Authnet: An error occurred while trying to report this transaction to the merchant.

After checking out and submitting CC payment, it returns the following error message to the customer:

An error occurred while trying to report this transaction to the merchant. An e-mail has been sent to the merchant informing them of the error. The following is the result of the attempt to charge your credit card.

############This transaction has been approved.
It is advisable for you to contact the merchant to verify that you will receive the product or service.

This message comes from the URL:
https://secure.authorize.net/gateway/transact.dll

No new order is reflected in the Zen Cart admin.

Everything works fine when the customer uses PayPal.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

As the message says, you submitted a request to charge the customer's card. And the charge went through. But Authorize.net was not able to send the details back to your store so that it could complete processing.

If you could explain more about your store it might be possible to help find out more about what's going on.
- version of Zen Cart
- which Authorize.net module you're using
- who is your hosting company
- list of addons/contributions you have installed on your site
- URL

Thanks for your help.

New install, Zen-Cart 1.3.7.1

Authorize.net SIM

Hosting company is Mecca Hosting
http://www.meccahosting.com/us/

No add ons or contributions installed, other than Gloss Black template

Website is:
http://www.phenixdiscsports.com/index.html
Click on Store

Can you try this updated SIM module designed for v1.3.8, but compatible with v1.3.7.x:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showth...879#post420879

Be sure to write down all your settings from your Admin->Modules->Payment for the SIM module.
Then click Remove
The upload the new file
Then click Install in the admin again, and enter your settings again.

Still no go. Installed the new SIM module files as you suggested. Still get the same error message. Any other ideas?

Turn on Debug Logging in the module's settings.
Then do a test transaction.
The post the log file here.

If you log-to-file, it'll be in the /cache folder.

I put the store in Test Mode and here is the Log File Report:

Dec-05-2007 11:41:21
=================================

Sent to Authorizenet: Array
(
[x_login] => *******
[x_amount] => 1.08
[x_version] => 3.0
[x_method] => CC
[x_type] => auth_only
[x_cust_ID] => 3
[x_email_customer] => TRUE
[x_company] => Lightwave Studio
[x_first_name] => Mark
[x_last_name] => Steputis
[x_address] => 8910 Clay St
[x_city] => Denver
[x_state] => Colorado
[x_zip] => 80260
[x_country] => United States
[x_phone] => 303 494-4477
[x_fax] =>
[x_email] => [email protected]
[x_ship_to_company] => Lightwave Studio
[x_ship_to_first_name] => Mark
[x_ship_to_last_name] => Steputis
[x_ship_to_address] => 8910 Clay St
[x_ship_to_city] => Denver
[x_ship_to_state] => Colorado
[x_ship_to_zip] => 80260
[x_ship_to_country] => United States
[x_Customer_IP] => 67.190.66.42
[x_relay_form] => TRUE
[x_relay_URL] => http://www.phenixdiscsports.com/stor...eckout_process
[x_invoice_num] =>
[x_description] => Website Purchase from Phenix Disc Sports Store
[x_duplicate_window] => 120
[x_fp_sequence] => 199
[x_fp_timestamp] => 1196898081
[x_fp_hash] => c05a0dca6cb64fd586164ca138edc419
[x_show_form] => PAYMENT_FORM
[x_receipt_link_method] => POST
[x_receipt_link_text] => Click here to complete your order.
[x_receipt_link_url] => http://www.phenixdiscsports.com/stor...eckout_process
[x_Test_Request] => TRUE
[zenid] => 08f914fb4b8dfdac21ddeae3f30693c7
[url] => https://secure.authorize.net/gateway/transact.dll
)

Just checked the Cache again and found two new Log files (since the last one), both the same.

Dec-05-2007 11:47:50
=================================

Response Code: .
Response Text:

Results Received back from Authorizenet: Array
(
[HashValidationValue] => 40359D29FE489B6C87D34769EF10B9DA
[HashMatchStatus] => FAIL
[url] => https://secure.authorize.net/gateway/transact.dll
)

If you turn "off" the test-mode, does the same thing happen?
(You can void the transaction using your merchant terminal, so your card isn't charged.)

When I take it out of Test Mode, I still get the error, but slightly different saying card was declined.

An error occurred while trying to report this transaction to the merchant. An e-mail has been sent to the merchant informing them of the error. The following is the result of the attempt to charge your credit card.

This transaction has been declined.

Here is the Log File:

Dec-06-2007 03:28:35
=================================

Sent to Authorizenet: Array
(
[x_login] => *******
[x_amount] => 1.08
[x_version] => 3.0
[x_method] => CC
[x_type] => auth_only
[x_cust_ID] => 3
[x_email_customer] => TRUE
[x_company] => Lightwave Studio
[x_first_name] => Mark
[x_last_name] => Steputis
[x_address] => 8910 Clay St
[x_city] => Denver
[x_state] => Colorado
[x_zip] => 80260
[x_country] => United States
[x_phone] => 303 494-4477
[x_fax] =>
[x_email] => [email protected]
[x_ship_to_company] => Lightwave Studio
[x_ship_to_first_name] => Mark
[x_ship_to_last_name] => Steputis
[x_ship_to_address] => 8910 Clay St
[x_ship_to_city] => Denver
[x_ship_to_state] => Colorado
[x_ship_to_zip] => 80260
[x_ship_to_country] => United States
[x_Customer_IP] => 67.190.66.42
[x_relay_form] => TRUE
[x_relay_URL] => http://www.phenixdiscsports.com/stor...eckout_process
[x_invoice_num] =>
[x_description] => Website Purchase from Phenix Disc Sports Store
[x_duplicate_window] => 120
[x_fp_sequence] => 835
[x_fp_timestamp] => 1196954915
[x_fp_hash] => f8e0fb3b467563b82f8978db8b993960
[x_show_form] => PAYMENT_FORM
[x_receipt_link_method] => POST
[x_receipt_link_text] => Click here to complete your order.
[x_receipt_link_url] => http://www.phenixdiscsports.com/stor...eckout_process
[zenid] => 201320f462406e58f5f081dd59eef564
[url] => https://secure.authorize.net/gateway/transact.dll
)

################################################################################__

When speaking with Authorize.net Support they say that it might have something to do with "the order the script executes".

