I have Xbox Live accounts for my children as it's pretty much mandatory now for playing Minecraft on Kindle (or anything except on Java edition I think). The children use child accounts on their Fire 8 HDs.
Their in app purchases (all approved and paid for by me from my parent account which is an Amazon account). Their Xbox Live accounts are part of a Microsoft Family account where I'm also the parent account (so complicated!).
Today I am getting this issue: I buy Minecoins and/or add-ons for the child accounts on Minecraft Marketplace, my Amazon coins are debited, but no Minecoins are credited and all Marketplace purchases fail to complete. There is no advertised way to buy Minecoins with Amazon coins but when I attempt to buy Minecoins on their Kindles under their child accounts I am prompted to sign in as the parent account and pay for them in Amazon Coins. It is the only option, to pay in Amazon coins.
The problem is that the Amazon coins are deducted but the Minecoins are not credited. They're not credited to the child account or to my parent account. This is the same whether I buy Minecoins directly (+ button next to the Minecoin counter) or buy them indirectly by buying an add on. The add on doesn't appear on my parent Minecraft account either, just like the Minecoins don't appear there either.
From the Amazon App store phone app I can confirm the Amazon coins were definitely deducted but it doesn't show me the transaction history. Probably I need the desktop website to see transactions.)
If I open any new Minecoin transaction in Minecraft Marketplace it tells me there's an in progress purchase that hasn't completed and prompts me to compete it now. Or (perhaps crucially) it prompts the child to complete it - it doesn't ask for the parent account credentials. This repeatedly fails, saying "unable to connect to the app store". Unclear if these means the Minecraft Marketplace, the Amazon App Store, or maybe even Xbox Live.
Might be a "Block Friday" or Black Friday issue?
In attempting to reproduce this, it's critical to use an Amazon Fire for Kids child & parent account. It may also be critical to use a Microsoft Family child and parent account for the XBox Live integration, in case that's the problem. I have seen similar cases closed as Cannot Reproduce which may not have reproduced the critical conditions.
Needless to say this is very annoying because effectively Mojang has taken $25 off me today and I have nothing to show for it. More to the point my children are very upset because they were promised these add ons to play with. It's actually the third time we've tried to buy them this addon, the third time we've lost our money. Really not acceptable in e-commerce, particularly when children are the main market.
Comments 15
I can't confirm that Free add-ons download and install fine under the child account. So it's something to do with the integration between Minecoins and Amazon App Store / Amazon Coins.
Further information -
This happens even as the parent, i.e. a full Kindle administrator account who is also the Amazon account holder. So while it might be related to Fire for Kids Profiles, if it is, it applies to adult profiles equally as to child profiles, with identical behaviour.
The specifics in all cases are that the dialogue box "purchase in progress ... this shouldn't take long" (or similar wording) appears to stutter - disappears, comes back, then disappears again, seeming to crash with no final status (success, failure, or whatever) being reported.
The message on next attempting a Minecraft Marketplace purchase is:
[Text Box Label] Incomplete Minecoin Purchase
[Text Box Text] It looks like we didn't finish things last time. Let's complete your purchase now.
[Button Label] OK
Result:
[Text Box Label] Something Went Wrong
[Text Box Text] We were unable to connect to the app store. Try signing in to the app store or checking your Internet connection.
[Button Label] Close
Of course I was signed into the app store immediately prior to this action since is shows my Minecoins balance, shows my app store Inventory of Owned add ons, etc.
It is a child account and I am buying it directly on their device with In-App Purchases enabled in the iOS Restrictions settings. I haven't tried doing this since before 1.13.x (and since moving to iOS 9.x from an 8.x version last month, but it has worked before no problem. They both have their own Xbox Live gamertags, child accounts attached to my own. Minecraft purchases on the phone typically get billed via Apple.
The device is running 9.3.6.
Thanks Steve. Sounds very similar.
Have you tried purchasing the add on with your own adult/parent account? I tried that, as a test, and it also failed, with the same symptoms.
Thank you for your report!
However, as this may be an issue with your account or billing, you will need to contact Mojang Customer Support directly, as we cannot assist with account related issues here at the bug tracker. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Quick Links:
📓 Issue Guidelines – 💬 Mojang Support – 📧 Suggestions – 📖 Minecraft Wiki
Jay have you read the report? The money is actually being deducted. It is a delivery problem not a billing problem. On what basis do you say it "may" be an account problem? What's the bar for me to repeatedly be charged money, and not get any DLC for my money, before you will look at this as a technical problem of content delivery?
@unknown - We have had some temporary service outages that have been resolved, but for the main part here I want you to be able to get your account back in order as soon as possible, and the best way for that to happen is for you to contact Customer Support directly with your account details so any issues can be rectified as quickly as possible. Additionally, once you have sent in your details to the support agents any underlying issues can be investigated and resolved internally. Having a general ticket here for the purpose of tracking a general "purchase issue" is likely to be too broad a subject, and we will never quite be able to check that everyone has their account back in order. Please be assured we are still working behind the scenes to make sure the Marketplace and account purchasing issues are resolved.
I can confirm I have Amazon email confirmation confirming the purchases and the amount of Amazon Coins deducted.
The purchases are itemised as
Minecraft Store Item 1 (=160 Minecoins) x 2
Minecraft Store Item 20 (=3200 Minecoins + bonus bundle)
Item 1 is not available to buy directly but was bought as part of buying a low price add-on that costs 160 Minecoins.