Customer Not Being Charged For One Item On Their Order-Random Problem

[fabienne]

HI. I had quite a few things to do and now I am back. I was looking through my inbox and trash and didn't see any notices that there was more activity. Perhaps you have to specify that you want a notice each time you respond to a thread. I don't know but I did put a request for notice on now on this response.

First, the question asked by RodG (and I had not observed this BUT it is very important): The two times the customer was not charged for product both had no size specified for the product. So, the name of the product was stated but not the size.

Second, I do not have a module called Stock by Attribute installed under the "Modules" setting in my admin panel. Third, IruskI was able to replicate the problem. However, I thought I would try it again and went back tried again and failed. I have not been able to replicate it since and it has not reappeared since the last time it happened which was on 7/21/2015. I signed in as myself (I have a "regular customer" account to try out solutions to problems, etc.).
But the obvious point of no size showing up in the two orders which were $0.00 is perplexing and real. Both should have turned up as some size (probably 6ml).

[lat9]

Have you done anything with your site "recently" regarding attributes, like removing an attribute value from one of your problematic products? I'm wondering if perhaps the following scenario applies:

1. Customer places product#1, size XXXL into their cart (so it's saved in their database's customers_basket table) and leaves the site.
2. Site decides to stop carrying size XXXL, so the Size: XXXL attribute is removed from product #1.
3. Customer signs back into the shop ... product has an unknown attribute, bad things happen.

I've not verified that the above scenario fails, just wondering ...

[RodG]

First, the question asked by RodG (and I had not observed this BUT it is very important): The two times the customer was not charged for product both had no size specified for the product. So, the name of the product was stated but not the size.

That's good to know. It pretty much confirms my suspicion that the issue is related to the attribute selection either not being set, or if it was set, it is getting 'lost' somewhere along the line.

To narrow this down even further, we now need to know the answer to this:

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"At what point in the process does the first item show as $0.00?"

Just to expand on this a little, and based on the fact that *you* have seen the problem 'in action' (as opposed to just seeing the results in the orders placed), AND the fact that you've stated that it is always the first item ordered, this implies that for the 'problem' to occur there must be at least two items in the cart.

If this correct, does the 1st item show a valid price until the second item is added, or does it show the zero price when it is added (in which case, the second and/or subsequent items are insignificant to the cause).

Another reason why this is such an important question is because of the possibilty that the in-cart products have a correct/valid price at all times, and the price of the 1st item is somehow getting set to zero while the data is being sent/processed by the PayPal/order related code.

The fact that you've (apparently) seen the zero cost item in the cart itself means that we can eliminate the 'after cart' processing as being the source of the problem. In addition to this, and assuming that you haven't been logged into the site using a NY address when you've been able to replicate the problem would mean that we can positively rule this (and several other things) out as being a possible cause.

The answer to "At what point in the process does the first item show as $0.00?" may not give us an answer/solution to the problem, but it can/will narrow down the search (and possible causes) tremendously.
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Cheers
RodG

[fabienne]

Well, that is a very good question that I can't really answer unless I can get the cart to do this again. I did say I got it to happen once. At that time I was not aware that I had to keep an eye on when it happened (at which point in the process) so I didn't notice, I only noticed that it was $0.00 later in the checkout process. I think I would really have to be able to make that same outcome happen again before I could give you a good answer on that. I could guess about it but I would only have a 50% chance of being right.

This is very disappointing. From the last of the two incidents on there have been no more cases of customers being charged 0. The first two happened within two weeks of each other. I have had pretty good sales since the last one and so far, no more occurrences. I have tried on numerous occasions to reproduce this and with only one success. I wish I had let that one conclude and been able to watch it as I checked out, but I didn't know enough then.

I have very much appreciated your help on this. If it goes away by itself, that would be the optimal solution. I would suggest this: I will (of course) keep my eye on whether it comes back again. If it does then I will try to reproduce it, and since I am able to know that when it happens is very important I can go more slowly and notice when the charge goes to $0 and note that. I will take the transaction all the way through. Then I would come back here and tell you what I found. Unless someone can come up with a better idea, I rather feel like we are at am impasse. What RodG said sounds like where the answer will be found, and if I can't tell you that I might as well keep hunting this elusive thing. Again thanks.

[fabienne]

Well it happened one more time. I have not been able to reproduce it in testing and it looks random. The only difference this time is that the total was correct even though the customer's charge for the first item was $0.

Then I came up with a second problem where one of my clients had 196 items in her cart but her cart stopped responding. When she tried to get into her cart (by clicking on the CART button at the top of the page) she got an error message. I tried it, got the same thing. I went into the database and could not see anything which looked like trouble (I am sure it was there but not in the usual places I search). I got out and suggested that she just create another account and apologized for the trouble. There is no upper limit on the cart that I have heard of (that would be pretty counter productive for a capitalist system like Zen Cart). So that is odd incidence #2.

I was talking to a friend (who is very wise in the ways of e-commerce) about this and he suggested that maybe my problem was interference from my webhost's server. He suggested that my getting a dedicated server might stop that problem. What do you think? I am using 1&1 right now and they have been very good indeed. But my business is growing and I wonder if I am getting more traffic than my set up can handle. I have a big sale right now with its increased traffic. Do you think a dedicated server would solve my problems or do you think that is just trying to use a quick jazzy fix which won't really fix anything? I am just as prone to the latter as to the former when frustrated, that is why I am asking your opinion. Thanks.

