> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getrivet.ca/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Failed payments

> Your payment retries automatically. Your service stays on during the retry window.

If your monthly charge fails — expired card, insufficient funds, a bank
flagging the transaction, anything that couldn't process on the
first try — your Rivet service **stays on**. The system runs an automatic
retry schedule for the next several days, you get an email each time,
and you have plenty of room to fix it before anything changes inside
Rivet.

## What "your service stays on" means

During the retry window:

* Your **phone line** keeps receiving calls and SMS.
* **Voicemails** keep being transcribed and auto-replied to.
* **Video sessions** keep working.
* The **app** stays accessible — no blocker over the inbox.
* Your **clients see no difference**.

We don't want a transient payment hiccup to cause your practice line to
go silent. Automatic retries are designed exactly for this — most
failures are recoverable within a day or two, and gating service on the
first failure would be heavy-handed.

## The retry schedule

The charge is attempted again on this schedule:

| Attempt | Timing                  |
| ------- | ----------------------- |
| 1       | Day of original charge  |
| 2       | About 3 days later      |
| 3       | About 5 days after that |
| 4       | About 7 days after that |

Each attempt sends you an email. The email includes:

* The amount that failed.
* The reason from the card network (e.g.
  `insufficient_funds`, `expired_card`, `card_declined`).
* A link to your **billing portal** to update the card.

If a retry succeeds, the cycle ends and you go back to normal monthly
billing.

## When service is paused

If every retry fails through to the end of the schedule (about
**14–16 days** after the original charge), Rivet treats your
subscription as in the same state as a fully expired trial — the
**day-15 blocker** appears over your inbox, and your subscription
status flips to expired in the background.

What happens at that point:

* The **back-end stays running** (same posture as the trial-expired
  state). Inbound voicemails are still captured, auto-replies still
  fire, your clients' experience doesn't change yet.
* The **blocker over your inbox** prevents you from managing
  conversations from the app until payment is resolved.
* The **Activate my account** button on the blocker takes you to the
  payment page, where you enter a fresh card and resume the
  subscription.

Once you fix the payment, the blocker disappears within a minute and
service resumes normally.

If the unpaid state continues beyond 30 days, see
[Canceling your account](/account/canceling-your-account) for what
happens to your number and data.

## Fixing a failed payment

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the most recent payment failure email">
    Subject line will be something like "Your payment to Rivet
    Systems Inc. failed" or "Your payment is overdue."
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Update payment method">
    Takes you to your billing portal.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter the new card details">
    Or update the expiration date if the existing card is just
    expired.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The charge retries immediately">
    No need to wait for the next scheduled retry. If the new card
    works, your subscription is back to normal within minutes.
  </Step>
</Steps>

If you can't find the email, request a fresh billing portal link from
**[hello@getrivet.ca](mailto:hello@getrivet.ca)**. We'll generate one for the address on your account.

## Common reasons a card fails

In rough order of how often they show up:

* **Expired card.** The most common one. Update the expiration in the
  customer portal; the card itself is otherwise fine.
* **Insufficient funds.** The charge retries automatically a few days
  later — most cards have funded by then. If not, add a backup card
  to the portal and the backup is charged instead.
* **Bank declined.** Sometimes the bank flags a recurring charge as
  suspicious if your spending pattern has changed. A one-line call to
  your bank ("approve a recurring charge from Rivet Systems Inc.")
  usually resolves this.
* **Card was replaced** (the bank issued a new number after a fraud
  flag, theft, or routine reissue). The old number stops working
  immediately. Update the card in the portal.

## Why we don't pause service immediately

A few reasons:

* **Most failures are transient.** Insufficient funds clears in a
  couple of days; expiring cards are usually replaced before they
  fail; bank flags resolve with a phone call. Pausing service on
  attempt one would punish people for things that fix themselves.
* **Your clients shouldn't be involved.** If your card fails and
  service halts, your clients see "Sorry, this practice line isn't
  accepting calls right now" — a confusing message about a problem
  that isn't theirs. Keeping service on means the failure is between
  you and us; your clients never know.
* **The retry window is long enough.** Two weeks is plenty of time
  for most practitioners to notice and act, even on a vacation week.

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Payment methods" icon="credit-card" href="/billing/payment-methods">
    Where the customer portal lives and how to add a backup card.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Invoices and receipts" icon="receipt" href="/billing/invoices-and-receipts">
    Where payment and invoice emails are sent.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>