Membership Plugin

WordPress Membership Plugin

Subscription Payment Troubleshooting – Orphaned Subscription Management

For one-time transactions, the process is straightforward and typically involves no additional maintenance. However, managing subscription payments involves various factors and may require periodic maintenance and cleanup. This documentation provides guidance on troubleshooting orphaned subscriptions and ensuring smooth subscription management.

Table of Contents

Troubleshooting Orphaned Subscriptions

If you see any of the following messages in the debug log file, it means that the subscription is not attached to any member profile:

Could not find an existing member record for the given subscriber ID: ....
OR
Did not find an existing record in the members table for subscriber ID: ...
OR
Could not find the original subscription checkout custom field data ...

This situation can arise due to several reasons:

#) Deleted Member Profile with Active Subscription

If an admin deletes a member profile but does not cancel the subscription agreement from PayPal or Stripe, the subscription remains active. Ensure you cancel the corresponding subscription payment agreement from your PayPal or Stripe account when deleting a profile.

#) Multiple Subscriptions by the Same User

A member profile can only have one subscription attached at a time. Multiple or duplicate subscriptions can cause one to become orphaned. Offer a subscription cancellation option to your members to manage their subscriptions: Show Active Subscriptions and Providing a Cancellation Option.

#) User Did Not Log In Before Payment

In the case of a membership renewal, if the user did not log into the site before making a payment, the plugin cannot attach the payment to a profile to reactivate the account. Ensure users are logged in before making a payment for renewal: Creating Membership Renewal Button.

#) Multiple Profiles with Different Emails

Users may create a second profile with a different email address if the first one becomes invalid or undesirable. This new profile will not be connected to the existing subscription, causing confusion.

#) Unexpected/Unforeseen Behavior from the Server or Browser

There can be situations where the server experiences a hiccup or the user’s browser encounters an issue during the checkout process for a subscription. As a result, the process may not complete correctly, leading to the subscription ID not being properly set in the member’s profile.

Cleaning Up Orphaned Subscriptions

To resolve issues with orphaned subscriptions, follow these options:

1) Cancel the Subscription

Search for the subscription ID in your PayPal or Stripe account and cancel the subscription to resolve the orphaned subscription issue.

2) Match Subscription Details

When you find the subscription in your PayPal or Stripe account, it will show details such as the customer’s name and email. Use this information to find the corresponding member profile. If the subscription should be attached to a profile, edit the member’s profile, enter the subscription ID in the “Subscriber ID/Reference” field, and save the profile. Below is an example screenshot:

3) Setup Subscription Cancellation Page

Allow members to cancel unwanted subscriptions by setting up a subscription cancellation page using the following feature of the plugin: Show Active Subscriptions and Providing a Cancellation Option.

Additional Troubleshooting Resources