At times, a gem purchase may not go as smoothly as intended. We know this can be frustrating, so we've outlined several troubleshooting steps you can take which can help correct the issue. Even better, the ArenaNet support team is here to help with anything you're unable to solve on your own!
Basic Troubleshooting Steps.
Before you begin, here's a few things you can confirm:
- If network errors are currently affecting your connectivity to the game or trading post, please wait for them to be addressed before attempting to purchase gems again.
- If you make purchases too quickly or make an uncommonly large purchase, your financial institution or credit card may flag or deny the transaction. Contact their support team so they can review and resolve the error.
- If a gem purchase is not delivered within 15 minutes, verify that the purchase went through to your bank or credit card, and then contact our support team about a "Purchase Issue" for assistance.
I receive an error when buying gems with a credit card.
In most circumstances, an error indicates a problem when a request is made to your bank, credit card provider, or financial institution. If (for whatever reason) this request is denied, the in-game transaction is automatically cancelled and returns an error.
- If you are using a brand-new credit card (or one that has not been used previously on your account), your financial institution may block the purchase until they can verify your identity.
- Try removing any special characters or punctuation from the address or name fields when making a purchase. These can cause issues.
- Sometimes strict antivirus or firewall settings can cause problems when communicating with your payment provider. Try lowering your settings before attempting to make a purchase.
- To prevent fraud, banks will often flag and deny unusually large or rapid transactions using any given payment method.
- If you are making a purchase from an unknown or unverified IP address, your transaction may be denied to prevent fraudulent purchases.
A good starting point is to contact the customer service team of the bank or credit card you're using so they can review and confirm your transactions. You can also contact our support team (selecting "Purchase Issue" as the ticket category) with a detailed description of the issue—including the error message you received and the number of gems you were trying to purchase.
- Note: Be sure to fill out as many ticket fields as possible so we can easily verify ownership of the account.
- Note: DO NOT provide your full credit card number; we only need the last four digits to verify the card and account.
Errors using PayPal and other payment methods.
When using PayPal or another payment method other than a credit card, please be aware of the following:
- Due to PayPal policy, disputing a charge with PayPal will result in your account being frozen until the complaint is resolved. It is recommended that you contact our support team before raising a complaint with PayPal over a transaction.
- If you're using a paysafecard, there is no way for us to refund transactions made using the card. This is a limitation of the paysafecard, so be aware if you're using one to purchase gems.
- If using a European Direct Debit (formerly ELV) option to purchase gems while lacking the funds to fulfill the purchase, the transaction will be cancelled and your game account will be automatically suspended. In the event that account access is restored (after contacting support), you will no longer be able to use European Direct Debit to make future purchases on that game account.
Try purchasing gems from the Guild Wars 2 Online Shop.
If you are experiencing issues when attempting to purchase gems in-game, you can try making your purchase directly from the Guild Wars 2 site.
Using Gem Cards to purchase gems.
One of the best ways to unlock gems on your account is to use a Gem Card purchased from an authorized retailer. This automatically bypasses the in-game payment systems to add gems directly to your account balance, which can then be used to purchase items. As a bonus, the gem code you use can also be used to verify ownership in the event that you're missing or lost your game Serial Code.
You can learn about Gem Cards, find a list of authorized retailers, and learn how to redeem the codes here.
Contact Support
If all else fails and you continue to run into issues when making purchases, please submit a ticket to our support team using the following category:
- Purchase Issue
Please be sure to include the following information:
- Account Name (your email address)
- First and Last Name
- The Date of Birth listed on your account
- Your Guild Wars 2 Serial Code
- If available, any Gem Card code(s) used on your account
- Display Name (including the 4-digit number after the name, such as “Gamer.1234”)
- The last four digits (only the last four) of the credit or debit card that you used to make those purchases. If you made purchases using PayPal®, please include the Order ID associated with your most recent purchase.
- A detailed description of your issue, including any error messages that you receive.