AC / Bank problem

[RSmiroldo]

I know I've read throughout various threads that many people (myself included) have purchased AC only to have it disappear from our credit card statements. I would like to buy more but I'm apprehensive because the first transaction hasn't even posted to my account yet from 7/4. What have others in this situation done? Thanks in advance.

[HFlowen]

My first purchase went through fine, second one vanished. Ghost transactions can come back and bite you in the ass, ASSUME that it will come back.

[Genji]

I went ahead and bought more AC. I figure that when they get around to collecting their payments, as long as I have enough in my account, I'm good.

[eharima]

none of my several AC purchases have shown on my statement.
I called my bank, the payments where authorized, but SEGA didnt claim them.
E-Billing Tokyo is who they are made to, I can only ASSUME there is a problem with ISAO and foreign visa billing?

But if SEGA sort there shit and try to take the money, its there and they dont have to request authorization again, no problem, and it will then show up.

Think of it as BUY NOW, PAY LATER.
(just no one is sure when later hiuehueh)

[GoldenFalcon]

My AC charges disappeared from my pending charges, and my account balance went back up as if I never bought AC to begin with
My bank just seems like a group of assholes at this point

[RSmiroldo]

My bank says they got the pre authorization and are waiting for Sega to take it I just prefer them to take the money it just strikes me as odd why they haven't.

[DoubleCannon]

Uhh best idea would be to call them and ask if any transaction has been made if they say no? you say ok thanks just wanted to know, must have not gone threw lol, when really it did right I assume you got the AC?

[ZcRaider]

Ok..like which payment option are you guys using. Cuz im not trying to convert my payment information into katakana. I stop trying after the first 2 i tried asked me to do that. Shoot Im uncomfortable enough for some hacker to get my normal payment information. I dont need any Japanese hackers after my identity as well. I really only trust paypal when i comes to international purchases.

Still...I would like to buy some Ac one of these days. Has someone made a guide yet as to the most friendly form of payment for this game?

[youcantcatchtheblue]

if it worked the AC should show up in your game like.... immediately

[Zeota]

I bought some on day 1 and the next day my bank bugged out an froze my old card. I had to phone them to tell they were legit.

There are sites that sell netcash/webmoney, but the mark-up is batshit crazy.

[Angelo]

Huh... I just realized my transactions are also still pending...

It's been pending for 4 days apparently.

[glopo]

Seems like all of my AC transactions before 17 July wasn't in my bank statement or pending transaction

[Kylie]

I'm going to let the bank sort out my AC issues. They should notify me if there's any suspicion of fraudulent charges because I have anti-identity theft coverage. I believe the same thing happened with my JP PSU sub, and the charges appeared after some time. I'll just assume they will again. I entered my correct name and security code when I bought AC. I lied to SEGA about my name and address, of course, but I don't think the bank sees that (or cares). If they did, there would be a block on my card that I would have to have taken off by calling them because that's what they do when incorrect info is entered--instantly. That has yet to happen, so I'm not worried.

[KEV1N]

My money was held after purchasing AC using my card. This morning I checked my statement and it's all back in my account. My bank are clueless and told me to phone Sega (lol). :-?

[darkfalz16]

i wonder what would happen if you took out all your money and closed the acccount before the charges returned after dissappearing if they do return anyways

[sugarFO]

i wonder what would happen if you took out all your money and closed the acccount before the charges returned after dissappearing if they do return anyways

banned probably

Anyway same thing for me too. Pending charges are gone and nothing has been withdrawn. Dunno what SEGA is gonna do

[Mokoumari]

Same situation for me it looks like. I'll just have to make a mental note that I don't exactly have what's shown as available, because I'm sure they will eventually appear on my statement.

[gigawuts]

I've had a transaction cancelled because the bank considered it a double charge, and there's nothing they can do to put it through even though I'm telling them blatantly that it was a legitimate second purchase.

So it'll be interesting to see if one day I get all the charges, and then promptly banned for reversing a transaction.

[Aewyn]

Well I called Chase and let them know the charges were legit, but he couldn't see any authorizations or anything-- I don't know what happened. All my information is legitimate and correct, I double-checked. I'm having to keep mental note of how much I've spent on AC to make sure I have enough in that account when they decide to deduct it, haha.

[Inazuma]

Has anyone been able to buy AC today? I had no trouble doing it a few days ago but it's not letting me do it a second time. I even tried different credit cards and they all get the same error message. I contacted my bank and they said everything is fine, the charges should go through and they don't see any declined charges.

Here is the error message I get:

入力されたクレジットカードで決済することができませんでした。
クレジットカード会社に直接お問い合わせください。

[Aewyn]

That error is pretty vague. "Could not pay by the entered credit card. Please contact the credit card company." Either you are entering it incorrectly (I have to assume this is a possibility), they blocked your account from using credit cards to charge at all, the companies you are using have decided not to pay those charges, or any number of reasons. Hard to narrow down if they don't give you more information than that.

[Mikura]

I hope SoJ isn't starting to crack down on gaijin CCs. D:

[Aewyn]

I don't see why, most of those banks operate internationally. The fact you can use them to pay for it at all speaks to that.

