Billing FAQ

We accept VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card cards. Debit / ATM cards should work fine too. This is the preferred payment mechanism as it gives you instant access and keeps things simple for us and inexpensive for you.

Prepaid cards from these credit companies may also be used. This is an option if you worry about the security of using a credit card online. That way you only risk the amount of that card.

Credit card information can be saved if you prefer, but you will be required to enter the security code for every purchase. This provides some security and helps avoid simple mistakes.

Is your Credit Card server secure?

Absolutely. Our credit card server is secured with 128bit industry-standard SSL encryption. You can verify this by looking for the golden padlock in the bottom corner of your web browser window.

What appears on my credit card statement?

Your credit card statement will show a billing for 'Spiral Knights' as well as our phone number.

You can choose to pay for Energy using a PayPal account. If you have funds in your PayPal account or use a credit card, payments are automatic and your Energy should be credited without delay.

For manual PayPal payments, visit the PayPal website, log in to your existing account (or set up a PayPal account), choose Send Money, and send your payment to paypal@threerings.net. Be sure to add your account name (not the name of you knight) and what Energy package you would like to purchase in the note field. We will need to process this payment manually, and will reply to your PayPal payment email with confirmation as soon as we can.

Payments from PayPal using an eCheck (electronic funds transfer from your bank account) will be credited to your Spiral Knights account when your bank clears the transaction. Your PayPal account will show an estimated clearing date for the transaction. Once the transaction is cleared, the Energy will be credited to your account.

For more information, please see PayPal's Help Pages.

PaidByCash allows you to easily pay cash for an online purchase at one of more than 60,000 locations in the United States.

Search PaidByCash.com to find the location nearest you.

• Get a Payment Code from the PaidByCash website, then go pay cash at one of the locations.
• Receive a Virtual MasterCard loaded with the amount you've paid cash and use that MasterCard for your online purchase.
• Enter the MasterCard number in the credit card number field and select the option you wish to buy.

Keep in mind that your MasterCard may retain a balance after your transaction (depending on the cash value you put into the card), so don't lose it!

For more information, see PaidByCash's website.

If none of these payment options are available to you, or you simply prefer not to use them, you may send money directly to our office in San Francisco.

We process the payment the same day we receive it, except on weekends. Players often worry that this takes too long, but our experience is that it's shorter than most think. Also, if you plan to make a large payment consider insurance or a faster delivery option to ensure we receive your payment.

Be aware we only accept payments in US Dollars. You may need to get an International Money Order in US currency if you live outside the United States. We DO NOT recommend sending cash, since it poses a risk when cash is visible in an envelope. We recommend a check or money order.

Along with the payment please add the following information:

• Your account name (not the knight name).
• Your email address. We will send you a confirmation email when your payment is received.
• Which Energy Package you would like to purchase.

If you decorate your envelope or include a fun note, we may display it on the office wall!

Please make this payable to: Three Rings Design, Inc.

Send your mail to:

Three Rings Design

P.O. Box 482

San Francisco

CA 94104-0482

USA

Accounts start out with a spending limit of $100 for a 30 day period, not a calendar month, but the past 30 days. This limit will easily be enough for the vast majority of players, but some may wish to spend more for various reasons.

As you spend near this limit it will automatically go up to $200, $400 and $800 slowly over time.

Payments cover all your accounts, otherwise it would be too easy for someone wanting to abuse this to just making extra accounts to pay on. So, if you happen to have multiple accounts you spend on, perhaps for your family members, then you'll want to make payments on one main account and then raise the spending limit on this account as needed. Then you can trade the energy from this account to the other accounts.

Should you wish to raise this limit ahead of schedule, you may contact us and we will review your account to see if this is possible. Please be aware that we, unfortunately, don't know all of our players personally, otherwise we would be much more comfortable raising this limit. So if your request to have the limit raised was denied, then this is not personal, it is merely basic precaution as mentioned to protect everyone involved.

If your request to increase your spending limit is denied, you always have the option of sending us money via mail, since this does not count towards your spending limit.

No, you can play for free for as long as you would like. You automatically get 100 Mist Energy every day that you can use. If you find that you would like to have more energy, then you can buy Crystal Energy.

You can purchase Crystal Energy via the Energy Depot, which is where players buy and sell Energy for crowns, or you can buy Crystal Energy with real money as shown above.

Any money payments for Crystal Energy you make during the Preview Event will be added to your account again once we launch Spiral Knights including an extra 25% bonus!

Your non-US credit or debit card should work fine if it is a VISA, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card. Alternatively, use one of the other payment options listed above.

You will be responsible for converting your currency into US Dollars. With a credit card or PayPal transaction this will happen automatically. To get a check or money order in US Dollars, visit your bank, a post office, or local stores that may offer this service.

First, you will want to secure your credit card or PayPal account from further abuse. Contact your credit card issuer for advice on how to do this. For PayPal, you will want to change your PayPal account password.

Once secured, we urge you to contact us before filing disputes, since we can often resolve this much faster than the credit card companies can do their paper work. And we're much more likely to provide you with information on who made the charges so you can avoid this in the future.

In our experience the vast majority of unauthorized charges comes from family members, often kids in the household, or friends of the credit card holder.

Once you know more please contact us and we'll work with you to resolve this. Please provide the following information:

• Name, address and last 4 digits of the credit card charged. Or the email address of the PayPal account used without your authorization.
• The dates and amounts of the charges you did not authorize.
• List anyone you know who plays Spiral Knights, even if you don't believe they are responsible.
• Any Spiral Knights accounts used from your household.

Unfortunately, the credit card companies maintain the controls on credit card transactions, making it impossible for us to address specific problems with a particular credit card.

