Guild Wars 2

Hi, I purchased gems the other day using paypal, but it failed (told me the transaction failed and to try again later).

I followed the advice, and tried again later, receiving the same message that it failed and I should try again later.

Instead of continuing to try, I checked my bank account and saw no transactions. So I went back into GW2 and decided to just pay with a credit card instead of paypal, it worked without issue and I got my gems.

To my surprise, about 30 minutes later I got the gems two more times, once for each failed transaction. I checked my account again and I still hadn’t been charged, but I decided to keep a watch on my account for a few days to see what would happen.

Sure enough, today I see two additional charges on my account for the gems. So I guess I’ve received the correct number of gems for how much I’ve paid, however it was not my intention to purchase that many gems, and it is absolutely not my fault. The error page told me to try again and I did. There was no indication that the transaction may have worked despite the error.

May this also serve as a warning for others who recieve the error message I received. Your account will likely still be charged as mine was, though at least you’ll get the gems.

proviticus.4183:

Hi, I purchased gems the other day using paypal, but it failed (told me the transaction failed and to try again later).

I followed the advice, and tried again later, receiving the same message that it failed and I should try again later.

Instead of continuing to try, I checked my bank account and saw no transactions. So I went back into GW2 and decided to just pay with a credit card instead of paypal, it worked without issue and I got my gems.

To my surprise, about 30 minutes later I got the gems two more times, once for each failed transaction. I checked my account again and I still hadn’t been charged, but I decided to keep a watch on my account for a few days to see what would happen.

Sure enough, today I see two additional charges on my account for the gems. So I guess I’ve received the correct number of gems for how much I’ve paid, however it was not my intention to purchase that many gems, and it is absolutely not my fault. The error page told me to try again and I did. There was no indication that the transaction may have worked despite the error.

May this also serve as a warning for others who recieve the error message I received. Your account will likely still be charged as mine was, though at least you’ll get the gems.

If you contact CS, they will be happy to assist you with your issue. Top of Page – Service/Support – Submit a Request.

Good luck.

If these went thru a CC (via paypal) DO NOT reverse or contest the charges….your account will get perma-banned. Work with Anet CS to get this resolved.

sorry everyone, I posted this not to get a refund or contest the charges. I posted for two reasons: so ANet knows about the bug (which might make other customers angry or desperate or cause overdraft fees), and so that other players might be aware of the issue and won’t make the same mistake in the future.

As for me, I decided to just keep the gems and leave it be. I buy gems usually monthly anyway (I treat gw2 like it had a subscription), and I will just not buy gems for a longer period this time.

Thanks for the advice on how to approach the issue if I were wishing to contest the charges, though.

I’ve had this problem with paypal for a long time. I actually did buy 10 dollars worth of gems 3 times because of the failures, but like the OP I just kept them (And didn’t know I could get a refund anyways) What happens for me is that it fails, and it tells me to contact you. Then, 30 minutes later, the gems show up. It doesn’t matter what time of day. It used to work, and then failed a few months ago(sorry, I can’t remember when)

Becka Williams.4978:

I’ve had this problem with paypal for a long time. I actually did buy 10 dollars worth of gems 3 times because of the failures, but like the OP I just kept them (And didn’t know I could get a refund anyways) What happens for me is that it fails, and it tells me to contact you. Then, 30 minutes later, the gems show up. It doesn’t matter what time of day. It used to work, and then failed a few months ago(sorry, I can’t remember when)

this is pretty much exactly what happened to me. It fails, and on a page that looks like an arenanet page (not paypal) it tells me to try again and contact you if the problem persists. The problem here is that it tells you to try again, basically encouraging multiple purchases. I think that destination page should be changed to tell the user to wait for some period of time to ensure the transaction didn’t go through.

It happened for me I’d guess around 8PM UTC-4 (same as eastern US) on wednesday.

This has been happening for over 6 months that I’ve seen. Regardless of which payment option you select (credit/debit card, BillMeLater, etc.) while purchasing gems via PayPal, you will (90%+) most of the time get redirected to a failed transaction page. However, the transaction has in-fact NOT failed, and 15-60 minutes later you will receive your gems. When buying via PayPal, WAIT at least 1 hour before trying to buy gems again, or you WILL get multiple transactions.

I believe the issue is in Anet’s incorrect implementation of the PayPal API.

Okay, I just did it, 11:21 pm pdt. I go to a website called cdn.fatfoogoo.com and I get this message:

Unfortunately there was an error with the payment provider. Please try again later. If this error still persists please contact customer care.

This is the message that makes people try to buy gems again. I will edit this message when I get my gems.

edit to add: it’s 11:43 pm and I just noticed that I got my gems. I looked at 11:36 (15 minutes after I ordered) and they weren’t there.

Just tried to buy gems with paypal. Same error.

Gaile,

I’ve had a similar problem occur on Saturday. Although customer service is working on it, I thought you might want the extra information. I bought $35.00 worth of gems Saturday, and upon completing the Paypal authorization, I received the failed transaction message; however, unlike the aforementioned issues, my debit card was charged the amount, but I never received the gems. I’m happy to be patient with customer service and work with them to get the issue resolved, but I’m hesitant to purchase more gems with Paypal before the issue is resolved, and I purchased them in order to get the watchwork pick while it was available again. I do think this is an issue with Digital River (which is what I told CS.) Once again, I’m only providing this information to you, not asking for you to take your time to intervene, you’ve enough on your plate.

Thanks,
Rick

Yes, I did. Generally speaking, it takes about 20 minutes to get the gem(and that was true this time). I know this, so I’m okay with waiting., The problem is for new players who don’t, and make multiple gem purchases.

