Past-due payments and the grace period
What happens when a subscription charge fails — the grace period, retrying on a new card, and the access gate.
When a subscription charge fails, you don't lose access right away. You get a grace period to fix your card. This page explains exactly what happens and how to get back to active.
What happens when a charge fails
- Stripe tries to charge your card and it's declined.
- Your subscription flips to past due, and a grace deadline is set.
- A red "Payment failed — action required" banner appears across the top of your dashboard, with the deadline date and a days-left countdown.
- You keep full access to the app until the deadline.
- If you don't fix it by the deadline, access is locked and you're sent to the Billing page to recover.
The grace window length is set by AutoDealer.io (the platform), not by you. It's the same for every dealer and isn't editable from your settings.
Fix it: retry on a new card
The fastest fix is to enter a working card. The next automatic retry uses it.
- Click Update payment method in the red banner (or open the account menu top-right → Settings → Billing).
- On the Billing page you'll see a Payment failed notice and an Update payment method card.
- Enter a new card (or use Link).
- Click Save and retry.
- You'll see a confirmation that the payment method was updated and Stripe will retry the failed charge automatically — usually within a few minutes.
You don't have to manually re-run the payment. After you save a card, Stripe's automatic retries pick it up and charge it. Once a retry succeeds, your status flips back to active and the red banner disappears. Refresh the page if the status hasn't updated after a few minutes.
The grace deadline — how it's calculated
- The deadline is set once, on the first failed charge of the cycle.
- It's that moment plus the grace window (first failure today + the grace days = your deadline).
- Retries that fail again do not shift the deadline — you don't get extra time by failing more.
- As soon as a charge succeeds, the deadline is cleared and you're back to active.
The grace deadline is anchored to your first failed payment, not the latest one. If you ignore the first failure for several days and only fix it near the date shown, you have less time than the full grace window — act when you first see the banner.
The access gate — what you can still do
Your access depends on your subscription status:
| Status | Access |
|---|---|
| Active | Full access. |
| Past due, within grace | Full access. Red banner shown. |
| Past due, grace expired | Locked out. Sent to the Billing page to update your card. |
| Suspended | Locked out. Update billing (or contact support) to restore access. |
| Cancelled | Locked out. Resubscribe to restore access. |
Even when you're locked out, the Billing page and the sign-in / sign-out pages stay reachable — so you can always fix billing or sign out. The rest of the dashboard is blocked until your payment is current.
There's no Stripe customer-portal redirect in this flow by design. Everything — adding a card and triggering the retry — happens right on the Billing page. If something unusual still fails, contact AutoDealer.io support.
FAQ
How long is the grace period?
It's a fixed window set by AutoDealer.io and applies the same way to every dealer. The exact deadline date (and a days-left countdown) is shown in the red banner and on the Billing page — go by what's displayed there.
Do I lose my data when I'm past due or suspended?
No. Your inventory, deals, customers, and history stay intact. Past-due and suspended only restrict access to the app; they don't delete anything. Fix your card to restore access.
I updated my card but I'm still showing past due. Why?
The flip to active happens after Stripe's automatic retry actually charges the new card — usually within a few minutes, not instantly. Wait a moment and refresh the Billing page. If it still hasn't updated after that, contact support.
Will failing more times give me more time?
No. The deadline is locked in on your first failed charge of the cycle. Later failed retries don't extend it.
Who can update billing?
Any dealer user can reach the Billing page — the Billing link is in the account menu (top-right) → Settings. That's where you add a card and recover from a failed payment.
What's the difference between past due, suspended, and cancelled?
Past due means a charge failed but you're still inside the grace window (full access). Suspended and cancelled both lock you out — suspended is recovered by getting billing current (enter a working card right on the Billing page), cancelled is recovered by resubscribing. In every locked state, the Billing page stays reachable so you can fix it.