Question

GitHub Student Promo Won't Work

Posted November 4, 2016 4.8k views
DigitalOcean

Hey! I’ve had a Digital Ocean account for a while, though I have never used it (never created a droplet).

I recently got my ‘GitHub Student Pack’ that had a promo code, but sadly it won’t work as the site says its for new members only, even though my account is only old by age.

Any way to resolve this? Thanks!

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2 answers
xMudrii November 4, 2016

Don’t worry, I had the same problem when I got mine code.
You need to [Contact Support](cloud.digitalocean.com/support/tickets) and they will add redeem that code for you :)

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duke1102 November 4, 2016

Ah, interesting. I also find it rather silly to limit that offer to new users only since you have to provide a certificate that you are a student first to even get that coupon.

I’ll do what you suggested @xMudrii, maybe the support will be accomodating and still grant it to me. So far they have been awesome in my experience!

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  • xMudrii November 4, 2016

    It’s true what you said, you need to get verified from GitHub before you get code.

    But system works on way that you can redeem only one code. If you redeemed another code before student one, system will automatically block redeeming new one for your account.

    On FAQ page you can see above statement.

    I also heard that you are only allowed to redeem codes for first month of account creation or adding credit card/PayPal. In case month passed, you will be automatically blocked from redeeming new code.
    This is what I heard and I’m not absolutely sure in it. Maybe some for community can say something about it (paging @ryanpq ).

    So by rules you can’t redeem it, but because DO Support guys are best and you are a student, they will redeem that code for you :)

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    • ryanpq November 4, 2016

      👋 Page received!

      I’ve double checked with our support team to ensure I have the correct information and can clear this up a bit. The 30 days you mention is not a hard limit and there are various things that can affect how long the system will allow you to enter a code (like an account requiring verification to be activated in some cases). If the control panel will not allow you to enter a code, open a ticket and our support team can usually help you out.

      If you previously redeemed another promotion code you will not be allowed to use another one.

      The student developer pack is treated just like any other promotion code on our system. Since the system does not see it as a separate thing from promotion codes you may find on a podcast, the system does not take into account the Github verification process for the student pack. The limit of one promotion per user and on when a code can be entered are solely there to prevent fraud. In the past, fraudulent accounts were a serious problem (they still are but the steps we have taken has resolved the large majority of it). This is also the reason that some prepaid cards are not accepted, and the number of droplets you can create is limited to begin with (you can get it increased easily by asking). Users would create an account with a prepaid card, load some credit, and run up as big a bill as they could running a ton of servers to seed torrents or mine bitcoin and then disappear leaving us without payment. Balancing our need to prevent fraud with making the process easy for legitimate users is a constant challenge and we value feedback like yours as we continue to work to improve these processes.

      That said, if you are unable to add your student developer pack code from the control panel, open a ticket and our team will do their best to assist you.

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