Payment Failed
Common Causes
| Cause | Solution |
|---|---|
| Insufficient funds | Use a different card or add funds |
| Card declined by bank | Contact your bank to authorise the transaction |
| 3D Secure required | Complete the 3DS challenge in your browser |
| Card expired | Update payment method |
| Billing address mismatch | Verify billing address matches card records |
Retry a Failed Payment
- Go to Billing → Payment Methods.
- Verify your card details are correct.
- Click Retry Payment.
Unexpected Charges
Understanding Hourly Billing
All resources are billed per hour. Common sources of unexpected charges:
- Stopped servers — still charged for storage
- Block storage volumes — charged even when detached
- Reserved floating IPs — charged while unattached
- Load balancers — charged while active
Reviewing Charges
- Go to Billing → Transaction History.
- Click any transaction to see the breakdown.
- For hourly charges, the detail shows each resource and its hourly rate.
Server Auto-Stopped Due to Low Balance
If your server was stopped due to insufficient balance:
- Top up your wallet.
- Go to Servers → [Your Server].
- Click Start.
Servers are stopped (not destroyed) when balance reaches $2.00. You have 7 days to top up before the server is destroyed.
Requesting a Refund
LightYear offers refunds for:
- Provisioning failures (server never became active)
- Billing errors (incorrect charges)
- Service outages exceeding SLA
Submit a refund request at [email protected] with your transaction ID.
Disputing a Charge
If you believe a charge is incorrect:
- Document the issue with screenshots.
- Contact support within 30 days of the charge.
- Include your account email, transaction ID, and description.