Shrink Fan Site - Verotel Can Kiss My A$$!!!

[Marauder727]

Okay, the main reason I'm posting this message here is because I want to know if I'm the only one going through this bull$hit situation...

Back when the Shrink Fan website had problems with Paypal payments (the method I'd been using periodically to re-up my subscription), I tried the make payment using my debit card. I don't have credit cards (don't see the reason, if I don't have the money, I'm not going to spend it), so the debit card should have been fine.

However, when I tried to enter the card information, it came back with the following response:

"Your payment transaction has been declined..."

It goes on to list some of the reasons why my card was declined:
1) Insufficient funds...uh, no...I've got plenty of funds.
2) Card expired or deactivated by your bank...again, no...the card is active for the next few years.
3) Your card not having internet payments allowed...once more, NO! I make payments online regularly and I even called my bank and they confirmed that my card can be used online for payments.

So NONE of the reasons listed are valid!!!

Below, in the fine text, I read the following: " Your IP Address xxx.xxx.xxx.xx is logged for fraud prevention and investigation and all fraudulent transactions will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

EXCUSE ME?!?

So I proceeded to contact Verotel and ask them what's going on. I sent them all my information, excluding my card info. I even sent them the IP address so they could look it up and see what's going on. After THREE DAYS I received THIS response:

"Dear Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry.

I regret to inform you that you have been flagged by an anti-fraud database to which we subscribe. As a result, our system will not allow your transaction to complete.

Kind regards,

Brittany
Verotel Merchant Services"

WHAT THE F***!!!! First off, this suggests that somehow I'm a part of some group of people attempting fraudulent transactions or something, and it gives me no idea what I can do to protest this, or get it resolved. I'm essentially BANNED from making a payment to a site that I've been a regular patron for almost the entire time it's been up. I think I subscribed either the first or second month after it was activated and I've been a regular ever since.

Can someone PLEASE help me? I love the site, I love the comics, I want to keep being a subscriber and support the artists and writers who come up with these great ideas...but I can't...all because of some F**K UP caused by Verotel on their end. It's been two-three months since they said they couldn't accept Paypal payments, and they STILL haven't fixed that issue.

Again, can someone PLEASE help me?

Thanks,

Troy

[Prof_Sai]

I dunno. If this can happen with regular dollars, is it reasonable to fear bitcoin?

I suppose a work around would be to get a different IP address. Your cell phone service will have a different IP from your wired internet. Or you could use WiFi from a restaurant or other place where they offer it.

[Marauder727]

NOPE! Tried and declined...again. I used my cell phone and I got the same response.

[Prof_Sai]

If your cell phone is connected to your wifi, it will have the same IP as your other computer. Turn off your cell phone's WiFi. Make sure you are actually sending data to a tower instead.

[Marauder727]

As I said, NOPE!

[Prof_Sai]

I guess it's bitcoin then. I've never used it myself, so I can't help you.

[DangerousDave]

They said "you have been flagged by an anti-fraud database". it's not necassarily your IP, it might be the card number itself.

Not sure how you'd go about fixing that, short of getting another card.
Has anyone else here successfully used a debit card for ShrinkFan? that payment provider might not allow them at all.

[Mike_sw_77]

i had an issue with using my bank card before(honestly i don't remember the site). for some unknown reason to me some banks lock down thier cards to be used on adult sites, but my credit card worked just fine. just something you may need to discuss with your bank.

[Captain Sinbad]

Yeah. I'm not at all comfortable with either Vertotel or Bitcoin, either. I was enjoying "Operation Half Off" and "Small Fortune" but I am not willing to trust my credit card or personally identifiable information to any platform that I don't trust. Not expecting that we will see the PayPal situation change anytime soon.

Originally Posted by Marauder727

Okay, the main reason I'm posting this message here is because I want to know if I'm the only one going through this bull$hit situation...

Back when the Shrink Fan website had problems with Paypal payments (the method I'd been using periodically to re-up my subscription), I tried the make payment using my debit card. I don't have credit cards (don't see the reason, if I don't have the money, I'm not going to spend it), so the debit card should have been fine.

However, when I tried to enter the card information, it came back with the following response:

"Your payment transaction has been declined..."

It goes on to list some of the reasons why my card was declined:
1) Insufficient funds...uh, no...I've got plenty of funds.
2) Card expired or deactivated by your bank...again, no...the card is active for the next few years.
3) Your card not having internet payments allowed...once more, NO! I make payments online regularly and I even called my bank and they confirmed that my card can be used online for payments.

So NONE of the reasons listed are valid!!!

Below, in the fine text, I read the following: " Your IP Address xxx.xxx.xxx.xx is logged for fraud prevention and investigation and all fraudulent transactions will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

EXCUSE ME?!?

So I proceeded to contact Verotel and ask them what's going on. I sent them all my information, excluding my card info. I even sent them the IP address so they could look it up and see what's going on. After THREE DAYS I received THIS response:

"Dear Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry.

I regret to inform you that you have been flagged by an anti-fraud database to which we subscribe. As a result, our system will not allow your transaction to complete.

Kind regards,

Brittany
Verotel Merchant Services"

WHAT THE F***!!!! First off, this suggests that somehow I'm a part of some group of people attempting fraudulent transactions or something, and it gives me no idea what I can do to protest this, or get it resolved. I'm essentially BANNED from making a payment to a site that I've been a regular patron for almost the entire time it's been up. I think I subscribed either the first or second month after it was activated and I've been a regular ever since.

Can someone PLEASE help me? I love the site, I love the comics, I want to keep being a subscriber and support the artists and writers who come up with these great ideas...but I can't...all because of some F**K UP caused by Verotel on their end. It's been two-three months since they said they couldn't accept Paypal payments, and they STILL haven't fixed that issue.

Again, can someone PLEASE help me?

Thanks,

Troy

[kira123]

And this is why Paypal is always better. But sites like this are avoiding Paypal like something bad happened there. I don't get it the problem here. Paypal is easy and safe for transactions, even international sites like DLsite.

[OhZone]

Didn't they allow Paypal for a while? It looks like it's gone now. Whattup, qzar?

Edit: Oh, you said they had problems with Paypal. Arg.

Oh well, comics are usually to too short for me to have fun with anyway. :/

[qzar9999]

Quick note: that warning about your IP address and card number being flagged in case of fraud is just boilerplate legalese. Clips4Sale does it on every transaction, as do other providers. It's the online shopping version of "this call may be recorded for quality and training purposes." Wasn't targeting you specifically or anything.

I can't go into details. I'll inform Yubari that you're still struggling and he can tell you more at his discretion. What I WILL tell you is...

Originally Posted by kira123

sites like this are avoiding Paypal

...this is precisely backwards.