PayPal Subscription Error "An error occurred during processing"

#1

This is a new error after migrating from NGINX back to an Apache package (due to the varnish issue that my host after two days with a reproducible test case could not resolve the “service unavailable” error, like Tim here predicted.)

So now I have this new error. People try to use my s2member monthly subscription buttons and it goes well redirecting to PayPal until they get to the Login and once they do, they get a yellow box with red lettering above the subscription Description and Terms box saying:

“An error occurred during processing. Please try again”.

Things I’ve tried:

  1. My logging was off so there is nothing in the logs yet (Just turned it back on).
  2. I ran the s2-server-scanner and passed with flying colors, so that’s fine.
  3. I checked out the IPN and Autoreturn links and they work fine. Note that there is no SSL turned on my site yet but the IPN link is configured with HTTP not HTTPS (I know I have to get a certificate configured by June, 2017 to keep this working)

Yet, I can’t help but think this is an IPN issue…isn’t PayPal hitting your site at the IPN link when someone logs in and tries to process the subscription?

Tim

#2

After having a client try a few times with the same error, here’s my s2-http-api-debug.log which has some scary looking INVALID words in it:

LOG ENTRY: Thu Feb 9th, 2017 @ precisely 6:17 pm UTC
PHP v5.6.27 :: WordPress v4.7.2 :: s2Member v161129
Memory 41.97 MB :: Real Memory 42.75 MB :: Peak Memory 42.01 MB :: Real Peak Memory 42.75 MB
escapeallthesethings.com/?s2member_paypal_notify=1
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/56.0.2924.87 Safari/537.36
Array
(
    [state] => response
    [transport_class] => Requests
    [args] => Array
        (
            [method] => POST
            [timeout] => 20
            [redirection] => 5
            [httpversion] => 1.1
            [user-agent] => s2Member v161129; http://escapeallthesethings.com
            [reject_unsafe_urls] => 
            [blocking] => 1
            [headers] => Array
                (
                )

            [cookies] => Array
                (
                )

            [body] => Array
                (
                    [cmd] => _notify-validate
                )

            [compress] => 
            [decompress] => 1
            [sslverify] => 1
            [sslcertificates] => /usr/home/avimeleck/public_html/escapeallthesethings.com/wp-includes/certificates/ca-bundle.crt
            [stream] => 
            [filename] => 
            [limit_response_size] => 
            [s2member] => 161129
            [_redirection] => 5
        )

    [url] => https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
    [response] => Array
        (
            [headers] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                (
                    [data:protected] => Array
                        (
                            [server] => Apache
                            [x-frame-options] => SAMEORIGIN
                            [http_x_pp_az_locator] => dcg12.slc
                            [content-encoding] => gzip
                            [paypal-debug-id] => 376dfaf269afc
                            [cache-control] => max-age=0, no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate
                            [pragma] => no-cache
                            [content-type] => text/html; charset=UTF-8
                            [dc] => slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com
                            [date] => Thu, 09 Feb 2017 18:17:10 GMT
                            [content-length] => 33
                            [vary] => Accept-Encoding
                            [set-cookie] => Array
                                (
                                    [0] => cwrClyrK4LoCV1fydGbAxiNL6iG=3XBJ2uyaOzrWl7CkNkS3RPlJS-0BSw5D0M1HDo9-pNkvBpcGyjUFmeIGiNWZKhFIj_Rf32SkfWPVhZfKiHspgDRp3Q4zcKpjFHDU82GmWPNRZpunGhvSq07P6aYNh0sV3snQ9iINHmRFPyRN5f9D6GUXjoZX-v3Xk5JwNVNPevBtfZ1lk5Ks6xFsddPz4E6yjNfVxdfKUmf26K-7iOYZe1eubJ5f92z7r24ewvpAIEgkVVDPEvQU5xVkuvG0foeIc_TlNF5zMJsPR5ssD6gXhioBhnONxerdNv4ng6WUGExO72AIibmg0iDk0qvqDxD4HUzc1_ETiVeJPk2j3nWxXer9l2lG0c1V8yrngl_PTymgMvLBoj_ILWmEI2Z_8yIVDDg260u7rkaEPBrWhpg1kFguu_m0raWeI1-Hy7t7ZGI_H27i4AsMjF_iEe8; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                    [1] => cookie_check=yes; expires=Sun, 07-Feb-2027 18:17:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                    [2] => navcmd=_notify-validate; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                    [3] => navlns=0.0; expires=Sat, 09-Feb-2019 18:17:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                    [4] => X-PP-SILOVER=name%3DLIVE6.WEB.1%26silo_version%3D880%26app%3Dappdispatcher%26TIME%3D649239640%26HTTP_X_PP_AZ_LOCATOR%3Ddcg12.slc; Expires=Thu, 09 Feb 2017 18:47:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                    [5] => X-PP-SILOVER=; Expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT
                                    [6] => AKDC=slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com; expires=Thu, 09-Feb-2017 18:47:10 GMT; path=/; secure
                                    [7] => akavpau_ppsd=1486664830~id=8b600b75fc79db0043cf132d03e2d2f8; path=/
                                )

