For some reason, this order was declined. I think I know why.
On Tuesday, March 05, 2019, I purchased a $50.00 e-gift card for my account (Order 7711852), and applied it accordingly. It ended up giving me something like a total of $71+ in Paizo credit. Again, that was on March 5th, 2019.
You'll notice by checking my purchase history, I purchased $60.00 in credit on February 7th, $39.31 of which was used the following day on Order 7696967 (February's subscriptions of Return of the Runelord Maps & Tyrant's Grasp Part 1). After February's order, submitted on February 8th, I had at least $20.69 left in store credit. (I had change on the dollar, too, leftover from the previous order. But we'll stick with $20.69 to keep it simple).
Again, you'll notice I had no other order charged to me from the time I had $20.69 leftover in store credit, and March 05, when I purchased the aforementioned $50.00 e-gift card for my account. So I should have had, at the very least, $70.69. as of March 05th, after I applied the amount to my account.
The next order I was charged with was Order 7737617, the order in question. That was Submitted on March 8th, 2019. The email I have for this transaction shows I received the email on March 8th, at 11:36 AM. The email itself shows 4 items, (2 replacements for the February order which never arrived, and 2 orders for the March subscription period: Adventure Path #140, and Player Companion: Heroes of Golarion). The product total was $30.23, with a $4.30 shipping & handling charge, making for a total order total of $34.53.
First off, I should note that the email says I only have $36.12 left in store credit to apply. That's obviously wrong. Just a few days before, I'd purchased $50.00 in store credit. So at the very least, the email should have shown I had $50.00. But thanks to the $20.69 credit I had left over from my February transactions, it really should have showed $70.69.
Regardless, the total should have been enough itself to cover my March subscription total of $34.53. But for some reason, it was declined.
Now if you add the two numbers together, $34.53 with the amount it said I had leftover, $36.12, it equals $70.65. So I think at one point I did have that $70.69 in my account as store credit, as it should have been. I think I was then charged the $34.53 in a previous Submitted Order. But I think that order was later adjusted on your end, to include the items from February I'd never received (as it says Replacement next to their names, with no charge). Because I don't have an additional Item Order, I think the current Order 7737617 was adjusted, not replaced. And that this happened after the official submitted order, thus now charging me another $34.53 for the same order.
Still, though I believe this to be the case, it should have still accepted the order, as even if the error amount of $36.12 was left, there would have been enough to cover the order.
I should point out that I have my subscription orders registered to use my store credit first, so this shouldn't have been an issue. The Payment method itself is listed with a Visa card, numbers ending in 4417. That's a pre-paid credit card which I've been using as my listed credit card for subscription orders for five months now without issue.
A few months ago, I suggested to another user on here that was having similar problems to use this same setup, as having a pre-paid card on file works, if registered, as a "placeholder" card that gets charged if you are using your store credit. I said what I think happens is that even if you have enough store credit, the card itself still gets charged. So as long as you have $1 or more on the card, it would still function properly. (even though it doesn't actually take the $1, I think it just acts like an active credit card). At the time, Customer Representative Diego responded to my comment that it still shouldn't matter. His belief was that as long as you have enough store credit, the system is set up to accept that first, no matter what other method is on file. He wanted to be made aware in a situation if this wasn't the case, so please forward him this entire response.
So simply put, I think I was charged $34.53 at some point on March 8th, and then it later charged me a second time. But both times the order should have been able to go through, as either charge attempt would have had the requisite amount of store credit necessary to go through, thus not charging the card I have on file at all. But for whatever reason, because I only keep $1 on that pre-paid Visa card, it rejected the order/s.
If everything were working fine, it should have gone through fine, leaving me with (at least) $36.12 left in store credit at this point. And yet, when I go to the My Account page, it's showing I have only $35.05 left in my account. I'm not sure how it got to this amount.
I would like to point out that, as I'm now looking over the declined transactions, on the Order History, it shows the first actual charge (Wednesday, Sept 13) was $34.53 (matching the email I received for what the total was). The second charge (Friday, Sept 15th), and the ones placed this week so far (Monday & Tuesday, respectively) is showing a CHARGE of $36.12. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but the new Shipping & Handling on the page shows $5.89 instead of the original $4.30.