[funkyskunk]

No charges made to my bank either. I just bought 500 more AC too so they have not changed anything.

[Akumetsu]

Im waiting on buying Ac only to see how everything works out. Talked to a few folks ingame and they didnt have any issues but ive heard differently elsewhere, although this is the first im hearing of the phantom charges... I actually have a valid address in Japan, well a relative, but i wonder if that would be the same as providing a fake address since I dont and have not lived there...

[Mikura]

The fact everyone that's bought AC hasn't had the transactions fully go through is what bothers me. I've never heard of a company that just sits on the money and goes "Oh...no, we won't take your money yet. We'll just sit on it for awhile because we can." Granted, I already bought some AC so I'm in the same boat as everyone else at the moment. But I think it'd be wise to wait awhile before buying any more.

Also, to the OP, I wish I could help you out. The fact your card worked before and now it isn't seems odd. And you already said you called your bank so I don't know. ;/

[DemonMike]

The fact everyone that's bought AC hasn't had the transactions fully go through is what bothers me. I've never heard of a company that just sits on the money and goes "Oh...no, we won't take your money yet. We'll just sit on it for awhile because we can." Granted, I already bought some AC so I'm in the same boat as everyone else at the moment. But I think it'd be wise to wait awhile before buying any more.

Also, to the OP, I wish I could help you out. The fact your card worked before and now it isn't seems odd. And you already said you called your bank so I don't know. ;/

I think I might know why they're sitting on the payments. They can make more money off it.

The exchange rate right now is worsening for most of us in the west when exchanging to yen and the yen is forecast to get even stronger. Just the other week, my currency (GBP), jumped up 10 yen to a British Pound totalling 135 yen. Now, we're about to hit rock bottom again to 122 yen.

Same for the USD. It's very likely that next week the Yen will strengthen and break through the 78 Yen per dollar, possibly reaching a record high. This might be why Sega isn't cashing in on foreign cards.

For the record, bought a ton of AC back on the day before release, still haven't been billed.

[Sirius-91]

Well, in a few days, your money should be given right back to you as if nothing has happened. I think it may be a bug with the way japanese banks handle western CC transactions.

[Mikura]

I think I might know why they're sitting on the payments. They can make more money off it.

The exchange rate right now is worsening for most of us in the west when exchanging to yen and the yen is forecast to get even stronger. Just the other week, my currency (GBP), jumped up 10 yen to a British Pound totalling 135 yen. Now, we're about to hit rock bottom again to 122 yen.

Same for the USD. It's very likely that next week the Yen will strengthen and break through the 78 Yen per dollar, possibly reaching a record high. This might be why Sega isn't cashing in on foreign cards.

For the record, bought a ton of AC back on the day before release, still haven't been billed.

I sincerely hope this is the case. I'd hate for them to never take my money, then turn around and say I acquired AC without paying for it and ban me simply because they turned me down. Because at this point, that's my biggest concern.

[DemonMike]

I sincerely hope this is the case. I'd hate for them to never take my money, then turn around and say I acquired AC without paying for it and ban me simply because they turned me down. Because at this point, that's my biggest concern.

You'll be fine. If this ever turns out to be the case, which I incredibly doubt, I'll definitely be writing to them about it and will set up a template Japanese message for any one else who wishes to follow.

[VectormanX]

on PSUJP which also uses the ISAO payment system, I did not get charged until the last day of the month at 11:59:59 JST. I'm going to assume that's going to be the case with PSO2 as well.

[Zeota]

The fact everyone that's bought AC hasn't had the transactions fully go through is what bothers me. I've never heard of a company that just sits on the money and goes "Oh...no, we won't take your money yet. We'll just sit on it for awhile because we can." Granted, I already bought some AC so I'm in the same boat as everyone else at the moment. But I think it'd be wise to wait awhile before buying any more.

Also, to the OP, I wish I could help you out. The fact your card worked before and now it isn't seems odd. And you already said you called your bank so I don't know. ;/

Not sure how this will pan out for those of us who used branded debit cards and had said cards frozen due to their bank thinking something was fishy. I guess they'd still have the routing numbers.

[moorebounce]

Has anybody thought that maybe Sega is not charging for the AC until they stop having to do all these emergency maintenances and then extend the time on the timed AC purchases. Just a thought.

[Inazuma]

Has anybody thought that maybe Sega is not charging for the AC until they stop having to do all these emergency maintenances and then extend the time on the timed AC purchases. Just a thought.

If that was the case, surely Sega must have posted about it on their website.

[sugarFO]

on PSUJP which also uses the ISAO payment system, I did not get charged until the last day of the month at 11:59:59 JST. I'm going to assume that's going to be the case with PSO2 as well.

This may be the case. Thank you for this!

[Inazuma]

I just noticed that Sega accepts American Express so I tried using mine, but got the same error message. Right after that, I got a phone call from American Express. They told me I could try it again and it should go through. Sure enough, it did!

