Failed payments

Why payments fail, and how you can fix them

Shahid Lakha avatar
Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

What happens when a payment fails?

You will be emailed telling you that your payment has failed and the reason why. You will also see this displayed on Spires when you log in.

You will not be able to have additional classes, nor will you be able to book additional classes until this is paid. It is up to you to ensure failed payments are resolved so that you can continue to have classes.

If a payment fails for an 'Online Class', your tutor will not be paid and your account will have negative credit

You will also see a red banner on every tab of Spires warning you that you owe money.

If payment fails for an 'Offline Class', your account will not go negative as no work has been completed, but your tutor will not start any work until you have successfully paid. You will need to follow the instructions below and then send another offline class request.

Why do payment fail?

The most common reasons are:

  • Insufficient funds - This means you will need to top up your card

  • Verification not completed - You need to use your banking app or other method to approve the transaction

  • Card expired - You will need to add a new card

  • Charge blocked by bank - You will need to contact your bank to resolve the issue

Please note: the reason is never a problem with Spires. We use a third party payment provider called Stripe that does the actual charging of cards.

It will be up to yourself or the bill payer to resolve the issue. You may want to try an alternative payment card by visiting your payments tab.


Try the payment again

Once you have either added funds to your account, called your bank to allow the payment, or changed your payment card, you can try to process the payment again by clicking on the green 'Pay Now' button.

On the following pop-up click the green 'Pay' button which shows the amount owed.

Alternatively, Spires will automatically retry your card over a 14 day period: after 1 day, 3 days, 7 days and 14 days.

If the payment is successful, the negative balance is removed and you will be emailed a receipt for the transaction and can continue to have classes on Spires.

Please note: If failed payments are not resolved in a timely manner, Spires may refer you to a debt collection agency

See the guide for more information on how payments work.

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