So again, I think it is just a matter of the system not recognizing the pre-paid Visa I was using. I'm not sure what would have altered it, as I've been using it without issue for months now. But it's the only thing I can think of as being the issue.
And again, I went into March 8th with a minimum of $70.69. After being charged that initial $34.53, I should have at least $36.16 left in Paizo credit. Instead, it's showing $35.05. Now maybe that new charge of $36.12 takes into account an updated shipping charge of $5.89 instead of the original $4.30 shipping charge (the math of $30.23 + $5.89 = $36.12). But that would mean that at one point I was indeed charged with a lesser shipping method, and it likely used $34.53 of my store credit. But after being declined, perhaps it never put it back on?
Or perhaps the listed amount of $35.05 left in store credit represents the correct amount after accounting for the new total charge of $36.12? $36.12 + $35.05 = $71.17. And as I said, I believe I had some Paizo credit under $1.00 leftover back in February before I purchased the $60. on the 7th of that Month.
Regardless, I had enough store credit to cover the transaction the first time. So I'm not really sure why the charge of $34.53 on Wednesday, March 13th was declined. Even looking at the most recently declined charges, it says Order Total: $36.12 and underneath in green it says Store Credit To Apply: $36.12. That would be accurate if such a charge went through, leaving me that $35.05 in store credit. (Though again, I'm not sure why the charge amount changed mid-attempts). But...again, it's been declined. So I'm at a total loss here.
I have to admit I'm getting a bit frustrated. I'm sorry it took so long to recognize this issue, but I hadn't checked that account in some time as I assumed all would go smoothly with order generation and charging, as it has been using this method since last summer and this particular pre-paid Visa card for the last five months.
I specifically don't use a regular credit card because I cancelled all but one, which is only for emergencies. I understand why PayPal isn't a valid option for things like Paizo subscriptions. But it should still be available as an option for products that can be immediately purchased and received within a normal shipping window, especially store credit. But whether you take that step or not, please look into fixing the system so that even if I don't have a normal credit card, I can continue to purchase store credit (using pre-paid credit cards I buy in person at the store) that can be used for my subscription orders.
At the very least, please push this order through. As long as it leaves me that $35.05 or whatever leftover in my store credit section, all is well. If I have to come back here and remind you each month to do the same so it doesn't mess up in the system and prevent me from receiving my orders on time every month, so be it. I'll set a reminder on my calendar on the first of every month or something.
In the meantime, thanks for reading through all this. I know there is a lot and it's a bit of a mess, but I wanted to give as much information as possible. I can also send you screenshots of everything I've mentioned if that helps.
Thanks in advance for getting back to me as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Brian
Hello Pigraven,
You absolutely have enough store credit and then some for your orders. I am very familiar with this unwanted behavior from our system. While this is a thing we have reported and is in the works to get fixed, the system currently still tries to auth the payment method (not store credit) that's on the order when the order tries to ship, even if store credit coves the entirety of the order. If the card cannot be authorized successfully (which I understand is not necessary when using store credit, yet the system is determined to do this anyway) this usually results in a payment failure email.
I'll advocate for the expediency of addressing this issue. In the meantime, I'm going to remove the card from your subscriptions so that we don't continue to auth it anyway. Your store credit should continue to apply. I'll give this order a push and get it shipped out to you.
The system isn't rejecting your store credit and should be able to use it to finalize the order, it is just determined to auth the payment method, which is returning a decline, and is why you receive this message. I'll take a look at what I can do in the meantime to help with your subscription orders going forward and push to fix this quirk in the system.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you!
Sam,
Thanks for the quick response. It looks like it has been pushed through, as the order is showing complete. What a strange bug!
I'll continue to purchase store credit ahead of time. But once I get a shipping message, I'll swing over to the Paizo My Order page and actually verify it looks like it's taking only store credit. If there seems to be an issue, I'll let you folks here.
I do have another question that is completely separate from the earlier one.