Our experience is that problems arise most frequently from errors in the information you enter on the billing page. The address, zip code, and other user information must match what the credit card company has on file.

Here's a few of the most common problems we've run into:

• Exact spelling of card details. Credit Card companies are very strict about the exact spelling of information on a Credit Card. You should check your bank statements or contact them to see that you have the exact information. Moving house, for instance, may cause problems if you haven't updated your address with the bank.
• Gift cards need to be activated, either at the register when purchased, or via the phone/internet after being purchased. You'll want to double check if that is the case with your card.
• If you have any sort of non-English characters in the Credit Card information, you should check your bank statement to see if they have it shown differently. Try and use standard English characters in place of those non-English characters.
• There's always the chance that you're over a certain limit, check with your bank if that is the case.

If none of this works and you're not getting anywhere talking to the Bank or the Credit Card company then you can consider a PayPal payment using your credit card.

Actually, your Credit Card has not been charged if it was declined. However, some banks (your bank, it has nothing to do with our bank or credit card processing procedures) place a hold on funds when an authorization is requested even though they have declined the charge. This apparently happens more often with ATM / Debit Cards. The funds are then released again after a few days, when the bank realizes that actually no charge was placed (which is unsurprising, as they denied it).

We are completely perplexed by this behavior, but according to our bank it is commonplace and there is absolutely nothing we can do to prevent it. Our apologies. If this happens to you we suggest you use another payment option listed above.

We process the payment the same day we receive it, except on weekends. So it really depends on how fast the mail is delivered. Be aware weekends and holidays may delay delivery. We often receive many of these payments on Mondays, so if you think you have waited long enough for the payment to arrive, wait for the end of Monday before contacting us.

If you believe it has taken far too long, the most likely reason at this point would be that we did receive your letter but it was missing information and we couldn't process the payment. If you included your email address, we will contact you requesting additional information. Make sure to check for an email, including any junk or spam folders.

If there is no email message from us and you know there was missing information in that letter, then you may contact us via the support form by selecting "Billing Inquiries" and providing the following information:

• The amount of the payment sent.
• What sort of Payment (Check, Money Order etc.)
• Your name if listed on the Check, Money Order or in a letter.
• When the letter was sent.
• Where it was sent from.
• The address it was sent to.
• Anything about the envelope or content that would identify it to us.

If the payment wasn't declined when you made it, and your card statement does show you were charged, then most likely the payment was accidentially made on a different account. Check your other accounts to see if the Energy is there.

If you want the Energy on a different account, then you can start two game clients and log into both accounts to trade with yourself. Please don't use another player to make the trade, as you risk them running off with the Energy.

If you still can't find the Energy you purchased, please contact us and provide the following information:

• Name and address and last 4 digits of the credit card charged.
• The dates and amounts of the charges you did not receive.

It is possible you made the payment on a different account. Check your other accounts to see if the Energy is there. If it is and you want the Energy on a different account, then you can start two game clients and log into both to trade with yourself. Please don't use another player to make the trade, as you risk them running off with the Energy.

You can expect a delay if you used an eCheck via PayPal. eChecks work like regular checks which have to clear your bank before payment is sent to us. Your transaction in your PayPal account will show an estimate when the payment will be processed.

To avoid this in the future you may check with PayPal on how to set your account up to use funds already in your PayPal account, or add a credit card as a funding source to make instant payments. For more information on this please see PayPal's Help Pages.

If you have been able to change your PayPal account to make instant payments instead, and you don't want to wait until the eCheck payment is processed, then contact us. Explain you would like to cancel a pending eCheck payment to make an instant PayPal or credit/debit card payment instead. We can cancel the pending eCheck payment.

If you want the Energy on a different account, you can start two game clients and log into both to trade with yourself. Please don't use another player to trade, as you risk them running off with it.

If you're not sure about how to do this, or have some other problem, please contact us and explain the situation. List the names of the two accounts (not the knight names) and tell us which account should have the Energy.

We also need to verify you own the account where the payment was made. Please include the following information in the message:

• Name, address and last 4 digits of the credit card charged.
• If you used PayPal, you'll need to send the email from the address registered to your PayPal account.
• If you used another payment method please list this.
• The date and amount of the payment made.

No. Energy is intended as an in-game credit to be used within the game to purchase goods and enable aspects of game play. It is not to be resold or traded for anything else outside Spiral Knights. We will ban players who attempt to execute such trades.

Three Rings has an explicit policy of no refunds. Please bear in mind we do not have this policy to be hard-nosed business people, but because it is necessary to avoid people requesting refunds simply because they've had a bad day delving into the Clockworks.

If you have a billing problem you may contact us here.

The easiest solution would be to make a payment on your own account, then simply trade the Energy to the other player. You should never share account information, credit card information or PayPal accounts. Avoid trading Energy via a third player as that player may be tempted to run off with it. You'd be surprised how often that happens, even with friends you trust, and it's not worth losing the Energy as well as the friend.

If for some reason this must be a payment, then you have the option of making a manual PayPal payment.

Visit the PayPal website, log in to your existing account (or set up a PayPal account), choose Send Money, and send your payment to paypal@threerings.net. Include the name of the knight to receive the payment (don't ask for your friend's account name please) and the Energy Package you want to purchase in the note field. Then we will process this payment as soon as possible and reply to your PayPal payment email with confirmation.

Please contact us via the support form by selecting "Billing Inquiries" to ask your question.

When filling out the support form regarding a payment already made, then please list the following:

• Name, address and last 4 digits of the credit card used.
• Or the email address of the PayPal account used.
• Dates and amounts of the payments.
• Information on other payment method used.
• Your problem or question.

Then we will reply back to you as soon as possible.