In early December I was able to purchase apps using my verizon account. Sometime around the holidays this option disappeared and now only asks me to use my debit card. I have emailed google play about this and they said it is an issue on verizons part. Does anyone know how to get carrier billing working again for the google play app store?
Thanks! And I can post more information if needed
Hi gophynna! Carrier billing is a great benefit of the Play store. Lets get to the bottom of this. How much did you charge to your account during that last bill cycle? The cap is $25/month, so it won't be available if reached. Also, carrier billing is not available if there is usage controls or messaging blocks on the line in question. If you recently added then removing a block or usage controls, carrier billing can take up to 14 days to show available, as Google only checks eligibility every two weeks. Keep me posted.
Thanks,
AdamE_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
The same happened to me with Google Play Music only. What's odd is that I can download books and apps, just not music. I have not gone over the $25/month limit, have never been late with payment therefore no interruption of service, and no service blocks or usage controls on account. I could use Google wallet as a work around but would rather not if possible.
This is a real head scratcher, gigimom. I'll do all I can to help you find a resolution. How long ago did you lose access? What was the last product your purchased. Do you sill have the option to pay with a credit card? I look forward to hearing back from you.
ChaunceyM_VZW
Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport
I noticed approx 1 week ago when trying to download a free song of the day. The last time I had purchased before that was 2 wks ago, the time before that was approx 3 mo's ago. Yes I do have the option of paying by credit card. Agreed it is odd only music & movies/tv is not provisioned.
The only recent change in my account would have been a decrease employee discount but I avoided that by signing up for paperless billing. That shouldn't have affected this situation though.
The exact same thing happened to me. I purchased an application in December and went to pay for an app yesterday and I received an error message, saying that my device is not authorized for the bill pay payment option, please contact your service provider. I did a lot of troubleshooting before contacting Verizon support.
1) My account is in good standing (never missed a payment in over 9 years)
2) App is under $25 ($4.99 to be exact)
3) Cleared my Google Play cache
4) Verified I'm not connected to WiFi while attempting to purchase the app
5) Logged on to Verizon's site to verify that app downloads were not blocked for some odd reason or anything of that nature (plus I'm the only one authorized on my account)
6) Created a Billing ID on Versions site because I thought that was the issue
7) Signed on to Google and removed my phone number from Google Wallet and then attempted to buy the app with no luck
😎 Also did the ever so famous "pull the battery, reboot, and pray"
9) I was going to contact the developer, but i figured i better do my due diligence before hand. So I tried downloading other apps and was not able to anything with the bill pay option.
I read a variety of other blogs and I have to assume it's something to do with Google because after I removed my number from Google Wallet, I was never prompted to re-enter my phone number. It just wanted me to enter in my credit card on Google Wallet, and when in the payment options in Google Play when I tried to purchase the app. I did open up a ticket with Verizon so we'll see what happens. Anyone else have any other ideas or theories....?
Thanks for the info, gigimon. I believe we need to open a ticket and try to get to the bottom of this. Please follow me (ChaunceyM_VZW) and send a direct message. Provide me with a contact number and I will call. I look forward to hearing back from you.
ChaunceyM_VZW
Follow us on twitter @VZWSupport
This has happened to me also, been on the phone with verizon and Google for hours, they just keep telling me its not their issue. Can u help me please. I called verizon my account is fine, no issues on their end. I have used verizon as my payment method for a year, now it is not an option for payment.
PROBLEM SOLVED!
I had the same problem with my daughter's Android Razor Maxx running Android OS version 4.1.2.
Originally, we had set a spending limit of $0.00 on her account, and forgot about it. So when we tried to buy an app from the Google Play Store, the purchase was declined. This caused the "bill to carrier" feature to be automatically disabled by the Play Store app (a feature not visible to the user). Here were the steps to fix it (most of which came from a long call with Verizon tech support rep "Shannon" who was excellent).
Don't be intimidated. It's easier than it looks. The whole process took less than 5 minutes.
1) From the Verizon Wireless website (or phone support) make sure there is either (a) no spending limit [under usage controls for that line] or (b) that the remaining spending limit exceeds the desired purchase amount.
2) Power off the phone. Remove and reinsert the SIM card. Power the phone back on.
3) Google's tech support added this step which Verizon did not mention: Turn off wi-fi so you are connected only by Verizon's 3G or 4G service. You can re-enable wi-fi after all steps are finished. Google says this is necessary to trigger the carrier billing option. See this link: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/167794?hl=en#
4) From the home screen of the Android phone, press the menu button and select "Manage apps"
5) At the top of the screen, scroll across to select the list of "All" apps.
6) Look down the list for TWO apps - both apps must be stopped and have their data / cache cleared for the fix to work. The apps are "Google Play Store" and "Google Play Services"
7) Select "Google Play Store". Then choose as many of these options as are available in this order: Stop / Force Stop / Clear Cache / Clear Data / Uninstall Updates. Select "OK" if prompted do you want to return this app to its factory defaults. Select OK if you get the message "uninstall finished." (You should now be back at the list of all apps. If not, select the back button or "manage apps" from the main menu to get back to the list of all apps.)
😎 From the list of all apps AGAIN select "Google Play Store." Now select "Disable". Press OK to the warning about disabling a built-in app. (Note: if you had a custom short cut to the Play Store app it will be deleted. However, Play Store will be available from the menu of all apps. You will need to re-create the short cut when all steps are done.)
9) You should now be back at the list of all apps. If not, hit the back button to return to the list of apps or select "Manage Apps" from the main menu.
10) Select "Google Play Services". Then select as many of these options as are available: Stop / Force Stop / Clear Cache / Clear Data / Uninstall Updates.
11) Hit the back button if needed to return to the list of apps.
12) Scroll down the list of all apps to the very bottom. You should see "Google Play Store" at the bottom, with the word "Disabled" in small type to the right. Select "Google Play Store" and then select "Enable."
13) Go to the home screen of the device, and hit the apps menu choice to get to the list of all installed apps. Scroll until you find "Google Play Store." Select it.
14) Select "Accept" when prompted to accept Google's terms of service.
15) Press the menu button within Play Store and select accounts. Confirm that your primary Gmail account is selected, and press OK.
16) Press the menu button from within Play Store and select "Settings." Make whatever choices you want concerning auto updates, updates only over wi-fi, a PIN number, etc. I disabled auto updates (as recommended by the Verizon rep and to avoid any updates from slowing down the next step.)
17) In the Play Store, select the app you want to buy. After accepting the terms of access, you should see a screen with a name of the app, and the price. Below the name of the app you should see "Bill my Verizon Wireless account". If you do, congratulations, you've fixed the problem!
18) Remember to re-enable wi-fi, and to re-create any shortcut to the Play Store app.
Good luck!
HERE IS THE FIX
I just found a fix today that I tested and confirmed. I had the same thing happened to me. Today I went to a vzw store and got my sim card replaced. Once I went to the google store, I had the ability to enable carrier billing.
The reason why this works is because a new sim card means data provisioning (and account settings and features) have to be resent to the phone. I can't tell you why I know that do to confidentiality, but i knew it would work and surely it did.
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
