No Payment and Wrong Payment Method Error

What step am I missing?
What's different between my test site and yours?

Well, I've been testing using my Paypal account as it's quicker, but it's just the same problem.

Basically, I run through exactly as you did. If I have an account with my site, the payment goes through fine. If not, it acts just as though I'd chosen cheque/money order and nothing is taken through Paypal.

I am wracking my brains for ideas on how to diagnose it. Given that the Paypal payment isn't working, it suggests that something is wrong at that end, perhaps. However, I don't know how the communications between my cart and Paypal work - it might be that Paypal is still waiting for something from the site before going through with the payment. Any ideas on what code to examine or any other diagnostic methods would be really useful.

As for how this cart is different, it really is just superficial stuff. I've changed the CSS and switched most of the tables to divs. I've been through and edited some wording as well as shifting some of the buttons/columns about. I've not touched anything functional, nor installed any massive mods.

This may have similarities with Olistead's problem and the solution I've used may help. In my case:

Paypal Express is the ONLY payment module live. The API works perfectly when the user uses their Paypal account to make the payment (i.e. they login to Paypal). The API returns the buyer detail, transaction codes etc without problem.

However, when the user opts to click the 'Don't have Paypal, No problem' option at Paypal and simply enters their credit card/address/email details direct - they get to review the transaction and confirm at which point they return to the seller site, are requested to accept terms & conditions and 'confirm' the transaction. So far so good.

However, the Zen cart shows the sale but instead of indicating Paypal as the payment - notes the transaction as Check/Money Order (in fact if you then remove that option it binds to another). The grey box that includes the Paypal API details (codes etc) is missing.

Although the customer has entered the credit card details - they don't get any confirmation from Paypal and as far as I can see they don't get debited either (but we are checking this). What is curious is that the shipping address shown in Zen Cart IS the one entered on the Paypal site so something is being transferred.

However, the transaction fails since we don't have a credit card processed by Paypal and the customer is very nervous about their credit card details (which they entered correctly in good faith).

The solution was to change a setting on the Paypal Express payment module in Zen Cart.

By default the option to for 'Express Checkout: Skip Payment Page' is checked to YES. When we checked this to NO - Paypal worked perfectly for customers whether registered with us or just paying by credit card at Paypal.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, Peterdd, for that advice - it has made some difference, it seems.

Now, if I go through with an order, don't login and then pay with my Paypal account, when I return to my site, it actually says 'Paypal' as payment method. However, once I finalise it, the order is recorded as being paid by 'cheque/money order', and no money is taken from Paypal. The situation is exactly the same if I pay with a credit card and don't log into Paypal.

If I then remain logged in and try again, the payment goes through perfectly. The same if I log into a different account to start with, etc.

One, possibly key, note is that in the first circumstance (paying without logging into my site and paying in Paypal), Paypal says 'Continue' on its 'review your information' page. If one pays after having logged into my site, that same page has a button saying 'pay now' instead. Is this important?

OK, pleased some progress? made.

I noticed when experimenting with this issue that if other payment options were available in the Payment Module this made a difference. Are any of the options green or amber (other than Paypal Express)? If so try removing them (you can always install them again later).

Did that make any difference?

peterdd:

OK, pleased some progress? made.

I noticed when experimenting with this issue that if other payment options were available in the Payment Module this made a difference. Are any of the options green or amber (other than Paypal Express)? If so try removing them (you can always install them again later).

Did that make any difference?

I managed to break my cart again somehow, (same behavior as before, similar to what the other people describe in this thread.)

I took your suggestion and disabled all other payment types (everything red except paypal express, which is green). Now it all works again.

Only thing I did in between working and not working was test the Verified Paypal mod, then deleted it, and also installed google analytics, which I kept. Also rearranged some CSS, right alignment of the Paypal Express payment button, which is not done on the Sophy template.

I did a test transaction, worked fine. Then I removed the default "check out" button again as I detailed in my previous post. Tested with paypal account and without. Works fine.