購入処理が正常に終了いたしました。

購入・確認画面に戻ります。[戻る]ボタンを押してください。

[KusaTheFonewearl]

Has anyone considered using those prepaid credit card things for transactions instead of using money right from your bank? I mean uh... with those things you can just use all the money stored on the card and then throw it away right? Wouldn't this be easier?
(also, i haven't gotten AC yet but I plan to using this prepaid card method)

[chaoelite]

Has anyone considered using those prepaid credit card things for transactions instead of using money right from your bank? I mean uh... with those things you can just use all the money stored on the card and then throw it away right? Wouldn't this be easier?
(also, i haven't gotten AC yet but I plan to using this prepaid card method)

I just bought some AC with my pre paid visa so i don't see a problem with that.

[Aewyn]

I just noticed that Sega accepts American Express so I tried using mine, but got the same error message. Right after that, I got a phone call from American Express. They told me I could try it again and it should go through. Sure enough, it did!

購入処理が正常に終了いたしました。

購入・確認画面に戻ります。[戻る]ボタンを押してください。Glad to hear that, Inazuma! I thought that might be the problem, I had to call Chase and let them know as well.

[LK1721]

on PSUJP which also uses the ISAO payment system, I did not get charged until the last day of the month at 11:59:59 JST. I'm going to assume that's going to be the case with PSO2 as well.
Yes! Thank you. For now this makes me a bit less paranoid.

[Disastorm]

Has anyone been able to buy AC today? I had no trouble doing it a few days ago but it's not letting me do it a second time. I even tried different credit cards and they all get the same error message. I contacted my bank and they said everything is fine, the charges should go through and they don't see any declined charges.

Here is the error message I get:

入力されたクレジットカードで決済することができませんでした。
クレジットカード会社に直接お問い合わせください。

I am getting this too :(

[Inazuma]

I am getting this too :(

Contact your bank and ask them to allow the charge to go through and then try again. That's what worked for me.

[Kietrinia]

Just learned a handy pro-tip: Don't use a debit card. You have to use a fully-fledged credit card.

I tried my debit card twice and it wouldn't take. Tried my credit card once, and worked like a charm!

[Sirius-91]

Just learned a handy pro-tip: Don't use a debit card. You have to use a fully-fledged credit card.

I tried my debit card twice and it wouldn't take. Tried my credit card once, and worked like a charm!

Most people here, including myself had success with debit. However, my problem and soon/probably/most likely will be everyone's problem, is that the money either: A) Never gets beyond Pending but AC still given, B) AC charged and money is returned several days later or C) Error on transaction.

[TetsuyaHikari]

Most people here, including myself had success with debit. However, my problem and soon/probably/most likely will be everyone's problem, is that the money either: A) Never gets beyond Pending but AC still given, B) AC charged and money is returned several days later or C) Error on transaction.

Yeah. The debit card will be used as a, "credit card" when making purchases online anyway. So it really wouldn't matter if it was truly a debit card or not.

I really hope I don't get banned at some point though because they see I got 1,000 free AC since the first payment just never processed. Granted, I still took the money out of my account when writing up my statements and whatnot, so should they come knocking on my door to collect their funds one day, it will be there, but still... it is a bit unsettling.

[IHeartRice]

I am getting this too :(

I was getting that same message last night when I tried, it's weird cause I purchased AC twice before.

Just retried again this morning and it works again.

[Ogni-XR21]

I decided to buy some AC today but after the captcha I always got a message that there are network problems. Anyone else had this today?

I tried several times, also hours later... no luck yet.

[funkyskunk]

It's the 1st August and I still have not been charged. I wonder if I'll get my 5 x 1day premium compensation. The suspense is killing me.

[Arika]

I just noticed that Sega accepts American Express so I tried using mine, but got the same error message. Right after that, I got a phone call from American Express. They told me I could try it again and it should go through. Sure enough, it did!

購入処理が正常に終了いたしました。

購入・確認画面に戻ります。[戻る]ボタンを押してください。

So what make Amex could, but Visa could not?


Contact your bank and ask them to allow the charge to go through and then try again. That's what worked for me.
How much did you purchase until first card is block? 20,000 yen?


@everyone, I suggest you may feel better to buy it via webmoney, if you worry. Since purchase this a lot (from free) may get you ban. How will SE take the money if the bank pending is already end? but yes, normally they take it 30 days late.

btw, you can farm meseta for 200-300k / hours at lv 40 fyi. it will be enough to purchase stuff you want, depend on play time.

[gigawuts]

Well, tonight's the night, isn't it? Most of us should apparently find out if we're being billed at the end of the month, which it is.

Or was it 30 days specifically, not the end of the month? I've read both.

[Galerianx]

maybe there not taking youre money is becos wen us/eu comes out they can just ip block every one and not get done for taking youre money lol

[FOnewearl-Lina]

Well, tonight's the night, isn't it? Most of us should apparently find out if we're being billed at the end of the month, which it is.

Or was it 30 days specifically, not the end of the month? I've read both.

Like Vectorman mentioned earlier, end/start of the month but give it a few days to actually be processed by your bank, it might take a few extra days to shop up on your statement. Nek minnit, banned.

