Some customers not receiving download link

[mnagy]

Hi Michael, for the most part the extension has worked wonderfully, but occasionally I get a complaint that the download link email was not received. After reading some stuff on the forum about I should be using SMTP mail instead of PHP mail, I thought that might be the problem so I switched. Everything seemed to be going fine; I made 3 sales and all received their download link (I could tell by looking at the customer's download count under "transactions"), but then this morning I made two more sales and neither one got their link. Any ideas on why this might be happening?

Also, I read on another post that you can resend a download link to a customer by clicking on the customer's email address in "transactions", but this doesn't work for me. When I click on any of the email addresses, it doesn't do anything at all; doesn't even try to load anything. It would be nice if I could at least figure out how to do that because I've been dealing with the situation by just attaching the file they purchased to the email reply once they complain about not receiving the download link.

Thanks

[Michael]

Hi,

Everything seemed to be going fine; I made 3 sales and all received their download link (I could tell by looking at the customer's download count under "transactions"), but then this morning I made two more sales and neither one got their link. Any ideas on why this might be happening?

First, for those who are not getting the emails notifications, are the transactions showing up in the extension's transaction history (Administrator>>Components>>Nice PayPal Downloads>>Transactions)?

If not, then the extension is not getting the IPN message from PayPal. I have to assume this, because your issue is intermittent.I have had an issue with this for the last week or so. A number of IPN messages from PayPal were never sent to my site. This is a PayPal issue and should be taken up with PayPal's customer service.

If the transactions are in the extension's history, then talk with your host's tech support. Tell them that SOME of your site's automatic emails are not being delivered. Explain to them that you are using PHP and SMTP to send the emails. Ask them to look at the server's mail logs for any anomalies.

Also, I read on another post that you can resend a download link to a customer by clicking on the customer's email address in "transactions", but this doesn't work for me. When I click on any of the email addresses, it doesn't do anything at all; doesn't even try to load anything. It would be nice if I could at least figure out how to do that because I've been dealing with the situation by just attaching the file they purchased to the email reply once they complain about not receiving the download link.

1. Go to Administrator>>Components>>Nice PayPal Downloads>>Transactions
2. Click on any buyers email address.

An new email should open from your email program. If this is not happening, then one of the following things might be the cause.

* You use webmail and your webmail is not configured to support "mailto:" links.
* You have security program or setting either in your browser or on your computer that is blocking the "mailto:" link.

That's my best guess anyway. If you still cannot get this feature to work, you can build your own link for the buyer. To do this, follow the steps below.

1. Open a simple text editor, like MS Notepad.
2. Copy and paste the bit of web address below into your text editor.

Code: Select all

http://yoursite.com/index.php?option=com_nicepaypaldownloads&nd=d&itm=XX&tx=XXXXXX

3. Replace yoursite.com with your actual domain name.
4. Go to Joomla Admin and click into the transaction's details view (Administrator>>Components>>Nice PayPal Downloads>>Transactions).
5. Find the transaction id, it should look like this:

Transaction Id: 457HDSONKH290X01G

6. Select and copy that number into the the web address, replacing the trailing XXXXXXX.

Example

Code: Select all

http://yoursite.com/index.php?option=com_nicepaypaldownloads&nd=d&itm=XX&tx=457HDSONKH290X01G

7. Consult the transaction details page again. Find the item number. It should look like this:

Item Number: 3

8. Copy and paste the item number into the web address replacing the two XX.

Example

Code: Select all

http://yoursite.com/index.php?option=com_nicepaypaldownloads&nd=d&itm=3&tx=457HDSONKH290X01G

9. Copy the web address and paste it into your browser to give it a test.
10. If your test is successful, send it to your buyer.

That should do it.

~ Best regards

[mnagy]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response. It turns out that only one of the customers did not get the download link, the other one just took awhile to download the template. The one that did not get the download link, his transaction did not show up under transactions, so I will talk to paypal about it. As far as resending the download links goes, you were right; it was my browser. I was using google chrome, but then I tried firefox and it worked! Thanks again!

[Michael]

You're welcome!

~ Enjoy

[mnagy]

Hi again, well today I made 3 more sales, 1 went through perfectly, and the other 2 didn't show up in the transactions area. They didn't complain about not receiving the links, though. But I'm thinking that could be because they don't speak English (the two not showing up in transactions are from Germany), so maybe they are just hoping they will eventually get their link. Is it possible that they got their links, but for whatever reason it's not showing up in the transactions area? I checked my IPN history in Paypal and it's showing that they were successfully sent. So I don't really know what to do. Should I just wait it out or contact Paypal? Thanks...yet again!

[Michael]

Hi,

"I checked my IPN history in Paypal and it's showing that they were successfully sent."

That's good news. Tick the check box next to the record in question in your PayPal IPN History. Then click the resend button. This should resend the IPN message to your site and all will be fixed.

Also, check the currency used in the transaction. Sometimes tricksters try to use a different currency than the one you have set in the extension. They do this in order to pay less. The extension is cleaver enough to not honor transactions like these and will ignore the IPN message.

~ All the best

[mnagy]

I checked the currency on both transactions and they were both USD like it was supposed to be. Then I went ahead and resent both of them in Paypal and both failed. I looked at why they failed, but there were no errors, the "http response code" was blank. I don't know what happened. They were sent the first time with 200 http response code, but didn't show up under transactions, then failed the second time. I don't get it.

It seems like even though this did happen when I was using the PHP mail settings, it was very rare. Ever since I switched to SMTP mail it's been happening more often. I don't know if that's just a coincidence or what. I think I set up my SMTP correctly. Or maybe it's just that I've been checking the transactions section in the extension much more frequently. Now I'm constantly paranoid that the customer didn't receive the download link lol.

