Error #36. Transaction failed: Fail to obtain

I know this is all over the forums; I’ve read it all several times, tried everything, and still can’t make it work reliably.

I have s2 Pro (130203), PP Pro Payflow Edition (only a few days old) and recurring payments are enabled. I’m pretty sure that all s2 settings are correct in WP as recurring payments work fine for credit cards, but not if the user pays by PP. They get error #36 — some of the time. For some accounts it works, others not (like my personal one which is different than my merchant one).

My problem is almost word-for-word the one described here:
http://www.s2member.com/forums/topic/recurring-payments-payflow-error-36-failure/
That one never seemed to get resolved, but PP said something to do with “referenced transactions”?

I have a ticket in to PP support, but I’m not hopeful. They did admit that their error 10422 could mean a lot of things other than a funding source problem.

Any news on this since the latest release? I see Jason’s post at x.com concerning this has no replies …

I can send in the log if that helps.

Thank you for reporting this important issue.

I can send in the log if that helps.

Please send these logs in so we can diagnose further what is happening on your installation. Also, can we have the go-ahead to run test transactions on your installation?

s2Member® » Private Contact Form

Thank you.

OK Thanks. What is the best way to send them to you?

Thanks for the heads up on this thread :-)

They get error #36 — some of the time. For some accounts it works, others not (like my personal one which is different than my merchant one).

In our latest investigation of this, we did hear back from PayPal® and they concluded the underlying cause in many of these cases, is related to fraud filters. Based on what you’ve already stated, it sounds like this is the same issue affecting you (not a bug — the intended behavior). Please see this discussion:

http://www.s2member.com/forums/topic/paypal-error-36-transaction-failed-2/#post-39640

Please let us know if problems persist :-)

So Paypal is saying, “your money’s no good here”? Even for a purchase of $79? OK, but all those accounts that don’t work on my website are from all different IP addresses and those users use PayPal to buy other things all the time …

But that doesn’t matter now; I have to get something running. So I guess I will hide the PayPal option as has been described here:
http://www.s2member.com/forums/topic/paypal-error-36-transaction-failed-2/#post-39640

… and swap out the PayPal button with one that says, “Puchase” or “Submit” or something as described here:
http://www.s2member.com/kb/custom-image-in-paypal-button/

Do you see any problems with that plan? I know you don’t like doing that, but what can I do? PayPal will still earn some money on the CC transactions, so they shouldn’t complain too much.

Thanks for trying Jason.

Thanks for the follow-up :-)

As far as your technique in disabling that option. No, I don’t see an issue. However, there is an issue of PayPal’s ToS, which states that disabling PayPal is not acceptable. I would advise you to confirm this with PayPal and ask for permission to do this, just so you’re in the clear :-)

Also, I would be grateful if we could review your s2Member® log files. Perhaps we can identify something further with respect to this issue. As far as I know, this is simply related to PayPal fraud filters (or fraud filters implemented by the underlying merchant bank). If we find out something more I will definitely post an update, including a changelog entry related to any improvements.

If you submit your log files for review, please do that here:
s2Member® » Private Contact Form

Just submitted log files. I’m willing to do anything else that might help. I’ll keep those s2 login accounts open until I hear from you that you are finished. Thanks again.

Thank you. I’m going to review these shortly.

Thanks for your patience.

I just reviewed your log files. Yes, this is the same thing we’ve seen in the past, and PayPal® has consistently told us that it’s because of fraud filters. Honestly, I’m not totally convinced of that yet. PayPal® support says a lot of things that don’t convince me :-)

If it’s possible for us to run a couple of live test transactions against your installlation, I’ll be happy to make an attempt to debug this further. I’d really like to get to the bottom of this. I thought we had (and maybe so), but if you will allow us to run a couple of test transactions, perhaps we can uncover something more.

If so, please submit a Dashboard login here:
s2Member® » Private Contact Form

If it’s a test site, that’s fine. I just need a Payflow account where this is occurring so we can make an attempt to debug this again. Our own accounts do not exhibit this behavior unfortunately.

Sure, but I’m unclear as to what you need. Do you want the credentials for my personal PayPal account that throws the error? or the credentials for my business PayPal account?

Actually just a Dashboard login will be fine. If you have an installation of WP already configured with your API credentials for Payflow, that would be great. Thanks!

Details received. Thank you!