How to pause a Paddle subscription from a Zendesk ticket

By Jake Marsh · Updated

To pause a Paddle Billing subscription from Zendesk, install Canoewell, open the customer's ticket and click Pause on the subscription. Choose At the end of the billing period or Now, set an optional Resume on date, pick what happens On resume, and click Pause. No bills go out while it is paused. Canoewell logs an internal note and the canoewell_pause tag on the ticket, and Resume now restarts it later.

Before you start

  • The Paddle API key needs subscription.write.
  • Allow pause and resume must be on, and the agent must match Who may take actions.
  • The Pause button shows only on Active or Past due subscriptions with no pause or cancellation already scheduled. Paddle pauses subscriptions after the trial, so a subscription on trial must wait for its first bill.

Steps

  1. Open the ticket and find the subscription in the sidebar.
  2. Click Pause.
  3. Choose when it starts.
    • At the end of the billing period (with the date): the customer keeps the period they paid for.
    • Now: billing stops today. Paddle cancels any past-due renewal bill for the subscription.
  4. Set a resume date (optional). With Resume on, Paddle resumes it on that date. Leave it empty and it stays paused until someone resumes it. The date must be after the pause starts.
  5. Choose On resume.
On resumeWhat Paddle does
Start a new billing period and charge itA full new period starts on resume and is charged then
Continue the current billing periodThe paused period carries on, with no charge if it resumes before that period ends. Only for a pause that starts Now
  1. Add a note for the ticket if you like, read the confirmation, and click Pause.

Resume a paused subscription

On a subscription that shows Paused, click Resume now, choose the On resume option and confirm.

  • Start a new billing period and charge it charges the customer today, to the payment method on file. Canoewell warns you first.
  • Continue the current billing period fails if that period has already ended.

The ticket gets the canoewell_resume tag.

Remove a scheduled pause

A pause set for the end of the period shows as Pause scheduled. Click Remove scheduled pause and confirm, and the subscription keeps renewing as usual. The ticket gets the canoewell_schedule_removed tag.

When a pause is blocked

MessageWhy
The resume date must be after the pause startsPick a later date
Continuing the billing period only makes sense for a pause that starts nowChoose Now, or Start a new billing period
Locks a subscription for 30 minutesPaddle doesn't change a subscription for 30 minutes around a renewal or while a payment processes. Nothing was changed; try again later

What it costs

Canoewell is $10 per agent per month on the Standard plan, billed monthly by Zendesk, with a 14-day trial (Zendesk asks for a card at install). The Canoewell documentation covers the full setup, and Paddle's pause subscriptions guide explains its side.

Canoewell

Paddle Billing sidebar: subscriptions on the ticket. Refund, pause or cancel, every action logged. $10 a month per agent.

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Questions

Is the customer billed while the subscription is paused?

No. Paddle sends no bills while a subscription is paused.

What is the difference between pausing and cancelling?

A paused subscription can be resumed, on a date you set or by hand. A canceled subscription can never be reinstated in Paddle. See how to cancel a Paddle subscription from Zendesk.

Can a paused subscription be cancelled?

Yes. Paddle cancels paused subscriptions immediately, because there is no billing period left to finish.

Can agents pause but not cancel?

Yes. Pause and resume and cancellations are separate switches in the settings.

More Canoewell guides

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