We’re having trouble processing your payment and we’d like to get it sorted out.

Hello I hate to be the bearer of bad news but from someone who has experienced this exact error in the past with no resolution you have been blocked by the Microsoft payments system for “suspected” fraud. Your only options are to contact Microsoft billing support and submit bank statements, proof of ownership of the payment method(s) on your account and wait for a decision. There will be one of two decisions…either your account will be unblocked and payments will work as normal or (the worse one) you’ll receive an email saying your account has been permanently blocked from making purchases (your Microsoft account will not be suspended, you’ll still be able to login but you’ll face this error indefinitely when trying to make a purchase). In my case I got the latter but appealed it again with more evidence and they sorted it. No idea what caused the flag and honestly the entire process was very stressful and took a few weeks to resolve. Wish you the best of luck sorting this.

@MaxWilkesUK Hi, I had the same issue and may I know how to contact their billing support directly?

I just loaded hundred dollar gift card and want to purchase Xbox but I had the same error message. May I know if the decisions is the worse one, how they handle your Microsoft account balance?

@Guanhong Wu use Xbox Support and choose an option combination (any combination) that provides live chat instead of “chat with a gamer”. Usually payment issues get through to a human (funny that) but more recently I’ve been finding their form worse and worse. Alternatively request a callback (I personally went the live chat route). Be sure to tell whoever answers what the issue is and they should contact the back office team on your behalf and keep you updated by email. There is unfortunately no way for you to contact them directly it’s like those hidden back office departments at banks…impossible to get hold of but very much working behind the scenes. Provide the middle man (a Microsoft support agent) involved in your case (you’ll have a case reference number by this point) with all the proof of ownership of payment method(s), gift card(s), etc. You can block out most of the card number for example but keep the last 4 digits (like take a photo of the bank card and keep the name and last 4 digits visible but hide the rest with a physical object (important to note: do not digitally edit like using apple markup to draw on the photo to hide the numbers, use a physical object). Any mobile billing payment methods send a recent mobile bill (usually a PDF), any gift cards show proof of purchase, etc. And then confirm any recent transactions were authorised by yourself (assuming they were), confirm what you were trying to buy. Exactly how much it was (exact figure). Rough date/time (if you have the exact date/time even better). If your payment method(s) are being used by other family members (such as your children) confirm exactly who by and that you authorise it. They won’t assist you with somebody else’s Microsoft account unless it’s a child account that you manage but if you tell them the email address(es) associated with any Microsoft accounts that have your payment method(s) linked to them they’ll cross reference that too. They might not assist you with other accounts unless they are managed by yourself but you can be sure they’ll know which accounts what payment methods are linked to. And then it’s a waiting game…(usually 24-72 hours but it could take longer).

Thanks. I contact them by phone and an agent told me that she escalated the case and will call me within 24-48 hours. The agent didn't ask any proof of payment yet. Should I wait or call them again to provide these information? Will they provide a form to fill all required information?

I would provide them because you want to make sure they solve this as quickly as possible. When I first appealed (and was denied) I didn’t supply anything other than confirming I authorised it. They denied it and stated I was permanently blocked from making purchases…I appealed again and supplied the above and they unlocked it. Did the agent email you with a case reference number? If so reply to that email with the above proof. If you haven’t received an email yet you’ll need to wait until you do receive one as you’ll have to attach the information in a response. Though you could also contact them again, provide the case reference number (they should have supplied you with one when you last contacted) and tell them you need to upload some files to support the case and they should email you a secure link to do so.