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​

​

 

[Aellic Mornbringer]

In his defense, he did join back in 2005. I think it is a new sasquatch lurker award. I have seen a couple 20 years and 1 post people in my day.

20 years?!? And I thought my 12 years of lurking before making my first post was impressive.

 

[Mithic1]

The problem at this point is lack of transparency and help. We've had 1 community manager that has had multiple conflicting statements and what she's saying isn't actually happening. Going on 4 days with cancellations, and this wasn't just paypal. Check the threads on DNDBeyond and you'll see that this happened to multiple apps, and even credit cards as well. 4 days waiting with money and product on the line is quite infuriating and most people just want an answer that isn't "Someone somewhere is maybe working on this?"

 

[Aellic Mornbringer]

Is this only affecting users who pre-ordered the entire bundle? I only pre-ordered (via card) the digital/physical PHB and had no issues. My hard copy arrived a couple of hours ago in fact.

 

[coyote6]

FWIW, I just got an email with coupon codes to give me the bundle discount & free shipping, plus an extra $5 off coupon for DDB.

Edit: and reordered, with the coupons applied.

 

[MockingBird]

FWIW, I just got an email with coupon codes to give me the bundle discount & free shipping, plus an extra $5 off coupon for DDB.

Edit: and reordered, with the coupons applied.

I got an email as well. My issue, which was self inflicted, is i assumed my card on file had expired. My debit card just recently expired and I got a new one. So I immediately reordered the PHB. I did reply asking if it was possible to carry my discount over to the DMG bundle.

 

[popuman]

I pre-ordered the physical and digital bundle via PayPal on June 18th. Got charged.
Got the digital PHB.
Four days ago I got the email for the cancellation of the physical copy of the players handbook. Submitted a ticket that same day.
Four days.
No response. No email. No coupons. Yes, I checked the spam and trash just in case. Nothing.
Somehow WOTC has successfully charged my PayPal when I purchase my other DND Beyond content and my subscription with no issues.
What's the point of a pre-order if you can't deliver the product?

 

[houndrunner]

One important point that might be getting overlooked here is how the pricing actually breaks down when one orders the core rulebook physical + digital bundle, as there's a significant difference between what shows when you add this bundle to your cart, versus how the pricing actually breaks down per the order confirmation once the order has been placed.

If you add the physical + digital bundle to your cart on the D&D Beyond site, you'll see six items: three physical books at full price ($49.99 each), and three digital books, each at the discounted price of $10.00 (versus the full $29.99 digital price).

That said, once the order has been placed, you get a breakdown like this:
Each physical book is $49.99, which is then discounted by $12.49, leaving each book priced at $37.50 each.
Each digital book is $29.99, which is then discounted by $7.50, leaving each book priced at $22.49 each.

If you add everything up, the total works out the same, either way.
Three full price physical, plus three $10 digital: $149.97 + $30.00 = $179.97.
Three $37.50 physical, plus three $22.49 digital: $112.50 + 67.47 = $179.97.

That probably would have been fine had everything gone smoothly. The problem here is that now that the preorder has gone sideways, lets say you have your digital copies via D&D Beyond -- or at least you've been charged for them -- but maybe you want to cut your losses and buy the physical copies (at full price) at your local shop when they come out.* Which would theoretically be fine, if you had already paid for the digital rulebooks at 10 bucks a pop... but you've already paid more than what you were initially expecting for the digital versions.


*And just so folks know this isn't an overreaction on my part, D&D Beyond kind of presented this as a viable option, frankly. After back-to-back emails on 9/10 stating that the payment had failed and that the PHB physical order had been cancelled, there was a follow up email on 9/11 stating: "If you would prefer to opt out of the re-processing for this preorder, please reach out to Wizards Customer Support. Please use the following subject line: “Opt Out of 2024 PHB preorder”, and ensure you include the e-mail address used for your order on D&D Beyond."

 

[popuman]

One important point that might be getting overlooked here is how the pricing actually breaks down when one orders the core rulebook physical + digital bundle, as there's a significant difference between what shows when you add this bundle to your cart, versus how the pricing actually breaks down per the order confirmation once the order has been placed.

If you add the physical + digital bundle to your cart on the D&D Beyond site, you'll see six items: three physical books at full price ($49.99 each), and three digital books, each at the discounted price of $10.00 (versus the full $29.99 digital price).

That said, once the order has been placed, you get a breakdown like this:
Each physical book is $49.99, which is then discounted by $12.49, leaving each book priced at $37.50 each.
Each digital book is $29.99, which is then discounted by $7.50, leaving each book priced at $22.49 each.

If you add everything up, the total works out the same, either way.
Three full price physical, plus three $10 digital: $149.97 + $30.00 = $179.97.
Three $37.50 physical, plus three $22.49 digital: $112.50 + 67.47 = $179.97.

That probably would have been fine had everything gone smoothly. The problem here is that now that the preorder has gone sideways, lets say you have your digital copies via D&D Beyond -- or at least you've been charged for them -- but maybe you want to cut your losses and buy the physical copies (at full price) at your local shop when they come out.* Which would theoretically be fine, if you had already paid for the digital rulebooks at 10 bucks a pop... but you've already paid more than what you were initially expecting for the digital versions.


*And just so folks know this isn't an overreaction on my part, D&D Beyond kind of presented this as a viable option, frankly. After back-to-back emails on 9/10 stating that the payment had failed and that the PHB physical order had been cancelled, there was a follow up email on 9/11 stating: "If you would prefer to opt out of the re-processing for this preorder, please reach out to Wizards Customer Support. Please use the following subject line: “Opt Out of 2024 PHB preorder”, and ensure you include the e-mail address used for your order on D&D Beyond."

Some of us haven't received any comms from WoTC since the 10th.

 

[houndrunner]

Some of us haven't received any comms from WoTC since the 10th.

Well, ah, that's, ummmm -- [checks notes] -- huh, it just says here "that's even worse."

(Just to clarify though, any messaging I've received so far after the 10th were general email blasts to those affected; I did submit a ticket to D&D Beyond when the issue first occurred but I haven't received a direct response on that yet. I did, however, note this gem in the latest email update from today: "This message was sent in bulk and your individual ticket was not read by an agent." Cool cool cool -- confidence inspiring stuff here!)

 

[kayakingpoodle]

As many say over onn DDB, D&D is a luxury, if you cant afford it then don't play it, I guess they are now picking and choosing who gets the new rules and who doesn't. At least they put inclusivity first.