Funding Your Account
What You Pay For
There are two types of fees in SpotWalla - Storage/Map and Device Activity fees.
A storage/map fee of 4 cents per day is assessed if any device in your account has at least one stored message. The number of messages or devices doesn't matter. This fee is never more than 4 cents per day.
A device activity fee of 3 cents per day is assessed for each device in your account that is "active." For the phone apps (SWTracker and Bubbler) and Zoleo devices, activity is whenever they log in and/or send a message. For SPOT and Garmin devices "activity" occurs when the device is polled. This fee is never more than 3 cents per day per active device.
Polling a SPOT or Garmin device is how SpotWalla acquires new messages for these devices. Polling occurs 24/7/365 for SPOT and Garmin devices with an active message interface.
For the typical user, SpotWalla costs no more than 7 cents per day. There are ways to reduce/eliminate these fees. This is discussed below.
How This Works
SpotWalla is not a subscription service. Funding your SpotWalla account works like most Tollway Authorities. Users fund their account with X dollars. Whenever you pass through a toll area a small amount of money is taken from your account to pay for your travel.
Likewise, in SpotWalla users add X dollars to their account. Each day SpotWalla analyzes your activity and makes small deductions based on your usage. A SpotWalla "day" is from 12:00AM to 11:59PM in the America/Chicago timezone. All funds are in US Dollars.
You can fund your account with any amount that suits your needs. If you're the typical user and you want enough funds to last a year, then add $25 to your account.
If you want SpotWalla to send you an email when your account balance falls below some threshold, you can configure an alert.
If your account falls below $0, SpotWalla will continue to provide and assess fees for any usage. If your account falls below -$15, your account will be put on hold, your trips will no longer be viewable and device activity will cease.
Adding funds to your account will first be used to recover outstanding debts. The remaining balance will be used for future activity.
New users will receive a $2 credit. For the typical user this equates to four weeks of storage/map and device activity fees. This initial funding allows new users time to get acquainted with and start using SpotWalla. If you choose to continue using SpotWalla, add funds to your account. If not, you can cancel your account.
Funding Your Account
There are several ways to fund your account. In order of preference they are:
Stripe
Stripe is not Paypal! There is no need to create a Stripe account. The only reason we mention Stripe is for full disclosure. You need to know where your card/payment details are being processed and you need to know that SpotWalla has no interest in storing your Personal Card Information in our systems. We do not need it and we do not want it. That's the Stripe advantage.
You choose to use Stripe when you fund your account from the SpotWalla website. For instance, if you're viewing your account details and click the Add Funds button (highlighted below), you will be forwarded to a Stripe-hosted page to process your payment.
When complete, you're automatically returned to SpotWalla and your account balance is adjusted accordingly. Using Stripe is recommended because it's the easiest, quickest, most secure and least error-prone way to fund your account.
Paypal
If you prefer to use Paypal to fund your account, send a payment to
support@spotwalla.com or, if you use the Paypal app on your phone or have QR-code scanning
capabilities, scan this QR code:
Please include a note and tell us who you are and the email address on your account. We have to update your account manually and it will be impossible without this information. When we receive the confirmation email from Paypal we will update your account accordingly. This will not be an immediate update and could take a day or two to reflect in your account.
If your account is not updated after two days, please contact support. It means we cannot identify the account to credit. Please include any pertinent information like:
- Your Name
- The email address of your SpotWalla account if it's different from the one used to send your email
- The date the payment was made
- The Paypal transaction ID
For a more immediate response, we recommend using Stripe.
Note: Funds added to your account are less any transaction fees and taxes, if any. Transaction fees are not determined by SpotWalla, but by the payment processor used to fund your account. Please refer to the Paypal and Stripe websites for more information about the fees they charge.
Snail Mail
If you want to mail us a check, money order, cashier's check, etc that's fine too. This method of funding does not incur any processing fees so the entire amount will be credited to your account.
Make your check payable to:
SpotWalla Systems, Inc.
And send it to:
SpotWalla Systems, Inc.PO Box 1668
White House, TN 37188
Cost Savings Measures
There are measures you can take to mitigate SpotWalla's Storage/Map and Device Activity fees. As with most things SpotWalla, you are responsible for making these decisions and taking any action required.
The only way to eliminate Storage/Map fees is by purging your device of its messages. As long as your account has at least one device with at least one message, the Storage/Map fee will apply. While we don't recommend removing memories, refer to this help page if you want to purge your messages:
Purging a Device and/or Messages
Device activity fees are a bit different. You have absolute control over device activity. What you can do depends on the type of device you have. The following table contains cost savings measures for each device type.
| Device Type | Measures |
|---|---|
| SPOT and InReach |
Device activity is defined as the act of polling your device for new messages. It doesn't matter if new messages exist or if you have an active trip or anything else. SpotWalla polls these devices every 10-30 minutes as long as they're configured correctly and their message interface is active. If you don't want to incur these charges, simply deactivate the device's message interface when it's not in use. This option can be found on the Device Update page and is highlighted in the image below:
In the image above, this option is currently turned off. |
| Bubbler and SWTracker |
The phone apps use SpotWalla's Web API to log into your account, create messages, upload photos, etc. If the app does any of these, the device activity fee applies. If you don't want to incur these charges, ensure the app is not running when you're not using it. Be sure to quit the app. This process may differ on iOS and Android devices. |
| Zoleo | Zoleo devices work exactly like phone apps. If a message is sent during a 24-hour period, the device activity fee applies. |
| Generic | A generic device will incur a device activity charge if the email interface is used to create a message for the device. Uploading GPX data is not considered device activity. |
Coupons
SpotWalla will always support users who want to participate in an Iron Butt Association ride or who are participating in an organized event that uses SpotWalla to track participants.
Coupons allow users to participate in organized events without incurring any Storage/Map fees and Device Activity fees for up to two devices. Coupons are primarily for users who are only using SpotWalla because they're participating in an event. We don't want to burden them or the event with additional costs. The hope is these users will see the ongoing benefit of using SpotWalla and choose to fund their account.
We don't have time to audit the redemption of every coupon. We rely on users to be honest and only redeem a coupon if they're participating in the event and if they do not want to pay SpotWalla fees to participate.
We will periodically examine coupon usage. If there's clear evidence of abuse and we are unable to reach a mutual and amicable resolution, you will be issued a refund and your account will be cancelled.
Note: If you're an event organizer or participant in an event that does not have a coupon, please contact SpotWalla Support and we will create one.
Refunds
The unused funds in your account are yours. You can request a refund at any time. Refunds are a manual process. Depending how you funded your account, your refund will be returned to your original form of payment or a check will be issued to you. A check could take 5-10 days to arrive in your mailbox. A $5 processing fee will apply.
When requesting a refund, please send an email from the email address on your SpotWalla account. Include the following information:
- To whom the check will be made payable.
- The address where the refund should be mailed.
- Do you want your account purged from SpotWalla?