POL Billing

[Unbreakable]

I am not sure if this is in the right section but do forgive if it isn't.

The problem here is i got over-charged for the month of March.
I paid a total of USD$25.
I only have 1 account and no additional Content IDs purchased.

I spoke to a POL Customer Service Representative and he told me this.

"That because i failed to pay in the month of Feb on time which is Feb 1st or 2nd as they have 2 phases, and i made a payment on Feb 7th and reactivated my account back, the system automatically charges you double in the month of March."

I mean is this a proper logical way of them doing business?
I am confused, please enlighten...

Below is a screenshot of the conversation, i seriously didn't know it worked in such a way.

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/w...POLService.jpg

[Thiefami]

Yes only during billing registration do they actually charge you. So I guess the question would be on the 7th were you certain that you were charged? If you activated the 7th you're basically playing on good faith until next billing, and registration maintenance then they will charge you for both months, and any other additional fees that may have incrued on the account. But if you were charged for sure on the 7th, you may have to call it in and see if you can get that fixed.

[Unbreakable]

I reactivated my account back on February 7th, end of the February month, my bank statement shows i paid $13.95 for SquareEnix FFXI.

Then on March the 2nd, i checked my statement via internet banking, i noticed they charged me $25.

I went thru Live Help, and the POL person told me, for paying late, it is categorized as deliquent payment, that causes the system to reactivate your account and recognize it as unpaid bills since i missed the billing cycle.

Hence, my March payment for FFXI was doubled.
I really feel it's not fair. I told him there is a mistake in the accounting, he told me, the payment stands as it is.

[zantes]

It looks like you missed a payment somewhere along the lines (due to an invalid or declined credit card likely). The double charge is the eventual catch up for having missed paying for a month.

[Unbreakable]

It looks like you missed a payment somewhere along the lines (due to an invalid or declined credit card likely). The double charge is the eventual catch up for having missed paying for a month.

I missed the payment cycle on Feb 1st & 2nd. But i reactivated back on Feb 7th. The POL representative said, the system only recognizes payment on the 1st and 2nd but any date after that, it is known as deliquent payment. In their eyes, i will be playing FFXI in the month of Feb for free EVEN tho i have paid up and reactivated my account.

And in the month of March, i will charged as double payment for the Feb month and also for the March month.

This i do not agree why their laws are as of such.
And the POL representative quickly shut me down and said have a nice day.

Not only are their ingame GMs useless but so are their outgame POL Customer Service people.

[Suited Aces]

I reactivated my account on February 13th. Reading this thread had me worried, but I just checked and they only just charged me $29 for Feb. and March. This follows the formula that rep told you.

How did you pay on the 7th? I thought the only way was through their aurtomated system, whisch is only on the first and second.

[Pyree]

I don't see an error on their part, and the rep explained it pretty well.

You account already owed for a month of service prior to the reactivation of the account, which was charged in February. The charge in February was not for the month of February, it was for some time in the past where your payment failed. The charge that you paid in March was for both the months of February and March.

[Ashira]

I have changed debit cards and payment methods so many times with FFXI, I can tell you, you do NOT get billed for anything at any time after the 2nd of the month. If you reactivate on the 7th, it checks to be sure your card is good but charges NOTHING. You will then be double charged the following month.

[Unbreakable]

I have changed debit cards and payment methods so many times with FFXI, I can tell you, you do NOT get billed for anything at any time after the 2nd of the month. If you reactivate on the 7th, it checks to be sure your card is good but charges NOTHING. You will then be double charged the following month.

I use a debit card, on 7th of Feb, i reactivated my account to play. I double checked a few hours before that to ensure i had enough funds in my bank balance. The moment i reactivated, the funds in my bank at that instance was deducted.

I have paid up late before, but only 3-5 days late but never missing an entire month. I do not see which part in the past have i failed to pay. And the charge which i paid in March was definately not for Feb & Mar cos i have already paid up in Feb. And Mar i paid as per normal on timely fashion.

Look, this what happened last month.
On Feb 2nd, i logged in and it said, i have not paid up for Feb fees. To reactivate, please click here and so on.I realised i had not enough cash in my bank. I waited till 7th to get some cash, once that done, i logged on POL and i saw the reactivation message again. So i clicked as instructed. They asked for my password and stuff, i finally reached the page where i had to input back my card details and stuff. I did all that and hit the confirm button. It said to me to wait a while while it was checking up my Mastercard for available funds. Few seconds later, it said my reactivation was a success and my bills were paid up. This is for the month of Feb and i did this on the 7th. An hour later i went to check the ATM, it was true enough that my cash balance was deducted $13.95

That settles the payment part for Feb regardless it was late on the 7th itself. Now comes Mar...and i see a double charge, $25 was what was reflected. I am baffled enough. And the POL guy tells me, the moment i miss the billing cycle which falls on the 1st(Phase 1) or 2nd(Phase 2), it will be categorized as deliquent payment and the system will not recognize even tho i pay up and reactivate. The system will only see that i am playing for free. But on our human part, we will have to pay up to reactivate and play again.
And once this happens, the following month, if there is enough money in my bank, then on the 1st or 2nd, i will get double charged. If i wish to escape the double charge, then i will have to empty the bank account, reactivate my account back on March the 5th or so, which will only charge me the standard $13.95. But then, i will get double again in April, if i had available funds. But the course of going thru reactivation, inputting all the details, a little hectic, thats why i would prefer to have ready cash in the bank.

[Pikarya]

I have changed debit cards and payment methods so many times with FFXI, I can tell you, you do NOT get billed for anything at any time after the 2nd of the month. If you reactivate on the 7th, it checks to be sure your card is good but charges NOTHING. You will then be double charged the following month.

This is the correct answer. I've asked this same question in the past before and the overall answer was this. Which is right, since it tells you plain & simple when you reactivate you will be charged for the month you play upon reactivation and the advancing month.

edit: I quote myself from my own thread.

"_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
PlayOnline Information
Content ID reactivation processed
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Dear XXXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for using PlayOnline. Your Content ID reactivation has been processed. Please confirm the details below:

Reactivation Confirmed: Feb. 09, 2009 11:40 PST
FINAL FANTASY XI
+-------------------------------------------+
| Content ID | Qty.| Fee |
+-------------------------------------------+
XXXXXXXX 1 $12.95
XXXXXXXX 1 $1.00
XXXXXXXX 1 $1.00
XXXXXXXX 1 $1.00
+-------------------------------------------+
Total $15.95
+-------------------------------------------+
*The displayed amount represents the fee for this month. Please pay this amount together with your next monthly fee.

We hope you continue to enjoy PlayOnline!

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Please forward your inquiries
regarding the content of this e-mail to
the PlayOnline Information Center.

PlayOnline Information Center
Monday - Friday
9:00 am - 6:00 pm Pacific Time
*Please be sure to dial correctly.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

[Ashira]

It would only charge you like that if you were another month behind, so you may have gotten deactivated, reactivated the following month, then didn't have funds for either month again so got deactivated AGAIN - so that when you reactivated again, it does charge the fully delinquent month immediately.

Then you will get double charged for the current and previous month to get you up to date. You can check the payment history and see exactly what it is, my suspicion is that December didn't get paid in December or January. Or.. January, or whichever.