Paying for Premium: Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day

[robsawyer]

**********************************************UPDATE**********************************************

(I wanted to include the most recent info (from April 9th, 2015) so folks can easily find it on the first post - the original post is below)

Update - It seems that Support has identified the issue. According to Spotify, they had encountered fraudulent attempts to use my credit card to subscribe to Spotify, which temporarily prevented it from making payments. I still don't understand why this stopped me from paying with my other Credit Cards though.

I am happy to have a solution.

Below is the update from Support:

Hi there,

Your case was passed to me to follow up on the message you sent us on Twitter. 

I'm sorry to see you've been running into these issues however I'm pleased to confirm that you should now be able to subscribe as normal with your credit card. It seems the issue here is that some fraudulent attempts have been made using your card by an unauthorised third party and so it was temporarily prevented from making payments. To ensure that his doesn't cause further issues for you I would recommend reviewing your bank statement and notifying your bank of the problem...

Please let us know if you run in to any further problems.

Kind regards,

Joe

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge

Follow our customer service team @spotifycares for all things Spotify

 **************************************************************************************************

I know there are other posts regarding this issue - just wanted to share my situation incase I am able to help others:

I received messages via my Spotify App (OSX) stating "We've been unable to renew your subscription becuase of a payment problem. To keep your subscription, please update your payment details." I also received a corresponding email with the subject "Please check your Premium payment details" requesting that I update my payment info.

I logged into Spotify, using Google Chrome on my mac running OSX and attempted to update my Credit Card info using the form found at https://www.spotify.com/us/payment/change/

I entered my current VISA credit card info (which had not expired - so it was the same info as Spotify currently had on file) and attempted to submit. I received the following error after submission: "Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day. Don't worry, no money has been charged. Try again or use another payment method."

I immediately contacted my Credit Card company (in this case, VISA) and spoke with a service rep who was able to confirm that:

1. There was no issue regarding my card (in fact, I used the card earlier that day and continue to use it with no issues).
2. VISA had not denied any attempted charge to my account from Spotify.
3. VISA had not received any attempted charge from Spotify against my account on that day.

At this point, I curiously returned to https://www.spotify.com/us/payment/change/ and attempted to update my credit card info with an entirely different AMERICAN EXPRESS card. Much to my surprise, I was greeted with the same error: "Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day. Don't worry, no money has been charged. Try again or use another payment method."

Once again, I picked up the phone and called the American Express help line where I was able to confirm that:

1. There was no issue regarding my card.
2. AMERICAN EXPRESS had not denied any attempted charge from Spotify.
3. AMERICAN EXPRESS had not received any attempted charge from Spotify against my account.

At this point in time, I figured that this must be a platform or browser related issue. As I mentioned prior, I had attempted to update my info using Google Chrome on Mac OSX. As a test, I then tried to update my payment info using:

- Mac OSX - Google Chrome in Incognito Mode

- Max OSX - Safari

- Mac OSX - FireFox

- Windows 7 - Google Chrome

- Windows 7 - FireFox

- iOS version 8.1.2 - Safari

- iOS version 8.1.2 - Google Chrome

I was able to replicate the same error on all platforms and browsers.

After all of my attempts to find a fix for this on my own, I filed a support case. I quickly received the standard "No-Reply" reply message and replied to that email to ensure that my case was viewed by a support specialist. I included a detailed summary of the error that I was encountering, including screen shots and information gathered from the credit card help lines. I also sent a tweet to @SpotifyCares requesting assistance. @SpotifyCares replied back and informed me that they would take a look "backstage."

This morning, I recieved a support case reply from a Spotify Customer Support team member telling me that my transaction was refused by my credit card company, and that I would need to contact my Credit Card company again. This felt like a standard boiler plate reply, but I did as they requested and contacted the Credit Card company again. I was able to re-confirm that I have no blocks on my account which would result in charges from Spotify being denied.

