My PayPal Order Completes Even If Customer Cancels Before Paying

Hi -

I was wondering if someone could explain this to me:

I use the PayPal IPN module - a customer can go all of the way through the checkout process (while getting passed to the PayPal page) but if they cancel the order right before they have to submit payment (by closing the window BEFORE they hit the submit payment button) , the order shows as completed anyway.

You would think that the order would only complete and get passed back to Zen Cart if the PayPal transaction completes and gets refered back to the originating site but it goes through anyway...

Is this a safety flaw on PayPal's part or something else. Granted people do not normally go to the end of the checkout process and hit cancel, but it will show an order as completed and if I am not watching my PayPal accoutn or e-mail, I may accidentally ship an item to someone who never paid for the item...

An order will only "complete" in Zen Cart if the payment module sends a notification that it has been approved.

If your customer closes the browser after paying but before clicking to "return" to your store, the payment notification can still happen in the background.

Thanks for getting back to me DrByte!

The order may not officially "complete" but it is entered into the "Orders" page... I also picked it up when using the Stuck PayPal IPN tool. If the window was closed before clicking "submit payment" on the PayPal site, how could that happen? I don't get any notification that the order was entered into Zen Cart either but it still appears in the system. We can go through a test if you like so I can show you...

Thanks!

Michael