Honestly though, sometimes I think the logic is a little bit messed up with this leaving the site and heading out to paypal, then coming back, etc etc... very confusing... imagine this could lead to lots of abandoned carts.

I understand that there are mods or updates to Zen in the works that would not require us to leave our site. That would sure be nice.... otherwise I think I will need to buck up and buy a real merchant account... if only to avoid confusion leading to abandoned carts.

Well glad the suggestion worked here.

If that's the case there is a bug in the paypal express zen cart module - since it shouldn't behave in the way it does - but how do you draw this to the attention of the clever bods who write the code?

Your comment about abandoned carts is real. There needs to be a smoother customer experience so that when they commit to pay at Paypal - that's the job done. As it is they then have to confirm on the shop site too.

Anybody know the protocol to get the developers' attention?

regards

The developers are watching.

However, until the problem can be consistently reproduced ... ie: specific patterns identified ... there can be no solution.

So far I haven't been able to recreate what you describe.

Peterdd - it looks as though it was false progress. All that happens when I disable all methods is that the cart says 'Paypal' as the method, presumably because there simply aren't any other options! Nonetheless, it still doesn't take any money. Would you be kind enough to tell me what you have the other settings set as?

Dr. Byte, I am not sure what to say. One question, though: when you test a payment without a Zencart login, after you click 'review payment' what does the next button say? 'Continue' or 'Pay Now'? Mine says continue when there's no account and pay now when there is (which works). Is this normal?

Actually, I don't think it is choosing the payment method arbitrarily. When it does say Paypal (ie., when I switch the other methods off) the order status in the admin is set to processing. Otherwise, it is pending, which is what it would be when unpaid. Curious.

olistead:

when you test a payment without a Zencart login, after you click 'review payment' what does the next button say? 'Continue' or 'Pay Now'? Mine says continue when there's no account and pay now when there is (which works). Is this normal?

That is normal.

When using Express Checkout going through normal checkout process, the customer goes to PayPal before completing the regular checkout. Thus, the button at PayPal's site will say "Continue", because the customer is coming back to your site to complete payment.

When going through regular checkout and selecting "PayPal" as the payment choice, the customer doesn't go to the PayPal site until they click "Confirm" on your store. In this case, the PayPal site is the last step in the process ... thus, the button reads "Pay Now".

Oh right, fair enough. I guess that means the issue is definitely something to do with the process of leaving Paypal and returning to my store, then.

Hi there.....

I have this same bug too..

I have Nochex, google checkout and paypal express. Zen cart 1.3.7

Paypal express works fine, tested it in sandbox, worked, and been taking many paypal payments with it....

The problem occurs for me as with you when people click to pay with a card if they have no paypal account......

I have a new customer in my admin, but no order, no emails, for them or me.

Lost 4 orders now.... need some help

I see that this problem has been around for a few weeks now. I JUST finished customizing my cart (spent the better of 2 1/2 days on it), and I'm at the point now where I'm testing everything and BANG! Paypal Express isn't working and it matches exactly what you folks have seen.

If I don't create an account on my site (ZenCart) then the payment shows up as COD (that module was still enabled), I get the email from ZenCart telling me the charge went through and the customer gets the email from ZenCart but no charge is ever actually made.

Since a few weeks have passed HAS ANYONE FOUND A SOLUTION FOR THIS?
:no:

Thanks!

Chris

Alright I wasn't going to just sit around and wait so I went and fiddled around with a few settings in the Payments module and I found out what it was!

I HAD to enable the Credit Card Module. Once I turned that on Paypal Express works great! The charge type shows up correctly as Paypal rather than COD or check. And everything in Paypal processes normally.

HTH
:clap:

Chris

chodges:

Alright I wasn't going to just sit around and wait so I went and fiddled around with a few settings in the Payments module and I found out what it was!

I HAD to enable the Credit Card Module. Once I turned that on Paypal Express works great! The charge type shows up correctly as Paypal rather than COD or check. And everything in Paypal processes normally.

