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American Express payment method falsely declining card

American Express payment method falsely declining card

Hi,

 

I sent in a contact form earlier today. I'm kind of surprised there is no auto-reply set up with it to confirm receipt of the message. Anyway, spotify.com is declining my AmEx with both the front and back CVV/CVC codes (only thing I could think of). I tried last Friday and also today. I also tried both IE and FireFox. I called AmEx and they report no holds on my account and confirmed the purchase should go through.

 

Please let me know can be done.

 

If this is a standing, can you please provide an Upgrade code in the meantime so that my phone app will work until you get the issue(s) resolved?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Tom G

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67 Replies

Yah, I figured it won't be resolved any time soon. I've exchanged several e-mails with the Spotify team, who have given up and suggested that I use the Paypal workaround. Nope. I just let them know I won't be resubscribing until this is fixed, which, I'm sure, has them shaking in their boots. 😉 

 

FYI: I tried several browsers running on everything from a Windows VM to my Android phone with zero change in behavior. 

Below is the email I received on June 11 when I was trying to switch my method of payment.  I cancelled my subscription and I'm still stuck with the same problem.  I think they're just ignoring this defect. 
__________________________________
Hi,

Thank you for getting in touch with Spotify.

You should be able to update the payment details on your account to your Amex. 

The issue you are most likely encountering is, Spotify makes a £0.01 transaction on your account, as a form of verification. No money is taken, it is just a check on the account. The issue comes as Amex cards typically don't accept a 0.01$ transaction, as the amount is too little. The way to get round this is to make the payment at the same time as the verification, this way the transaction is for the 9.99 for Premium, and the 0.01$ payment, which is then returned. 

I can see that you have now stopped the renewal of your subscription and removed the current payment details stored on the account. As there no payment details stored, the subscription payment would not go through when it is next due and your account will revert to the free subscription. You can then upgrade directly with the correct Amex card and it should go through correctly (fingers crossed!)
You won't lose access to your account or any playlists, but you might need to resync anything playlists set to offline when you resubscribe.

You can manage the subscription and card details here: www.spotify.com/account/subscription/

Before you make the payment I'd also recommend quickly checking through these details, just to make sure the card would work:
1. Your card must not have expired. If you have received a new card, please update your card details on your Subscription page: https://www.spotify.com/account/subscription/
2. The country set in your Spotify account profile must match the country where your card is registered. If you intend to use a payment method in another country, you can make this selection on your Subscription page (We can only accept payment from our launch countries).
3. Your card should be enabled for e-commerce transactions (Verified by Visa/Mastercard securecard card).
4. Your card must be open to be used for foreign purchases.
5. There are some banks that require other security authentifications, the most common one being 3DSecure.

Best wishes,
Jack 

The issue comes as Amex cards typically don't accept a 0.01$ transaction, as the amount is too little. The way to get round this is to make the payment at the same time as the verification, this way the transaction is for the 9.99 for Premium, and the 0.01$ payment, which is then returned.

The above is absolutely, unquestionably, patently false. I really wish AmEx was aware that Spotify (with whom AmEx purportedly has a service contract) outright lies to their users to avoid having to confront what is clearly a software issue on their end.

 

AmEx typically accepts $0.01 transactions and authorizations.

 

They’ve accepted countless such transactions and authorizations on my credit account throughout my account history. My account is not special; I never needed to contact them to “turn this on” or anything of the sort.

 

The very thing they tell you to do in order to circumvent this imagined issue (namely: to make the payment at the same time as the verification) is proof that the issue transcends the $0.01 authorization, as that too fails every time.

 

Check out Rdio, seriously. They’ll verify your AmEx account in no time, and you can get on with your life.

I think it might be that Spotify doesn't support AmEx from US subscribers.  Moneybrokers(Skrill) is the same way ( https://www.moneybookers.com/ads/merchant-account/payment-options/  ) If you're from any country other than the US, AmEx is an accepted form of payment.

 

I receive this response today (July 24):

 

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. We're sorry to hear you're having trouble subscribing with your American Express card.

Could you please check the following requirements that need to be met for a payment to be successfully made:

1. Your card must not have expired. If you have received a new card, please update your card details on your Subscription page: https://www.spotify.com/account/subscription/

2. The country set in your Spotify account profile must match the country where your card is registered. If you intend to use a payment method in another country, you can make this selection on your Subscription page (We can only accept payment from our launch countries).

3. Your card should be enabled for e-commerce transactions (Verified by Visa/Mastercard securecard card).

4. Your card must be open to be used for foreign purchases.

5. There are some banks that require other security authentifications, the most common one being 3DSecure.

6. Your card must be enabled for recurring payments.

Once you have checked all of the above, please try again to subscribe from the subscription page of your account.

If it still doesn't seem to be working, you should try discussing this with your bank.
Let us know how you get on.
Kind regards, 

Christine, 

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge 

Thanks for the tip!  I'm trying out Rdio now.  Their mobile app is pretty awesome.