                            [strict-transport-security] => max-age=63072000
                        )

                )

            [body] => INVALID
            [response] => Array
                (
                    [code] => 200
                    [message] => OK
                )

            [cookies] => Array
                (
                    [0] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => cwrClyrK4LoCV1fydGbAxiNL6iG
                            [value] => 3XBJ2uyaOzrWl7CkNkS3RPlJS-0BSw5D0M1HDo9-pNkvBpcGyjUFmeIGiNWZKhFIj_Rf32SkfWPVhZfKiHspgDRp3Q4zcKpjFHDU82GmWPNRZpunGhvSq07P6aYNh0sV3snQ9iINHmRFPyRN5f9D6GUXjoZX-v3Xk5JwNVNPevBtfZ1lk5Ks6xFsddPz4E6yjNfVxdfKUmf26K-7iOYZe1eubJ5f92z7r24ewvpAIEgkVVDPEvQU5xVkuvG0foeIc_TlNF5zMJsPR5ssD6gXhioBhnONxerdNv4ng6WUGExO72AIibmg0iDk0qvqDxD4HUzc1_ETiVeJPk2j3nWxXer9l2lG0c1V8yrngl_PTymgMvLBoj_ILWmEI2Z_8yIVDDg260u7rkaEPBrWhpg1kFguu_m0raWeI1-Hy7t7ZGI_H27i4AsMjF_iEe8
                            [expires] => 
                            [path] => /
                            [domain] => paypal.com
                        )

                    [1] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => cookie_check
                            [value] => yes
                            [expires] => 1802024230
                            [path] => /
                            [domain] => paypal.com
                        )

                    [2] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => navcmd
                            [value] => _notify-validate
                            [expires] => 
                            [path] => /
                            [domain] => paypal.com
                        )

                    [3] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => navlns
                            [value] => 0.0
                            [expires] => 1549736230
                            [path] => /
                            [domain] => paypal.com
                        )

                    [4] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => X-PP-SILOVER
                            [value] => 
                            [expires] => 1
                            [path] => /cgi-bin
                            [domain] => www.paypal.com
                        )

                    [5] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => AKDC
                            [value] => slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com
                            [expires] => 1486666030
                            [path] => /
                            [domain] => www.paypal.com
                        )

                    [6] => WP_Http_Cookie Object
                        (
                            [name] => akavpau_ppsd
                            [value] => 1486664830~id=8b600b75fc79db0043cf132d03e2d2f8
                            [expires] => 
                            [path] => /
                            [domain] => www.paypal.com
                        )

                )

