PayPal has unexpectedly returned a blank address

Hi,
I have a Zen Shop (1.3.9) up & running with activated PayPal Express module for payment.

If a customer is not registering manually, but directly bypassing the whole registration part by using the paypal express method, everything works fine. Cashflow works, Account is created, Email to the customer... all good!

But if an already registered customer chooses 'PayPal' as payment method at the end of the order process it does not work. Paypal login page will load as it should, but after entering the customer paypal credentials Zen-Cart returns the following error message:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Error message text

PROBLEM: We're sorry. PayPal has unexpectedly returned a blank address. <br />In order to complete your purchase, please provide your address by clicking the &quot;Sign Up&quot; button below to create an account in our store. Then you may select PayPal again when you continue with checkout. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you have any trouble with checkout, please click the Contact Us link to explain the details to us so we can help you with your purchase and prevent the problem in the future. Thanks.'

---

Any idea where the root cause is located? I already reviewed some threads and learned that there were some issues with Zen 1.3.8 and the blank adress, but those should be fixed in Zen 1.3.9.

Thanks for any idea, where I can approach to do some more bugfixing / testing. The IPN configuration looks good to me as long as the express registration & payment works, or am I mistaking?

Looking forward to some answers of the specialists...

Best regards,
Michael

Please click Reply below and answer all the questions in the Posting Tips section.

* Using Zen-Cart 1.3.9
* not upgraded yet
* just the andover modern template, for the rest all out of the latest release
* just the regular stuff from the release has been installed
* no layouting problems
* no hosting issues
* After reviewing the FAQ / search I just found the issues with blank adress on ZenCart 1.3.8
* This is my first store. I was in the final testing, leaving the sandbox and test the paypal payment on production

I hope that those informations will help to determine the problem I'm experiencing at the moment.
Thanks for your patience and attention.
Best regards,
Michael

Which 1.3.9 release?
What settings have you changed in the admin?
What languages are you using?
What country/state deletions have you done?
What zones have you created, and why? What have you used them for? (shipping? payment? taxes? other?)
What shipping settings have you set up for your products?
etc
etc
etc
etc
etc
How is your site different from a clean brand new uncustomized ZC install?

My ZC>Paypal was working during testing with PP.

Then I moved to a sub-domain for permanent location and tested checkout without PP and all was well. ZC also works with 100% off coupon while logged in. However, when logged in to ZC, PP express fails with the same above message.

ZC 1.5.0 RC3.
Added flexible attributes.
Made some changes to ZC admin email accounts.
Adjusted some attributes.

Solutions tried:
Re-pasted API info.
Uninstalled PP module and reinstalled.

It appears to have something to do with the ZC customer address being lost during the transaction.

When it ask for you to sign up, you are still logged in and the good are still in the cart???

If it's related to addresses, then maybe you've tampered with country and zone settings or deleted the defaults. Hence the questions I posed in the prior post.

I reset my country and state (they were correct).
Where else would you suggest I look?

That's not what I was referring to.

Zen Cart has a default list of countries and zones (states if you're american). PayPal collects an address from the customer and sends it back to Zen Cart. But, if it comes back blank from PayPal, or if there is no country/zone "match" available because you've deleted all the country/zone details from Zen Cart, then naturally it won't be able to do a proper match, and that could trigger the error.

So, if your reaction to that is that you've not touched any country/zone/state details in Zen Cart, then the only way to figure out your unique problem is to capture debug logs for review. http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61199

Plus a list of EXACTLY what I would need to do to recreate the same problem EVERY TIME when starting with a blank fresh install of Zen cart with only the demo products. How exactly would I adjust MY site (which does NOT have the problem you're mentioning) so that the problem happens consistently all the time?

Log conditions:

First test:

I deleted my customer info and ran through check without an account and then when to paypal, logged in and successfully checked out.

Second test:
While logged into ZC, attempted to check with PP and was returned to ZC with the same error.

Logs:
http://register4tkd.com/index.php?main_page=page_2

The link doesn't appear to work. 404-not-found error.
PM me with a working link.

It does indeed appear that PayPal isn't sending full address details back. Nothing we can do about that from our end.