As a last ditch test, I attempted to use an entirely different credit card this morning (the third card I have attempted to enter) and, much to my surprise - I received the same error: "Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day. Don't worry, no money has been charged. Try again or use another payment method."

Summary:

1. Spotify informed me that they have been unable to charge my credit card and asked that I update my payment info.
2. I attempted to update payment info with VISA card and received the  "Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day..." error.
3. I contacted VISA - no issues with account and no attempted charges from Spotify.
4. I attempted to update info with VISA card across multiple platforms (OSX, Windows 7 and iOS) and browsers (Chrome, Safari and Firefox) and continued to receive the same error.
5. I attempted to update payment info with new AMERICAN EXPRESS card and received the  "Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day..." error.
6. I contacted AMERICAN EXPRESS - no issues with account and no attempted charges from Spotify.
7. I contacted support using the online form and by contacting @SpotifyCares.
8. I received a reply email from support once again claiming that the error was on my credit card's side.
9. I recontacted both Credit Card companies and re-confirmed that both accounts were good, there were no issues that would lead to Spotify charges being denied.
10. I replied to support explaining what I was once again told by the Credit Card support specialists.
11. As a last ditch effort, I tried an ENTIRELY new credit card and received the "Oops, seems your card or payment provider is having a bad day..." error AGAIN.

I will update with information as it becomes available...

rob

[rossbates]

Support responded again. Unfortunately I've now been pushed into the "please get a new credit card or buy an egift card bucket."

So frustrating. This card was working for a long time. I went back and looked, I did get charged in Febuarary for the Family Plan (first month). Sometime during March is when things broke on their end.

Looking through the forums I see people having this same problem going back to Q4 of last year.

I was joking about TIdal, but now I'm wondering if that's not the best option at this point.

[robsawyer]

What a horrible solution. I recomend you tweet this issue to Daniel Ek too (twitter username @eldsjal) I suspect that this issue, and the magnitude of this issue, hasn't made itself known to upper managment. I know that, as the managing director of my firm, we go out of our way to ensure that happy customers are able to pay us and we work over time to rectify any issues regarding payment.

I received an email this morning stating that they had canceled my premium subscription and that all should be fixed this morning. Excitedly, I logged in using an incognito window, entered my VISA credit card info and then was greeted with the same darn "Oops, seems your card or..." error. I then thought - perhaps my AMEX will work now - NOPE.

The most frusterating part of this whole deal is that I can't get one consistent support person to assist here. I don't have someone's email, I cant call to discuss, there is no way to continually engage with one person as we work to resolve this... I have gone through a whole group of support folks who all seem to provide the same info / solutions with no new information. It was just a week or two ago when a support person offered me the same "solution" as the solution provided this morning. The only difference is that the previous support person gave me and my wife (the family plan member) free premium for a month - the most current support person to cancel my sub didn't provide us with access to premium while we work around this issue.

At a complete loss, I went to spotify on my phone and noticed that I could sign up for premium on iOS Spotify - after finishing it - I realized that I just paid 12.99 for an iTunes subscription to Spotify. Felt like a scam. I should have paid more attention. I immediately canceled the sub. I found that I am not able to extend my premium membership to family with this plan - plus, it's $3.00 more per month for base membership.

I read recently that Apple is working on a streaming audio solution with the integration of Beats Music's streaming service. I have started to rethink my streaming subscriptions - the apple solution is rumored to be cheaper, but more importantly, I know Apple can process a credit card without issues and I am 100% sure that Apple has better user support and help. (Especially for premium paying memebers!)

Spotify has a great product on the front end - but god forbid you need any assistance with an issue from their support group.

[robsawyer]

Update - It seems that Support has identified the issue. According to Spotify, they had encountered fraudulent attempts to use my credit card to subscribe to Spotify, which temporarily prevented it from making payments. I still don't understand why this stopped me from paying with my other Credit Cards though.

I am happy to have a solution.

