Content of this article
- Preliminary Remarks
- Pause Subscription
- Delivery Break
- Set Subscription Pause and Delivery Break
- Which function should I use?
1. Preliminary Remarks
In the Merchant Backend, in the customer account the subscription can be paused or a delivery break can be set.
What is the difference and what effects do a subscription break and a delivery interruption have on, for example, access rights, deliveries, billing and invoicing?
The functions can also be made available to end customers in Self Service. More information about these settings can be found in this entry >> Pause Subscription
2. Pause Subscription
When a subscription is paused, the subscription is completely shut down.
What happens in case of a subscription pause?
Time-Based Subscriptions
- The corresponding access rights for the subscription are deactivated so that the user cannot access any content during the defined period. However, this is not explicitly shown in the access rights - the access right is still marked as “active” in the list of access rights.
- The period is not billed.
- Invoicing is postponed according to the period of the subscription pause.
- For subscriptions with a fixed term (defined end date), the subscription is not extended by the period of the pause.
- In the case of multi-step subscriptions, the subscription simply continues in the corresponding level as soon as the subscription pause ends.
- A subscription pause can be terminated prematurely.
Note: Subscriptions can only be paused if the subscription interval and the accounting period are the same. The function is grayed out for different time periods - for example, if the accounting period is 1 year and the subscription interval is 1 month.
Issue-Based Subscriptions
The above points apply equally and additionally to issue-based subscriptions:
- The delivery of issues is stopped. The customer does not appear on the delivery list in the defined period.
- The counter for open deliveries is also stopped.
- For subscriptions with a fixed term (defined end date), the subscription will not be extended by the period of the pause. There is no credit note or similar for issues that have not been delivered.
There is a corresponding note in the subscription list in the customer account and in the subscription detail view.
3. Delivery Break
A delivery break can be useful if customers are not at home for a longer period of time and they want to avoid an overflowing letterbox.
Note: A delivery break only applies if the subscription is linked to an analog delivery list. |
What happens in case of a delivery break?
Time-Based Subscriptions
- The corresponding access rights to the subscription are not deactivated. The customer still has access to the content.
- The period will continue to be billed.
- For subscriptions with a fixed term (defined end date), the subscription is not extended by the period of the break.
- A delivery break can be terminated prematurely.
The above points apply equally and additionally to issue-based subscriptions:
- The delivery of issues is stopped for the period. The customer does not appear on the delivery list during the defined period.
- The counter for open deliveries is not stopped - it continues to run as normal.
- For subscriptions with a fixed term (defined end date), the subscription will not be extended by the period of the break. There is no credit note or similar for issues that have not been delivered. This also applies to multi-step subscriptions.
There is a corresponding note in the subscription list in the customer account and in the subscription detail view.
4. Set Subscription Pause and Delivery Break
If it is a time-based subscription, the subscription can be paused at the accounting periods defined in the product contract (e.g. 1 month) or a delivery break can be set.
With issue-based subscriptions, there is no fixed accounting period per se (the issues defines the accounting period), which is why any period can be selected for the subscription pause or delivery break using a “date picker”.
5. Which function should I use?
If your customers want to stop their subscription completely - no billing, no services - then the subscription pause is the right choice. However, bear in mind that for subscriptions with a fixed period, the pause period will expire and there will be no automatic credit or refund for services not received.
If your customers do not want to receive a delivery but still want to have access to the online content - if available - then the delivery break would be the right choice. However, bear in mind that for subscriptions with a fixed period, the delivery break period will expire and no credit or refund will automatically be issued for deliveries not received and the counter for open deliveries will continue to change during the delivery break period.