Just recently I signed up for 2checkout.com and think the services is great. It is so much better than the Paypal service. I know there are a lot of users here that use 2checkout.com so I have a question for you. What is the procedure if one of our customers wants to upgrade to a larger account. If they are paying (via 2checkout subscription service) 14.95 a month, and choose to go to a higher plan, is there a way to make this happen without cancelling their current subscription and signing up again. I thought I read somewhere that this could be done, but now I can't locate that statement.

I had the same question and they told me that the user must cancell the current billing and create another one. :-(

I choose revecom for the coupons...

Regards,

Jose

I think kinda 'off the record' You can ask 2checkout to change the fee and they will email the subscriber to confirm then make the changes. Though I haven't tried it myself.

Perhaps our resident 2checkout guru TomD will be about.

Waiting anxiously for the guru's (TomD) reply!



Salam,
-Omair (YA2COC)*





*= Yet another 2CheckOut Customer! :D

OK, Here's the scoop.

The biggest complaint that Credit Card companies have with 3rd party processors is that they feel their clients(the Customers) are not being informed adequately with regards to what is going on with their credit card.

No one has any implied authority to change the amount a customer is being charged for a product or service without their consent.

We do not store Credit Card numbers of the people that choose to process thru 2checkout.com.

And finally, any...ANY merchant caught storing CVV coding for a Credit Card will not only lose any merchant services with that Credit Card company, they are liable for fines (in the Thousands of dollars).

OK, enough preamble. To answer the questions, with some information.

On a recurring sale, the card is checked thru the AVS system, and the CVV code is verified. Once the CVV code is verified to our gateway, the number is discarded. Our gateway then goes about their business of charging as per our instructions. As long as the payment amount/frequency is not changed, the system proceeds month after month.

When you choose to "UP" the package to your customer, we just can not send our gateway these new instructions without reintroducing the CVV code & the AVS. That is a requirement of ours.

So, who would you prefer deal with your customer?
You- who knows the product and can extend the length of the contract or terms.
Us- who can call, get the CC#, AVS, CVV but offer no other assistance?

Honestly, you have a far better chance of retaining a customer down the road if they feel they have been well serviced.

Laughing Cow is correct when he says we can contact your customer. We would only do it on a non-regular basis. Remember, these people are your customers, not ours.


TomD
tom@2checkout.com

TomD, are we allowed as merchants to accept credit card numbers on phone or mail orders and manually enter them?

Well DWood,

As discussed many times before, I think Tom said it ain't preferrable or in short NO!

But, I think Tom would be able to clear more on this than me :D



Salam,
-Omair

If I remember that is under the FAQ and is discouraged strongly.

I still think we need another process then just cancelling one order and creating another. If we must have the user re-enter credit information, fine. But there are other reasons why it would be better to change it a little.

Example: User is used to being billed on the 15th of the month. One month he/she decides to change plans on let's say the 20th of the month, 5 days after he was just billed for the entire month.
Well, this user then is told to cancel/reorder. Well then 1 of 2 things could happen:

The user realizes he will get charged again just 5 days after he just got charged for a full month and decides to wait until the end of the month to make this change, in the mean time he questions why he has to do this when most other companies dont do this, and goes elsewhere.

The user does not realize that he will get billed again only 5 days later, and completes this process. The user will wind up paying twice basically, later the user may or may not figure this out and possibly leave.

As I stated in e-mail, I think this would be the ultimate comprimise:

You offer a form on your website that allows us to "modify an recurring billing account". We enter changes such as an initial charge, and the new recurring amount. The new recurring amount will STILL OCCUR on the already set date. Then, after we submit this change, we are given an URL to attach to an e-mail to our users explaining to them that they need to approve the change by re-entering their credit card information, or maybe perhaps simply verifying last 4 digits and CVV. They complete this, and then if there was an initial charge, card gets charged imediately and either way the recurring amount is changed to a new value, leaving the same recurring date.

What do you think?

Neofree

Originally posted by neofree
I still think we need another process then just cancelling one order and creating another. If we must have the user re-enter credit information, fine. But there are other reasons why it would be better to change it a little.