Below is the update from Support:

Hi there,

Your case was passed to me to follow up on the message you sent us on Twitter. 

I'm sorry to see you've been running into these issues however I'm pleased to confirm that you should now be able to subscribe as normal with your credit card. It seems the issue here is that some fraudulent attempts have been made using your card by an unauthorised third party and so it was temporarily prevented from making payments. To ensure that his doesn't cause further issues for you I would recommend reviewing your bank statement and notifying your bank of the problem...

Please let us know if you run in to any further problems.

Kind regards,

Joe

Spotify Customer Service - Cambridge

Follow our customer service team @spotifycares for all things Spotify

[rossbates]

Did it actually work when you went to sign up?

I agree it sounds strange, how were they flagging fradulent attempts and yet the bank was completely unaware of any of it?

After 6 rounds with support I bit the bullet and added my credit card to PayPal. Didn't want to but at least it worked. Now I can't seem to add family members anymore.

If RDIO would have had Bob Dylan in their catalog when I looked I would have been long gone. 🙂

[robsawyer]

Ross - I wont be able to totally confirm for a few weeks. Evidently, no one is able to manually cancel a premum subscription made using the iOS app store. Apple confirmed that I just have to wait for the subscription to expire.

After expiration I will test again.

[HanMH]

Had all the same issues with Spotify and Chase. I set up a paypal account and everything worked/ I was finally charged and upgraded. Hope this helps!

[palmps]

I have had this same problem, and I have tried to switch to other cards and get this same message.  To be honest from all of the recent threads I have seen with this issue it really seems to be a gateway/payments issue for Spotify.  Something in their backend is broken and not processing updated/new payments.  

I have been trying to "update" my credit card information for over a week.  I have tried every browser and different operating systems.  I have tried VPNs and non-VPNs.  Incognito/Private/Public windows.  I have tried more options than Spotify's customer support.  I even tried to create a new account - and got THE EXACT SAME MESSAGE!

Customer services response was to create a Paypal account.  Not an option in this day and age that an online technology service company can't process credit cards online - I can buy a wordpress plugin that is more stable than what we are working with.  

I love Spotify, and want to keep my account (I even want to pay them more to get a famliy account); but this issue is really making me think to look elsewhere - and there is no consistent or useful support.

The header on this says SOLVED - but it seems like for a lot of other people - THIS IS NOT SOLVED!

[rossbates]

palmps - totally agree. This is not solved and suggesting PayPal as the solution is ridiculous.

This company has raised over $500mm in funding and they can't figure out how to fix something as simple as taking money from customers using a credit card.

Clearly the issue goes deeper than what they are telling us. 

If you search around the internet for this exact error message you'll occasionally see it come up on message boards where people are trying to use stolen credit cards to sign up for Spotify Premium. One possible scenario is Spotify was getting hit with so many chargebacks or claims of fradulent activity they turned off their gateway for large blocks of Visa and Amex numbers.

Almost everyone here with the problem has verified with their bank that ZERO charges from Spotify are coming through and subsequently denied. The message your "payment provider is having a bad day" is silly because, well how would you know Spotify. You are not issuing the transaction.

I suspect something has happened they don't want to tell customers about. All it's doing is making them look incompent and making us frustrated.

I ultimately folded and created a PayPal account. Yeah I've got my premium account back but I no longer have a positive opinion of this company. I also can't get my family plan back which was working under my credit card - so yeah........

[robsawyer]

Sorry -  I will edit my title. It should say: "Fixed for me"

I totally understand the frustration. It is insane that this is an issue.

[rossbates]

Ha... whoops, sorry Rob. My rant was in no way directed towards you. 

I thought a mod had marked this as solved based on the content of the thread.

My mistake. Have a good one!

[dcozpv]

I am having the same problems.  However, it as recently ocurred to me that this my be a strategy to push everyone to PayPal as they probably get a better processing rate.  Does anyone have a recommendation on other reliable streaming services?  I hate to lose all my playlists but it sounds like Spotify has given me no choice but to go elsewhere.  Have a great weekend everyone.