What I am starting to suspect is something not configured properly with the Hosting server. Maybe something to do with Permissions or Port access. I do remember when I installed the cart, the instructions said to change some of the Permissions to 777 and I was not able to do that. It only let me change them to 775. Not sure if this is relevant, but I'm reaching now.

Also wondering if Upgrading to the new 1.3.8 would help. If I do this I am also thinking of switching hosting to a company that specializes in Zen Cart and can provide knowledgeable tech support for issues like I am facing now. Can you recommend one of the Zen Host Certified companies for having good support?

But before doing that, I still would like to get this worked out on the current host, if possible.

Thanks for all the help with this.

Question: Is there a reason for using SIM instead of AIM?
AIM is much more secure and a much more pleasant shopping experience for customers.

Not sure what it could be why Authorize.net is having trouble connecting back with the merchant, because orders run with PayPal go thru just fine, and show up as new orders in the Cart Admin.

Simplicity, or so I thought. My understanding is that the difference between the two is that AIM requires SSL. Correct? Which we don't have, and I thought I would try it with SIM. If that is a solution then maybe that is what we should do.

I agree ... it's puzzling. I had that happen once when the SIM module was first being rewritten, but the problem was resolved. I don't recall whether it had anything to do with coding, but I've never seen it again ... using the module I pointed you to earlier.

The AIM module doesn't rely on going to the auth.net site and coming back, and is less likely to have problems.

I'm thinking it has something to do with the server configuration. What about switching hosting to a company that specializes in Zen Cart and can provide knowledgeable tech support for issues like I am facing now. Can you recommend one of the Zen Host Certified companies for having good support? And getting the cart correctly installed and configured.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mstep

Can you recommend one of the Zen Host Certified companies for having good support? And getting the cart correctly installed and configured.

---

Best thing to do is ask them.
We don't make recommendations. We leave it up to you to do your own research.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mstep

Simplicity, or so I thought. My understanding is that the difference between the two is that AIM requires SSL. Correct? Which we don't have, and I thought I would try it with SIM. If that is a solution then maybe that is what we should do.

---

SSL isn't really that expensive, and you *should* have it to protect all your customers' information anyway ... not just their credit card numbers, but their name, address, phone, etc.
I won't shop anywhere that doesn't use SSL to protect my personal information. Period. I'm sure I'm not the only one with that view.

Well, it looks like we might need to switch hosting service. Before I do that, I want to try one more time.

Here is an email I got back from Authorize.net.
######################################################################____

Greetings from Authorize.Net!

When Authorize.Net is responding back to a script on your server our system waits 10 seconds for a response. If we do not get a response in 10 seconds, our server will time out and display an error page. In this case the customer will see the transaction results on an error page that Authorize.net generates.

If this happens we will either send an email to you indicating: "An error occurred while trying to report this transaction to the merchant. An email has been sent to the merchant informing them of the error. The following is a result of the attempt to charge your credit card"

or

The transaction will be declined within your Merchant Interface. The transaction detail will display (Unable to send notification to Customer).

If the customer closes the browser window before we receive data from your script to print to the screen we will change the transaction response reason code to 52.

To prevent these errors the first thing that you will need to look for is the order that your script executes. It is very important that something is printed to the screen before any other process is started. If your script prints to the screen first, we will recognize that you have received the transaction results.

To resolve this issue:
- Before doing anything else start writing to your receipt page. For example: print your page headers and the first part of the page body.
- Check that your script permissions are correct and that it can accept an HTTPS POST.
- Check that the script is not completing other functions before writing to the screen, such as writing to a database or sending emails.
- Please check to see if there are different processes that are used in your script for approvals, declines, or errors. Check each process to be sure that they will write to the screen before any other functions.
- Verify that your script is not using redirects upon receipt of the response from our servers. Redirects strongly are discouraged because they can potentially interfere with the process.
############################################################__

Does any of this make sense?

The only thing I can possibly think of is that it might have something to do with the Permissions I have set. As I said earlier the server would not let me change the Permissions to 777 (as the installation instructions say to), they are currently at 775. It still won't let me change them. Could this be a factor?

It has nothing to do with permissions.

All their suggestions are based around the idea of your site not responding quickly to them after the customer is done making payment.

Your store pages appear to load fairly quickly ... so I'm a little surprised that they'd be finding it slow.

Okay. I guess all that I am left with is that the hosting server will not let them back in (for some reason that is beyond me, and them). Unless you have any other ideas, I guess the answer is to switch to a better host. After some research, Blue host looks to be a good one, and they have phone support, which I really like.

Thanks for all of your help with this matter.

Well - good news. We switched to the new hosting service. After transferring all the files over and getting the database reloaded. Everything works like a charm!!

And this is still using the Authorize.net SIM module. With no SSL. Works fine, but we will be upgrading to SSL and AIM soon, just for security issues

Just thought I would post back up and let you know that it was definitely some problem with the hosting service and the configuration of the server.

Everything is working great now. Thanks again for all your help with this perplexing matter.

Thank you for the follow up and letting us know it was definitely a hosting problem.