Surprisingly enough, neither one have complained about it yet, even though on my website I said to contact me in the unlikely event that they don't receive the download link.

[Michael]

Hi,

The mail settings and the receipt of PayPal's IPN message are completely separate processes. The extension will only send the notification email if it successfully receives an IPN message from PayPal. That said, the email settings have no bearing on the extension's ability to receive the IPN messages.

PayPal has made changes to its system recently. These changes should not effect the operation of the extension. Although, I have noticed an increase in the number of IPN related errors on the PayPal site. These errors are caused on PayPal's site, not from within the extension. I have faith that PayPal will get these issues resolved in time. However, I would like to encourage you to contact PayPal's customer support and your host's tech support regarding this matter. They may be able to shed more light on the issue. They have access to different information and can see things (system logs, etc.) that you and I cannot.

Whatever happens, don't let PayPal up-sell you on an account package upgrade. It is not needed (unless you have a personal paypal account. Then you need to upgrade to a Premiere or Business account).

~ All the best

[mnagy]

Hi again,

Well after having more of the same problem (only about half of my customers are receiving their download link) I contacted paypal and their response was not very helpful.

Here what I wrote in my support ticket:

"Some of my IPN messages are not being received by my website.

I sell digital downloads on my joomla website using an extension that allows people to pay with paypal. After they pay, they normally receive two emails - a receipt from paypal and a download link IPN from me. Lately though, about half of the people who make purchases are not receiving their download link. I can tell because they complain about it, but also because in the backend of my website it shows the transactions completed. When the customer does not receive the download link, there is no entry under transactions. There is an IPN error log that I could turn on, but the problem is the developer of the extension said that you should not use it during live transactions because it can cause problems.

I contacted the developer of the extension (the extension is called Nice Paypal Downloads by the way) and he said that I would need to contact you about it, as it was happening on your end. I've checked my IPN history in paypal for the ones that were not received by customers and they do say "sent", but they are not being received for reasons I'm unsure of. Do you know of any reasons why this would be happening and what I could do to prevent it in the future?"

This was paypal's reply:

"Thank you for contacting PayPal's Merchant Technical Support team.

Unfortunately when the IPN history shows "sent" that means that your server has told us that the IPN was received successfully. Your server has given us a HTTP response of 200 saying that it was received. You will need to research things on your end, possibly with your IPN script itself, to see why your site isn't being updated accordingly."

So here I am, in need of your help...yet again. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do about this? Thanks

[Michael]

Hi,

I'm not really sure. The issues I was having with PayPal sending IPN messages seems to be subsiding. Which leads me to assume that they are refining their resent upgrade.

You should turn on the extension's IPN log for a spell. Capture 5-10 IPN messages with the IPN Log and then turn it back off. Review your results in the IPN Log. Are the messages being accepted or rejected?

To turn on the extension's IPN Log, do the following.

1. Go to Administrator>>Components>>Nice PayPal Downloads>>Settings.
2. Tick the IPN Log check box at the bottom of the page.
3. Click the Save button at the top of the page.
4. To review the IPN Log go to Administrator>>Components>>Nice PayPal Downloads>>IPN Log
5. Make sure to turn off the log when your finished testing. It was not designed to be used on a live site for long durations and can conflict with the standard operation of the extension.

Mostly, you are looking for clues at this point. Your also double checking that the extension is accepting IPN messages correctly.

Another good thing to do would be to contact your host's tech support. Ask them to look for any anomalies in the servers error logs. Explain to them that you are using a script to capture PayPal IPN messages and that some of the messages are not being received correctly. Make sure to give them the URL for the script (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain):

Code: Select all

http://yourdomain.com/index.php?option=com_nicepaypaldownloads&controller=Ipn&task=ipn

Providing your host's tech team with the URL will help them narrow down the search through the error log, which I am sure they will appreciate.

~ Best regards

[mnagy]

Okay, I've turned on the IPN log; hopefully it doesn't cause too many problems. I will also contact my host to see if they can help me, although I'm not too confident in their tech support. I use godaddy and usually when I call them they don't know any more then I do!

I was trying to re-send the download links according to the instructions you gave, but when I copy/paste the url into the browser I get an "invalid request". Does that give any clues? That only happens for ones that aren't appearing under transactions, the ones that are appearing I'm able to copy/paste the url and then download the product. It sure would be nice if I could at least figure out how to send them the download link because I've been just telling these people, "here's your download attached to this email, when I get this problem sorted out I will send you another download link". Needless to say, people are not too happy with that answer.

Thanks

[mnagy]

So I contacted godaddy telling them everything you told me to tell them and this is what they told me:

"Thank you for contacting Online Support. During our review of your account, we did not see any issue with the operational status of your hosting account that would cause the issue you have described."

They also told me how to enable error logs so I can keep an eye out for errors myself, so I did that. I guess there's nothing left to do now but wait and look at the ipn and error logs next time this happens. One thing I was thinking about was that these problems seemed to start happening more often around a couple of weeks ago. Around that time I had just installed a new extension called jHackGuard to prevent hacking of my website. Do you think there is any way that could be part of the problem? Sorry for all the questions, it just if I can't get this problem solved I'm going to have to look for another payment solution which I reaaallly do not want to do. Thanks again.

[Michael]

Hi,

I am not familiar with jHackGuard. But, depending on how it works, it could possibly be conflicting with the Nice PayPal Downloads extension. If you would like, I can take a look at the Nice PayPal Downloads installation on your site. I would need a temporary Super User account.

If you are interested you can email me the log in information through my contact page.

http://trinitronic.com/index.php/Contact/TriniTronic.html

Also, make sure to include, in your email, a link to this forum thread, for reference.

~ Best regards