It seems HTC are experiencing technical issues with their payment processing systems and customers’ banks which are leading to some pre-orders for their forthcoming HTC Vive VR system being cancelled.

So it seems it’s not just Oculus who are experiencing launch woes. We’re receiving multiple reports from people eagerly awaiting new of when they can expect to receive the HTC Vive VR system after pre-ordering, who have been told their order have been cancelled. It’s not yet clear how widespread the issue is, but the issue seems to stem from HTC’s choice of credit card payment system (namely the widely used Digital River).

Update 4/2/2016 @4pm ET: We received this official response from HTC on the matter.

While fulfilling this week’s orders for HTC Vive, a limited number of individuals were affected by auto cancellations due to processing issues with financial institutions. We’re actively working to resolve this, and have already reinstated orders for some customers. We want to assure our customers that we’ll work with them to process their payment so they can receive their Vive when they were expecting it.  If you pre-ordered a Vive, we encourage you to contact your financial institution to notify them of upcoming charges. 

We apologize for the inconvenience. If you have any questions regarding the status of your order please contact us at +1 888-216-4736 or online at http://www.htcvive.com/support/contactus .

Customers apparently began receiving cancellation notice emails from HTC overnight – the notices appear to have been preceded by a call to action to address the payment issues, but as many were asleep, orders were cancelled.

Update: We’re receiving reports stating that the declined payments from Digital River were flagged as fraudulent possibly due to the 3 digit security code (usually found on the reverse of your card) missing as part of the transaction.

We’ve reached out to HTC for comment on how widespread the issue is and for official instructions on what customers should do if they’ve received such a cancellation. We’ll update with the latest information once we have that.

For the moment, it seems that the aggregated advice being fed back from HTC customer support is to get in touch with them immediately. This report states that HTC are suggesting customers’ place in the pre-order may not be affected if HTC are contacted ASAP. Predictably however, HTC are experiencing high call volumes so you may need to be patient. HTC are stating no loss of place in line due to these issues via their twitter feed.

Interestingly however, HTC Vive’s official twitter feed are responding to queries from worried customers stating it’s an issue with the card issuers or banks.

Support channels are country specific, but if you head to the official HTC Vive website and click ‘Support’, you should find links to their live chat system and a form to email them.

There seem to be no published Vive specific support telephone numbers, but if you head to HTC’s main site and hit ‘Support’ menu item, you should find a ‘Call’ icon in the top right of the page which should take you to geographically specific numbers for your region.

You can also tweet the official HTC Vive twitter account here too.

Have you experienced issues with your HTC Vive order? We’d like to hear from you in the comments section below.

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Paul James
Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • phead

    Its not a bank issue, the problem was caused by Digital River firing two transactions a minute apart, the first one being faulty and missing details. This set off all the banks fraud alarms.

    HTC could have fixed this, but instead didn’t have a clue what they were doing and let the automated 36 hour timeout cancel everyone’s order. This is where we are at now, with all the different parts of HTC running around like headless chickens and giving people all kinds of different advice.

    Update 2: HTC just remote controlled my machine and accessed htcvive order page via a special URL to place a new order, lost my april first phase now in april second phase.

    • John C. Murray

      What’s the 2nd phase? Where do you find this information?

      • Chris

        I am originally on the second phase. I was told it will be shipped middle to late April. Prob the last day of April is when they will ship it. I’m not ecpecting mine for over a month still. Tho part if me feels like I will never be able to get it. The wait has been too much. I’m gonna croak before I get it

    • dextrovix

      Well done lucky you, but I cannot get through to anyone to even try. Very frustrating.

    • Sven Viking

      I’ve seen a number of people reporting this. I’m having a lot of trouble understanding how they could possibly need to control your system via a Remote Desktop application in order to place the order. For example, why don’t they take your details over the phone or by email and place the order for you on their own computer, as is standard for phone ordering?

      Apparently the URL they use is super secret so they can’t just give to you, but surely it’d be relatively trivial to capture it during the Remote Desktop session or find it in your logs afterwards?

      • BlackMage

        Seems they were panicking trying to find a solution and RDP was one of the ways of doing it early in the day. I had this resolved today and they took all the payment details over the phone and it got pushed through correctly. Seems people who are calling now are getting it resolved over the phone like this for USA/Canada at least.

        • Indeed, mine was all handled over the phone. I received an “Order Submitted” e-mail while on the phone with HTC, then a “Order Confirmation” about 5 minutes later. My credit card now shows a pending charge.

  • Marco Alting

    I have this issue, but cannot get to my payment information. When trying to do so I received a cancelled pre-order email. Also the “Support” button only redirects to the support form and no phone numbers. And the live chat is not open during the weekend. I sent out emails and a Tweet to HTC so I guess I’m stuck there till monday.

