D&D General D&D Player's Handbook PayPal Orders Suffer Processing Issues

According to forum comments on D&D Beyond, it appears that many customers who pre-ordered the 2024 Player's Handbook using PayPal are receiving emails which say that their payments failed to go through.

LaTia Jacquise, the D&D community manager, has asked those affected to file support tickets so that WotC can look into and rectify the issue.

The book's release is on September 17th. For those who pre-ordered the three core rulebooks, it appears that only the Player's Handbook is affected at this stage. Those who pre-ordered the digital and physical bundle were charged for--and received--their digital books previously; the physical portion of the order was charged separately, and it seems that this portion is the one that is failing.

Hey all! (Again, big font for visibility.)

I come with an update on these PHB pre-order cancellations. There were two potential reasons for these cancellations, and we are working to resolve the issues quickly.

The first reason was a tech issue that caused some orders to fail payment processing when shipping started which caused the order to automatically cancel. On September 11th, customers in this category were notified via email that we will attempt to re-process their order after 24 hours with the opportunity to opt-out by contacting customer service.

The second reason was due to payment failure of the original payment method used for the pre-order when shipping started which caused the order to automatically cancel. This payment failure could include things like insufficient funds or an expired card. In this case, customers will be notified today with instructions on how they can re-order the PHB book using an updated payment method.

We’re sorry for any inconvenience but wanted to keep everyone informed as we quickly work to resolve the pre-orders.

- LaTia Jacquise, D&D community manager​

​

 

[bedir than]

PayPal, which made 25 billion in revenue last year, makes an error.
People who don't like WotC blame Wotc.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

PayPal, which made 25 billion in revenue last year, makes an error.
People who don't like WotC blame Wotc.

Look, there's absolutely no reason we can't blame them both.

 

[bedir than]

Look, there's absolutely no reason we can't blame them both.

Except that the error didn't happen with other payment systems. Seems weird to blame that org that got everything right with every other system rather than the system that failed.

WotC has plenty of errors, but here they seem to be catching strays.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I'm so glad I swore off PayPal after they cost me $100 about 20 years ago. It's some of the best money I ever spent.

 

[shoplifter]

PayPal, which made 25 billion in revenue last year, makes an error.
People who don't like WotC blame Wotc.

This is very likely not on Paypal - a transaction for X amount was authorized for some amount of time (as would be their standard time included in their documentation, and would not be the same as a normal credit card transaction) and the timer ran out prior to the entire transaction amount being used.

There's nothing nefarious going on here, but unless the Paypal transaction didn't function as described in their developer documentation (which is a possibility, tbf) it's on Beyond.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

This is very likely not on Paypal - a transaction for X amount was authorized for some amount of time (as would be their standard time included in their documentation, and would not be the same as a normal credit card transaction) and the timer ran out prior to the entire transaction amount being used.

There's nothing nefarious going on here, but unless the Paypal transaction didn't function as described in their developer documentation (which is a possibility, tbf) it's on Beyond.

Probably a case for Hanlon's razor:

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

 

[Umbran]

Welcome, user with one post (this one).

Mod Note:
We hope you realize that, put in this manner, this reads rather like an accusation of untrustworthiness, rather than a legitimate welcome.

We further hope you realize that making that accusation would be moderator-actionable.

After all, you have many, many posts, so you should know these things...

 

[Oofta]

PayPal, which made 25 billion in revenue last year, makes an error.
People who don't like WotC blame Wotc.

The developer who needs to do this likely just looked up the SDK for PayPal and set up transactions. If there's anything about the authorization ticket expiring, I certainly don't see it in their documentation after spending a little bit of time reading through their developer documentation. If people think it's so easy to catch something like this feel free to go to the documentation page PayPal Developer . Maybe I just missed it.

Odds are this is something that was set up years ago before WotC even purchased DDB and they just never ran into this particular scenario.

 

[Nikosandros]

Odds are this is something that was set up years ago before WotC even purchased DDB and they just never ran into this particular scenario.

This seems likely to me. In the past, all of DDB pre-orders were always paid for immediately. I think that this delayed payment is a first for them.

 

[Dire Bare]

This is very likely not on Paypal - a transaction for X amount was authorized for some amount of time (as would be their standard time included in their documentation, and would not be the same as a normal credit card transaction) and the timer ran out prior to the entire transaction amount being used.

There's nothing nefarious going on here, but unless the Paypal transaction didn't function as described in their developer documentation (which is a possibility, tbf) it's on Beyond.

This is both on WotC and Paypal. Paypal didn't "goof" here, but rather their system isn't set up well to handle these types of transactions, where other payment apps are. Paypal has long been a problematic payment app. The WotC team should have been aware of this potential pitfall . . . .

But overall, its a minor snafu that shouldn't get anyone riled up. It's understandable if customers are irritated their PHB orders may be delayed, but . . . not that big of a deal really. WotC will fix it.

The fact they haven't fixed it yet . . . patience padawans, they need time to process the scope of the issue, develop a fix that won't cause more issues, communicate to customers and roll it out. Not something that is going to happen overnight.