PayPal eCheck Issues & Questions

Hi Zenners,

I just got my first order today but only received a Pending eCheck Notification from PayPal and no order info in the admin. I know there are many threads out there about PayPal IPN problems, but I couldn't find an answer to my questions which are -

1. When there is a pending eCheck payment, will the order show up in my admin when the eCheck clears in 3-4 business days?

2. Does the solution of refunding $0.01 work with a pending eCheck order? (This is a solution I read about in one of the threads wherein the seller issues a $0.01 refund after which the order details appear in the admin.)

3. I just installed the latest March 21st PayPal Patch. According to the wiki article about PayPal, the PayPal server will try to send the payment data over to my server for 4 days before giving up. Is there any chance that it will still appear some time in the next couple of days because I've just installed the patch?

4. I read somewhere on the forum once about something called Stuck PayPal Orders where you can view orders that got stuck in the system during the PayPal transaction. Is this a module I can install or is it something already in the system? If so, how/where can I get this module and/or view these stuck orders? I've checked the orders table in my database, but the order isn't in there.

I would really like to try to have this figured out without having to bother my customer because we had a log-in issue the other day when this same customer tried to place her order and it will be really embarassing to have to ask her :blush: so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance and have a nice day.

Aubrey
http://www.frangadesigns.com

fepb:

1. When there is a pending eCheck payment, will the order show up in my admin when the eCheck clears in 3-4 business days?Yes - if you've installed the March 3 or newer PayPal patch for 1.3.7 during all the transaction segments.
   Since you said you only just installed the March 21 patch, the cleared-echeck notification may or may not push the order into the system automatically. Normally it depends on the order already existing so that it can update its status.

2. Does the solution of refunding $0.01 work with a pending eCheck order? (This is a solution I read about in one of the threads wherein the seller issues a $0.01 refund after which the order details appear in the admin.)In v1.3.7 this is unlikely to be a workaround anymore.

3. I just installed the latest March 21st PayPal Patch. According to the wiki article about PayPal, the PayPal server will try to send the payment data over to my server for 4 days before giving up. Is there any chance that it will still appear some time in the next couple of days because I've just installed the patch?This depends on whether or not your site told PayPal that it successfully "received" the notification they sent. If the failure on processing the echeck was just a result of unpatched code, then your site has most likely already acknowledged to PayPal that it received the notice ... but later failed in processing it. Thus, since Paypal got the confirmation, it will not send the IPN again.

4. I read somewhere on the forum once about something called Stuck PayPal Orders where you can view orders that got stuck in the system during the PayPal transaction. Is this a module I can install or is it something already in the system? If so, how/where can I get this module and/or view these stuck orders?Yes, you can add this by grabbing it from the Downloads area of our site.

I'm about 80% hopeful that the echeck-clear notice that comes through will add the order properly for you. Failing that, you'll need to use the Stuck Orders contribution to kick this one into production.

I suggest that you also do a test order now that the patch is installed.
Test instructions can be found here:
http://www.zen-cart.com/wiki/index.php/PayPal#Testing_PayPal.E2.84.A2_Transactions

Hi DrByte:

Thank you very much for all the answers. I will keep my fingers crossed that the order data will come through when the eCheck clears and I'll post here for anyone else who is interested in finding out.

I've just installed the PayPal Sessions Viewer and it is a lifesaver! Thank you so much! Now I'll be able to get some sleep.

:smile: Aubrey

fepb:

I've just installed the PayPal Sessions Viewer and it is a lifesaver!Just be sure you don't push orders into your cart that really were not paid for !!!!!!!
(sometimes orders are abandoned at the PayPal stage ... be sure you've been paid before you fill the order ! )

DrByte:

Just be sure you don't push orders into your cart that really were not paid for !!!!!!!
(sometimes orders are abandoned at the PayPal stage ... be sure you've been paid before you fill the order ! )

Hi DrByte and thanks for the tip.

Though I don't actually know how to push orders to the database. Is there a way to do that with version 1.0? I tried using 2.0 (by shoestick) but nothing happened when I tried to move orders to the database (I had a bunch of stuck orders from previous test orders when I had a problem with PayPal Sandbox settings) so I uninstalled 2.0 it and went with 1.0.