You'll need to log a ticket with their support people: www.paypal.com/mts

Give them the contents of these log files: Paypal_CURL_EC-7DE42988S3908964J_VEYD.log and Paypal_CURL_EC-7DE42988S3908964J_PSBd.log

DrByte, thanks for the help so far.

Spoke with PP and they informed me that the shipping varible that I'm sending is messed up. I don't use shipping and most of it is off.

I will turn on some shipping and run test.
Can you advise on how to PROPERLY set up no shipping for use with PP?

Thanks again!

Also, others may want to read these:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...t=88416&page=4

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125948

I don't see how either of those links is relevant to the matter at hand. The first is talking about Website Payments Standard. And the second is about PayPal's inability to receive 2 addresses per transaction for a customer.

As far as free shipping goes, simply setting up products with free shipping is the easiest way. How exactly have YOU configured things for no shipping? And why?

I am selling services not products. I don't have anything to ship.

The tech at PP said there was a conflict with my shipping info that is being sent to them. He said that a varible is sent to them indicating a shipping address (or not). He said if I sent a 0, PP would look for a shipping address. If I sent a 2, PP would not look for a shipping address.

I will try to set up free shipping.

Ok, I found the problem.

I change one of my products from virtual (no shipping) to not (shipping required).

The transaction WAS successful.

Now, I would like some advice on how to set up the products (service) and shipping properly.

Preferably, I would like my customers to never have to deal with shipping concerns during checkout.

Also, if I go directly to PP with something in the cart, PP kicks me back to ZC step 1 of check out, then 2, 3, and then back to PP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slingblade01

The tech at PP said there was a conflict with my shipping info that is being sent to them. He said that a varible is sent to them indicating a shipping address (or not). He said if I sent a 0, PP would look for a shipping address. If I sent a 2, PP would not look for a shipping address.

---

Sounds like the feedback they give to people using Website Payments Standard, not Express Checkout.

So, after reading hundreds of post, what exactly is a virtual product and how do you skip shipping info with PP...successfully?

You have several ways of doing Free Shipping ...

If your Products are all Virtual Products, the checkout_shipping page is skipped completely ...

If you have your Products set to 0 weight, and 0 weight is defined to be Free Shipping in the Configuration ... Shipping/Packaging ... then you will see the checkout_shipping page with the only choice for shipping being the FREE SHIPPING freeshipper ...

I understand that. I tried the virtual products/zero weight/free shipping senario.

But what is the point when PP sends the customer right back to the the ZC to verify the customers shipping address before completing the purchase. This is extremely confusing to the customers.

The shipping is not skipped, it's just prolonged.

May have found a bug in virtual products handling, by virtue of the way PayPal handles addresses for virtual items.

Try setting your product as "Product Is Virtual" = Yes, Skip Shipping Address.
And make this small code change by adding in the new highlighted line exactly as shown:
/includes/modules/payment/paypalwpp.php, line 1661 (v1.5.0)

Code:

---

    // Check for blank address -- if address received from PayPal is blank, ask the customer to register in the store first and then resume checkout
if ($_SESSION['cart']->get_content_type() != 'virtual')
    if ($response['SHIPTONAME'] . $response['SHIPTOSTREET'] . $response['SHIPTOSTREET2'] . $response['SHIPTOCITY'] . $response['SHIPTOSTATE'] . $response['SHIPTOZIP'] . $response['SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE'] == '') {

---

This fix is included in v1.5.1.

I'll test it in about an hour after a db swap.

Thanks for the idea, I would love to skip this shipping step.

No luck.


I switched back to virtual and edited paypalwpp.

While finalizing the purchase in PP, I was sent back to steps 2 and 3 of the cart.

Steps 2 and 3 are still necessary. But the "unexpectedly returned a blank address" problem is gone, right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrByte

Steps 2 and 3 are still necessary. But the "unexpectedly returned a blank address" problem is gone, right?

---

Ok, I was confused. Step 3 "Order Confirmation" appeared to be a shipping confirmation because of the shipping address.

So I guess I should rephrase my question:
Why the return to the cart from PP?
PP has these confirmation steps built in to their system.
This is very confusing to customers who want a true express checkout.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slingblade01

So I guess I should rephrase my question:
Why the return to the cart from PP?
PP has these confirmation steps built in to their system.

