When a signup fails
Signups fail. Some failures are worth retrying immediately, some are worth retrying later, and some are the service saying no.
Read the failure first
The signup reports where it stopped. That matters more than the fact that it stopped: a form-validation failure and a network-reputation block need completely different responses.
Common causes
| Cause | What it looks like | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Verification code not arrived yet | Waiting on a code, mailbox empty | Wait a couple of minutes. Some services are genuinely slow. |
| Code rate-limited | Repeated code requests rejected | Stop requesting. Wait, then retry once. |
| Mailbox treated as disposable | Signup rejected at the address step | That service will not accept the address. Nothing to fix locally. |
| Network reputation | Signup soft-blocked, or told to contact support | The service is blocking the address range, not your setup. |
| Challenge needing a human | Signup waits for you | Take over and clear it. |
| Phone number needed | Signup waits at an SMS step | Provision a phone number, then let it continue. |
| Service changed its form | Automation stops on an unexpected page | Take over and finish it manually if you can. |
Retrying
Retry once when the cause was timing, or when you cleared a blocking step. Do not retry repeatedly against a service that has refused — repeated attempts make the refusal stronger, not weaker.
What a failure does not cost you
A failed signup does not silently charge you. Where a capability was paid for and not delivered, that is a refund case: see Refunds and failed delivery.
Still stuck
Troubleshooting collects the checks worth running before asking for help, and what to include when you do.