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What is dunning?

Dunning is the process of retrying failed subscription payments and communicating with customers about payment issues. ElasticFunnels automates this with configurable retry schedules and escalating email notifications.

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Retry schedule

When a renewal charge fails, the subscription moves to Past Due and ElasticFunnels retries the charge on a schedule. Each failed attempt sends the Renewal Failed email. The default schedule is 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14 with Max Retries set to 6: Each number in the schedule is the wait after the previous failed attempt, so the default schedule cancels about 26 days after the first failed renewal. Max Retries counts every failed attempt, the renewal included. When the count reaches it, the subscription is canceled with the reason dunning_exhausted and the Subscription Canceled email is sent. A successful retry puts the subscription back to Active, and the next charge date becomes one billing cycle after the day the retry succeeded.

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Retry timing follows the decline

On the default schedule, ElasticFunnels adjusts the waits to the reason the card was declined: American Express and Discover cards get one extra day on every wait. The number of attempts never changes, only the timing. If you set your own schedule on the merchant, ElasticFunnels uses it as entered (plus the card-brand day).

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Other stored cards first

When an NMI renewal is declined, ElasticFunnels immediately tries the customer’s other cards stored in the brand; for Stripe, the other cards on the Stripe customer. A card that succeeds becomes the subscription’s card, and the retry schedule never starts.

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Configuring the retry schedule

The schedule is set per merchant. Go to Settings → Merchants, open the merchant, and switch to the Email tab. In Dunning Configuration you can change:
  • Max Retries: failed attempts before the subscription is canceled (default 6)
  • Retry Schedule (days): the wait before each retry (default 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14)
  • Callcenter Escalation After Retry #: send the customer to your call center after this many failures (0 turns it off)
  • Send to Callcenter on Cancel: also send dunning cancellations to your call center
Dunning Configuration shows on NMI and Stripe merchants. PayPal and Authorize.net subscriptions renew and retry too, on the default schedule. An active organization or brand schedule under Call Center → Billing → Dunning overrides the merchant’s schedule. Its offsets are in hours and are rounded up to whole days.

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Escalating email urgency

The renewal-failed template uses the subscription.retry_count variable to escalate urgency:
retry_count counts the failed renewal as 1. From the 5th failed attempt the email shows a red Final Notice banner, so with the default Max Retries of 6 the email after attempt 5 is the final notice. If attempt 6 fails, the Subscription Canceled email goes out instead.
There is no page yet where a customer can enter a new card. The default template’s Update Payment Method button opens your /members page, which has no card form, so edit the button to point to your support email or phone.

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Dunning final notice

The dunning-final template is meant as a last notice before cancellation, but no event sends it yet, and new brands do not get it. Brands that already have it can edit it. It features:
  • A red “Final Notice” banner
  • Bold “Pending Cancellation” status
  • Support contact information (phone and email from Brand Settings)
  • An “Update Payment Method” CTA

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Callcenter escalation

If you have the Callcenter module enabled, failed payments can be escalated to your support team automatically. When a renewal has failed the number of times set in Callcenter Escalation After Retry #, the event is sent to your call center integrations so an agent can call the customer. The count includes the failed renewal, so the default of 3 escalates when retry 2 fails. With the in-house call center connected (the Organization Callcenter integration), agents get the lead one at a time in the Agent Workstation. Set it on the merchant’s Email tab, in Dunning Configuration (see above). Each call center integration decides which events it receives.

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Support contact in emails

The brand.support_phone and brand.support_email variables (from Brand Settings > General) are shown in dunning emails to give customers a way to resolve payment issues. Make sure these are configured before enabling dunning.