Do I need to go into the databae to push the order? I've spent half a day trying to figure out different ways I could enter this order into my system. :frusty:

Thanks!!
Aubrey

From v2 readme:

=====================================
INSTALLATION

Simply copy all the enclosed files to the / (root) folder, retaining the folder structure.

The report is visible under Customers->View Stuck PayPal Orders

add the line below to your /includes/languages/english.php script with your own secret word for a little security
define("PAYPAL_SECRET_WORD", "mysecretword");

=================================

1. Did you set a secret code?
2. Did you rename your /admin/ folder to something else? If so, you'll need to also edit the path to your /admin/ area in the /pushorder.php file ... see almost the last line of the file to change the path for /admin/orders.php to something else.
3. What "did" happen when you clicked to push the order ?

Do I need to go into the databae to push the order?No - you cannot do it manually at the database level.

If you've only had the one order I suggest waiting for the echeck to clear.
Make sure you have debug logging to file enabled.
That way if it fails for some reason we'll be able to read the details from the log file.

Hi DrByte,

Thanks, yes, I will wait for the eCheck to clear before trying anything on my live store. I have a test store in a subdirectory where I try out contributions before installing them in my live store. I do have the debug log file activated and I have my log folder set to 777 just in case.

In answer to your questions:

DrByte:

1. Did you set a secret code?

Yes, I did set a secret code.

DrByte:

2. Did you rename your /admin/ folder to something else? If so, you'll need to also edit the path to your /admin/ area in the /pushorder.php file ... see almost the last line of the file to change the path for /admin/orders.php to something else.

No, I didn't rename the admin folder for my test store.

DrByte:

3. What "did" happen when you clicked to push the order ?

When I clicked to push the order, I was directed to my home page http://www.frangadesigns.com. My test store and test admin where I was trying to do the push orders are both under http://www.frangadesigns.com/store_test

I realized earlier this evening that it might be because I had my web hosting settings for error pages all redirected to my home page - 400, 401, 403, 404, 405, 500 & 501. I removed the redirect for 401 and 403 because I figure they're admin/authorization related, but still got the same result. But then I'm afraid I don't know much about this stuff yet, so that was pretty much just a stab in the dark. :unsure:

I also tried what was suggested on the PayPal Sessions Viwer 2.0 thread (there's only 1 post on that page) - typing the url of the pushorder.php file in my browser address bar, but it took me to my test store's login page with a message that my session had expired.

Could it also be that I'm using v.1.3.7 and this contribution might not be compatible? I think the readme said it was made for v.1.3.6 and hadn't been tested for v.1.3.7.

...

On a happier note, I did come up with an alternate solution in case the IPN still doesn't come through. I installed the Store Credit module and can use it in conjuntion with PayPal Sessions Viewer 1.0 and Master Password by assigning store credit in amount of the payment, logging into the store with my master password (still in my test store), placing the order again and checking out using the store credit. Then I went into the database and changed the data in the 'order' and 'order_total' tables so the order details say PayPal instead of Store Credit.

It's a bit of a hassle especially because we sell custom clothing and each product comes with 5-15 attributes so there's a lot of decoding in the Stuck PayPal Orders (I've compiled and printed out a bunch of reference charts of our product, option name and option value IDs), but it'll work as a temporary fix at least for now. But getting the push order function to work would be a nice time-saver.

Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading and for all the help; it's greatly appreciated.

Have you tried a test transaction now that you've got the patches installed etc ?

Hi, yes I actually just did the test transaction and everything came through perfectly - received the payment, order confirmation emails, and the order is in the admin. :thumbsup:

Oh, I just realized though, I did the test transation with a credit card and not an eCheck. :lamo:

Agh, I can't do a test transaction with an eCheck because believe it or not I only have one bank account right now and my PayPal business account is tied to it. :lamo: :lamo:

No problem. The eCheck test will happen when the real one clears.
At least the CC transaction proves things are working that way.
Be sure to refund your CC ;)

Thanks!
:smile:

Hey there Dr. Byte and anyone else who was interested in finding out,

The PayPal eCheck cleared today (4/2/07 - the order was placed 3/28/07) and I got the order confirmation email and the details in the admin. Also received another order yesterday (also through PayPal) and the payment and order info came through instantly.

Thanks Dr. Byte!
:hug:

yay !! :clap: (or maybe I should be saying "phew!" !! )