@agarzola wrote:
The issue comes as Amex cards typically don't accept a 0.01$ transaction, as the amount is too little. The way to get round this is to make the payment at the same time as the verification, this way the transaction is for the 9.99 for Premium, and the 0.01$ payment, which is then returned.

The above is absolutely, unquestionably, patently false. I really wish AmEx was aware that Spotify (with whom AmEx purportedly has a service contract) outright lies to their users to avoid having to confront what is clearly a software issue on their end.

 


It is true, I'm afraid. Going through PayPal is often a very effective workaround.

 

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I tried having my card info removed and doing the suggested verification + payment  (The way to get round this is to make the payment at the same time as the verification, this way the transaction is for the 9.99 for Premium, and the 0.01$ payment, which is then returned.) but that didn't work either.
 
Something is broken. I give up trying to help them figure out what it is.

Same thing happening to me here. I am about to give up and use Rdio instead. But apparently no one at Spotify Support seams to actually know why this is happening.

My biggest complaint is that Rdio's streaming quality isn't set as high as Spotify's... make sure you download the songs.  

 

Infrastructure wise, Rdio is designed much better.  You can actually specify on the web-app which songs you want downloaded to you phone.  Rdio's app also supports portrait mode.

 

Facebook isn't baked in -- that's also a huge plus.

 

I'm not even mad about the Amex issue anymore.  Rdio is an all around better product IMO.  If the issue was fixed earlier I would have never tried Rdio.

So far I am liking Rdio. What bothers me about this issue is no one in Spotify actually accepting this is happening and making an effort to resolve it.

Tavojimenez - We are aware of the issue and want it sorted as soon as possible, for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of when this will be.
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They have finally fixed this issue!  I can finally use my Amex.  Thanks.

I'm now facing this issue and keep getting bog standard cut/paste replies from support.

 

Frankly, it is a bit insulting being told to check your card isn't expired when I've already stated that the card is valid, and everything else checks out. This card works in every store and is accepted by every online service I use, bar Spotify.

 

There is clearly an issue on Spotify's side and nobody wants to listen to me. I'm very disappointed and my premium is soon about to run out, yet Spotify still do not want to take my money or help me out.

 

Is there anybody here from Spotify who can actually acknowledge my issue and try to investigate it and help me instead of copy/pasting all the usual stuff which I have already tried?

Its funny I have more than 6 months with this issue and nobody has been able to fix it. I tried a couple of days ago after someone posted here that the issue was resolved but still isnt working.

 

As you said, it seems Spotify doesnt want my money.

 

 

Its still not working for me.


@kish99 wrote:

They have finally fixed this issue!  I can finally use my Amex.  Thanks.


 

Over two weeks since my initial request to customer service, we have been going back and forth with their only suggestion being 'try to readd your card again' every time.

 

This is by far the worst customer service I have experienced from any company I do business with. Is there any way to escalate a support ticket to a manager? I'm completely unhappy with the support I've been getting so far.

Yet more back and forth emails, see their last response below. Frankly disgusted. To me it seems like support believe I am an idiot and cannot tell an expired card from a valid one, or am entering the details wrong. Not that it should be relevant but I have a degree in computer science and write software for a living. Clearly a bug in the website or the setup with the payment processor (netgiro)

 

It is a regular AmEx issued in the UK, I can pay for purchases in stores, and online at any other retailer bar spotify. The fact that spotify are unwilling to admit there is a problem on their end, let alone investigate it properly is laughable.

 

I'm giving it one last shot before throwing in the towel and cancelling my subscription and taking my money elsewhere. I pay for a service and as part of that I expect decent support. The agents are polite but I don't seem to be getting through to them that there is an issue that isn't with my card or my bank, but firmly with them.

 

 

Hi,

Having looked into this further, if you have gone through the list below and checked you meet our criteria for a successful transaction, then there is not anything more we can do.

Do you have another credit card you could use or a Paypal account you could use your card on?

 

Please check the following requirements that need to be met for a payment to be successfully made:

1. Your card must not have expired. If you have received a new card, please update your card details on your Subscription page:https://www.spotify.com/account/subscription/

2. The country set in your Spotify account profile must match the country where your card is registered. If you intend to use a payment method in another country, you can make this selection on your Subscription page (We can only accept payment from our launch countries).

3. Your card should be enabled for e-commerce transactions (Verified by Visa/Mastercard securecard card).

4. Your card must be open to be used for foreign purchases.

5. There are some banks that require other security authentication, the most common being 3DSecure.

Once you have checked all of the above, please try again to subscribe from the subscription page of your account.

If it still doesn't seem to be working, you should try discussing this with your bank.

That's the problem with Spotify. All responses are scripts. I work in IT and either they don't know how to fix this or our complains are not being escalated to the proper level of support and they don't know the issue exist.

 

I have already thown the towell. I guess I will have to wait for Apple's streaming service.

Ohnoes - Your case has been escalated to the relevant team to have a look at. They'll try and get back to you as soon as possible.
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Having the smae problem with AMEX..Amex said my card is fine. I use my Amex card for everything, You either accept Amex or you don't! Get with it Spotify

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