[TheRabbi]

To our loyal and patient congoers:

ACen is happy and relieved to announce that the ability to pay online by credit card for both new and existing registrations is now available. To pay by credit card, please visit this link (https://acen.org/reg...ereg_status.php) and enter your confirmation code. At the bottom of the resulting page you will see a link to pay by credit card.

We understand the frustration with the long delay of this system. One of the primary reasons for the delay was the sudden and abrupt departure from our staff of the main programmer of the Registration system. The replacement programmers have been working to integrate their code with the existing system as best as possible.

In consideration of the delay, the ACen Staff have decided to extend Tier 1 Registration until March 18th.

With that being said, however, it is important to understand what is still NOT possible with the system:

1. Groups can not yet pay by online credit card. This is due to difficulty with the way groups are stored internally, and how best to create a single point-of-sale for multiple attendees. We are looking at this, and we hope to have a functional solution within a few weeks. However, if you have any doubts, please do not hesitate to mail in your group payment.

2. International attendees can not yet pay by online credit card. This has to do with our credit card transaction processing company, and in how we provide and verify address information to them. We are actively working on a solution to this, and we hope to add this capability soon.

3. Exhibitors can not pay their exhibitor fees by online credit card. Again, this is due to difficulty with how this information is stored internally to the system. We are actively working to a solution to this as well.

In addition:
When using the credit card system, please be absolutely sure that the billing address you enter is the same as the billing address on your credit card. Due to the way our payment processing company verifies your address, if the addresses do not match, a hold will be placed on that money in your account for between 3 and 20 days. No money will be charged, and the hold can be removed by calling your bank or financial institution, but it will be some inconvenience if this occurs. Correcting this situation is currently the top priority of our programmers, and we intend to eliminate this possibility as soon as possible. A solution is already being worked on, but we felt that this potential and rare inconvenience would be a small price to pay for the functionality being available this much sooner.

Despite the above limitations, we wanted to bring you this capability as soon as possible. Improved versions of the code will be forthcoming in the following weeks. On behalf of ACen and the Registration department, we apologize for the prolonged delay. This has been a learning experience for all of us, and efforts are already underway to ensure that next year's registration will be far smoother. If there are questions about the new system, please feel free to contact regsupport@acen.org with your questions. You can also PM me with your concerns.

Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and your support.

[AngelMercury]

I would also like to note that if you have already mailed in your payment form, Check or Credit, please don't use the online system or you may end up getting double charged when we process the mailed in forms.

[GaaraFreak]

First of all.. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
I was worried about this for a long time.
I just did the online payment.. but I'm slightly confused.
I did it before the tier 1.. which was $40
I got the special badge.. $5
And I got the badge mailed to me.. $1.50
By my math, that's 46.50.. yet I was charged 51.50 to my card. Did prices go up or something?

[TheRabbi]

GaaraFreak, on Mar 5 2007, 04:33 PM, said:

First of all.. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
I was worried about this for a long time.
I just did the online payment.. but I'm slightly confused.
I did it before the tier 1.. which was $40
I got the special badge.. $5
And I got the badge mailed to me.. $1.50
By my math, that's 46.50.. yet I was charged 51.50 to my card. Did prices go up or something?

First, thank you thank you thank you for reporting a bug. and doing it in such a nice fashion. That allowed me to figure out what was wrong really quickly and narrow down where I could find it and fix it fast.
Found the bug and killed it. (Sorry ^^;;) You may want to PM AngelMercury about getting a refund for those extra 5 bucks.

[AngelMercury]

Thank you for you understanding. I have issued a $5.00 return, and beleive the bug is now fixed. If you have any other problems please let us know.

Thanks ^.^

[DekHaole]

I've tried the whole online pay thinger twice now, and each time the only thing that happens after i click the "Submit Payment" button is that the little message below the actual window that usually says "Done" next to the little internet explorer icon, changes to "Error on Page." I'm not mad, I just want to get my payment in. I understand how hard you all are working and appreciate how much time you have entered. I just didn't know if I was the only one having this problem or if others have experienced the same thing, and this is a bug.

