Orders - Not getting e-mail notification

[BRAD_UK]

Hi there,

I have found that sometimes I dont get an e-mail when someone has ordered off my website. The only way I know that someone has ordered is that I get a payment nofification through Paypal.

When I log on to my store I see that payment has been received but the goods are still on cart so I have to amend this to pending / shipped / etc etc manually.

Has anyone else had this problem ????

Brad

The Baseball and Softball Shop
www.baseballandsoftball.co.uk

[Paul S]

Hi Brad,

Yes, this happens to me with about one in five orders.

A solution anyone???

Paul

[Nadeem]

Hi there

The problem is that the customers are not pressing the continue button on the paypal site to return to the merchants store to complete payment.

To fix this the merchant needs to login to their paypal account and goto.

Profile -> Website Payment Preferences

Then they need to Turn on Auto Return and specify their Shop URL in the return URL field.

This will redirect their customers back to their website automatically which should prevent any more of the cart order status problems.

Kind Regards

[Paul S]

Thanks Nadeem

Paul
www.partsforaircraft.co.uk

[BRAD_UK]

Hi Nadeem,

Thanks for the reply but my Paypal settings are already set up this way.

Anymore ideas ??

Brad

The Baseball and Softball Shop
www.baseballandsoftball.co.uk

[Nadeem]

Hi Brad, Mmm very strange. I have just reported this to one of the developers and got this message back:


The only thing I can suggest is that the customer double checks his
paypal account. I can put his paypal module into debug mode to see if
that yields any more information and if the customer lets us know of an
order where it happens again I can see if I can get anymore information.
If you could just double check, and also if we put the paypal moduel into debug mode, if another customer gets the problem, we could get more information from what it produces. Will this be okay?

Kind Regards

[BRAD_UK]

Hi Nadeem,

This has still happened on my last 2 out of 3 orders over the last week.



Brad

The Baseball and Softball Shop
www.baseballandsoftball.co.uk

[Nadeem]

Hi Brad,

Mmm this is very strange, I spoke to one of the developers who couldn't see why this is happening. Here is what he said

The only reason I have found after many hours of debugging is that the customer doesn't return to the store after completing the payment at
paypal. With the auto return enabled this should be done automatically
after 1 second.

The only thing left I can suggest is to setup a test product for 0.01 so that we can test the checkout and make sure auto return is actually working.

Please could you setup a test product of 1p including shipping, and we can get this bit tested out?

[kakshaks]

Hi
Assuming we want our customers to return to their receipt page, what would be the 'Return URL'?
Thx
Kevin Akers

http://www.testinprivate.co.uk

[Bruce]

The intergaration with PayPal is written to auto configure this all you need to do is, Turn on Auto Return and specify your Shop URL in the return URL field.

This will redirect your customers back to the website automatically which should prevent any more of the cart order status problems.

Kind regards,

[feemish]

Hi Bruce,

I've tried this but it didnt work.
Auto return only seems to work if the payment is by someone with an actual paypal account.
If you choose 'paypal account optional' for new users, so customers can pay by credit card without having to create an account, then at the end of the payment, they are not auto-returned, but asked if they'd like to sign up for a paypal account. The return to merchant button is there... but quite small.

This is what it says on paypal.

Auto Return shortens the checkout flow and immediately brings your buyers back to your website upon payment completion. To set up Auto Return, you need to turn it on and enter the Return URL that will be used to redirect your buyers back to your site.

Note: If you have enabled Auto Return and have chosen to turn on PayPal Account Optional for new users, a new user will not be automatically directed back to your website, but will be given the option to return.


Still looking for a way...
Regards,
Mark

http://www.arka-shop.co.uk

[Bruce]

Mark,

You will have to get in touch with PayPal or if you have the access, edit the PayPal confirmation page to make the 'Return to Merchant Site' button more prominent, or add in text to tell people to click the button to return to your site to see their receipt.

Checking to see if there is anything else that perhaps can be done.

Kind regards,

[feemish]

Hi Bruce, Thanks for the reply,

The options for editing the paypal pages are very basic... background colour, logo, etc and i cant see a way of adding any text to the paypal pages.

I've put some bold text on the last actinic page saying, 'click return to merchant for your receipt' but quite a lot of people still dont!

I've emailed paypal, but as you probably know, i'll get some robot generated reply that most likely wont help.

So, still looking...

Cheers,
Mark

http://www.arka-shop.co.uk
http://www.guru.uk.com

[Bruce]

I ran this past development and they too say that this is something that can only be done on PayPal's end as the Success/Error page is generated by the PayPal server.

Kind regards,

[skinnybloke]

Hi - I'm a bit confused regarding the return shop URL:
Turn on Auto Return and specify your Shop URL in the return URL field.

Is this www.domainname.com or www.domainname.com/cg-bin/os000001.pl?

