent Juliane: Good morning, how can I help you today?
You: I've been trying to pay for FF14 for the last 4 days and have been shutteled backwards and forwards between NA and EU and my bank, I just need someone to help me
You: Country Australia
Region Europe & Other Regions
SEE Agent Juliane: I'm sorry to hear that, could you please provide me with your SQUARE ENIX ID, registered email address and the date of birth on your account?
You: SE ID : xxx
You: Email: xxx
You: D.O.B xxx
SEE Agent Juliane: Thank you, what exactly is your payment issue? Do you get a specific error code?
You: 401
You: I've contacted my bank about the issue and they say there not blocking it on there end, the $1 test transaction goes through but there's no sign of any 10.99 euro fee
SEE Agent Juliane: I'm sorry to hear that, I would just need to check a few things with you first in order to make sure that they cannot possibly cause the issue, I hope that's ok.
You: sure
SEE Agent Juliane: Could you please let me know which country you are currently in, the country of your SQUARE ENIX account and the country that your bank card was issued in?
You: Australia
You: SE id says Europe & Other Regions under region
You: xxx
You: xxx
SEE Agent Juliane: How many times have you tried it/ how many times did you get the error message? And you've been getting it for the last 4 days, is that correct?
You: Roughly 15 times on one card, then 3 times on another card (which has been used for my housemates account and works) and then 8 more times on my new card that I got today
You: maybe more times on the first card
SEE Agent Juliane: Unfortunately, I would need to escalate your issue to our head office for further investigation. Could you please provide/confirm the following details for me:

- Your Square Enix account ID: xxx
- Your Email address on the Square Enix account: xxx
- The payment method used: xxx
- The name of your bank: xxx
- The country the card was issued in: xxx
- The country of your Square Enix account: xxx
- The country you are currently located in: xxx
- Have you checked with your bank whether the payment may have been blocked? - Yes, no blocking from their end.
You: Correct
You: why would the card that my housemate is using not work on my account after its been authorized for use on his ?
SEE Agent Juliane: Thank you, one moment please while I'm creating your escalation. It could be that the card was blocked for this transaction after too many attempts, unfortunately. I will let you know in a moment what we can do about this problem, I will just create your escalation first, one second.
You: the first time i tried it i got the error. Take your time I've waited days already
SEE Agent Juliane: I'm very sorry that I had to keep you waiting. I have now created your escalation. In order to update your escalation and be able to send it to our head office for further investigation, please send us a picture of your credit card, displaying your full name and only the last 4 digits on the card with the other digits blurred out, to sel-id@square-enix.com, mentioning ticket number 2989499 in the subject line of your email. Please make sure that the other information on the card is blurred out, because we are not allowed to see your full card information and would need to ask you to re-send it in this case. Do you have any questions?
You: My bank says the card is fine, I use the card all the time
You: its not really feasible to do this from Australia, the time differences make communication extremely inconvenient. I've never ever had to go through all this drama to sign up for a game before and frankly i find it extremely frustrating that no one seems capable to solve this issue. The amount is 10 euro's and the amount of time I've hand to spend to try and get this resolved is ridiculous. I would really appreciate any help in getting this resolved today because I'm fast loosing patience with the whole process.
SEE Agent Juliane: I completely understand you, but the only way of getting your issue resolved would be for you to send us the abovementioned picture of the card. I'm not saying anything is wrong with your card, not at all, but it has been blocked for this particular transaction, and in order to unblock it, we need a picture of it and send this information to our head office. I'm afraid this is all I can offer you, there is no other procedure for this I'm afraid.
You: I still don't understand who is blocking it, the bank has given the ok with it as i have spoken to them for some length today
SEE Agent Juliane: I understand, but I'm afraid I can't see the details from my office either, which is why I needed to create this escalation, so that the head office can have a look into it and try to resolve the issue for you.
You: in the worst case i would be able to use my housemates card which has been used to subscribe his account , although i don't really want to do this. But your system seems to block his card as well even though hes already paid for his account, so im flabbergasted as to the process that seems to be taking place at your end
You: in the meanwhile all my friends are having to delay playing the game because we usually play as a group , so therefore this is impacting them as well which is really annoying
You: i know you are trying your bext and i really appreciate the help but im seriously pulling my hair out with frustration over this as ive never had to go through all this drama in the 15 odd years ive been playing MMO's
SEE Agent Juliane: I'm very sorry about your frustration. I promise that we will try our best to get this resolved as quickly as possible. If you send us your card information to the abovementioned email address today, it will be passed to our head office today straight away. Please do not forget to mention your ticket number 2989499 in the subject line of your email. Do you have any other questions?
You: Im writing the email to that address as we speak. I will mention you helped me and that I can not send them a picture of my visa card untill tomorrow....
You: I understand that they will not help me until I do so?
SEE Agent Juliane: I'm afraid that this is the case, we would need the picture of the card, as soon as we receive it, we can send the escalation to our head office.
You: ok I've sent the email. Do you think i will receive a response before I go scan my card tommorrow?
SEE Agent Juliane: You might receive a response beforehand, but please send us a scan of your card as well, as we really need it for the procedure to unblock the card for this specific transaction. I'm very sorry about the inconvenience. Thank you for visiting our SQUARE ENIX Support Chat line. Take care and have a good day!
SEE Agent Juliane: Since you no longer have any questions, I will end this session now. Take care and have a good day!
SEE Agent Juliane has disconnected.
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Agent Daniel A: Hello and thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX Customer Support. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
Agent Daniel A: While I look over your ticket information, may I have your first name please?
You: Hello - Last night I waited 3 hours in the que (36 people connected at 3:15am my time) only to have no agent appear after waiting untll 6:30
You: My name is xxx
You: I've talked to the EU Support team also, they send me here there seems to be some confusion about my account
Communication with the RightNow Chat service has been lost. Please wait while attempts are made to restore the connection.
Disconnection in 240 seconds.
Connection resumed.
You: After being disconected from the chat after waiting 3 hours i refreshed the page and was placed 68th in the que, only to wait another 7 hours and get disconnected again
Agent Daniel A: I cannot speak for the EU Support chat, but I can help you now with your issue.
Agent Daniel A: What error message are you receiving when you try to pay?
You: Im getting the 401 Error when I try to pay the 10.99 Euro
You: I live in Australia my account name is xxx
Agent Daniel A: This is a European account, which I unfortunately cannot access.
You: When i talk to them they mention a xxx account that is NA
You: I have no idea why, but they have sent me here two times now
You: This is from there last Email. For your account xxx, however, we cannot provide assistance as this account is registered on the US database. If you wish to renew a subscription on that specific account and are experiencing problems, you will need to contact the US support and specify that this is the account you are inquiring about.
You: once yesterday and again today. I've wasted ALOT of time over $11 subscription
Agent Daniel A: xxx is showing as an NA account, but xxx is an EU account. I do apologize. They should have assisted you with your EU account, and if I could access that account, I would.
You: do you know if the EU support center is still open at the moment?
Agent Daniel A: I can provide you with their direct number to avoid this again. And I do not believe they are yet, as they're based in London. I deeply apologize.
You: when i contact them tomorrow night Australian time is there any way for me to speak to a supervisor via this online chat support or would the toll number be my only option ?
You: additionally do you know of any reason why they would mention the xxx account? I never said anything about xxx to them - is it possible that the FF14 site uses a different username then the mogstation one ?
Agent Daniel A: If at all possible, I'd recommend the phone option. That number is +44 0 870 600 0182. If that is not possible, I'd recommend telling the chat agent exactly what you have told me and asking to speak to a supervisor on the matter.
Agent Daniel A: I'm also not sure why they mentioned your NA account when you asked about your EU account, honestly.
You: ok thank you for trying to help me. another night wasted (its now 3:30am here wednesday and i have work tomorrow.)I know there must be alot of other people in the que trying to pay for the game who are also blocked for no reason. I've also called my bank and there is no issue on my end. The $1 test transaction goes through straight away but they see no listing for any 10.99 being denied
You: I even got a new CCard sent out to me today which also got denied
Agent Daniel A: I can try my best to give you some info to clarify, if you like, though.
You: anything would be greatly appreciated
Agent Daniel A: 601, 401, and 105 means the financial institution may be declining the transaction attempt due to security reasons. While we are unable to see exactly why the transaction was declined, we can provide you with some guidance.
Agent Daniel A: 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.
Agent Daniel A: If the credit / debit card in question is 3D Secure, please make sure that you are inputting the correct 3D Secure PIN / password associated with it. Also, please be sure that 3D Secure is actually activated on the account.
Agent Daniel A: 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
Agent Daniel A: 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.
Agent Daniel A: Please be aware that if the current credit / debit card you're using has resulted in either of the codes listed above, that card will be blocked from any further billing attempts for 24 hours. At this time, please try using another payment source as continued attempts using the blocked card will reset that 24 hour timer.
Agent Daniel A: 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. If you have done this, you will need to use a different billing method.
Agent Daniel A: If you are outside of the NA region, any transaction attempt using the direct billing system may fail automatically. If this happens to be your situation, you will need to use a different billing method. I cannot guarantee any successful transactions but you have an option for a billing method which can be used outside of the NA regions. We recommend that you navigate to http://ultimategamecard.playspan.com and purchase a digital game card. This can be used to purchase Crysta via the UltimatePay billing method.
You: Thanks for that - Ive called my bank and it isnt being blocked on my end there must be a ban on my account or something - the first 2 cards I used have been linked to other accounts but the 3rd one i got sent to me today is fine. I assume my account got blocked when i tried to use the other ccards
Agent Daniel A: No problem. I'm so sorry for the run-around you've been receiving.
You: I read about the http://ultimategamecard.playspan.com options on the FF offical forums and have heard it probably wont work for Australians
Agent Daniel A: Strange...EB Games Australia is one of their featured resellers.
You: ok i will check out the website atleast
You: Thank you for your help, is the EU support guys try and send me back here tomorrow night im going to give them a piece of my mind
You: *if the
Agent Daniel A: I'd stress that your issue lies with your EU account, not with an NA account. I sincerely apologize.
Agent Daniel A: Are there any different issues I can assist you with right now?
You: no thanks I will try them tomorrow
Agent Daniel A: Thank you for visiting the SQUARE ENIX Support Center! Take care and hope to see you online!