            [filename] => 
            [http_response] => WP_HTTP_Requests_Response Object
                (
                    [response:protected] => Requests_Response Object
                        (
                            [body] => INVALID
                            [raw] => HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Apache
X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
HTTP_X_PP_AZ_LOCATOR: dcg12.slc
Content-Encoding: gzip
Paypal-Debug-Id: 376dfaf269afc
Cache-Control: max-age=0, no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate
Pragma: no-cache
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
DC: slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2017 18:17:10 GMT
Content-Length: 33
Connection: close
Vary: Accept-Encoding
Set-Cookie: cwrClyrK4LoCV1fydGbAxiNL6iG=3XBJ2uyaOzrWl7CkNkS3RPlJS-0BSw5D0M1HDo9-pNkvBpcGyjUFmeIGiNWZKhFIj_Rf32SkfWPVhZfKiHspgDRp3Q4zcKpjFHDU82GmWPNRZpunGhvSq07P6aYNh0sV3snQ9iINHmRFPyRN5f9D6GUXjoZX-v3Xk5JwNVNPevBtfZ1lk5Ks6xFsddPz4E6yjNfVxdfKUmf26K-7iOYZe1eubJ5f92z7r24ewvpAIEgkVVDPEvQU5xVkuvG0foeIc_TlNF5zMJsPR5ssD6gXhioBhnONxerdNv4ng6WUGExO72AIibmg0iDk0qvqDxD4HUzc1_ETiVeJPk2j3nWxXer9l2lG0c1V8yrngl_PTymgMvLBoj_ILWmEI2Z_8yIVDDg260u7rkaEPBrWhpg1kFguu_m0raWeI1-Hy7t7ZGI_H27i4AsMjF_iEe8; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: cookie_check=yes; expires=Sun, 07-Feb-2027 18:17:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: navcmd=_notify-validate; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: navlns=0.0; expires=Sat, 09-Feb-2019 18:17:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: X-PP-SILOVER=name%3DLIVE6.WEB.1%26silo_version%3D880%26app%3Dappdispatcher%26TIME%3D649239640%26HTTP_X_PP_AZ_LOCATOR%3Ddcg12.slc; Expires=Thu, 09 Feb 2017 18:47:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
Set-Cookie: X-PP-SILOVER=; Expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT
Set-Cookie: AKDC=slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com; expires=Thu, 09-Feb-2017 18:47:10 GMT; path=/; secure
Set-Cookie: akavpau_ppsd=1486664830~id=8b600b75fc79db0043cf132d03e2d2f8; path=/
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=63072000

INVALID
                            [headers] => Requests_Response_Headers Object
                                (
                                    [data:protected] => Array
                                        (
                                            [server] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => Apache
                                                )

                                            [x-frame-options] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => SAMEORIGIN
                                                )

                                            [http_x_pp_az_locator] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => dcg12.slc
                                                )

                                            [content-encoding] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => gzip
                                                )

                                            [paypal-debug-id] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => 376dfaf269afc
                                                )

                                            [cache-control] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => max-age=0, no-cache, no-store, must-revalidate
                                                )

                                            [pragma] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => no-cache
                                                )

                                            [content-type] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => text/html; charset=UTF-8
                                                )

                                            [dc] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com
                                                )

                                            [date] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => Thu, 09 Feb 2017 18:17:10 GMT
                                                )

                                            [content-length] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => 33
                                                )

                                            [vary] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => Accept-Encoding
                                                )

                                            [set-cookie] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => cwrClyrK4LoCV1fydGbAxiNL6iG=3XBJ2uyaOzrWl7CkNkS3RPlJS-0BSw5D0M1HDo9-pNkvBpcGyjUFmeIGiNWZKhFIj_Rf32SkfWPVhZfKiHspgDRp3Q4zcKpjFHDU82GmWPNRZpunGhvSq07P6aYNh0sV3snQ9iINHmRFPyRN5f9D6GUXjoZX-v3Xk5JwNVNPevBtfZ1lk5Ks6xFsddPz4E6yjNfVxdfKUmf26K-7iOYZe1eubJ5f92z7r24ewvpAIEgkVVDPEvQU5xVkuvG0foeIc_TlNF5zMJsPR5ssD6gXhioBhnONxerdNv4ng6WUGExO72AIibmg0iDk0qvqDxD4HUzc1_ETiVeJPk2j3nWxXer9l2lG0c1V8yrngl_PTymgMvLBoj_ILWmEI2Z_8yIVDDg260u7rkaEPBrWhpg1kFguu_m0raWeI1-Hy7t7ZGI_H27i4AsMjF_iEe8; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                                    [1] => cookie_check=yes; expires=Sun, 07-Feb-2027 18:17:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                                    [2] => navcmd=_notify-validate; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                                    [3] => navlns=0.0; expires=Sat, 09-Feb-2019 18:17:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                                    [4] => X-PP-SILOVER=name%3DLIVE6.WEB.1%26silo_version%3D880%26app%3Dappdispatcher%26TIME%3D649239640%26HTTP_X_PP_AZ_LOCATOR%3Ddcg12.slc; Expires=Thu, 09 Feb 2017 18:47:10 GMT; domain=.paypal.com; path=/; Secure; HttpOnly
                                                    [5] => X-PP-SILOVER=; Expires=Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:01 GMT
                                                    [6] => AKDC=slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com; expires=Thu, 09-Feb-2017 18:47:10 GMT; path=/; secure
                                                    [7] => akavpau_ppsd=1486664830~id=8b600b75fc79db0043cf132d03e2d2f8; path=/
                                                )

