Processes in Microsoft 365 for setting up Office apps, redeeming product keys, and activating licenses.
For Microsoft 365 licenses purchased through a reseller, escalation paths depend on how the licenses were ordered and whether they are volume licensing or CSP.
- Verify whether an order was actually placed
- If this is a Volume Licensing (VL) purchase, sign in to the VL tools (for example, VLSC/VL Central) and check:
- Contracts → View order details to confirm an order exists and see the licensed usage start date.
- View reservations to confirm a License Reservation was placed, if applicable.
- If no order or reservation appears, the reseller may not have placed the order yet.
- If this is a Volume Licensing (VL) purchase, sign in to the VL tools (for example, VLSC/VL Central) and check:
- Check for activation emails and automatic assignment
- For VL online services, activation emails are sent to the Online Services Manager (OSM) contact when:
- The order is placed and
- The usage start date is reached (can be up to 24–48 hours from that date).
- Common reasons for not receiving an activation email include:
- The enrollment has on‑premises products only.
- The activation email was sent to a different contact or went to junk mail.
- The order usage date is in the future.
- The enrollment is already associated with an existing online account and services were auto‑assigned, so no new email is sent.
- If the OSM email is already a Global or Billing Administrator on an existing tenant, licenses can be automatically assigned to that tenant with no activation email.
- For VL online services, activation emails are sent to the Online Services Manager (OSM) contact when:
- Confirm licenses are available to assign
- Once activated on the Microsoft Entra tenant, a Global or Billing Administrator must assign licenses to users:
- Go to Billing → Licenses in the Microsoft 365 admin center and check if the new subscriptions appear.
- If licenses are not visible to assign, possible reasons include:
- It is still within 24 hours of the licensed usage start date.
- The licenses were activated on the wrong tenant.
- The service is not available in the tenant’s location.
- Add‑on subscriptions were ordered on a different License ID than the base subscription.
- In these cases, contact volume licensing support or the reseller to correct the order or tenant mapping.
- Once activated on the Microsoft Entra tenant, a Global or Billing Administrator must assign licenses to users:
- Escalate through Microsoft channels (for VL scenarios)
- If the reseller is unresponsive or the order is not visible:
- Use My Cases and Support in Volume Licensing Central as Level 1 support.
- If a case is already open and not progressing, escalate it:
- In VL Central My Cases and Support, open View case and select Escalate under the Action column or in the Case Details panel.
- Add comments describing that the reseller took payment but the licenses are not activated/visible.
- Submit the escalation. The escalated case will appear at the top of the case list.
- Alternatively, use the Regional Operations BOT (R.O.B.) for escalation, or reply to the case email with the word ESCALATE in the body (noting that manual email escalation can take longer).
- If the reseller is unresponsive or the order is not visible:
- If the purchase is via a CSP partner
- As a CSP customer, the partner is responsible for provisioning and managing subscriptions.
- The partner can:
- Check service health and incidents.
- File a service request with Microsoft on the customer’s behalf if there is a technical or provisioning issue.
- If the CSP partner is not acting, the customer can request that the partner open a support ticket with Microsoft; if they refuse, the issue becomes a commercial dispute with the reseller.
- When to involve Microsoft support directly
- If an order is visible in VL tools but services are not activating or licenses are not assignable after the expected time window, contact volume licensing support using the official VL support/contact channels referenced in the documentation.
- Provide:
- License ID/Enrollment number
- Order details
- Dates and proof of payment to the reseller
- If the reseller appears fraudulent
- If there is evidence that the reseller took payment but never placed an order, or is reselling improper volume licenses, treat it as a commercial/fraud issue with the seller (chargeback, local consumer protection, etc.) and report the seller to Microsoft through the appropriate fraud/reporting channels referenced in Microsoft licensing guidance.
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