[gigawuts]

NEK MINNIT

If we do get banned we're only looking at a couple months worth of progress lost. How many thousands of hours did most of us spend on PSO1? I've invested more time in a character and then deleted them due to disliking their height :lol:

[Maserati]

From what I have got from the Taiwan website, even if the pending disppeared, meaning that the bank canceled the transaction, if Sega comes and collect the money later, the bank will contact and confirm with the cardholder and redo the transaction again.

Not sure if its the case for other countries....

[Mega Ultra Chicken]

I still haven't been billed yet. Part of me is freaking out.

[Arika]

Just a little question.

1. All of the people here who has problem about not getting billed are using which method of payment? Debit bank?

2. Does anybody with credit card has problem? it should bill little late too, but credit card doesn't lock in 15 days, so should be fine?

[Chibi_psu]

it takes time to appear on the cards.I buy lot of stuff from japan and takes time so dont worry

[Razzos]

I'm also worried about getting my account banned now. I paid with visa, I saw the funds come out a few days later everything back to my card and nothing on my billing statement. Same with my friends MC.

I travel to Japan 1-2 times a year and my credit card company knows I spend lots in Japan so I never worry about things getting blocked...

Everyone just needs to keep updating, I purchased AC on July 4 - I'm from Canada.

[redroses]

From when I was playing PSU, my card always got charged a couple of the days after the 1 st of the next month. Like around the 3rd, 4th or 5th. So I am not too worried yet.

However, I am also getting the error when trying to buy AC now. I called my bank and they said they can't see what the problem is and that it might be a problem of the site, but everything is fine with my card, the site is not blocked by them and they can see the purchases from last month so everything is fine there.
They also said that not even a request came to them from me trying to purchase from the site, so no clue :c

[FOnewearl-Lina]

it takes time to appear on the cards.I buy lot of stuff from japan and takes time so dont worry

B-but scaremongering is fun!

[redroses]

Just tried purchasing AC again, and now it worked. So it might have just been a site error, maybe because a lot of people were trying to buy AC for the new scratch, don't know.

[Zepia]

I ran into that error just now, but only when I tried to buy 5150AC. For some reason the site allowed me to purchase 3000AC without a hitch, initially I tried the 5150AC and got that error saying to contact my credit card company.

I'm getting scared now, thinking of contacting SEGA to see if everything about my transactions have been fine and that I will pay using WEBmoney or other methods if requested just in case the previous transactions did not go through. Is that a good idea?

[funkyskunk]

Just checked my email:


【PSO2】「『プレミアムセット1日』×5個」配付のお知らせ‏

Looks like I got my reward for buying AC. SEGA I do love you too but all this free stuff is too much.

[Alenoir]

I ran into that error just now, but only when I tried to buy 5150AC. For some reason the site allowed me to purchase 3000AC without a hitch, initially I tried the 5150AC and got that error saying to contact my credit card company.

I'm getting scared now, thinking of contacting SEGA to see if everything about my transactions have been fine and that I will pay using WEBmoney or other methods if requested just in case the previous transactions did not go through. Is that a good idea?
Maybe there's a limit to how much you can buy per month/week or something. I know some other Japanese sites have those kind of restrictions. If you've been buying AC maybe you've hit the limit? =\

[Zepia]

I haven't been buying that much, I've bought 5150 when the game was officially released, then 2000 on the 1st update for Yukatas, then 3000 just earlier for Bikinis

[eharima]

that feel when it's the first and they still havent billed you ><

roll on the 3rd !

[Razzos]

Has anyone been billed yet ?? Someone said it may take one month and I still have not been billed for AC... Something is not right... I see bans coming...

[Angelo]

I'm going to try again since some people are saying its working now.

EDIT: No dice. Fuck it.

[funkyskunk]

I'm pretty sure they said there was a 10000 AC limit to stop you buying too much. I hope I get billed soon though as I want to be buying more item slots.

[Brindizer]

Just letting everyone know.

I purchased 5150 AC on July 3rd. Today is August 3rd, and the payment has come out of my account. It's worth mentioning that 5000 yen came out as $63.97.

The item on the statement shows "VISA PURCHASE E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO", for anyone who is wondering.

[VectormanX]

I've just been billed as well. Looks like it's all good.
Expect to be charged on the 3rd or 4th of each month, same as JP PSU did.

[gigawuts]

Oh good, it's working out then. Still nothing for me though.

[LordShade]

I'm not sure what my issue is either, few days ago before maintenance, I made multiple payments just fine and they all went through without issue, now I get the same error as the one posted a few pages back

入力されたクレジットカードで決済することができませんでした。
クレジットカード会社に直接お問い合わせください。

I'm still not sure if its a Sega problem, or its my problem. As the payment randomly went through on the 1st when I tried to charge for swimsuit gacha, I haven't been able to charge since though. I use a Debit and have charged roughly $100 AC beforehand. I heard from somebody that the AC payment system is currently screwed (even japs are having issues paying) but I'm not so sure anymore. Also reading other threads about hidden charge limits and such, I should be technically 'unlimited'

I wanted to buy my friend a MyShop pass so he could sell some stuff without being sad of his ever increasing stack of rares (and 3 weeks of not a single myshop pass drop from FUN) But this is stopping me entirely.