---

The return to cart is necessary so that these situations can be handled:
- shipping, if applicable (needs address info to calculate)
- taxes, if applicable (needs address info to calculate)
- coupons, if offered (PayPal doesn't support this on their end)
- gift certificates, if offered (PayPal doesn't support YOUR gift certs on their end, only the ones THEY issue)

Plus, it's the way PayPal architected it initially. They're making some changes to bandage some of these limitations as time goes on, some even on our suggestion, amazingly enough.

#21 in this thread solved my issue.

Thanks.:clap:

Just wondering if there are any new developments on this. I have the same problem and have tried #21 along with several other changes but no luck.

I am having the same problem and post 21 didn't help ether. Its very frustrating! I am using V1.50 and moved from go daddy to host gator. I had no problem on go daddy:no:

Post #21 solved it for me! (I'm using an entirely fresh install of v1.5 with no mods).

Thanks DrByte!

All the best

Simon

I updated from 1.3.9 to 1.5.0 and have the same issue. I think post #21 solved it for me as well. It's too early to tell though.

Post #21 worked for me also:)

#21 works for me too.

:smile:
Dave

Post #21 solved the problem for me also.

It fixed my paypal issues as well. Hopefully this little bug fix will eventually come standard with the download.

Yes, this fix seems to be working fine. Is there a caveat I should watch for...is this an actual bug that will be fixed. In any event, thanks so much for getting the store up and running again!

#21 helped me a well. Thanks !!

I too am receiving this "We're sorry. PayPal has unexpectedly returned a blank address" message.

PayPal is set to a Business Account.

My test case has "Yes, Skip Shipping Address" and "Yes, Always Free Shipping" because it is an MP3 file.
If I want to use PayPal Website Payments Standard - IPN, I can, but I want to process credit cards using
PayPal, so I want to use PayPal Express Checkout:

I am using 1.5 and have never used any other version, I am a newbie.
Any suggestions??


My PayPal Express Checkout settings are:
Enable this Payment Module
True

Sort order of display.
1

Payment Zone
--none--

Express Checkout Shortcut Button
Off

Set Order Status
Processing [2]

Set Unpaid Order Status
Pending [1]

Set Refund Order Status
Pending [1]

Express Checkout: Require Confirmed Address
No

Express Checkout: Select Cheapest Shipping Automatically
Yes

Express Checkout: Skip Payment Page
Yes

Express Checkout: Automatic Account Creation
Yes

Payment Action
Final Sale

Transaction Currency
Only USD

Store (Brand) Name at PayPal
Peace and Brotherhood Store

Allow eCheck?
Any

PayPal Page Style
Primary

API Signature -- Username
****************

API Signature -- Password
****************

API Signature -- Signature Code
****************

PayPal Mode
PayPal

Live or Sandbox
live

Debug Mode
Off

When was the bug referred to in #21 fixed?
Thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tulipdude

When was the bug referred to in #21 fixed?
Thank you.

---

There has not yet been any official release containing the code change you mentioned in post #21.
It is fixed in v1.5.1

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrByte

May have found a bug in virtual products handling, by virtue of the way PayPal handles addresses for virtual items.

Try setting your product as "Product Is Virtual" = Yes, Skip Shipping Address.
And make this small code change by adding in the new highlighted line exactly as shown:
/includes/modules/payment/paypalwpp.php, line 1661 (v1.5.0)

Code:

---

    // Check for blank address -- if address received from PayPal is blank, ask the customer to register in the store first and then resume checkout
if ($_SESSION['cart']->get_content_type() != 'virtual')
    if ($response['SHIPTONAME'] . $response['SHIPTOSTREET'] . $response['SHIPTOSTREET2'] . $response['SHIPTOCITY'] . $response['SHIPTOSTATE'] . $response['SHIPTOZIP'] . $response['SHIPTOCOUNTRYCODE'] == '') {

---

---

Worked like a charm, many thanks

Using pp express, free shipping, shipping address required....gives me sorry we are not shipping to your address at this time on step one of checkout.