The next selection of items expected to ship under the My Subscriptions page is showing three items:
Pathfinder Adventure Path #141: Last Watch
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Concordance Of Rivals
Pathfinder Battles--Ruins Of Lastwall
As it says, they are just estimates and subject to change based on availability. But it's my understanding that only the first two will be available for the order generation date on April 4th. The last one, the Ruins of Lastwall miniatures, have been pushed back a month. Do you believe that is the case, and the Subscription page still hasn't been updated? When I click the link to the Product Schedule Page, it's still showing a Mid-April release for the Ruins Of Lastwall. But the April Shipping thread in this forum is showing that only the Adventure Path and Campaign Setting will ship, not the Battles case.
It's not a big deal. I'll be ready by either date, the 4th of April or sometime in May. But it does have an affect on whether I need to purchase the necessary store credit sometime before next Thursday, or sometime before spawning begins for May orders.
I've seen it suggested the new WizKids date could be pushed back just a week, the first week of May. I don't know how that would work? Perhaps orders for the Ruins of Lastwall would spawn in April and simply ship a week later than the rest of our subscription (if we select separate shipping), or be held until the May subscriptions are shipped out (if we combine shipping)?
I do apologize for getting confused. It's likely something that will work itself out anyways, but I thought I'd ask now so I'm not frantically running around on the 3rd trying to make sure I have enough store credit to cover the Battles Case in addition to my other subscriptions.
Finally, my last question. The Battles Case in my subscription page is showing a total of $358.18. That's 30% off the original $511.68 price, not the Paizo listed price of $399.99. So I'm seeing a $511.68 with Strikethrough price, then a $358.18 with Strikethrough, then a $358.18 without the strikethrough. Have you revised pricing to take the 30% off on a Battles Case only off that original price? Or is it simply showing this because it isn't finalized yet, with a 100% finalized release date?
I'm curious because I don't recall ever seeing the $358.18 price before in my subscriptions page for a Battles case, even before finalization. But I know the system has been acting up elsewhere, so I thought maybe this is just another wonky thing before finalization occurs? Historically, it's shown the $399.99 with strikethrough, and the $279.99 price (thus 30% off the official Paizo listed price) without the strikethrough.
I know WizKids ultimately sets the release date for the release of a Battles set. Perhaps the way things have registered in the system at Paizo is simply a byproduct of having to wait on the official word from WizKids, and thus manifests itself in slightly different ways from release to release. Perhaps it's something else entirely. But it's left me a little bit confused, so I'm looking for confirmation that I can expect the typical $279.99 for a Battles Case (before adding in the Incentive). And also confirmation to determine whether I should have my necessary store credit for the April spawning/billing period, or that in May.
Thank you so much for answering my questions.
Sincerely,
Brian
Hello Pigraven,
The Ruins of Lastwall case release has been pushed back to May, so you will not see this with your April items generated on April 4th. It will instead generate with your May items.
The display price of the case fluctuates depending on what discounts the system is taking into account. For those with the Battles sub, the correct price you will pay usually doesn't display until your order containing the case is generated. This is because this is the time in which the system checks for all appropriate prices and discounts. For cases purchased through the sub, the $279.99 price is correct but usually only shows up for the first time in the confirmation email.
In summation, the price you can expect is still $279.99 and this amount will be authorized early to mid May.
Hello Pigraven,
The Ruins of Lastwall case release has been pushed back to May, so you will not see this with your April items generated on April 4th. It will instead generate with your May items.
The display price of the case fluctuates depending on what discounts the system is taking into account. For those with the Battles sub, the correct price you will pay usually doesn't display until your order containing the case is generated. This is because this is the time in which the system checks for all appropriate prices and discounts. For cases purchased through the sub, the $279.99 price is correct but usually only shows up for the first time in the confirmation email.
In summation, the price you can expect is still $279.99 and this amount will be authorized early to mid May.
Thank you so much for your quick answers.
I know you folks are super busy with all the orders, the coming switchover to PF2, and Con season about to start. Good luck to all of you! Don't forget to enjoy yourselves.
Sincerely,
Brian