[DeathByPogs]

Yeah, im having this same problem now. What a pain.

[arusiasotto]

I paid with a prepaid business debit card (Paypal Debit) and no charges hit until today. I will assume I haven't been banned in the last 3 hours. I probably won't try to buy more AC for a few weeks.

[Kylie]

Well, my account has been blocked from buying AC with a CC (Visa at least). I couldn't use my main card, so I tried another and couldn't use it either (different bank even & never used for AC); both came back with a "refer to bank" error message. Considering I was having buyer's remorse over buying 5,000 AC and getting mostly junk items, I don't feel so bad for getting 5,000 free AC (supposedly). WebMoney works; I tried it.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

Well, my account has been blocked from buying AC with a CC (Visa at least). I couldn't use my main card, so I tried another and couldn't use it either (different bank even & never used for AC); both came back with a "refer to bank" error message. Considering I was having buyer's remorse over buying 5,000 AC and getting mostly junk items, I don't feel so bad for getting 5,000 free AC (supposedly). WebMoney works; I tried it.

They'll charge you when you least suspect it!

[Arika]

Well, my account has been blocked from buying AC with a CC (Visa at least). I couldn't use my main card, so I tried another and couldn't use it either (different bank even & never used for AC); both came back with a "refer to bank" error message. Considering I was having buyer's remorse over buying 5,000 AC and getting mostly junk items, I don't feel so bad for getting 5,000 free AC (supposedly). WebMoney works; I tried it.


Probably seem problem that Midori posted back then. You can try to register a new credit card if you have (?) it may work. Then I think you can change back to old credit card again.

Also check your birth date when you register. If you registered it (fake) as younger than 18 year olds then SEGA will block your AC spend amount.

[gigawuts]

Just got billed, but here's the curious bit.

Before I knew I got billed, I went to buy another 1,000 AC to try and beat losing premium and got denied. So I went to my bank. The transactions were deducted. I went back to buy AC again, and got cleared - but forgot to select 1,000 AC so got 500 instead. I can't buy 1,000 AC, it tells me the same thing as when I tried before.

So I'm waiting to do another attempt with 500 AC. It may be they're limiting the size of transactions, but after one of them got auto-denied last time I'm waiting to attempt again. Either that or they lifted the credit card lock on my account for either 30 seconds or exactly one transaction.

Still, strange. Failing this I'll just use webmoney I guess.

edit: Alright, waited a bit after the last transaction to go through. I just bought 500 AC without a hitch. Very strange. I'd rather buy AC slowly in installments of 500 with a credit card than get charged an extra fee with webmoney, so this is how I'll be doing things.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

You must be a very dodgy character if they'll only accept such small payments from you before the alarm bells start ringing...


Also check your birth date when you register. If you registered it (fake) as younger than 18 year olds then SEGA will block your AC spend amount.

If you're gonna fake your info, you might as well fake your age to at least the legal age!

[Kylie]

Just got billed, but here's the curious bit.

Before I knew I got billed, I went to buy another 1,000 AC to try and beat losing premium and got denied. So I went to my bank. The transactions were deducted. I went back to buy AC again, and got cleared - but forgot to select 1,000 AC so got 500 instead. I can't buy 1,000 AC, it tells me the same thing as when I tried before.

So I'm waiting to do another attempt with 500 AC. It may be they're limiting the size of transactions, but after one of them got auto-denied last time I'm waiting to attempt again. Either that or they lifted the credit card lock on my account for either 30 seconds or exactly one transaction.

Still, strange. Failing this I'll just use webmoney I guess.

edit: Alright, waited a bit after the last transaction to go through. I just bought 500 AC without a hitch. Very strange. I'd rather buy AC slowly in installments of 500 with a credit card than get charged an extra fee with webmoney, so this is how I'll be doing things.
That is strange... I don't think there's a limit on how much AC one can buy because I got the same amount of AC as I've always gotten with WebMoney after my CC was denied; perhaps there is a limit on how much CC's can buy. Then again, I know someone who has bought way more AC than I have and was still able to purchase AC up until recently. I'd try to buy 500 AC with my card just to see, but I honestly don't want to mess with it.

[DeathByPogs]

Yeah so I'm allowed to buy unlimited amounts of 500AC at a time, but nothing else....Lol. Why does it have to be so hard?

[Kylie]

Wait just a damn minute! Look what decided to show up in just the past few hours:

"E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/19 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ)"

WTF! :lol: Then, why is my card being denied? Oh well...


They'll charge you when you least suspect it!YOU!

[DeathByPogs]

I feel you, I understand exchange rates and it taking a while, but if you're trying to give them loads of money they should be all for it.

[Titan200]

Ok. I finaly got charged. glad thats over. xD Gonna use webmoney next time.

[Kylie]

I'm not as mad about it as I thought I would be. I expected to pay for what I bought; I just didn't think it'd take this long. Is your card by Visa, too? I just tried to buy AC again, 3,000, just to see what would happen, and I got the same denial message. I think I'll stick with WebMoney. Seems easier, and the extra cost actually helps me keep from going crazy (like I was with my credit card).