[Buzz Fenger]

DekHaole, on Mar 5 2007, 11:31 AM, said:

I've tried the whole online pay thinger twice now, and each time the only thing that happens after i click the "Submit Payment" button is that the little message below the actual window that usually says "Done" next to the little internet explorer icon, changes to "Error on Page." I'm not mad, I just want to get my payment in. I understand how hard you all are working and appreciate how much time you have entered. I just didn't know if I was the only one having this problem or if others have experienced the same thing, and this is a bug.

I am having the same issue but I am at work now and was not sure if our firewall could be blocking it. I was going to try again when I get home.

[Croix]

DekHaole, on Mar 5 2007, 11:31 AM, said:

I've tried the whole online pay thinger twice now, and each time the only thing that happens after i click the "Submit Payment" button is that the little message below the actual window that usually says "Done" next to the little internet explorer icon, changes to "Error on Page." I'm not mad, I just want to get my payment in. I understand how hard you all are working and appreciate how much time you have entered. I just didn't know if I was the only one having this problem or if others have experienced the same thing, and this is a bug.

Buzz Fenger, on Mar 5 2007, 01:32 PM, said:

I am having the same issue but I am at work now and was not sure if our firewall could be blocking it. I was going to try again when I get home.

I had the same problem:

Error on Page said:

Line: 82
Char: 4
Error: Invalid property value.
Code: 0
URL: https://acen.org/reg...on/cc/ccpay.php

I doubt our payment went through, but I certainly wasn't going to click that button twice!

[DJ OpM]

Thank you for reporting this issue. Please know that this has been logged, and will be dealt with as soon as possible. Our coders are taking verbal exams right now, but assured me that issues would be examined this evening after work.

Again, we thank you all for your patience.

Buzz Fenger, on Mar 5 2007, 01:32 PM, said:

I am having the same issue but I am at work now and was not sure if our firewall could be blocking it. I was going to try again when I get home.

[Keiichi-chan]

Thank you soo much! Didju extened the tier one date,too? I was pretty sure this was the last week for tier one registration,but it looks like you gave us an additional week. I appreciate this since I'm paying for three people and the less I have to pay the better!

[DJ OpM]

We did extend tier 1 for another week du to all of the problems. Just our way of saying Thank you for your patience.

Keiichi-chan, on Mar 5 2007, 02:58 PM, said:

Thank you soo much! Didju extened the tier one date,too? I was pretty sure this was the last week for tier one registration,but it looks like you gave us an additional week. I appreciate this since I'm paying for three people and the less I have to pay the better!

[Riker]

Regarding the folks who are getting JavaScript errors when they attempt to submit the form:

Thank you, first and foremost, for your bug reports, especially Croix who attached the JavaScript console error in question. Your information has allowed us (the coding team) to identify and isolate the bug far quicker than it might otherwise have taken.

At this time we are pretty sure that the issue is with Internet Explorer's implementation of JavaScript. We are working on a fix right now, and hope to have it up by the end of the night, but we make no guarantees.

Those who have encountered this error, if you wish to confirm whether or not your payment went through (as one of the coders, I honestly can't imagine that it did, but I understand if you'd like to be 100% sure) feel free to PM me with your confirmation code (the XXXX-9999 code) and I will look through the transaction logs and let you know.

In the meantime, my own personal recommendation (speaking on behalf of myself, not the ACen staff) is that you try paying with another, more standards-friendly browser, such as Firefox. The credit card system has been extensively tested using Firefox, which you can get at http://www.getfirefox.com if you're interested.

[TheRabbi]

jazz, on Mar 6 2007, 03:31 AM, said:

Regarding the folks who are getting JavaScript errors when they attempt to submit the form:

Thank you, first and foremost, for your bug reports, especially Croix who attached the JavaScript console error in question. Your information has allowed us (the coding team) to identify and isolate the bug far quicker than it might otherwise have taken.

At this time we are pretty sure that the issue is with Internet Explorer's implementation of JavaScript. We are working on a fix right now, and hope to have it up by the end of the night, but we make no guarantees.

