Dear ShipStation,
This past Saturday morning, on January 6th, I received a call from my team member, informing me that they were unable to perform any tasks in ShipStation due to a subscription issue. I was taken aback by this news and immediately logged on to discover that our subscription had been canceled. To renew, I was prompted to select a new plan, leaving me bewildered.
Attempting to rectify the situation, I updated my payment method, thinking that perhaps my credit card had been declined. Despite having a postage balance of over $480, each attempt to change or select a plan resulted in a message stating, "Failed to change plan, please try again." I tried multiple cards, but to no avail.
Curiously, I had contacted ShipStation Support on Thursday, January 4, 2024, regarding an issue with one of my marketplace connections, yet no one from support mentioned anything about the impending subscription problem.
With my subscription canceled, my only option was to submit a regular web request and wait. This situation made me feel like an employee with a good performance record, summarily terminated without reason and denied access to crucial resources.
If a customer encounters a payment issue, it would be beneficial for ShipStation to provide options for contacting them via phone or chat. Unfortunately, I couldn't locate the usual phone number or chat option in such circumstances.
On that Saturday morning, with my staff awaiting orders and labels to be processed, I resorted to posting a message in the forum under Events, seeking assistance. I even considered reaching out to other users with the hope that they might have a chat option in their Support menu and could relay my information to ShipStation.
Fortunately, I found someone with an Enterprise Plan who allowed me to chat with ShipStation Support using their credentials. It was revealed that my card had declined, leading to the subscription cancellation. The Support Team escalated the issue to the Billing Team, and my account was reinstated within an hour.
If I hadn't found someone with access to Chat, I still would have been waiting and it would have cost me a fortune (labor costs, upset customers and missed targets from seller marketplaces).
There was no explanation as to why there was no email or warning pop-up within ShipStation regarding the declined card. When I inquired about the cause, ShipStation swiftly attributed it to my financial institution. However, my financial institution confirmed that they did not block any charge attempts from Auctane/ShipStation, and the same card was actively used for postage with a balance of $480+.
ShipStation, in situations like these, it would be greatly appreciated if you left the option to display the phone number and chat, allowing customers to contact you for resolution. This would prevent customers from feeling like terminated employees without access to communication channels.
Respectfully,
Your Frustrated Customer
PS: The Support Team recently responded to the case I submitted on Saturday via email/website. They mentioned that on December 23, 2023, the credit card didn't go through. It seems there is a significant gap between your Billing Team and Support Team. In 2024, it would be advisable to keep the Support Team informed about any billing issues. The lack of communication led to my situation, and currently, there is no direct means to contact the billing team.