[Bruce]

The url should be the cgi one but there is no need to enter a value for the auto return field. Just leave it blank, Actinic sends the PayPal server an Auto return URL that it uses to send back to the store.

Kind regards,

[skinnybloke]

Hi Bruce - tried leaving it blank but got this error:

You must enter a properly formatted Return URL. If you do not enter a properly formatted Return URL, which includes the Return URL requirements, Auto Return will not be turned on and applied to your Website Payment pages.

[buspassjohn]

Not sure if its going to work but I have made ours www.oursite/receipt.html and am going to change the Paypal option on the site to read "PAYPAL ACCOUNT HOLDERS ONLY" as the option to pay by credit card or Paypal will now be disabled.
It's a pity Actinic couldn't have sorted this when they agreed the integration with Paypal instead of just ignoring it.
If it works ok overnight I will post tomorrow.
p.s.
Just noticed that the original question was for Express, I don't have a clue if you can alter the payment messages in express as we use V7

[skinnybloke]

Yes - I use v7.0 as well but as this thread seemed to cover generic paypal I thought I would add to it.

[buspassjohn]

Well it seems to have worked, every Paypal overnight has had the copy order emailed to us, so the customer must have gone back to the receipt page on the site.
Also no Paypal customers paid by credit or debit card which is another bonus, it's kept the credit/debit card payers out of the clutches of Paypal!

[skinnybloke]

Hi - which is the option on Paypal to stop customers using credit/debit cards?

[Bruce]

It is 'PayPal Account Optional' it needs to be turned off.

Kind regards,

[skinnybloke]

Cheers Bruce - I will give that a go.

[Duncan Allan]

It is 'PayPal Account Optional' it needs to be turned off.

I can't see this in v7.05 where can it be found?

TIA Duncan

[skinnybloke]

It's not in Actinic - it is under the menu tab "profile" when you log into your paypal account.

[skinnybloke]

To be more precise:

Go to your paypal account. On the top menu > profile > website payment preferences

Set "Paypal Account Optional" to No and "Save"

[Duncan Allan]

Thank you = sorted.

Having taken time to read the paypal page details and options I can see the problems stem from paypal themselves. The options to get a return confirmation means you have to have the optional switch ON. This will allow credit card use and so extract their hefty fees from us.

So the way I read it it isn't Actinic being the problem although I would have thought that tougher negotiations needed to have been made to make a better gateway than the universal one that everyone can use.

Duncan

[SteveECrane]

Bruce,

I've had Sivakami Chockalingam looking at this via an open "Actinic Cover" Fault; however, as it has been back and forth between Actinic, our hosting provider (4SureHosting aka TechnoWeb) and us for several weeks now - and as it seems to be a somewhat common issue on the forums - I've asked Ben Popplestone to become involved. :rolleyes:

Nevertheless, I was hoping you may be able to add your penny's worth ...

Initially we were being advised to change our SMTP eMail settings from "localhost" - 4Sure's stated configuration - to a specific mail server - Actinic's choice, to ensure the Auto Return function completed successfully. However, this has had no impact whatsoever on this issue! :confused:

In fact, we have now found that we are receiving a "A General Script Error Occurred" as well, as per this:

"Error: Bad input string "SEQUENCE=3&ACTION=Finish&ORDERNUMBER=SC82DJ10000402&REFPAGE=
http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ejardin%2dd%2deden%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2findex%2ehtml&&tx=
0YP05325CS5238640&st=Completed&amt=1.02&cc=GBP&cm=&sig=
wLDno%2b0sKMF9X9exF7i6vZTFTCqMvSrWpzo0G3J69y2mLaaT9zUP%2f0L354CUDJf5KBs2N2oOrCeTOEfexL1igWJ114DGz5%
2fBKJMwG8b3sljLkagR6vmxTqzxaNbUCLBLoVYFUzDNnamObjn%2f%2b4%2bsDQfCzY4Bq52aLpKXHtDImnI%3d".
Argument count 20. Press the Browser back button and try again or contact the site owner."

at this URL:

"http://www.jardin-d-eden.co.uk/cgibin/os000001.pl?SEQUENCE=3&ACTION=
Finish&ORDERNUMBER=SC82DJ10000402&REFPAGE=
http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ejardin%2dd%2deden%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2findex%2ehtml&&tx=
0YP05325CS5238640&st=Completed&amt=1.02&cc=GBP&cm=&sig=
wLDno%2b0sKMF9X9exF7i6vZTFTCqMvSrWpzo0G3J69y2mLaaT9zUP%
2f0L354CUDJf5KBs2N2oOrCeTOEfexL1igWJ114DGz5%2fBKJMwG8b3sljLkagR6vmxTqzxaNbUCLBLoVYFUzDNnamObjn%
2f%2b4%2bsDQfCzY4Bq52aLpKXHtDImnI%3d"

This may / may not be related ... or simply one of those coincidental red herrings we all love; however ...