Those who have encountered this error, if you wish to confirm whether or not your payment went through (as one of the coders, I honestly can't imagine that it did, but I understand if you'd like to be 100% sure) feel free to PM me with your confirmation code (the XXXX-9999 code) and I will look through the transaction logs and let you know.

In the meantime, my own personal recommendation (speaking on behalf of myself, not the ACen staff) is that you try paying with another, more standards-friendly browser, such as Firefox. The credit card system has been extensively tested using Firefox, which you can get at http://www.getfirefox.com if you're interested.

This bug is now fixed.

[Buzz Fenger]

Thanks for the update mine went through.

One minor think I noticed when I went back in and looked at my confirmation is displayed Special badge "N" and Mail badge "Y" though everything else I have seen and the amount paid include the special Badge. Most likely everything is fine but you may want to take a look at it.

[Tiresias79]

I'm the head of a group (only 4 though, did it just to make things easier on my end). I know groups can't pay together, but can I go through every person and pay for their admission separately with the online system? Or do I need to just send in the group page through the mail with a total payment for all? Thanks.

[Kalscension]

i have 2 friend joining a group so i can pay for us all at once. But when my one friend went to join the group. I logged into admin and nothing was there. nothing at all except, Anime Central 2007, Home, and Logout. What do I need to do to get them in my group so we can pay online once group pay is available.

[Riker]

Tiresias79, on Mar 6 2007, 12:21 PM, said:

I'm the head of a group (only 4 though, did it just to make things easier on my end). I know groups can't pay together, but can I go through every person and pay for their admission separately with the online system? Or do I need to just send in the group page through the mail with a total payment for all? Thanks.

Currently you cannot pay for a group by paying for each member individually. Right now, you still have to mail in group payments. This will hopefully be addressed in the near future, however, I can't stress enough that if you are worried about getting payment in on time, you should not wait for more functionality on the website. Not because we're not trying to get it to you, but because we cannot guarantee that we will have it running this year. So if you're at all worried about timing, use the mail-in method to pay for your group.

Kalscension, on Mar 6 2007, 10:38 PM, said:

i have 2 friend joining a group so i can pay for us all at once. But when my one friend went to join the group. I logged into admin and nothing was there. nothing at all except, Anime Central 2007, Home, and Logout. What do I need to do to get them in my group so we can pay online once group pay is available.

Kal, I'm going to PM you regarding this one. Check your inbox.

[randy r]

I think your online registration is broken. I have tried 2 (TWO) different American Express cards, entered in the correct billing address for them, and both cards are being declined or listed as invalid. Amex has no limit, so what is up? So, did you say you would take Amex, but not set it up? In fact, none of the credit cards I tried have worked. 2 Amex, 2 Mastercard, and 1 Visa. All declared invalid.

So the farce of online registration continues. Maybe some year you'll get it right. If I hadn't already commited to a room with some friends, I would seriously consider saying to Hell with Acen, as from what I have seen of the guest list, plus the continuing problems with reg, makes this year seem to be a total didsaster.

[TheRabbi]

randy r, on Mar 7 2007, 01:29 PM, said:

I think your online registration is broken. I have tried 2 (TWO) different American Express cards, entered in the correct billing address for them, and both cards are being declined or listed as invalid. Amex has no limit, so what is up? So, did you say you would take Amex, but not set it up? In fact, none of the credit cards I tried have worked. 2 Amex, 2 Mastercard, and 1 Visa. All declared invalid.

So the farce of online registration continues. Maybe some year you'll get it right. If I hadn't already commited to a room with some friends, I would seriously consider saying to Hell with Acen, as from what I have seen of the guest list, plus the continuing problems with reg, makes this year seem to be a total didsaster.

Randy,

I will be PMing you in hopes of getting to the bottom of your situation. Please watch your inbox.

[AngelMercury]

randy r, on Mar 7 2007, 01:29 PM, said:

I think your online registration is broken. I have tried 2 (TWO) different American Express cards, entered in the correct billing address for them, and both cards are being declined or listed as invalid. Amex has no limit, so what is up? So, did you say you would take Amex, but not set it up? In fact, none of the credit cards I tried have worked. 2 Amex, 2 Mastercard, and 1 Visa. All declared invalid.