    • Frank Taylor

      Try calling their support number – I got through a few minutes ago with no waiting. (888) 216-4736

      • Marco Alting

        Wish I could Frank. But since I’m in Europe I have to contact my region support which is only open from Monday till friday. So I’ll try on monday

        • Carlo Travaglio

          same :~

      • Tristan Harvey

        Did the same thing, but this number was given to me by the online chat tech support, and they did the transaction again and they said I would not loose my place. They will probably ship next week (Canada). I suggest you guys call this number.

  • Frank Taylor

    Yes, this happened to me as well. I called them this morning and they said they are working hard to “uncancel” the orders. But, they asked for my order number and for my phone number so they can call if there are any other issues. And, they said they would send an E-mail confirming the order being fixed. They said we would not lose our place in the queue for pre-orders. Those people who chose Paypal have had no similar issue and have actually received tracking numbers for their shipped VIVEs. More reports at Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4d0qm7/vive_has_just_been_cancelled/

    • Frank Taylor

      UPDATE: HTC called me back and took all of my order information again (after I verified they were who they said they were) – then they charged my card and it went through. They then told me I would be receiving the confirmation number by E-mail and when the package goes out the tracking number. I asked, and they assured me it would be part of the “first Wave of April pre-orders”, but couldn’t say what day it would go out.

  • Sanui

    >>”We’ve reached out to HTC for comment on how widespread the issue is”

    Not a proper indication but there is a poll going on on reddit.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4d1538/poll_preorders_wave_1_statuses_at_saturday/

  • Thraalhobit

    Luckily, the payment went through for me in France.

  • dextrovix

    Yep, one big cluster-fuck from Digital River that I could not do anything about. HTC never responded to two emails I’d sent to them, not a call back that was promised having been on hold for 45 minutes. Bunch of cunts.

    • RandomTiger

      Similar experience here

  • Jess Yendes

    Mine was cancelled..I got an email at 5:30 PM last night saying that the payment couldn’t go through on my CC despite already having authorized it. The email from HTC said to call or use their online form to put the order through, so I used the online form. At 1:30AM today I received the cancellation notice. I called them at 7:30AM and they said they would investigate it.

  • Sam Illingworth

    I pre-ordered through a retail chain. Maybe this will push my order towards the front of the queue! I know, that’s both unlikely and selfish, but I can’t help it. I WANT IT NOW!

    • Matthew Thirlwell

      I too had those thoughts!

  • John D. Riley

    Since I did the payment through Paypal (Paid in Full) I am wondering how this is affected.

    • RandomTiger

      You should be fine.

    • Spencer D

      I am willing to bet that verified Paypal accounts won’t have the issue. Technically the payment was between Paypal and HTC (or whoever) so your bank accounts aren’t directly involved with the actual transaction. Your personal bank account transactions are with Paypal and technically the HTC order transaction was with Paypal which I have almost never seen an issue with post transaction.

      Basically, Paypal says to the merchant: “Ok, we will pay you.” Because you have a contract with Paypal to pay them for any payments they make on your behalf.

  • Muddy

    I used HTC’s online chat service to get an update on my order status yesterday. According to “Mikko,” my order is in the system and currently being processed for dispatch but still no actual shipping info or tracking details available. So far I’ve had no cancellation notice (fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed it stays that way). I paid via paypal within five minutes of pre-orders going live and money has been gone from my bank account since that day. Despite the lack of a cancellation notice and assurance from HTC, I gotta say, I’m still a little nervous.

    • Brennen Herbruck

      I’m in the same boat except I paid with credit card and they haven’t taken any money out. No cancellation notice. No shipping notice. Just a notification that my order is being “processed” not shipped.
      Did you get a notification yet?

      • Muddy

        Yea, I got a notification just over a week ago to say that “It’s in the works!” and that my pre-order was being processed now. I check my order status everyday, but still nothing has changed. I’m going crazy.

  • ZenInsight

    Wow. HTC fail on the first run. May be this will put Oculus in the lead right away?

    • BlackMage

      There’s a difference in visibility and reaction speed though. The credit card charge failure, cancellation e-mail, and resolution still all took place before the official release which is this coming Tuesday. Still need to wait and see how much this pushes back shipment of the affected group of people though.

      • Ozoner

        If mine

    • Felix Andersen

      Oculus already launched almost a week ago, and now people who thought they’d already be playing with the Rift have to wait for April 12th; not for the delivery – to know when their device will ship. Compared to that disaster, the Vive problems are really minor, it doesn’t even affect everyone, a solution is already in place, and it’s still three days to go till official launch day.

  • Simon Scott

    I think one very avoidable thing here is that they needn’t have launched this stage of the process on a Friday. The (polite, apologetic and stressed) call-centre guy I got through to on Saturday explained that they only had weekend staff on hand, they were swamped with calls, and there was no-one around senior enough to make the necessary decisions and arrangments to sort out the cancelled orders. Makes you wonder how much marketingability was wrapped up in starting to process the orders on the 1st of April.

  • Ethan Johnson

    I was charged $58 more when I had to reorder.
    Anyone else run into this?

