HelpBilling, payments and refundsCard expiry and failed payments

Card expiry and failed payments

A failed payment does not stop you at once. You get 14 days to fix it, and your full package keeps working the whole time.

Owner Where: Billing 6 min read

If it is still not fixed after 14 days, your business drops to Free. It is never switched off completely. The grace days can be used once in any 12 months.

What it is

A payment fails when the card is expired, has no money, or the bank says no. The days that follow are called the grace period.

How to check it in turnda

Look at the amber “Warnings” badge in the top bar, and the Needs attention list on the Dashboard. The line reads like “your last payment didn't go through: day 3 of 14. Fix it by (date) or you move to Free.” The owner has an Update card button on it. A manager sees the same line with “Owner only” on the button. Staff do not see it while the business is still in grace.
Open Billing and read the red box at the top. It says “Payment didn't go through — day 3 of 14” (your own day and the grace days), and “Fix it by (date) or your business moves to the Free package.”
Press Update card on that box, or Card and invoices, to fix it. Only the owner has the button. A manager sees “Only the owner can fix this — please ask them to update the card.”

Before it comes to that, turnda warns you. About a month before your card expires, the owner gets a “your card expires soon” email, once for each card, and a warning (“your card expires on (date). Update it so your package keeps renewing.”) appears under the Warnings badge. Add a new card then and the payment never fails.

A real example

Mei's Salon Mei's US$49 renewal fails on 1 June because her card expired in May. Day 1 she gets an email saying the renewal failed. She is busy and misses days 4 and 8. On day 12 she reads the email, adds a new card, and is back on Core at once with her billing day unchanged. Had she waited until day 14, Mei's salon would have dropped to Free with 100 visits a month, and her new card would have put her back on Core as soon as it was paid.

What happens in turnda

1A payment fails
Day 1. The owner is emailed at once, saying the payment failed
2Grace period
Emails on days 1, 4, 8, 12, 14. Your full package keeps working
3Day 14: still not fixed
The business drops to Free
4You fix the card
Back on your package at once, same billing day

From a failed payment to Free, and the way back.

What	Detail
Grace period	14 days from the first failed payment. The grace days can be used once in any 12 months for each business.
A second failed payment inside 12 months	No grace days. The business moves to Free that day, and the owner is emailed and sees a notice in the bell saying why. Lines, settings and logo stay. Choose your package again on Billing with a card that works.
During grace	Nothing changes for your visitors or your team.
No new packs	Extra-visit, WhatsApp and text packs are not bought until your card works again. You keep using the messages and visits you hold.
After grace	The business moves to Free (100 visits a month). Your WhatsApp, text and extra-visit balances are kept and paused. They come back when you pay for a package again.
Your lobby TV	Keeps showing your logo and “Now serving”. A failed payment does not pause joins. If new joins are paused for any reason (for example, the month's visits are used up), the TV says joining is paused instead of showing the join QR code.
After the drop to Free	We may keep trying your old card each time a payment falls due until you stop it. If a payment goes through, you are back on your package and charged for it. To stay on Free instead, press Stop trying my card on the Billing page.
Your lines, settings and logo	All stay. Nothing is deleted.

When a pack cannot be paid for

Which pack	What you see	What happens
WhatsApp	“New visitors won't be offered WhatsApp until you update your card.”	People already waiting still get their “almost your turn”. turnda does not keep retrying. The pack is bought the moment your card works.
Texts (not open in any country yet)	“New visitors can't get texts once these run out.”	The same: no retrying, and the pack is bought when your card works.
Extra visits	“Your card was declined — no extra visits were bought”. Your remaining visits carry you while you update your card.	If they run out, new joins continue until closing today, then pause. The pack is bought the moment your card works.

Things that are easy to mix up	What is true
“Pay again”	A Pay again button exists only on a declined text registration fee or its yearly renewal, next to Update card — see The text registration fee. A failed package payment has no such button: you fix the card with Card and invoices or Update card, and the payment is taken again once the card works.
“Keep my package”	If you cancelled your package while a payment had failed, the Keep my package button pays the renewal that did not go through, on your card, today. It asks first and shows the amount. If the card is refused, nothing is charged and your package keeps running until the grace days end: press Update card, then Keep my package again. If your bank wants you to confirm the payment, finish it on the page that opens.
A card dispute	A dispute is your bank pulling a payment back, not a failed payment, and it does not start the grace days. A disputed pack's unused messages are put on hold and no new pack is bought while it is open; a disputed package payment is decided by the bank. Paying again does not settle a dispute — see During a card dispute.

What you need to do

Open Billing and press Card and invoices or Update card.
Add a card that works, or ask your bank why the payment was refused. See What to check with your bank.
Check that the warning is gone.

What turnda does not cover, and who does

Not covered by turnda	Who covers it
Why your bank refused the payment	Your bank or card company. turnda is only told that it failed.
Sending you a new card	Your bank usually sends you a new card. turnda warns you before the old one expires, but it cannot replace it.
Late fees charged by your bank	Your bank.

Common questions

Question	Answer
Does a failed payment delete anything?	No. Your lines, settings and logo stay, and so do your invoices.
Do I get the grace days every time a payment fails?	No. They can be used once in any 12 months. If a payment fails a second time inside that time, the business moves to Free straight away and the owner is told by email and in the bell.
Does my billing day change?	No. When you fix the card you are back on your package with the same billing day.
Do people in my line get dropped?	No. Everyone waiting is still called and served.
Who gets the emails?	The owner. One email when the payment first fails, then on days 1, 4, 8, 12, 14 of the grace period. Each says how to update the card. Before any of that, the owner also gets one “your card expires soon” email, about a month ahead, for each card.

Related: Adding or changing a card