[robsawyer]

Interesting theory but they gave me quite a few months of premium
spotify on the house as a thank you for sticking with them as we
worked it out. I don't think they would do that if they were trying to
push me to PayPal.

[dan_dragan]

I am pretty certain I know what the issue is. They've lost your (my, our) name, the real one. Nowhere on the subscription form do they ask you for the name, and no credit card company would accept a charge with your name data empty. Spotify is either using your user name when submitting the charge, or leaving it empty both of which are bound to fail.

I wonder if any of the people whose charge fails is signing in using Facebook. I bet you the Facebook users don't have this problem because Spotify would pull the real name info from Facebook and would be able to charge the card. If I am right and this is just happening to regular users, this is one more reason  for me to hate Facebook being shoveled down my throat everywhere I turn. Spotify must have done some refactoring on the back end and is giving the regular users the short stick again.

They've just lost my paid subscription in their Facebook zealotry. I guess they don't care. Good.

[robsawyer]

Dan,

I thought of this too ? however, I sign in using my Facebook account. When
this error first started, I imediately went to my Facebook account and
confirmed that all of my info was accurate, including my first and last
name.

[dan_dragan]

Fair enough, but then, riddle me this : where on the account details page do you have your real name and if you can't find it nowhere, how can they charge your card.

Those input fields were removed, because I used to be able to do it. And they were removed for a reason.

[user-removed]

I experienced something similar recently. I was on the $4.99 grandfathered Spotify subscription. I thought this might be some sort of ploy to get me to subscribe to the new $9.99 subscription of Spotify. Which, if this is the case, this is bad business. 

I contacted my credit card company to see if there were any requests even coming from Spotify. The associate informed me that there have been several calls regarding Spotify and they have unfortunately not seen anything on their side, not even a request coming in for payment. No flag for fraudulent attempts, etc. 

Something weird and fishy is going on.

[dskirsa]

I started having this same problem.  I posted my story in another thread, but figured I'd add it to this one as well.  I've had a premium membership for the past year and out of the blue they can't charge my card.  Called the credit card company and no issues on their end.  My Case # is 02778444. 

This is kind of a big deal for me.  I travel a lot (weekly) and having access to offline playlists allows me to listen to music when I fly. I access music entirely through Spotify.  When Spotify doesn't work (specifically, Premium) it sort of throws a wrench into my whole day.  I can't access music I want to listen to, I'm forced to listen to ads, etc.  Like others, I find it pretty amazing that a company like Spotify can't figure out how to accept the money I would like to give to them. 

[rossbates]

Dan - that's interesting. I have never signed in using Facebook either.

I don't recall if I ever saw First Name, Last Name on the profile page but sure enough it's not there now. Nothing on the payment screen either.

Agree with your conclusion that they couldn't charge a card without some basic customer information.

This thread is only going to continue to get more and more people invloved until Spotify at least acknowledges the problem. God forbid they actually fix it after 8+ weeks.

[dcozpv]

So, how do you even get Spotify to reply.  I have filled out the form twice in the last week and have received no repsonse except for the automail notice that my inquiry was received.  It's just disappointing that Spotify has a good product but seem to be totally screwed up on the business side.

Anyone have a recommendation on another streaming service.  I hate to lose my playlists but don't have an extraordinary amount of time to keep researching this.

[MattSuda]

@dcozpv 

Support usually replies within 24-48 hours.

If you still have not gotten a reply:

Did you get a confirmation email from the contact form? It should be similar to "Spotify Support Case #XXXXXXX". If so, reply back to that email and tell them you still need help.

If you got an automated reply email telling you to check the help section or the community, you need to reply back to it saying you still need help, even if it's from a no-reply address.

If you never got an email, look in your spam folder to see if there is an email in there. Make sure you are checking the email account you used to sign up to Spotify. You can check the email on your account here.