[gigawuts]

This is standard in Japan, apparently. The entire country deals with games charging them 30 days later.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned home accounting? Checkbooks! Notes! Math! Scrap paper! Ragh!

[Titan200]

My card is a bank of America Visa card.

[Kylie]

Mine is Visa, too. Hmm.

And huh, 500 AC clears for me, after all. Weeeird.

[Mikura]

So I just checked today and my CC transaction from July 17th finally went through yesterday on the 3rd, so I'm relieved now. I haven't tried purchasing any more AC yet though, so I don't know if I'll run into any problems using my Visa again. I really hope not, because I'd hate to go through the hassle and expense of using WebMoney.

[Ce'Nedra]

I can't seem to buy anything else but stacks of 500 AC right now...Glad I can do that though it sucks having to buy 14000 AC in stacks of 500 x.x

[MasterSpark]

Earlier today I finally got charged for my 2x500 AC purchases that I made in mid-july. Phew. ^^;

[Mikura]

I can't seem to buy anything else but stacks of 500 AC right now...Glad I can do that though it sucks having to buy 14000 AC in stacks of 500 x.x

I wish I could hear the JP stories and see if they're having the same problems or not. It almost seems like something's wrong with the ISAO website. Either that, or it's a conspiracy to get us to use WebMoney.

[VectormanX]

i cant even buy 500. i got charged for my first purchase from 7/4 though, so i have no idea what's going on.

[darkfalz16]

well seems my bank declined the transactions and considered it fraud so lets see what happens with me lol

[FOnewearl-Lina]

YOU!

Look! Behind you! A three-headed monkey!

*runs*


well seems my bank declined the transactions and considered it fraud so lets see what happens with me lol

Bank declined transaction, Nek Minnit...

[darkfalz16]

nek minnit? whats that mean? lol

[FOnewearl-Lina]

nek minnit? whats that mean? lol

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nek%20minute

[Mikura]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nek%20minute

I was wondering wtf that meant. I'd still prefer something else like "NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z!"

[Aewyn]

08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/18 Yen 30.00 X 1.279333 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.15 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $39.53
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/11 Yen 30.00 X 1.279333 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.15 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $39.53
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/17 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/13 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/12 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/13 Yen 50.00 X 1.279400 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.91 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $65.88

All of them went through today. They definitely waited until a favorable spike in 円 vs. the $ because the amounts have changed from what they were originally (ignoring the exchange rate adjustment) by a several cents. Ah well, at least it wasn't a LARGE variation.

[gigawuts]

well seems my bank declined the transactions and considered it fraud so lets see what happens with me lol

I had the same problem. Call up your bank and get it sorted, tell them to clear the transactions. One of mine was even counted as a duplicate transaction and auto-declined - Sega did NOT get its full amount. Nothing bad even happened.


Look! Behind you! A three-headed monkey!

*runs*



Bank declined transaction, Nek Minnit...

frysquint.png

[pikachief]

08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/18 Yen 30.00 X 1.279333 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.15 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $39.53
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/11 Yen 30.00 X 1.279333 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.15 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $39.53
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/17 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/13 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/12 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/13 Yen 50.00 X 1.279400 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.91 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $65.88

All of them went through today. They definitely waited until a favorable spike in 円 vs. the $ because the amounts have changed from what they were originally (ignoring the exchange rate adjustment) by a several cents. Ah well, at least it wasn't a LARGE variation.


Mine went through too! yay!

[EXPFULL]

Mine went through too! yay!

Same. Ouch. Who knew I'd spent that much!

[darkfalz16]

i mean my bank declined and reversed all of them like 230$ worth lol

[sugarFO]

Mine went through today too! YATTA!!!

[gigawuts]

i mean my bank declined and reversed all of them like 230$ worth lol

enjoy your b&

[DemonMike]

I think I might know why they're sitting on the payments. They can make more money off it.

The exchange rate right now is worsening for most of us in the west when exchanging to yen and the yen is forecast to get even stronger. Just the other week, my currency (GBP), jumped up 10 yen to a British Pound totalling 135 yen. Now, we're about to hit rock bottom again to 122 yen.

Same for the USD. It's very likely that next week the Yen will strengthen and break through the 78 Yen per dollar, possibly reaching a record high. This might be why Sega isn't cashing in on foreign cards.

For the record, bought a ton of AC back on the day before release, still haven't been billed.

Looks like I was kinda right for my country, I got billed with one of the worst rates for the past month haha.

[Mega Ultra Chicken]

My transaction finally went through... but they still won't let me buy more.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

My transaction finally went through... but they still won't let me buy more.

Probably because the delay caused the card to be flagged as 'suspicious'

[Aewyn]

The bank authorized immediately, they have nothing to do with the delay. The delay was completely on Sega's end.

Also, my card isn't letting my charge now either.

[Aewyn]

Update: I can successfully charge AC if I do so only in increments of 500. I charged three times at that amount. Maybe they want to bilk us out of our crappy dollars? LOL.

