Recurring Payments – How to simplify the membership upgrade/downgrade?

[jscmal]

Hi,

1
using the Recurring Payments I see that the user can pay the same products in any time, also if on paypal results that a recurring payment for a membership is active. This means that the user can activate many recurring payment for the same membership and be charged many time at the end of the cycle for the same membership, because all of them are active recurring payments.

How manage this problem?

2
What about when make an upgrade?

I have seen the having the recurring payment active for a membership and buy another membership, I get that the payment cycles for both memberships are active. Then at the end of the cycle I pay for 2 membership levels. Instead I wanted make an upgrade/downgrade to another level.

I see also that in this scenario, the plugin change the membership level BUT unfortunately, it doesn’t change the User Role for the new membership Level. This can be a Bug to Fix.

– If I cancel the recurring payments from paypal interface, the IPN sent makes the user inactive (but this can be a problem because the sandbox accounts) and the inactive user is logged out as member but it stays logged in as wordpress user.

What can I do?

kind regards

G.Aloe

[mbrsolution]

Hi, I have read your three questions here. Are you currently using the sandbox feature? I am asking you this because of the following comment.

(but this can be a problem because the sandbox accounts)

If you are then your other two questions are also related to the sandbox settings?

[jscmal]

sandbox account for any test, for now.

But anyway, the question about the membership level and the upgrade should depends from the plugin mainly, also the logged out. no?

[mbrsolution]

Hi are you referring to the following.

using the Recurring Payments I see that the user can pay the same products in any time, also if on paypal results that a recurring payment for a membership is active. This means that the user can activate many recurring payment for the same membership and be charged many time at the end of the cycle for the same membership, because all of them are active recurring payments.

I am not following your comment above. As far as I know when you set up the recurring payment the plugin will only allow one signup per e-mail address.

[jscmal]

Hi…

Only 1 signup per email address. Ok! This is good.

Strangely, using the sandbox for testing, the user can signup in any case, for the same plan and for any plan. On paypal in the recurring payment is active, paypal actives also the others subscriptions.

The user can have only 1 subscription per email, but paypal can give multi recurrent payments and their IPN have an impact to the membership subscription.

For example the problem with the User Role that I mentioned.

[mbrsolution]

Hi can you provide more information in regards to the following comment.

but paypal can give multi recurrent payments and their IPN have an impact to the membership subscription.

Especially the part where you say their IPN? Are you referring to their IPN or your IPN?

[jscmal]

I am referring about the IPNs that the paypal account send to the website.

If there are several recurring payments for the same member, paypal sends IPNs to the website for any things happen about these recurring payments, for the activation of the new recurring payments, the cancellation, the charging in any cycle.

if the member has already a recurring payment active, then it has a member plan. The system lets him make a new subscription, then paypal lets him activate a new recurring payment, without cancel the previous one.

This means that the member will have more recurring payments for the same of different membership plans.

What is the behavior of the plugin when at the end of cycle of any recurring payment active, paypal sends the IPN?

If there are recurring payments for 2 different subscriptions, they will send 2 IPN to the website. What I have seen now is that there is an impact to the changing of the WordPress User Role, where you have a level active but the user role is not changed and it is the one of the other member plan, related at the other recurring payment.

The plugin allows to have only 1 subscription per email. This is ok.

But the plugin is not able to stop the user to subscribe again for the same subscription plan while it is already active and in the same way it lets make a subscription for other member levels without stop the recurring payment for the subscription that was already active.

[mbrsolution]

I have submitted a message to the developers to investigate further the issues you mentioned above.

Regards

[jscmal]

An example to manage one the problems mentioned could be.

– I make a button.
– The user subscribes.
– if the user is subscribed the user cannot use that button anymore, then he cannot activate again a new recurrent payment for the same member level.

– if the user is subscribed, the same button now could manage the cancellation of the recurring payment that is active.

—-

The other main problem to manage is:
– If a member want to subscribe to another plan. the system should not make it possible, if the user doesn’t stop the recurring payment already active before to proceed.

– OR the button should stop the previous recurring payment for any member subscription, and start the new recurring payment for the subscription.

Thank you very much for your support.

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