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SEE Agent Paul N.: Hello and thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX Customer Support. Just a few moments while I review your question, please.
SEE Agent Paul N.: What can I do for you today ?
You: Hi - I have been trying to get this issue fixed for 4 days now
SEE Agent Paul N.: Ok, what exactly is the problem ?
You: I can not pay for my account. It wont accept my ccard
You: My account is xxx
SEE Agent Paul N.: Ok, so you have a North American account ?
You: NO
You: well its on the NA server but my account is Europe and other
SEE Agent Paul N.: Ok, well the account you just gave me is a North American account
You: Do not try and send me to the NA support center, ive been sent there 2 times now
You: xxx?
You: im sorry
You: I typed in the wrong account
You: its xxx
SEE Agent Paul N.: Ok, that's likely why you were sent to the North American support department if you told us that was the account you were having trouble paying for. Okay what exactly is the problem you're having with subscribing ?
You: I get the 401 error when trying to use my ccard
You: xxx
You: that was the id number I received yesterday when i talked to support
You: they got me to send a scaned immage of my ccard to the sel-id email
You: mentioning ticket number xxx
You: I sent them a email yesterday telling them I would scan the document in today but havent received a reply yet
You: The error is on your end - someone has to lift the block on my account. the charge isnt even going to my bank only the $1 test which goes though fine
You: When I first tried to subscribe to FF 14 my credit card had just expired but I didn't know. Then I tried to use a friends card who already has subscribed and got the 401 error, and have gotten then 401 error on every other card including my new card when trying to pay
SEE Agent Paul N.: Ok, well I can see the card image that you sent was added to the information you provided and you will be contacted again via email once we have more details
You: What do your mean by more details?
SEE Agent Paul N.: Well, we have no access to your payment information, that's why we have to send it to our billing team for investigation
You: When do you expect that to happen?
SEE Agent Paul N.: I can't say, it will be as soon as possible
You: If you cant give me a exact time could you give me a estimation
You: Could I please speak with a supervisor, because Im fed up with this merry-go round
SEE Agent Paul N.: It's not us that would be looking into your account, I can't give you an estimation because I really have no idea how long it may take. Keep in mind you can always try to find a Game Time card from your local retailer that you can add to your account
You: I was advised Per you NA chat to purchase a, i will copy paste the advise
You: Agent Daniel A: If you are outside of the NA region, any transaction attempt using the direct billing system may fail automatically. If this happens to be your situation, you will need to use a different billing method. I cannot guarantee any successful transactions but you have an option for a billing method which can be used outside of the NA regions. We recommend that you navigate to http://ultimategamecard.playspan.com and purchase a digital game card. This can be used to purchase Crysta via the UltimatePay billing method.
You: Thanks for that - I've called my bank and it isn't being blocked on my end there must be a ban on my account or something - the first 2 cards I used have been linked to other accounts but the 3rd one i got sent to me today is fine. I assume my account got blocked when i tried to use the other ccards
Agent Daniel A: No problem. I'm so sorry for the run-around you've been receiving.
You: I read about the http://ultimategamecard.playspan.com options on the FF offical forums and have heard it probably wont work for Australians
Agent Daniel A: Strange...EB Games Australia is one of their featured resellers.
You: I bought the $30 card and It gives me the error 11000 when i try and purchase Crysta
SEE Agent Paul N.: Ultimate game cards are not Game Time cards
SEE Agent Paul N.: They only redeem to Crysta which is not usable in Australia
You: It turns out that they are not accepted in australia which you can see I told her may be the case
SEE Agent Paul N.: Game Time cards are specific to FINAL FANTASY XIV and are redeemed on our account management site
You: Can i speak with you supervisor please
SEE Agent Paul N.: I'm afraid not, now as I said we have escalated this to our billing team who will be able to give you more information on why the payment failed and what you(or we) can do to resolve this. You will need to remain patient until you get a response though
You: I've heard reports that this process will take 3-4 working days, this is unacceptable
SEE Agent Paul N.: Well as I said I cannot estimate how long it will take but that is not something we can speed up
You: Please connect me to someone who will be able to refund me the purchase price of the game, and the card i was advised to purchase
SEE Agent Paul N.: Well, if you purchased the Game card from the Ultimate Game Card website or a retailer you would need to contact them for a refund as that is not something we have control over
You: on advice from NA chat support which i have evidence of
You: im not concered about the 30 UGcard. I will take that up with them
SEE Agent Paul N.: Yes, unfortunately it appears that the North American support that you contacted wasn't aware of the Crysta limitations of your specific country, which is something I will be sure to pass along to them so it doesn't happen again
You: You cant even put a fast track or urgent note on the message you send to sel-id ? The service i have received over the last 4 days has been horrible
SEE Agent Paul N.: All I can do is assure you that it will be handled as quickly as possible.
You: The NA agent gave me a phone number to call, where would that go? To char support who cant help me aswell ?
You: +44 0 870 600 0182
SEE Agent Paul N.: It would go to us as well, all we would be able to tell you is to wait for us to contact you again via email with more information once the billing team has had a chance to review your account
SEE Agent Paul N.: Now is there anything else I can do for you today ?
You: no
SEE Agent Paul N.: Thank you for visiting our SQUARE ENIX Support Chat line. Take care and have a good day!


