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subscription question.

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited February 2010 in The Academy
Hello all.
I buy a month subscription rigth when in the first day of headstart, and if you add the month free we all have, i should have 2 month of subscription, but today i check on mi account and said this:
Activated Features

* Star Trek Online Closed Beta
* Star Trek Online - Preorder
* Star Trek Online - Digital Deluxe

Subscriptions

* Recurring 1-Month ACTIVE
Next Billing Date: Mar 4 2010
PayPal
Change this subscription

what the "Next billing date: mar 4 2010 means?? its means that i have to buy another month on the 4th??


Sorry for bad english..
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Check your bank account you should findthey have not taken payment yet.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    In paypal said this: Feb 2, 2010 Authorization To Cryptic Studios Pending

    This is good or bad?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Ok, I don't know alot about the billing process or the way the monthly accounts are proccessed but this is the best I can do for you...

    1. You should get 30 days Free.

    2. If you have previously payed your 2nd month, I agree that you should not be charged again on the 4th of March, but that payment may be for your 2nd month.

    3. I recommend that you double check to make sure your order for your 2nd month has gone through correctly and check if you have had money taken from your account for your 2nd month.

    4. If it has not gone through correctly and you haven't had any money taken from you, that could be your issue. You may be billed on the 4th of March for your 2nd Month and you may have only given your account details.

    5. If the transaction has gone through for your 2nd month and you have had money taken from your Paypal account, then I suggest you submit a ticket to Cryptic.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Cerritouru wrote: »
    In paypal said this: Feb 2, 2010 Authorization To Cryptic Studios Pending

    This is good or bad?

    Pending means it hasn't been taken yet but you can confirm by checking your bank account.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Kevscar wrote: »
    Pending means it hasn't been taken yet but you can confirm by checking your bank account.

    This is entirely different.

    The 'Pending' authorisation on your PayPal account was set up by Cryptic when you established the PayPal subscription. They create an 'authorisation' which creates a payment of $1/£1/€1 to ensure you have a real/valid PayPal account, however since they never actually charge (or 'capture') this authorisation, the $1/£1/€1 will never actually leave your bank account/credit card/paypal account. From what I can see it will just sit there until it expires (30 days after it was created - if you view the authorisation details in PayPal you will see it has an expiry date).

    In fact, Cryptic aren't supposed to hold on to the authorisation for this long. They aren't breaking PayPal rules, but best practice dictates that if you have no intention of capturing an authorisation, you should void it as soon as possible. By leaving the authorisations as pending for 30 days and just allowing it to automatically expire, they're preventing people from removing funding sources and some other actions on their PayPal accounts.

    A lot of retailers implement a similar system when establishing subscriptions on credit and debit cards, they'll create an authorisation hold of $1/£1/€1 on your card to establish that its real and valid, and then release it a few days later.

    On the other hand, if your account says your next payment is due on the 4th of March, then Cryptic will charge your PayPal account on the 4th of March. You won't be showing any charges on your PayPal account for this until the 4th of March, and it will be charged to your account automatically.

    The 'Authorisation To' charge to Cryptic Studios that everyone who has subscribed to the game through PayPal is seeing is completely separate from your subscription fee, it is just a temporary charge on your PayPal account to ensure its real and valid.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Drevner, thanks.. but mi English its not so good and i didnt understand mach of what you said.. so, correct me if i am wrong: The 4th of mar i am going to get the subscription or not? because ive tray 2 more times and its still on pending, but i buy 500 usless cryptic points with out problem!!!
    BTW, i don’t knew why it wont allow me to buy directly from them...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Hoo.. and btw, ive send a ticket and still no sign of them.. its incredible, i want to paid!! And they don’t seem to be interesting... as this game goes, ive think they are going to beg me to paid in a few months…
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Your subscription is correct. You have a 1 month "Recurring" subscription. This means every month on the 4th it will take $14.99 (if your US) out of your paypal account.

    I am assuming it says pending because cryptic has yet to try and take any money out of your pay pal account.

    You only get one month free. This means from your first login (Feb. 4th)-(March 3rd). On March 4th a new month starts so you must pay cryptic their monthly fee.

    Everything looks ok to me. Hope this helps.
    Kargion
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    kargion, thanks man, i hope its ok too, i am really a Star Trek fan, even if the game its not what all we hope to be, ive still want to be part of it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    When you set up your subscription, they didn't actually charge your Paypal account for a month since you get the first 30 days free. They just sent an authorization to make sure the account is valid. Your monthly subscription will start once your 30 free days are up (March 4th). That's the first time you'll actually see a charge on your account.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    kargion wrote:
    Your subscription is correct. You have a 1 month "Recurring" subscription. This means every month on the 4th it will take $14.99 (if your US) out of your paypal account.

    I am assuming it says pending because cryptic has yet to try and take any money out of your pay pal account.

    You only get one month free. This means from your first login (Feb. 4th)-(March 3rd). On March 4th a new month starts so you must pay cryptic their monthly fee.

    Everything looks ok to me. Hope this helps.
    Kargion

    The charge which is showing as "Pending" is the authorisation charge that Cryptic placed on your account when you created the subscription. It has nothing to do with the subscription fee, this will not appear until the 4th of March.

    If you look at the charge with is pending, you will see that:
    • The charge type is 'Authorisation To'
    • It is for a small amount of $1/£1 etc
    • It has an expiry date of 30 days after the date you set up your subscription

    This charge is NOT your subscription payment, it is an authorisation charge to ensure that your PayPal account is real and valid. Note that no money will be deducted from your bank account or credit/debit card at this point. They £1/$1 etc won't actually leave your bank account or credit/debit card because Cryptic won't attempt to collect this payment, they will just let it sit as "Pending" until it automatically expires.

    Technically, Cryptic are supposed to void these authorisations after a few days (in line with PayPal best practice), but they don't. Instead, they just allow the authorisation to sit and expire automatically (which is 30 days after the authorisation was created).

    I actually sent billing a ticket regarding this, and about 14 days later they replied a useless reply, they don't actually seem to understand how their own systems work. If you speak to Cryptic about it, they will say that they have dropped the charge, because their billing frontend shows the charge as dropped. However, this does not mean they have actually voided the transaction in PayPal, and so the authorisation will remain as pending for 30 days.

    Way to train your staff Cryptic...
    YYC26 wrote: »
    When you set up your subscription, they didn't actually charge your Paypal account for a month since you get the first 30 days free. They just sent an authorization to make sure the account is valid. Your monthly subscription will start once your 30 free days are up (March 4th). That's the first time you'll actually see a charge on your account.

    Exactly correct.
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