I’ve had this happen on multiple occasions stemming back from at least early February. I purchased $35 worth of gems and it said transaction failed. So after 3 more times I gave up. Low and behold after coming back to the game an hour later I was swimming in gems. Since then I just wait until they show up 15-20 minutes later. Prior to that time though it was working just fine.

Im having a similar problem as well. I did the purchase in-game selecting paypal as the payment method at about 9am EST. It said that I needed to complete the purchase in paypal but no window leading to paypal ever opened up and when I go into paypal there’s no history of it. It’s 11pm now so thats way more then the 30-60mins reported earlier. Any ideas on whether or not it’s safe for me to repurchase without ending up paying twice?

I’ve been dealing with this for quite awhile. Set up and pay for a purchase through paypal. Have it error during the process.

I’ve learned that if you try to repeat the process, eventually the gem purchases go through. If you’ve tried again, you end up with multiple purchases that you didn’t intend.

It’s frustrating and annoying and makes you really distrust the purchase process.

Sometimes, it takes far longer than 20 minutes to fulfil, but getting an error immediately makes you think that you should just redo the purchase.

Hello I just tried to purchase gems with a credit card to get the Watchwork pick, when I tried buying gems it repeatedly told me failed and so i tried several times. I eventually switched to another credit card and that told me it failed to. Its been 30minutes since my first try and haven’t received any gems, but I’m worried if my transactions went through I don’t want to have accidentally spent 200dollars worth of money. I submitted a ticket and am waiting for a response. I really hope i can get the 1600gems i requested because i really really want that watchwork pick >.>.

Well, it’s apparently been at least a month, and the problem’s still not fixed. I would’ve bet that making it a hassle to buy gems would be something that would be fixed pretty quickly. Guess I lost that bet. I just tried to buy gems with paypal. Got the same failure message, now to wait for 20 minutes to get my gems. I don’t mind, but the problem should really have been fixed by now, don’t you think?

Not to bump an old thread, but I am having this exact same issue, which also resulted my account being erroneously banned in the recent past — which resulted in a very upset client! No offense Gaile, but seeing as you are the only rep I see posting here, you get to shoulder the blame on your employer’s behalf. When is this gem purchase issue going to get fixed, please….?

Not to bump an old thread also, but I am trying to pay with my Visa and same issue occurs. I have done it a few times and not recieved any gems at all.. Any help here? Would like to spend a 100$ on your beautiful game!

Thanks,

When encountering purchase errors, it is best to contact the CS Team for assistance. Top of Page – Support – Submit a Request.

Good luck.

I’m currently having trouble purchasing gems through paypal. I get as far as Paypal should open in another browser and then nothing happens. It skips to the end as though I have completed a transaction and wants me to select done. I’ve sent two tickets and haven’t really seen anything in the forums about a current issue. I would prefer not pay by credit card so I guess my best option is by a gem card from Amazon or Target.

kerumica.2837:

I’m currently having trouble purchasing gems through paypal. I get as far as Paypal should open in another browser and then nothing happens. It skips to the end as though I have completed a transaction and wants me to select done. I’ve sent two tickets and haven’t really seen anything in the forums about a current issue. I would prefer not pay by credit card so I guess my best option is by a gem card from Amazon or Target.

Never make duplicate tickets because it puts you at the back of the queue again when you make another one. Wait for CS to respond, if it’s been 3 days or more and you have not received a response you can post it in the appropriate sticky thread.

I’m having problems with Gem Store as Kerumica said, paypal won’t pop up after hitting “Proceed to Paypal Button” , then just take me to final window with a " Done" Message, but nothing happens
Already tried Disabling Ad blocker and Allowing pop-ups .
I have submitted a ticket in-game.
Hope you help me ANET
Thanks

King Omar.8619:

I’m having problems with Gem Store as Kerumica said, paypal won’t pop up after hitting “Proceed to Paypal Button” , then just take me to final window with a " Done" Message, but nothing happens
Already tried Disabling Ad blocker and Allowing pop-ups .
I have submitted a ticket in-game.
Hope you help me ANET
Thanks

As stated on the in-game ‘bug report’ window, no response will be forthcoming when using that tool.

For an individualized response, you will need to submit a request to the CS Team. Top of Page – Support – Submit a Request.

Good luck.

bradldz.3728:

kerumica.2837:

I’m currently having trouble purchasing gems through paypal. I get as far as Paypal should open in another browser and then nothing happens. It skips to the end as though I have completed a transaction and wants me to select done. I’ve sent two tickets and haven’t really seen anything in the forums about a current issue. I would prefer not pay by credit card so I guess my best option is by a gem card from Amazon or Target.

Never make duplicate tickets because it puts you at the back of the queue again when you make another one. Wait for CS to respond, if it’s been 3 days or more and you have not received a response you can post it in the appropriate sticky thread.

Does CS ever respond to tickets? I sent one last week and never heard back from them. Do I need to just skip the in-game ticket and go straight to the forums? What exactly is the protocol for problems with the game? How long should I wait before I get a response to the sticky before I should move on to the next contact option? What is the next contact option? I haven’t had to contact CS in about two years and it shouldn’t be this complicated or take this long to help me with my problem.

As stated previously, and on the in-game ‘bug report’ window, you will receive no response from submitting an in-game ‘report/ticket’.

For an individualized response from the CS Team, you must submit a request using the webform found here: Top of Page – Services/Support – Submit a Request.

Make sure to choose an option from both drop-down menus to avoid an error, and make note of your ticket number, should you desire to post it in the Sticky for review.

Good luck.