[lat9]

"an error message" is just a little vague; do you remember the actual error message? Were there debug-logs created?

[fabienne]

Well, the error message was pretty vague:
WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.

As for the debug logs, would you mean "notice and/or warning log data" from the Review or Export Logs Admin Activity Logs section of the Zen Cart? I am rather new at this so please bear with me. Thanks.

[lat9]

You need to look in your store's /logs folder using either your webhost's cPanel or an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program like FileZilla. There will be a number of files matching the pattern myDEBUG*.log that will indicate an error with the query_factory class.

You can post the contents of one (make sure that if you're posting one with a filename that includes -adm- not to include your admin folder's name). Use the CODE tag (the # in the edit-strip when you're making your reply) to surround the contents you post.

[mc12345678]

Well, the error message was pretty vague:
WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.WARNING: An Error occurred, please refresh the page and try again.

As for the debug logs, would you mean "notice and/or warning log data" from the Review or Export Logs Admin Activity Logs section of the Zen Cart? I am rather new at this so please bear with me. Thanks.

FAQ on this specific response: https://www.zen-cart.com/content.php...-and-try-again

[RodG]

I was talking to a friend (who is very wise in the ways of e-commerce) about this and he suggested that maybe my problem was interference from my webhost's server.

Although 'interference' is quite unusual terminology to describe a server related problem I have to admit that I've actually been thinking along these lines myself - In fact it was this possibility that prompted to ask/query about whether it was somehow related to products with attributes.

Products with attributes are a lot more demanding on a server than products without attributes - And I *have* seen server/sites with a *similar* problem to yours whereby occasionally an attributed product couldn't be added to a cart because it was apparently out of stock - but only intermittently. In each of these somewhat rare occasions they have been accompanied by MySQL server errors that had been logged.

I realise that hindsight is 20/20, but your recent log entry with the SQL server running out of memory has pretty much confirmed my suspicions that this is almost certainly the reason for your problem(s).

He suggested that my getting a dedicated server might stop that problem. What do you think?

I'm always somewhat dubious about this common suggestion, because it doesn't really address the issue. A *lot* of people simply take the advice and get the cheapest dedicated server they can find, which generally speaking will have less CPU power and a lot less memory than the shared server that they are currently using - In other words many find themselves with either the same issues, and in many cases even bigger issues, and to resolve them they are 'sold' a bigger and bigger priced hosting plan until eventually the problems do go away.

In other words a 'dedicated server' is, in itself, not a solution to the problems.

HOWEVER, having said that, if the current shared server is grossly overloaded (as many are), then even a low budget 'dedicated server' may invoke a solution to the problem - But so will another *shared* server that isn't as overloaded.

I am using 1&1 right now and they have been very good indeed. But my business is growing and I wonder if I am getting more traffic than my set up can handle.

It isn't generally isn't the *traffic* that is the issue - You could have very little traffic, but if another site on the same shared server is hogging all the resources available then you'll still get this kind of problem.

I have a big sale right now with its increased traffic. Do you think a dedicated server would solve my problems or do you think that is just trying to use a quick jazzy fix which won't really fix anything? I am just as prone to the latter as to the former when frustrated, that is why I am asking your opinion.

A high power dedicated server with lots of RAM can 'hide' (aka 'fix') all manner of problems and issues, so I can only say Yes, this will be *one* way to solve the problem - And if you have a *really* busy site it may even be the *only* solution.

However, there are a wide range of other options that will also invoke a cure/fix rather than jumping from one extreme (overloaded shared server) to the other extreme (high powered dedicated server).

Of the 60 or so eCommerce stores that we host or maintain, we only have *one* that we've had to give a dedicated server to, and this store is averaging between 50,000-60,000 *sessions* per day (100,000-150,000 page requests) - According to ZenCart's counters.

The other sites rarely reach 3000 sessions ( <10000 page requests) per day and hosting on a 'good' shared server isn't a problem.

How does your counters compare to these?

Anyway, as I was saying, I'm pretty confident that your problems *are* server related (not code related), so the solution does mean a change of servers (unfortunately).

What *I* would suggest though is probably going to be a little different than most, and that is to request your host move your site to a *different* server under the same hosting plan. Although the 'new' server will almost certainly have the same specs and resources as your current one, it will be hosting *different* customers and different sites and these customer/sites could easily be making less of demand on the hardware. which will in turn leave more resources available for *your* site.

If that doesn't solve the problem (or your host isn't willing to migrate your site) you'll need to look into other hosts, or a 'better' plan with your current host.

You should also keep in mind that shared servers aren't 'static'. The fact that they ARE shared means that they'll often start out 'good', but as the host adds more and more customers they get slow and slower until they eventually get overloaded (as yours seems to be) and bigger issues arise. Also, because they are shared, it only takes one customer running 'faulty' software to cause problems for all customers on the server - Generally speaking, the host will quickly identify these customers and have them removed.

Upgrading to a 'dedicated server' is only a viable solution if the server itself has enough resources to handle the demands of *your* site. As a general rule It is better to be on a shared server with 8-16gig of RAM (or more) than a 'dedicated server' with less than 1Gig.

A dedicated server is, in my view, a last resort to fixing server overload/out of memory issues rather than the 1st resort.
On *rare* occasions - IOW, a REALLY BUSY site, a high power dedicated server is going to be the only solution. Unless you are pulling in over $200k in annual sales you probably don't need something like this. A non-overloaded shared server is almost always the better option.

Cheers
RodG