---
title: "Failed payments and dunning · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/failed-payments-and-dunning
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Failed payments and dunning

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

> Retry only declines that can succeed and only on a fixed schedule. Ask the customer to fix the card, and keep saved cards current.

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers payments playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/failed-payments-and-dunning`.

## Required

- [Retry only declines that can succeed](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/failed-payments-and-dunning/decline-categories): Sort every decline into retry or do not retry by its decline code. Never retry a card the bank reports as lost, stolen, closed or not to be tried again.
- [Retry failed renewals on a fixed schedule](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/failed-payments-and-dunning/dunning-schedule): Retry a soft-declined renewal a fixed number of times over a fixed window, such as 4 times in 14 days. Then move the subscription to a planned end state.
- [Ask the customer to fix the payment](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/failed-payments-and-dunning/dunning-messages): After each failed renewal, email the customer a link to a secure page to update the card, and show a notice in the app.

## Recommended

- [Keep saved cards up to date](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/failed-payments-and-dunning/card-updates): Turn on network tokens and the card account updater at your provider, so renewals keep working after a bank reissues a card.

- Previous: [Subscriptions](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/subscriptions)
- Next: [Refunds, disputes and fraud](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments/refunds-disputes-and-fraud)
- [All chapters](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/payments)