So the farce of online registration continues. Maybe some year you'll get it right. If I hadn't already commited to a room with some friends, I would seriously consider saying to Hell with Acen, as from what I have seen of the guest list, plus the continuing problems with reg, makes this year seem to be a total didsaster.

While Rabbi is looking into the other problems I will clarify, We do not and have never taken American Express. This is an Error on the credit card payment page that I will see to having fixed as soon as possible.

I apologize for the inconvience this has caused. For many people the registration sytem has been working well. We will do our best to see to the difficulties you've been having.

[TheRabbi]

AngelMercury, on Mar 7 2007, 08:37 PM, said:

While Rabbi is looking into the other problems I will clarify, We do not and have never taken American Express. This is an Error on the credit card payment page that I will see to having fixed as soon as possible.

I apologize for the inconvience this has caused. For many people the registration sytem has been working well. We will do our best to see to the difficulties you've been having.

Eva, the payment page no longer offers AmEx as an option. This was an error on the part of the programmers as this exception was never communicated, and we didn't think to ask.

[randy r]

TheRabbi, on Mar 7 2007, 01:36 PM, said:

Randy,

I will be PMing you in hopes of getting to the bottom of your situation. Please watch your inbox.

Something must have worked right or been changed, as your online payment finally accepted my cards. So, now I have paid, finally. So much effort for so little gain....

[TheRabbi]

The bug that caused the group admin console to appear blank has been fixed. Or, at least, it now works and no-one has discovered another way in which it is broken yet. In addition, a bug which caused the paystubs to not display has been fixed. There is still a known bug wherein all members of that group will appear with last names identical to that of the group leader's. This does not represent their last name as recorded in the database. As the paystub has other indentifying info on it, our reg department is still able to handle these paystubs and thus fixing this particular bug is lower on our list than getting everyone's groups into working status.

As always, feel free to PM or IM me with questions.

[Gortaels]

How long after I recieve my confirmation email will I get my badge in the mail?

[flip360]

ok silly ? but i really cant find the answer. that and im prolly not looking hard enough. i heard there was a group discount if u have 10+ ppl of 10% and more of a % if it was 20+ ppl. what exactly is it if there is a discount for groups that have that many ppl? i'm gonna keep searching and try to find my answer hope fully someone answers it here or somewhere else. thank you.

[Lhos]

Is there any chance of group payment coming online between now and the 18th? If not, will the tier be extended for those affected by this? (IE groups, international attendees)

[Riker]

Hi everyone,

On behalf of the coding team, I'm here to announce that a new version of the credit card payment system has just been installed. This new version addresses the issues with some people getting holds placed on the funds on their card when the address or zip code entered did not match what the bank had on file. With the new version, that won't ever happen.

Many requests for features are NOT in this version. Specifically, there is still no way for groups to pay and no way for international attendees to pay via this system.

It is likely that there will not be a version which supports those features this year, and certainly not before Tier 1 ends. Therefore, we encourage anyone who falls into those two categories (group pay or international) to mail in payment, because we cannot guarantee that online payment will be possible.

The reaction to online pay has been huge, and all of the feedback from this year's system will be taken into account as we plan a complete rewrite for next year. For those of you who have submitted bug reports and problems with the system, thank you -- you guys are the main impetus behind this new version. For those of you who are still not served with the new version, I apologize, and thank you for your patience.

[Kalscension]

I log in to my account to pay and there is not payment button. just my reg info.

[TheRabbi]

Kalscension, on Mar 16 2007, 01:10 AM, said:

I log in to my account to pay and there is not payment button. just my reg info.

If you PM me with your ConfCode (or, if you're talking about a group, your GroupCode), I can help you.

[Lain2tenma]

i can't log into my group o.0... i'm entering the correct group code and password. is there sumthing up? i need to send my money in soon so should i just register offline and send all of our info at once?