    On my initial preorder I wasn’t charged tax. When reordering the Vive I managed to accumulate $58.03 in tax.
    Why tax the second purchase but not the first?

    EDIT: Just got off the phone with customer support. He informed me that not being charged for tax was a glitch in their system and eventually I would have been charged for it anyways. He said probably about 80% of the banks marked the charges as fraudulent. Granted his number is entirely arbitrary, but it gives us some sense of the magnitude of the situation at hand.

  • Badelhas

    Any news on availability on other countries? Spain has the pre ordering but not Portugal :(

  • David V Finlay

    I had a different shipping and billing address and was told this is why mine was cancelled. I tried calling the morning I got my email and was told I have two options: Re-order and get it mid-May (I was in phase 1 originally…) or “escalate” my call, give them my email address and all further communication would be through email. She said expect to get an email in 7-10 days with more info on whether or not they can fix the order……..

  • Darryl

    On top of that they make you pay an extra $4 for their mistakes. They should honor pre-orders first pay statement. https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t35.0-12/12946850_10206326326179014_394264123_o.png?oh=8e64453d40dfc163e082fcfa48680135&oe=5706E040

  • Micah Stubbs

    visiting the htc pre-order page from incognito mode in Chrome and picking the guest checkout option resulted in a successful order for me just now. ymmv.

  • Paul Krueger

    Well, they might be working with (some) people to correct it, but in my experience they said 6 days ago they would fix it, cancelled it yesterday and told me to reorder again, and wait till May.

  • Jason Moore

    I can understand HTC wanting to bury this catastrophe and save the bad PR, but the best way to do that was to handle everyone’s problem efficiently. I lost my order over the weekend (as I think most people who paid by card in the UK did), and had to spend an hour on the phone with the bank on Sunday getting my card re-instated. Spoke to HTC when the UK call office opened on Monday (on hold from 9am, answered at 9.35), had to wait till Tuesday for the correct ‘team’ to call me back. Then I had this weird procedure like others have had, where they took over my PC and made a new order.

    I got the order confirmation email yesterday, but they still haven’t taken the payment from me. I guess this is because it’s nowhere near shipping time. I opened a live chat session to try and find out why payment hasn’t been taken, but sadly I think the operative must have died, as despite being connected for half an hour they didn’t respond at all to my stream of questions, the session eventually disconnected automatically due to lack of activity.

    They said on Tuesday over the phone my place in queue was safe, but how can it be?

    I was there, hovering over the button the moment the preorders went live. I’m obsessed with VR, I’ve readied my PC, I am an excited early adopter, one with 10k gaming followers eager to share my experiences. How can my place in the queue have been maintained if others received their Vive on launch day, and they won’t even take my payment yet.

    I realise they must be fire fighting, but it was a problem THEY caused by taking a double payment within a minute to the banks. They knew what happened, they should have contacted those effected and maintained the exact order of the list. What they actually did was nudge up all those late to order into our spots. I’d prefer it if they’d held all the orders till it was sorted out. It hurts much more that the system I should have received on launch day has been allocated to someone who was less keen.

    If there was one bunch of customers HTC REALLY needed to look after, it was the ones prepared to invest immediately in their dream.

    • @limatangoalpha

      I also find it baffling how an established company that has sold expensive items online for years can publicly display a complete lack of competence, this should have been one of their greatest strengths over Oculus (experience).

      After my ordeal I ended-up writing an open letter to HTC, please share it online if anyone else feels improvement is needed:

      https://medium.com/@limatangoalpha/open-letter-to-htc-vive-launch-d596a5d40e5f

      #HonorTheCustomer

      • Jason Moore

        The problem is, as soon as you finally receive your vive, all animosity evaporates. It’s the most mind blowing, world changing device i’ve ever experienced. I keep slipping into VR for snatched moments, last night after getting back from the pub. It’s not really the games, it’s the experiences, the places. I hope you get yours soon, and as much as it hurts now, I know you’ll forgive them too.

        • @limatangoalpha

          To clarify, I don’t doubt the product only the company itself (HTC). I’m glad you finally received yours, hopefully the VR companies sort themselves out quickly and limit any negative impact to the mainstream appeal of these devices.

  • Mike

    Yeah me too. Im in the USA, and paid with a checking card…which is only allowed to be charged as a credit on this site…n I’m having issues….fn sad…a simple transaction..what the hell is paypal.. I’m paying with actual currency…..sorry that is too hard for a group of non college grads…maybe #that or something you failures . I’m told now by “Havier” who has the most broken spoken English answering to a citizen of the most wealthiest and influential country in the world, that I will need to wait two more weeks. Barely understood that out of Havier. But…I learned my bank was indeed processing the payment on time and it takes a couple days because it’s credit as that’s all they offer with cards on HTC. HTC says my payment us nit being processed by my bank..my bank has a 865 us solar bill that says otherwise.sooo no Javiers please.