Given that there is (apparently) contradictory advice from both Actinic, one of your partners (4Sure) and even individuals within Actinic's Tech Support function, it would be ideal if a definitive solution could be found and published within your FAQ section as to how to configure the eMail server parameter within Advanced | Network Setup.

If there are considerations and/or 'compromises' to review when configuring this parameter - e.g. in respect of the eMail notification of orders to customers paying with PayPal - would it be possible to state these? I mention this as (currently) neither we nor our customers are receiving an eMail confirmation of their order details (and, as a consequence, we have lost some orders). (In fact, we seldom receive even the standard Actinic notification eMail stating that there is an order awaiting download, at this moment in time, for PayPal and NoChex orders!).

Actinic Tech Support originally stated (some months ago) that this was correct for a PayPal payment(!), then (many weeks later) stated it would be 'cured' by employing a mailserver name in this field ... and now - after flipping back and forth between "localhost" and our actual mailserver name - we're not entirely sure what the answer is or what the correct operation of the software should be!

All I know is that it worked once ... for ALL payment methods!

As I understand it "localhost" is appropriate for LINUX-based server environments whereas "mail.server.domain-name.suffix" is more appropriate to Windows-based servers. Is this correct? Furthermore, should this affect the Auto Return function?

However, if, as it appears, the issue concerning the Auto-Return function for some (all?) PSP's is more generic - and, from the multiplicity of posts I've stumbled across looking for a definitive solution, it does seem to be more than a blip - a formal check of the various PSP's and Actinic's Auto Return capability in this respect would seem vastly more appropriate than all the ongoing speculation I'm privy to.

Thus far, I've even been told to replace my "OrderScript.pl" and "mailscript.pl" scripts with the originals in the vain search for a 'solution'!

Any comments or advice - and, more importantly, a real-world, long-term, working solution - would be gratefully received! Far too may orders have been cancelled or excessively queried because customers have lost confidence with our checkout and payment process!

Cheers all ...

[cdicken]

Hi Steve

Sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time getting your emails up and running with Actinic. You'll be getting a call today from a senior member of the support team to help you with this.

Problems like this are notoriously difficult to pin down as they rely on a correct interaction between the Actinic scripts, the paypal server, your web server and also your mail server. The trick is to try and pin down which out of those is causing the issue.

[TraceyG]

After speaking with Steve, we have turned off PDT (Payment Data Transfer) on his Paypal account and it all now works. The email issue was caused because the customers were not getting back to his webserver because of the error message, which is when the emails are sent out.

[SteveECrane]

Chris,

Thanks ... Tracey managed to resolve the PayPal issue this morning by getting us to change something on the PayPal config side (using IPN = off) - a bit strange as we have categorically not changed anything within PayPal (or NoChex for that matter) in years (I should know, I have the only account password!) - despite the order notification eMail process once working for us for ALL our payment methods(!); however, the concern I have is that far from being unable to set Actinic up correctly ( :rolleyes: ) this feature originally worked under v6 for us and for most of our time on v7, then it became temperamental, then it failed. Furthermore, we received contrary and conflicting advice - sometimes from within Actinic - as to what to configure!

Consequently, I've asked that Tracey try to resolve the 'issue' such that a definitive statement about PayPal configuration (as well as, hopefully, NoChex) and the eMail server name config parameter(s) - within Advanced | Network Set-Up - be posted on your FAQ and possibly documented on the Actinic forum too, be notified to your hosting partners and maybe introduced in the accompanying documentation for the initial installation of Actinic. Hopefully this will put all the confusion to one side once and for all. :D

I just hope that PayPal and/or NoChex haven't made any script changes at their end which have had an adverse, as yet un-quantified / un-qualified knock-on effect, as my fear is that the problem may well return!

Cheers,

Steve.


PS For completeness sake, here is our current set-up (for all it's worth):-

1) Actinic Set-Up:

Advanced | Network Set-Up
eMail Settings | SMTP Server: LOCALHOST (replete with appropriate parameters in the User Name and Password fields!).


2) PayPal Account Profile config:

"Selling Preferences"

a) Website Payment Preferences

Auto Return for Website Payments
Auto Return: On
Return URL: http://www.UserDomain.co.uk/index.html

Payment Data Transfer (optional)
Payment Data Transfer: On

Encrypted Website Payments
Block Non-encrypted Website Payment: Off

PayPal Account Optional
PayPal Account Optional: On

Contact Telephone Number
Contact Telephone: Off


b) Instant Payment Notification Preferences

Instant Payment Notification Preferences
Instant Payment Notification (IPN): Off


I hope this helps! It may be worth noting that our hosting provider is 4SureHosting (aka TechnoWeb) and that they employ LINUX servers and not Windows-based ones.