Fix buyers who cannot get into what they bought
A step-by-step check for "I paid but I can't open my course or download", and what each cause looks like.
When a buyer says they cannot get in, the answer is nearly always in three places: the order, the product, and the email address they are using. Work through the checks below in order. Most take under a minute.
Before you start
- The buyer's name and the email address they are signing in with.
- Roughly when they bought.
Steps
- Open Sales › Orders and type their name or email into Search customer.
- No order found? They bought with a different email address, or the payment never completed. Ask which address the receipt went to, and search for that. They must sign in with the address they bought with.
- Order found: look at the Payment column. Paid is fine; go to step 4. Pending is a bank debit that has not settled; access opens by itself when Stripe confirms it. Failed means the payment did not go through; they need to buy again. Refunded, Cancelled or disputed means access has been closed on purpose.
- Open the order and check the item is the course, download or membership they expect.
- Check the product. Open it under Products: for a course, check it has lessons saved (students otherwise see "The course is being put together"); for a download, check it was made under Products › Digital assets with a file; for a membership, check What this membership unlocks has things ticked.
- Check how long access lasts. On a course or download, How long they keep it may have run out. It is counted from the day they bought, and shortening it applies to people who already bought.
- Ask them to sign in again at
/accounton your site, leaving the password empty so a fresh link is emailed.
What each symptom usually means
| The buyer says | Most likely cause |
|---|---|
| "The sign-in link doesn't work" | It is older than 30 minutes or was used already. They request a new one. |
| "I never get the sign-in email" | They are typing a different address from the one they bought with, or it went to spam. |
| "My library is empty" | The payment is Pending or Failed, or they signed in with another address. |
| "The lesson is locked" | The lesson opens a set number of days after purchase; it says when. |
| "The download stopped working" | Download links expire on purpose. They download it again from My library. |
| "My membership stopped working" | The subscription ended, was refunded, or was disputed. A late payment alone does not close it while Stripe retries. |
What happens next
When the cause is fixed, the buyer sees the change the next time they load their account. Nothing needs to be re-sent: a Pending order that settles, a lesson you save, or a membership paid again opens access by itself.
For agencies
Check the client's orders and products inside their account with Sub-accounts › Open.
Troubleshooting
The order is Paid, the product is fine, and they still see nothing. Make sure they are signed in with the address on the order: the account page shows who is signed in under "Signed in as". If it is the wrong person or address, they should press Sign out and sign in with the address they bought with.
They bought the same course twice by mistake. Refund one of the payments in your Stripe dashboard. A partial refund would leave access open; a full refund of one order closes only that order, and they keep access through the other.
A member can still read pages you listed in the membership after they left. Pages and blogs are listed in the member's account, but they are not locked to members. Only courses and downloads close when a membership ends.
Related
Email support@opusfunnel.com with the page you were on. A person replies, usually within one business day.