> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.digitalseaservice.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# entitlement_write_failed

> HTTP 502 — we could not grant Premium to the crew member, so no seat was billed. Safe to retry.

<Note>
  **Partner-restricted.** Only returned by the
  [Sponsorship API](/sponsorships/overview), which requires a sponsorship program.
</Note>

```http theme={null}
HTTP/1.1 502 Bad Gateway
Content-Type: application/problem+json
X-Request-Id: req_01HV9XK...

{
  "type": "https://docs.digitalseaservice.com/errors/entitlement_write_failed",
  "title": "Entitlement write failed",
  "status": 502,
  "detail": "The crew member's DSS record could not be updated. No seat has been billed.",
  "instance": "req_01HV9XK..."
}
```

## What it means

You called [`POST /v1/partners/sponsorships`](/sponsorships/provision) and we
got as far as reserving a seat, but the final step — switching the crew member's
DSS account to Premium — did not land against any member record.

**No seat has been billed to you.** We credit the reserved seat back before
returning this error, so your Stripe subscription is left exactly as it was.

This should not happen. It means our two systems disagreed about the member's
account mid-request, which is a bug on our side rather than anything wrong with
your request.

<Note>
  Before this error existed, that write could fail silently: you were billed
  £3.99/month for a member who stayed on the Free plan and kept seeing an upgrade
  prompt in DSS. We now fail the request, credit the seat, and alert on it.
</Note>

## What to do

* **Retry the same request.** It is idempotent — a replay reuses the same seat
  rather than creating a second one, and the transient cause usually clears.
* **Keep your `Idempotency-Key`** if you send one; reusing it on the retry is
  correct and safe.
* **Don't mark the member as sponsored on your side** until you get a `200`
  or `201`. There is no partially-created seat to reconcile.
* **If it repeats for the same member**, that member's DSS account likely needs
  attention. [Contact us](mailto:admin@digitalseaservice.com) with the `instance`
  request ID and the member's email and we will resolve it.

## Related

* [Provision a seat](/sponsorships/provision)
* [Reconcile your roster](/sponsorships/reconciliation)
* [Errors overview](/errors)