Example: User is used to being billed on the 15th of the month. One month he/she decides to change plans on let's say the 20th of the month, 5 days after he was just billed for the entire month.
Well, this user then is told to cancel/reorder. Well then 1 of 2 things could happen:

The user realizes he will get charged again just 5 days after he just got charged for a full month and decides to wait until the end of the month to make this change, in the mean time he questions why he has to do this when most other companies dont do this, and goes elsewhere.

The user does not realize that he will get billed again only 5 days later, and completes this process. The user will wind up paying twice basically, later the user may or may not figure this out and possibly leave.

As I stated in e-mail, I think this would be the ultimate comprimise:

You offer a form on your website that allows us to "modify an recurring billing account". We enter changes such as an initial charge, and the new recurring amount. The new recurring amount will STILL OCCUR on the already set date. Then, after we submit this change, we are given an URL to attach to an e-mail to our users explaining to them that they need to approve the change by re-entering their credit card information, or maybe perhaps simply verifying last 4 digits and CVV. They complete this, and then if there was an initial charge, card gets charged imediately and either way the recurring amount is changed to a new value, leaving the same recurring date.

What do you think?

Neofree


Partial month Scenario, I've stated in this forum before that I have a script that will allow you to charge a non-recurring & a recurring item on the same transaction. You can use this to adjust for the "short month" when they sign for the new package.

As for your "dates" concern. If you were auto-withdrawing money from my bank account, and I was used to that happening on the 15th, it might be a concern to me to have that date changed. However, you are discussing a CC transaction here, your client sees 1 charge per month.

Simply put, managing your customers has to be your concern. You can certainly set up any form you choose for Upscaling your client's product. What I don't understand is if they are going to be sent to us to supply 4 digits of their CC & CVV & AVS, why would that be any different than them putting in the rest of the info?

Well, it really doesn't matter if you just verify/re-enter all the CC information. That really isn't the point. I guess what it comes down to is that a lot of us are turned away from your service because of this process. I for one would like to make the process itself be easier for us to keep up with as our businesses grow. True it is our responsibility to manage our own businesses, but as an outsourced billing solution, I would think it would be of your best interested to listen to our suggestions. Making things simpler for all concerned ensures that we will be happier with your service and less likely to switch to someone else.

Neofree

Originally posted by neofree
Well, it really doesn't matter if you just verify/re-enter all the CC information. That really isn't the point. I guess what it comes down to is that a lot of us are turned away from your service because of this process. I for one would like to make the process itself be easier for us to keep up with as our businesses grow. True it is our responsibility to manage our own businesses, but as an outsourced billing solution, I would think it would be of your best interested to listen to our suggestions. Making things simpler for all concerned ensures that we will be happier with your service and less likely to switch to someone else.

Neofree

But I did listen to your "solutions". That should be obvious in the fact that I took the time to write a book, explaining the process.

There comes a time when you have to accept that you can't fit a square peg into a round hole. The rules of our current Merchant provider are as I stated.

Now, if you want us to be your order desk, we can perform that task. What fee should we charge to you for this service?


TomD
tom@2checkout.com

Again, I am not stating to change anything to break your rules with your merchant account.

All I'm asking is for you basically do the same thing, but in a automated fashion, instead of manuall cancel and manually re-enter. I'm suggesting it be made a 1 step process, not a 2 step process. I am beginning to wonder if you are actually understanding what I am suggesting.

Neofree

If this is the case with account upgrades, what is the procedure of updating credit card expiration dates? Does the client have to resignup?



Originally posted by TomD
[B]OK, Here's the scoop.

The biggest complaint that Credit Card companies have with 3rd party processors is that they feel their clients(the Customers) are not being informed adequately with regards to what is going on with their credit card.

No one has any implied authority to change the amount a customer is being charged for a product or service without their consent.

We do not store Credit Card numbers of the people that choose to process thru 2checkout.com.

And finally, any...ANY merchant caught storing CVV coding for a Credit Card will not only lose any merchant services with that Credit Card company, they are liable for fines (in the Thousands of dollars).

Originally posted by jmc67
If this is the case with account upgrades, what is the procedure of updating credit card expiration dates? Does the client have to resignup?
No, what happens is the client gets an e-mail stating that their card is being rejected for the recurring payment and to call 2Checkout. Then they call and can change the expriation date on the phone with them.