                                            [strict-transport-security] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => max-age=63072000
                                                )

                                        )

                                )

                            [status_code] => 200
                            [protocol_version] => 1.1
                            [success] => 1
                            [redirects] => 0
                            [url] => https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
                            [history] => Array
                                (
                                )

                            [cookies] => Requests_Cookie_Jar Object
                                (
                                    [cookies:protected] => Array
                                        (
                                            [cwrClyrK4LoCV1fydGbAxiNL6iG] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => cwrClyrK4LoCV1fydGbAxiNL6iG
                                                    [value] => 3XBJ2uyaOzrWl7CkNkS3RPlJS-0BSw5D0M1HDo9-pNkvBpcGyjUFmeIGiNWZKhFIj_Rf32SkfWPVhZfKiHspgDRp3Q4zcKpjFHDU82GmWPNRZpunGhvSq07P6aYNh0sV3snQ9iINHmRFPyRN5f9D6GUXjoZX-v3Xk5JwNVNPevBtfZ1lk5Ks6xFsddPz4E6yjNfVxdfKUmf26K-7iOYZe1eubJ5f92z7r24ewvpAIEgkVVDPEvQU5xVkuvG0foeIc_TlNF5zMJsPR5ssD6gXhioBhnONxerdNv4ng6WUGExO72AIibmg0iDk0qvqDxD4HUzc1_ETiVeJPk2j3nWxXer9l2lG0c1V8yrngl_PTymgMvLBoj_ILWmEI2Z_8yIVDDg260u7rkaEPBrWhpg1kFguu_m0raWeI1-Hy7t7ZGI_H27i4AsMjF_iEe8
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [domain] => paypal.com
                                                                    [path] => /
                                                                    [secure] => 1
                                                                    [httponly] => 1
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                            [cookie_check] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => cookie_check
                                                    [value] => yes
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [expires] => 1802024230
                                                                    [domain] => paypal.com
                                                                    [path] => /
                                                                    [secure] => 1
                                                                    [httponly] => 1
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                            [navcmd] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => navcmd
                                                    [value] => _notify-validate
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [domain] => paypal.com
                                                                    [path] => /
                                                                    [secure] => 1
                                                                    [httponly] => 1
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                            [navlns] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => navlns
                                                    [value] => 0.0
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [expires] => 1549736230
                                                                    [domain] => paypal.com
                                                                    [path] => /
                                                                    [secure] => 1
                                                                    [httponly] => 1
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                            [X-PP-SILOVER] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => X-PP-SILOVER
                                                    [value] => 
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [expires] => 1
                                                                    [domain] => www.paypal.com
                                                                    [path] => /cgi-bin
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 1
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                            [AKDC] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => AKDC
                                                    [value] => slc-b-origin-www-1.paypal.com
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [expires] => 1486666030
                                                                    [path] => /
                                                                    [secure] => 1
                                                                    [domain] => www.paypal.com
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 1
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                            [akavpau_ppsd] => Requests_Cookie Object
                                                (
                                                    [name] => akavpau_ppsd
                                                    [value] => 1486664830~id=8b600b75fc79db0043cf132d03e2d2f8
                                                    [attributes] => Requests_Utility_CaseInsensitiveDictionary Object
                                                        (
                                                            [data:protected] => Array
                                                                (
                                                                    [path] => /
                                                                    [domain] => www.paypal.com
                                                                )

                                                        )

                                                    [flags] => Array
                                                        (
                                                            [creation] => 1486664230
                                                            [last-access] => 1486664230
                                                            [persistent] => 
                                                            [host-only] => 1
                                                        )

                                                    [reference_time] => 1486664230
                                                )

                                        )

                                )

                        )

                    [filename:protected] => 
                    [data] => 
                    [headers] => 
                    [status] => 
                )

        )

)
#3

More information: the helpful client was able to use the one time/one month membership payment buttons successfully. (PayPal order email to me said “eCheck payment in process”) even though the subscription version of the button has not been working.

What does it mean if someone can order a membership with a one time payment and not do a subscription but they are using a PayPal account in both cases (with a bank account attached I think)?

#4

Problem solved, it was a 0 balance PayPal account attached to a bank account. Once he added a credit card, it worked. Just as this said:

https://www.freshbooks.com/support/paypal-error-message-we-cant-process-your-payment-right-now-so-please-try-again-later

1 Like