Direct Online Upgrade Issues

#0 - Nov. 23, 2008, 3:44 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Greetings, all--

We have received a number of reports from players stating that they are unable to upgrade their account using the Direct Online Upgrade feature. If you are receiving an error when attempting to purchase the Direct Online Upgrade, please try the following:


Should the error persist, please purchase the retail copy of the Wrath of the Lich King. If this is not possible, please contact Billing and Account Services as they may be able to identify a more specific cause of this error and offer additional assistance. They can be reached using one of the following numbers:

    Billing and Account Services
      Live Representatives Available Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm PST
      For phone assistance please call: 1 (800) 592-5499 || 1 (800) 59-BLIZZARD
      • Players in Australia should call 1-800-041-378
      • Players in Singapore should call 800-2549-9273
      • Players in Chile should call 1230-020-5554
      • Players in Mexico should call 001-888-578-7628
      • Players in Argentina should call 0800-333-0778
      • All other international players should call: (949) 955-0283


Please be aware that if you are showing funds removed from your account following a failed transaction, it is likely that the funds are being held by your financial institution. Billing and Account Services has provided us with the following information regarding held funds:

Q u o t e:
Depending on your financial institution and the terms of your credit card, the authentication process may place a "funds held" for verification purposes. This is a temporary charge that will reverse itself automatically, generally within three to five business days. However, some financial institutions may hold the funds for up to 30 days, depending on their own policies. Please note that these charges are simply part of the verification system. Because of other circumstances beyond our control, these charges do not indicate whether a card will be accepted at the time of payment. In the event that the charges do not reverse in three to five business days (please allow for more time on holidays and weekends), please contact your bank and verify the charges in question. You may also want to inquire with your financial institution as to what their policy is on reversing "funds held" transactions.

If you received an error while attempting to use the Direct Online Upgrade feature via Account Management, and you see a pending transaction on your bank statement, please rest assured that Blizzard Entertainment will not collect the funds for all of those pending transactions if the upgrade was not successful on your initial attempt(s). If you require additional assistance with the Direct Online Upgrade service, please call the Billing and Account Services Department at your earliest convenience.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding.
#1 - Nov. 23, 2008, 9:23 p.m.
Blizzard Post
In an effort to track these failed transactions, we humbly request that you provide us with the following information if you are unable to upgrade your account using the Direct Online Upgrade feature after following the troubleshooting steps above:

  • Time of Purchase:
  • Type of Card Used:
  • Geographical Location:
  • Error Message Received:

Thank you for your assistance, everyone.
#286 - Nov. 29, 2008, 2:08 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Good morning, all--

Thank you for your cooperation thus far. We have been reviewing the information you have provided in this thread and have forwarded it along to the appropriate parties. Various departments are currently analyzing this information to better understand why several players are being declined and how we can improve this system in the future.

Sadly, we do not have any additional information regarding the various errors you are receiving when you attempt to take advantage of the Direct Online Upgrade feature. If you are unable to purchase a retail copy of this game, I once again encourage you to contact our Billing and Account Services Department as they have been able to successfully assist a number of players with this issue.

Billing and Account Services
  • Email: billing@blizzard.com
  • Web form: http://us.blizzard.com/support/webform-us.xml?gameId=11

    Live Representatives Available Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm PST
    For phone assistance please call: 1 (800) 592-5499 || 1 (800) 59-BLIZZARD
    • Players in Australia should call 1-800-041-378
    • Players in Singapore should call 800-2549-9273
    • Players in Chile should call 1230-020-5554
    • Players in Mexico should call 001-888-578-7628
    • Players in Argentina should call 0800-333-0778
    • All other international players should call: (949) 955-0283

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you and hope to see you all in Northrend soon.

Best wishes, everyone.
#292 - Nov. 29, 2008, 2:41 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Trust me, folks. If there was anything I, personally, could do to help you through this process I would have done so. I want nothing more than to help you all through this issue; however, the Online Upgrade feature falls well outside the purview of the Game Master Department.

As has been stated previously, I'll do what I can to ensure that this information has received by the appropriate parties, but I am unable to offer any sort of guarantees regarding the accessibility of this service to those of you still receiving error messages. It is for this reason that I strongly encourage you all to contact our Billing Department if you are able.

Again, you have my utmost apologies, everyone.
#298 - Nov. 29, 2008, 7:54 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Q u o t e:

We won't have to get the court involved if we were charged about 500$ for failed upgrades will we?
My mother is the District Attorney. I really don't want to have to fly down to see her to ask her what we can do about this will I?
I hope we don't have to put Blizzards Lawyers to the test.


Please review the following, Kagalaz:

Q u o t e:
Depending on your financial institution and the terms of your credit card, the authentication process may place a "funds held" for verification purposes. This is a temporary charge that will reverse itself automatically, generally within three to five business days. However, some financial institutions may hold the funds for up to 30 days, depending on their own policies. Please note that these charges are simply part of the verification system. Because of other circumstances beyond our control, these charges do not indicate whether a card will be accepted at the time of payment. In the event that the charges do not reverse in three to five business days (please allow for more time on holidays and weekends), please contact your bank and verify the charges in question. You may also want to inquire with your financial institution as to what their policy is on reversing "funds held" transactions.

If you received an error while attempting to use the Direct Online Upgrade feature via Account Management, and you see a pending transaction on your bank statement, please rest assured that Blizzard Entertainment will not collect the funds for all of those pending transactions if the upgrade was not successful on your initial attempt(s). If you require additional assistance with the Direct Online Upgrade service, please call the Billing and Account Services Department at your earliest convenience.
#423 - Dec. 8, 2008, 1:42 p.m.
Blizzard Post
Hey there, everyone.

I've forwarded this information on once again in an effort to improve the online upgrade feature. I sincerely apologize for those of you still experiencing issues with the upgrade process; I truly hope we begin to see improvements soon. In the meantime, I highly recommend purchasing a retail copy of the game to ensure a speedy upgrade process. Should this option not be available and you have not contact Billing and Account Services, please do so at your earliest convenience.

Billing and Account Services
  • Email: billing@blizzard.com
  • Web form: http://us.blizzard.com/support/webform-us.xml?gameId=11

    Live Representatives Available Mon-Fri, 8am to 8pm PST
    For phone assistance please call: 1 (800) 592-5499 || 1 (800) 59-BLIZZARD
    • Players in Australia should call 1-800-041-378
    • Players in Singapore should call 800-2549-9273
    • Players in Chile should call 1230-020-5554
    • Players in Mexico should call 001-888-578-7628
    • Players in Argentina should call 0800-333-0778
    • All other international players should call: (949) 955-0283

Best wishes, folks.