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Question: Card Error

Kara Thrace

Kara Thrace

Old
Joined
Feb 1, 2013
Posts
88
Location
Paris, France
Society
Freelancer
Avatar Name
CptKARA - Starbuck- THRACE
Hi fellow Entropians,

I am new here, and in EU I play just a few days. Now, being very excited and such, I wanted to make a first deposit into EU. Given a many-years experience in online financial transfers, I give the most trust to the credit card option offered by MA. However, it has been impossible in the past few days to even register a card. I always get a "Card Error" ("please contact the support") type message.

Now, I filed a support case, and received a prompt and very polite response, informing me, however, that there are general problems with credit cards due to added security features. Now, from a naive point of view, a mere registration of a credit card (which is just another entry in MA's database) should not cause a "Card Error". That simply does not make sense. Not being able to pay, or a refused credit card is a completely different problem, but here I am talking about the mere process of registering a new card with MA.

Unfortunately, no time-frame was given concerning the solution of this problem, which seems more a MA than DIBS problem as I understand it. I wonder now if anybody else encountered the same problem, and/or is not able to register a new credit card. Eventually, somebody has a solution, as I am growing desperate in that.

Other payment services offered by MA seems dodgy, to say the least. I was successful with Neteller, but their verification process ended up in me reporting this "service" to a general customer-care service in the UK, suggesting dodgy business practices. To make a long story short: Netellers "professionals" were unable to recognize a genuine biometric passport issued by Germany (standardized across the European Union).

Sorry for the long post, but I think that financial affairs are not to be treated lightly, and as long as MA is not offering a genuine and secure solution for depositing money, it will ultimately hurt the game and, thus, us - the gamers - who are the sole reason of existence of MA.

Again sorry for asking these questions, but I wonder if anybody has a comment on that.

Thanks for your attention,

Cpt. Kara - Starbuck- Thrace
 
Well, I use virtual card #'s which need to be renewed every cpl months. Went to add the new # last night and it errored out. Now, I have done this several times before without any trouble, but now it doesn't work. I've been playing for 2 years. There have been other threads about people having trouble adding cards. Has anyone added a card recently and had it work?

Supposedly, Paysafe cards are available near where I live, but I haven't actually stopped in those places to see if I can buy one. Not really the kinds of places I would normally buy a prepaid card at(cell phone stores and gas stations). If I bought an itunes card, I would get one at the drug store(Walgreens, CVS, or Rite Aid), or Target.

Basically, I am now a non-depositor, unless I bother with looking for and actually find a paysafe card...
 
Thanks Xavier! That is pretty discouraging, indeed. Unfortunately, I live in France, so that excludes the Paysafe or similar options. Paynova seems still be the best alternative, but MOL or Ukash don't even have a trustworthy website to start off with. In other words, if I plan to buy something online, and the website of the "business" looks shady, then it can hit your bank account pretty hard one day. I went through that some years ago, and lost a little fortune, because one such dodgy internet "businesses" just kept on booking away money from my bank account (it all went fine after a year or so, because my bank recognized finally fraud and payed the money back via insurance and so). Anyway, I got careful with these things.

Now, the thing is that my credit card was in the MA system for maybe 5 years, as my RL partner played this game. However, for personal reasons, she needed to stop, and deleted her account. This was just a week ago, and her final deposit is not older than 4 weeks to so. With my new account in EU I intend to use the same credit card (we share one bank account and so). What worries me is the fact that all was fine just a few weeks ago. But now I can't even register the card (same number, same everything), despite the fact that it was in the EU system. I cannot conceive of any flaw which would allow that, except an intentional one. What I mean with this is the following: Why depositing options in MA do not use well-known and trusted services, such as PayPal? Instead, dodgy and shady businesses are proposed. This is reflecting bad on MA as a whole, and in the long-run will hurt it.

I do not mind to pay 5+% transaction fees for a credit card, because at least I am sure that there is no fraud involved. In the many years my partner played (and deposited a lot, btw), nothing happened and all was secure, fast and clean. Now, this trusted option is "blocked" (intention?), forcing people to deposit with businesses of questionable reliability. Neteller's customer service and customer care is just pathetic and, well, indicative of a fraudulent business (I already reported this company). This is not good for MA!

Anyway, thanks for your reply, which just adds, however, to my frustration. Non-depositing is not a real option for a new player, given the current sweat prices anyway.

Cheers,

Cpt. Kara -Starbuck- Thrace
 
I have the same problem as you (I think), and have contacted support.
This is what I know:


2013-01-30 21:03 You wrote:
Hi.

I can't add a new Mastercard and get the following error: "An internal database or software system error has occurred. Please try again, or contact Entropia Universe Support for further information."
I've tried for a couple of days now, but still the error :(
ps. It's connected to MasterCard SecureCode since long...

/Nicklas Andersson
Click to expand...

2013-01-30 21:30 Entropia Universe Support:

Hi,

Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, due to added security functions, we are currently experiencing some issues adding payment cards. Our initial advice is to try again and if the issue continues, we recommend that you select another of our deposit options.

We appreciate your patience while this issue is resolved and ask that you stay tuned to the Support News section on our website for further information.

Kind regards,
Laura | Planet Calypso Support
Click to expand...

So hopefully they solve the problems quickly.

/Jaeger
 
well, hopefully it gets fixed, at least it sounds like they are aware of it and working on it.
 
Thanks Franz. Yes, indeed, that sounds pretty similar to the response I've got. Just exchange MasterCard with VISA. Yesterday I just filed another support case, asking if they can enter the card manually. This I read somewhere in the forum here, in the context of renewing the card (or updating the expiration date), which requires to delete the old card, and add a new one. However, the post was from last year (if I remember correctly somewhen in summer), so that suggests that the problem exists already for quite some time, and a solution has not been found. Also, I've read that around December/January each (?) year, the DIBS service makes trouble (only in Sweden, apparently, - that being sarcastic now - because I don't have problems using my credit card anywhere else in the world).

Anyway, will see what the response to the proposal in my new support case will bring. I'll keep you guys updated on that.

And, by the way, yesterday I've received sort-of an excuse for the treatment I received at Neteller. Finally, they gave a slap to the person who wasn't able to identify a proper European biometric passport, and my account with them is verified, finally. But apart from the hassles, I have to say that I am pleased how the thing turned out with Neteller, and I am also pleased with their service. I deposited as a test a small amount, and I had it straight in EU, for a total fee of 3.5% (1.75 for Neteller, the rest taken by MA). That's pretty good!

Anyway, direct credit card is preferred, of course, as I trust VISA/MasterCard more than a new company I never heard of before.

OK, I'll keep you updated on my support case. Stay tuned!

Starbuck
 
Last edited:
Update:

Just got a response to my support case, but it's an automated message saying that there are currently problems, and one should try or use another deposit option. Same wording as in the response to my first support case, and surely the same wording as everybody else will get. No response to my question if sending over a scan of my ID and such can be used to manually add my credit card.

My response to this: Pathetic and disappointing.

At least they could have answered my question there. I would even have been happy with a "no, that's not possible" type response. But well, here we go.

Sorry guys. I will officially give up dealing with that, and not deposit. Hopefully I am not the only one with this reaction to an automated response, because less deposits will - at the very end - hurt them.

Best wishes,

Kara
 
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