Also, I have pp standard running at the same time as express. I tried using standard and checked out successfully with paypal for a $1 item using my CC.

Well I tried express again and everything seems to be working normal.

Since this seems to be the active thread... I have only digital download products & have those set up according to the ZC guides here (as far as product/shipping settings) - if I use the fix and set them all to 'virtual', will that mess up my downloads?

...and along with 'product is virtual->skip shipping address' should I change 'always free shipping->no, normal shipping rules' to 'yes, always free shipping'? I need to comb through my catalog of 700+ products and I want to be sure I make the correct changes. :-)

Please completely ignore my note above.

To anyone else wondering, digital products *are* virtual already (duh me) - so all I needed to do was the code fix Dr. Byte suggests in post #21.

Good luck to everyone else having trouble!

I have this problem also but I do not have the file shown here in the directory listed here
dudley

Quote:

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Originally Posted by n8tnu1951

but I do not have the file shown here in the directory listed here

---

... um. Check again. If you don't have that file then you're using an extremely old version of Zen Cart ... like 1.3.6 or older ... and that would be just, well, a very bad choice since that's like from 2006.

we are using version v.1.5.1 and the code is supposedly fixed in this version. We also do have the products as Virtual products with Yes, Skip Shipping Address. We are still getting this geographic region error.
There has to be something else wrong or not set right?
Help! Thanks in advance


We are using:

Server 2008
PHP 5.4.10
Zencart 1.5.1

We are not asking for a shipping address for customers when they registered as a user. In ther New User - we have only one country "Canada" As per "What country/state deletions have you done?" We are in Canada and have deleted all the other countries - We do not ask for a "state or Prov" as we do not want it keep this information.

So we changed payments to the PayPal Standard Version and the Cart Works !!! Uninstalled PayPal Express

Database Host: localhost (127.0.0.1)
Server OS: Windows NT YXD 6.1 build 7601 (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition Service Pack 1) i586
Database: MySQL 5.5.28
HTTP Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.5
PHP Version: 5.4.10 (Zend: 2.4.0)
PHP Memory Limit: 1024M
PHP Safe Mode: Off
PHP File Uploads: On
Max Size: 20M POST Max Size: 20M
Database Data Size: 334 kB Database Index Size: 488 kB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tuner

we are using version v.1.5.1 and the code is supposedly fixed in this version. We also do have the products as Virtual products with Yes, Skip Shipping Address. We are still getting this geographic region error.
There has to be something else wrong or not set right?
Help! Thanks in advance


We are using:

Server 2008
PHP 5.4.10
Zencart 1.5.1

We are not asking for a shipping address for customers when they registered as a user. In ther New User - we have only one country "Canada" As per "What country/state deletions have you done?" We are in Canada and have deleted all the other countries - We do not ask for a "state or Prov" as we do not want it keep this information.

---

So what do I do to get Express working without address, State , country or Zip/Postal Code?

Without changing anything to the Virtual Product or Shipping or Customer account. We changed payments to the PayPal Standard Version and the Cart Works !!! He had to uninstalled PayPal Express as like the post above we were not able to have both working at the same time.



Database Host: localhost (127.0.0.1)
Server OS: Windows NT YXD 6.1 build 7601 (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition Service Pack 1) i586
Database: MySQL 5.5.28
HTTP Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.5
PHP Version: 5.4.10 (Zend: 2.4.0)
PHP Memory Limit: 1024M
PHP Safe Mode: Off
PHP File Uploads: On
Max Size: 20M POST Max Size: 20M
Database Data Size: 334 kB Database Index Size: 488 kB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tuner

We are in Canada and have deleted all the other countries - We do not ask for a "state or Prov" as we do not want it keep this information.

---

That's probably the cause of your problem.
If Zen Cart cannot take the address received from PayPal and match it up with valid country+province combinations in your store, then it will fail as described.

Am having the same problem. I don't have file /www/includes/modules/payment/paypal/paypalwpp.php
I do have:
/www/includes/modules/payment/paypal/paypalwpp_admin_notification.php

Am I missing a file?

Oops. Found the file. I was in the Paypal folder. Will try it later today to see if it fixes it.

It worked! Thank you for this thread.