HTH
:clap:

Chris

...Keep checking this Chris... I found the opposite... to fix the "same" problem, I needed to disable entirely the CC module.

In my opinion, much as I am grateful of the coders that did this contribution... it is buggy and unreliable. I am still waiting for the bulk of my inventory to show up, but if I have any issues at that point, I intend to ditch paypal immediately and move to a standard merchant account.

I can't afford to invest as much as I have in this site, only to lose all the sales due to a buggered payment engine.

Make sure you regularly test it with a second account, and with a "non-account" paying via credit card. There is no cost to this as you can reverse the transactions immediately.

However, if it isn't working, the errors don't seem to report correctly. So the only way to know for sure is to keep testing it yourself.

I am not sure, but it "seems" that people outside the US seem to have more issues with this. I am Canada based. No idea why that might be... but there it is, for better or worse.

:bigups::cry:

Unfortunately, the idea of adding the credit card module has not worked for me. The fact that there are now a few of us with essentially the same problem is disconcerting. I really hope I can find a solution.

Ok, so I am using 1.3.8a and i happen to notice this problem myself while testing purchases thru paypal express checkout.

Below is what i found.

When i had the credit card and check/money order modules in amber rather than RED, after going thru the payment steps in paypal sandbox and confirming the order on my store, i saw that no money had been transferred out of paypal... when i went to paypal ipn, i didnt have anything that showed any paypal transactions, and the order payment method showed up as CC as if i had paid via credit card rather than paypal.

So i started testing and removing the credit card module and doing another test order.. this time, check/money order came up as the payment module. but no money had been transferred out of paypal.

when i removed all modules including paypal express checkout and then installed paypal express checkout ONLY, the orders show up correctly with paypal and i get the paypal ipn confirmation and the money is transferred out of the test account.

It seems to me that somehow any other module in conjunction with paypal express does not play nicely once the customer returns to the store.

Anyways, since i only use paypal express checkout, since all seems working for me, i guess its all good for now.

Hopefully those that have had this problem have been able to fix it.

I just wanted to post my similar experiences with this problem. I'm running 1.3.8a with a few small add-ons. When trying to use the paypal express the only way I could get a payment to go through and the correct 'Payment Method' to display was to remove, disable was not enough, every other payment module.

The checkout process appeared to be working correctly. I would get sent to paypal with all the correct info being displayed. After approving payment I would properly get sent back to zen for final confirmation but the payment method would always be incorrect and the money would never be debited from the paypal account.

Fortunately paypal is the only method of payment that this store is using, but if others were needed this could be a more serious issue.

i have the same issue.

it works perfectly and says payment method "paypal" ONLY if i uninstall (disabling them is not enough) all other payment methods.

if i have any others installed or turned on, it will go through the paypal process but then comes back to the cart to say "check/mo" or "credit card" depending on what i have installed. and it will not process correctly as paypal.

i would like to use other payment methods, so this is going to be an issue.

okay, i may be wrong, but think i figured out what is causing the problems for us running into this issue:

when you have the paypal express checkout installed and set up - it will only work properly if:

a) i have ALL other modules UNINSTALLED

OR

b) i have another module installed, but it MUST be configured and working. you cannot have another installed and DISABLED.

this is what seems to cause the problem. when there is another module installed but turned to false.

if you have them installed but disabled, you will have problems and it will go through the motions of paypal but on the confirmation screen , the payment method will be incorrect and will not process as a paypal order. (it will go then process as money/order or credit card even though you have those disabled).

also this only seems to be an issue when the customer is new. if i go back to re-test once the account was created , it works and still says paypal.

hope this info is helpful to any of the people working on this, because i could see how this could cause problems and be confusing, something does not seem right.

however, it seems like i was able to get it working by turning on the zencart free charge card for now, i have everything else uninstalled except zencart free charge card and the paypal express.

hopefully when i get the information for my authorize.net merchant account and have that set up things will still work!