[darkfalz16]

enjoy your b&

well still no ban yet but idk

[gigawuts]

well still no ban yet but idk

Hmm, very strange. Maybe they realized that a vast number of customers had this problem and let it slip this first month? Definitely try to make sure they get their money in the future, I can't imagine them being content to leave accounts active that never actually pay up.

Still, good to see they gave people some leeway. They could have easily turned this into a PR disaster, allowing foreign customers in but messing up the billing and then banning swathes of them over something that wasn't even their own fault.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

The bank authorized immediately, they have nothing to do with the delay. The delay was completely on Sega's end.

The same delay happens with transactions from other companies using a Japanese billing system, you can't blame Sega for the delay when it's something out of their control.

[Anon_Fire]

If you guys are so worried, why didn't you check your "AC Purchase History"?

[gigawuts]

What would that tell us that our bank statements and in-game wallet doesn't already?

[Mikura]

Update: I can successfully charge AC if I do so only in increments of 500. I charged three times at that amount. Maybe they want to bilk us out of our crappy dollars? LOL.

Actually, I'd be okay with this if that's what it comes down to. Still a better alternative than using WebMoney in my opinion.

[gigawuts]

Be VERY careful with multiple identical transactions. Like I said before, I made two 1,000 AC charges within 10 minutes and the second got declined as a duplicate transaction. This was automatic and irreversible. It's a very very very bad system, yes, and no they couldn't change it. I may actually change banks over such a terrible oversight. That's just horrendous. Maybe if they could intervene and fix it, but nope, they can't.

The guy I spoke to said to wait 15 minutes between purchases with identical costs. I'm playing it safe and waiting at least 31 minutes, because how often is customer service wrong, eh?

[Skye-Fox713]

Just checked my statements today and the charges finally showed up. Then I got an error when trying to buy more AC today telling me to contact my card company.

[LT RADCZEK]

With all of the problems you guys are having, (and sorry for not being able to help, as I've yet to experience anything like this) I decided to try and buy a prepaid card from a store instead of using my actual debit card. Would this be a good idea, or do you think it would result in more problems? I want to try to avoid problems with my bank, and I also don't want to buy webmoney with the ridiculous markup prices.

[IceBlink]

Haha, so finally managed to make a purchase... of 500 AC. I tried the 5000AC multiple times, and it doesn't work, and 3000 AC didn't work either. Will try purchasing 1000AC tomorrow to see if that works, since I don't make any 'saving' on that. o_O

[GoldenFalcon]

My charges were posted yesterday and finally deducted
I'd have to care about getting more Arks Cash to see if it will take my card again

[TetsuyaHikari]

My charges finally showed up on my statement today. I guess what happened was:

they charged to my account when I first purchased the AC to verify the account existed, then gave me the product, and now that the product has expired, the charge has been deducted.

It's odd how they would do it that way instead of immediately removing the funds, but it is nice to know I won't run into any sort of financial problems with them since they finally claimed the money. Now my mind is at ease~

[Valymer]

I don't know if this was mentioned already because I didn't read the whole thread, but for anyone worrying about the charges not appearing for a long time, you shouldn't worry. It has something to do with the way Japanese business process foreign credit cards, I have bought many things using an American CC from various Japanese online stores and it almost always takes like a month before it shows up, sometimes it even takes longer than that. You might see an initial charge that disappears, that's just them confirming that your card is actually chargeable for the amount of the purchase.

[TetsuyaHikari]

I don't know if this was mentioned already because I didn't read the whole thread, but for anyone worrying about the charges not appearing for a long time, you shouldn't worry. It has something to do with the way Japanese business process foreign credit cards, I have bought many things using an American CC from various Japanese online stores and it almost always takes like a month before it shows up, sometimes it even takes longer than that. You might see an initial charge that disappears, that's just them confirming that your card is actually chargeable for the amount of the purchase.

Actually, I do a lot of importing (mainly games) and this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this occur, so I don't think the whole Japanese business process works this way. It probably depends on the business. Most things I order from Japan is charged on my account the day it ships.

[Valymer]

Might have to do with the size of the business then, amazon.co.jp orders are charged same day but smaller online stores like bookstores, toy stores, etc. usually take 2 weeks minimum to charge. Also some Japanese online subscription services I have had worked the same way.

SEGA is a big company but they way I understand it, they are outsourcing this payment system to another company, which may do things slowly, idk. I can tell you that I get massive amounts of server congested errors on the AC payment pages so that leads me to believe that their shit is not on point for this amount of web commerce traffic.

[gigawuts]

I spoke to someone I know about this, and it seems japanese game subscriptions in general work like this.

It's just the normal system over there.

[Valymer]

There's more to it than that, but OK.

Regardless, it has nothing to do with scammy/devious practices (other than the standard capitalistic corporate policies)

[TetsuyaHikari]

Huh... that's strange. I just tried to buy some more AC earlier and now it's telling me that the payment can't be made with the credit card I have chosen and I need to contact my credit card company. I have enough money in my account and I have used this card for three other payments of AC before, so I wonder why it is suddenly being rejected now.

