How do I handle failed subscription payments?

Introduction

If a customer’s subscription payment fails — due to an expired card, insufficient funds, or a declined transaction — Roadmap automatically starts a dunning process. This gives the customer time to resolve the issue while giving you full visibility and control.

This guide explains how failed payments work, how the dunning system operates, and what you (or your support team) can do to recover the subscription.

1. What causes a payment to fail?

A subscription payment may fail if:

• The customer’s card is expired or blocked
• There are insufficient funds
• The payment provider (e.g. Stripe) declines the charge
• The customer changed banks or closed their account

2. How dunning works (automated retries)

Roadmap’s dunning system handles failed payments automatically.

Here’s what happens:

1. The first payment attempt fails
2. Roadmap retries the charge based on your Dunning Settings
   • Example: retry after 1 day → 3 days → 5 days → 7 days
3. If all attempts fail, the subscription is marked as “Failed”

To check or edit retry timing:

• Go to Roadmap Admin → Subscriptions → Dunning Settings
• Customize:
  • Number of retry attempts (up to 4)
  • Timing between retries (in days)
  • Email notifications (if using Klaviyo or similar)

3. What support agents can do

If a payment fails and the customer reaches out:

In your admin:

1. Go to Manage Subscriptions
2. Filter by Status → Failed
3. Click into the subscription

Then you can:

• ✅ Retry the payment manually
• ✅ Cancel the subscription (if customer requests)
• ✅ Pause and resume (to reset dunning)
• ✅ Manually update product or next charge date
• ✅ Mark as “Resolved” (if issue was addressed outside of Roadmap)

👉 Note: Payment method updates must be done by the customer, not the merchant.

4. What the customer can do

From their Manage Subscriptions page, customers can:

• Update their payment method (if your store allows it)
• Resume a paused subscription
• Cancel if they prefer not to retry

You can guide them to log into their account and navigate to their active or failed subscriptions to make changes.

5. Tracking dunning progress

Each failed subscription shows a timeline of:

• Retry attempts (past and upcoming)
• Payment status per attempt
• Final outcome (Recovered / Failed)

This helps you track which subscriptions might need manual follow-up or targeted messaging.

FAQs

Will the customer be notified of a failed payment?

 Only if you’ve set up Klaviyo or custom email flows triggered by failed payment events.

What happens if a retry succeeds?

 The subscription returns to Active, and a new order is placed automatically.

Can I restart a failed subscription manually?

 Yes — after resolving the issue, click “Retry” or “Resume” to restart the subscription.

Can I limit the number of retry attempts?

 Yes — set the number of retries and interval in Dunning Settings.

Summary

To handle failed subscription payments:

• ✅ Use Roadmap’s automated dunning retries
• ✅ View and manage failed subscriptions from your admin
• ✅ Allow customers to update payment info or cancel
• ✅ Customize retry settings and email notifications

Need help resolving a stuck payment or customizing dunning? [Contact support →] — we’re here to help.