This and also 10+ emails none of which have been responded too yet has been the worst customer service I've ever received in 15+ years of paying for MMOsubscriptions. 5 days and counting and no reply

[zeke181]

Here is a ..snippety

Since you're in Australia buy an FFXIV 60 day time card with online delivery for EU region. It will at least get you playing until this BS is sorted out. But I for one won't be buying another time card if these problems STILL exist 3 months after release.

[Uchia]

Since you're in Australia buy an FFXIV 60 day time card with online delivery for EU region. It will at least get you playing until this BS is sorted out. But I for one won't be buying another time card if these problems STILL exist 3 months after release.

How do game time cards work on FFXIV? I searched it and someone said you have to go to renew subscription to enter the code on the mogstation but i don't see that option anywhere.

[Toki-Wartooth]

i'm not understanding this at all right now, just tried to add more time got error 401 a few times, so then i decided to just try adding crysta. was just gonna add 500 and then 1000 crysta to my account. well it let me add the 500, but then when i went to add the 1000 to it got error 401 like 3 more times. so now i have 500 crysta sitting on my acount and prolly a buncha bs transaction fees or w/e. guess SE doesn't want my money, its a shame i really wanted to see that halloween event too. guess ill just take my happy ass back to diablo 3 and gta 5. good luck dealing with this moronic support team guys, you're gonna need it

[ReNuhGade]

Thanks for your help guys! I live in Canada and I just walked over to shoppers drug mart and got the last $20 UGC. I purchased 1,800 Crysta which came to $19.64, at first the 401 error appeared and my heart dropped but I just refreshed the page and the 1,800 has been added to my account. UGC Do work for the right regions, and I am now able to play again

[translatoranon]

I'm an American living in Japan who plays on an NA server to keep in touch with my friends.

I was getting the error, too, but then Google brought me here.

Hola Unblocker for Chrome worked wonders, and allowed my payment to go through. I strongly recommend using it.

Thanks for the tips, everyone.