I guess I'll have to start using Webmoney or something else instead.

[zOObie1]

Huh... that's strange. I just tried to buy some more AC earlier and now it's telling me that the payment can't be made with the credit card I have chosen and I need to contact my credit card company. I have enough money in my account and I have used this card for three other payments of AC before, so I wonder why it is suddenly being rejected now.

I guess I'll have to start using Webmoney or something else instead.

I am having the exact same problem.

[darkante]

I couldn´t buy 10 000- 5000 or 3000 when i tried since i got the "I need to contact my credit card company" problem.

But when i did it with 500? No problems, did it 6 times so i got 3000 AC points pretty fast.
Just don´t know the problem.

[Mikura]

I couldn´t buy 10 000- 5000 or 3000 when i tried since i got the "I need to contact my credit card company" problem.

But when i did it with 500? No problems, did it 6 times so i got 3000 AC points pretty fast.
Just don´t know the problem.

The fact it's only allowing 500 AC at a time makes me wonder if ISAO's website is just borked somehow. I mean, it's not bad I suppose. Just makes it inconvenient if you want to purchase large amounts of AC at one time.

I still wish we could find out if the Japanese players are running into the same problem, or whether it's just us.

[TetsuyaHikari]

I couldn´t buy 10 000- 5000 or 3000 when i tried since i got the "I need to contact my credit card company" problem.

But when i did it with 500? No problems, did it 6 times so i got 3000 AC points pretty fast.
Just don´t know the problem.

Yeah, a friend of mine said he could only purchase 500 at a time as well. I thought about doing that, but figured it would be a hassle to have so many statements show up on my bank account, so I've decided to use Webmoney instead.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

I still wish we could find out if the Japanese players are running into the same problem, or whether it's just us.

Sakai would have probably mentioned this in his blog posts if there were enough Japanese players experiencing this.

I think something triggered their system to block large foreign transactions because of the heavy influx recently. That would explain why cards that worked fine before are now blocked. Foreign credit card transactions aren't handled in the same way as domestic transactions.

[TetsuyaHikari]

Sakai would have probably mentioned this in his blog posts if there were enough Japanese players experiencing this.

I think something triggered their system to block large foreign transactions because of the heavy influx recently. That would explain why cards that worked fine before are now blocked. Foreign credit card transactions aren't handled in the same way as domestic transactions.

This would make some sense. If there's a problem with a transaction from a foreign card that only purchased 500 AC, no big deal. However, if people are getting 10,000+ AC at a time and there's a problem getting the money for that, yeah... that could be quite troublesome, haha.

[Mikura]

Sakai would have probably mentioned this in his blog posts if there were enough Japanese players experiencing this.

I think something triggered their system to block large foreign transactions because of the heavy influx recently. That would explain why cards that worked fine before are now blocked. Foreign credit card transactions aren't handled in the same way as domestic transactions.

That makes sense, but it looks like all the transactions went through the past couple of days without a hitch, so I don't understand why they're so hesitant to take large transactions now.

And the fact it took so long to happen seems to be how their system works, so it's not like it was our fault they didn't get their money until next month.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

And the fact it took so long to happen seems to be how their system works, so it's not like it was our fault they didn't get their money until next month.

This delay in billing seems to be inherent to all foreign credit card transactions that originate from outside of Japan, I've bought goods from online retailers in the past and they've also have the same delay in processing. So you can't really blame Sega for using a domestic CC vendor for a domestic game, even if it means it inconveniences a few foreign players...

[IceBlink]

This delay in billing seems to be inherent to all foreign credit card transactions that originate from outside of Japan, I've bought goods from online retailers in the past and they've also have the same delay in processing. So you can't really blame Sega for using a domestic CC vendor for a domestic game, even if it means it inconveniences a few foreign players...

Doesn't explain why they're blocking foreign credit cards from directly purchasing anything more than 500AC at a time though, haha.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

Doesn't explain why they're blocking foreign credit cards from directly purchasing anything more than 500AC at a time though, haha.

The delay in payment probably caused their system to start rejecting large payments from foreign credit cards.

[Aewyn]

Highly doubted, something like that wouldn't be automatic.

[Aumi]

Can anyone tell me what the transaction might be called? I'm looking for it, but not quite sure what to look for.

[FOnewearl-Lina]

08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/18 Yen 30.00 X 1.279333 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.15 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $39.53
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/11 Yen 30.00 X 1.279333 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.15 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $39.53
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/17 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/13 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/12 Yen 10.00 X 1.279000 (EXCHG RTE) + 0.38 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $13.17
08/03/2012 Debit Card Transaction E-PAYMENT SERVICE TOKYO 07/13 Yen 50.00 X 1.279400 (EXCHG RTE) + 1.91 (EXCHG RTE ADJ) $65.88

All of them went through today. They definitely waited until a favorable spike in 円 vs. the $ because the amounts have changed from what they were originally (ignoring the exchange rate adjustment) by a several cents. Ah well, at least it wasn't a LARGE variation.

Because scrolling up is so hard to do.