A Submit Ticket

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Hello all. I'd like to write a Submit Ticket to the site where I bought a server in.

I purchased a server on July 23rd. Having purchased the server, I, somehow, had a 'safety' error which means, to me, may payment did not go through. Today, I again tried to buy a server and the site said ' A user with that email exists', hence I checked my e-mail whether I recieved an email before. I found a few email which were sent by you that includes about invoice. Now it seems my payment went through. I tried to log-in to the server I purchased, but there is a 'Fraud' error.

Would you mind checking it for me? I think my grammar is very very incorrect. Thanks in advance.

Shawn79 · Accepted Answer

I purchased a server on July 23rd. When paying for the server, I got a "Safety Error" which I think means my payment did not go through. Today, I again tried to buy a server and the site said "a user with that email exists." I checked to see whether I had received an email before. I found a few emails from you that include an invoice. Now it seems my payment did go through after all. I tried to log-in to the server I purchased, but I am getting a "Fraud Error". Can you please help me resolve these errors?

You might want to include additional information, like an invoice number, account number or whatever they may have sent you in the emails so they can resolve your issue more easily. Good luck!

Nugso · Answer

Thanks Shawn79. I'd like to ask you a few question about your corrections;

Shawn79When paying for the server, I got a "Safety Error"

I meant after I paid for the server, I got a "Safety Error". So is not mine correct too?

Shawn79whether I had received an email before.

Do I need to use past perfect? I think I don't need to use had recieved because the sequence of events is clear. Am I mistaken?

Shawn79You might want to include additional information, like an invoice number, account number or whatever they may have sent you in the emails so they can resolve your issue more easily. Good luck!

Oh I forgot to add details. Thank you again.

Shawn79 · Answer

Hi Nugso!

NugsoI meant after I paid for the server, I got a "Safety Error". So is not mine correct too?

You could say that too: "After I paid for the server..." Mine just emphasizes that it was at the moment of payment (ie immediately after) not some time later (minutes, hours, etc.) Also I was correcting "having purchased the server" which somehow just sounded a bit odd to me.

NugsoDo I need to use past perfect? I think I don't need to use had recieved because the sequence of events is clear. Am I mistaken?

No, you do not need to use the past perfect here. "Whether I received an email before" is fine. We Americans would probably use the past simple as you did. For me there was just something about using the past perfect to suggest that you might have received the email sometime earlier than the moment you checked, but of course you have that idea in the word "before." You weren't wrong, just a personal preference of mine.

Some things were corrections of grammar, others were just matters of style. You did pretty good!

Nugso · Answer

Shawn79You could say that too: "After I paid for the server..." Mine just emphasizes that it was at the moment of payment (ie immediately after) not some time later (minutes, hours, etc.) Also I was correcting "having purchased the server" which somehow just sounded a bit odd to me.

Oh, I see. Does Having paid for the server sound odd to you too?

Shawn79No, you do not need to use the past perfect here. "Whether I received an email before" is fine. We Americans would probably use the past simple as you did. For me there was just something about using the past perfect to suggest that you might have received the email sometime earlier than the moment you checked, but of course you have that idea in the word "before." You weren't wrong, just a personal preference of mine.

Oh, You got all your points across. Thank you again.

Shawn79 · Answer

NugsoOh, I see. Does Having paid for the server sound odd to you too?

In this context, yes, it still sounds odd to me. This construct is not common in speech. If it had a word like "after, but, or however" it would sound better to me:

After having paid for the server, I got an error.
But having paid for the server, I got an error.
However, having paid for the server, I got an error.

I'm not a grammarian, so you could be technically correct. For me personally "having [past participle]" means something more than just "after [gerund]". I'm listening for an expected and logical result. I found this example on another website:

Having finished their work, they went home. - A leads to B as expected, it has the same meaning as:
They have finished their work, so they went home.

Having paid for/purchased the server, I setup a website. - sounds good to me
I paid for/purchased the server, so I setup a website.

But again, it may just be my preference. I'm doing the old "ear test."

I would recommend posting this as a new question, specifically "having + past participle" using your example, with it's unexpected result (the error) and see what others say. I'm curious!

Nugso · Answer

Okay. I'll ask it in order to learn whether you're 100% right. I think you're, though. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> Thanks.

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