Cool - the data is indeed being recorded! And you are clearly right, for some reason the automation is no longer functioning / triggering for you. No need to turn off approvals.
I was about to implement something similar using this plugin - will let you know if I can repro the problem.
Also - perhaps these last 8 replies should be moved to Bug?
We had moved them to a new bug topic but I moved it back here.
Seems there are two problems currently intermingling - @EloiseBarrege has been having a problem with automations that create badges, starting 
with this post back in October. It seems to be a configuration issue specific to the site. Eloise, if you are not able to fix it I recommend you start a new topic in Marketplace to find someone to help you fix it.
@Paul_King seems to be struggling with a different issue, that an automation that previously worked stopped working after an update. If it persists and @nathank is able to repro, can one of you two start a new Bug topic to explore that further?