Nov 24 2008

Paypal error: Sorry - your last action could not be completed

Filed under: E-Commerce » Paypal,

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Unable to pay with Paypal all of a sudden?

Many, many users on the Internet are currently experiencing the frustrating Sorry - your last action could not be completed error when they try and submit payment with Paypal. This happens whether they're trying to buy a stuffed animal on the world famous auction site Ebay or a set of flowers from the local mom and pop online flower store.

What is this sorry - action could not be completed error?

And where is it coming from? As far as we've learned, it's an error that is being triggered by Paypal internally as a result of one of their upgrades. For you ecommerce site owners/ online merchants out there - it doesn't necessarily mean you've done anything wrong.

How do I make the error go away?

We can't fully confirm this, but it appears that the problem lies with Paypal payment pages loaded in frames. In other words, if you're clicking a Paypal payment button on a page that resides within another page (via a frame), then Paypal doesn't like it and blocks the payment request. We surmise this could be as a result of a recent security update or something similar. Until we know more, the workaround for this problem is to open the payment page in a new window. If you're an online shopper, you can accomplish this by simply right-clicking the Paypal payment button and selecting "open in a new window." The exact method to do this varies by browser, but they all offer it. Once the Paypal payment page loads in the new window, it should work fine.

For those of you that are running your own online stores, and your Paypal payment page currently resides in a frame - you will need to add code to force the payment page to open in a new window when the user clicks on it. You want to add the following attribute to the anchor link that calls the payment page:

This will effectively bust the payments page out of the frame and open it in a new window.

Opera Browser Problem

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2008-12-09 13:17.

I'm using version 9.62 of Opera on a Windows XP box and have just started getting this error with any site I try (3 different merchants). Looks like the evil PayPal doesn't like Opera anymore. Never used to have any problems.

Thanks for the workaround

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2009-01-04 20:34.

I've had this problem in versions 8 and 9 of Opera, and it's been a pain to open IE to complete payment - so thanks for the workaround!

No Paypal login working

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2009-01-24 08:46.

Neither Firefox nor IE could login to Paypal!!

Firefox Chrome works

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2009-09-26 15:21.

So far with me, the IE browser doesn't work but FF and Chrome work. I created my page in GooglePages. I can't remove the frames from the site's html code as it seems. And for some reason, there is no anchor tag in the code that you get from Paypal's create a button otherwise, I could tell the button to load a separate page for my Paypal donation. Keep in mind, I updated IE from version 7 to version 8 and it still doesn't work. I run Vista but an XP user was having the same problem but their FF worked fine. I'm going to see if this can be fixed and repost a solution.

Sitewide error now?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-01-27 12:47.

I'm getting the "Sorry — your last action could not be completed" just going directly to Paypal.com.

How about button?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-04-27 10:14.

How can I add target="_blank" in button?

Opera 9.5

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-05-12 02:07.

After using Opera 9.5 for a few days, I am quite happy with its performance. While a lot of people were really looking forward to Firefox 3, the Opera team released Opera 9.5 with much less noise and much more improvements.

Awesome

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Thu, 2009-06-04 16:22.

I wasted time going through Paypal's help page but I found your article just like that by Googling the error message. Your help is a lot more useful. Thanks!

It's killing me

Submitted by peophet on Sat, 2009-06-06 00:47.

I've listed lots of forums, websites, read a lot of info about this error, but still can't fix it :/ . I've changed Firefox to IE and then to the latest 9.5 Opera - but still nothing. I'm loosing my client, and I don't know what to tell him. I've sent some messages to Paypal, but I haven't received any answers.

Someone, help me please :|

Thank You

Are you using frames?

Submitted by cwd on Mon, 2009-06-08 07:33.

The browser is usually not the issue. Did you check and see if the page your having troubles with is using frames?

Help with frames

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-06-10 21:26.

Sorry I'm not a well-versed computer user. But how do I know if the page I'm having trouble with is using frames? And is it possible to remove them? Thanks a lot!

Identifying frames in a web page

Submitted by cwd on Fri, 2009-06-12 14:01.

Depending on the browser you're using, you can do the following to identify whether your web page is running frames:

Internet Explorer - right-click and select "View Source."

Firefox - right-click and select "View Page Source."

Then search for a tag (ie. begins with "<") that contains the word "frame", "iframe", or "frameset."

You'll then need to edit the web page and remove the frame tags. However, this may also disrupt your layout, so you'll probably want to ask someone with HTML experience to do this for you.

Is your client using the 6-digit security key as well?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-06-10 18:59.

Have them login using their password in Paypal normally (not using the password123456 method normally used with the 6-digit security key) and then have them enter the 6-digit pin separately on the next page when asked.

I had this same problem but the pass + 6-digit pin was causing the issue and was resolved by entering both separately.

6-digit key - agree with 6-10-09 poster

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2009-06-21 16:39.

I agree with the work around described in the 6-10-09 post.

I ran into this very frustrating problem on a number of very high volume sites where I have used PayPal (and the security key PIN device) fine in the past, specifically, shoebuy.com, supermediastore.com, and newegg.com.

PayPal help was not helpful. The stores had no idea what was wrong. The work around that I found by trial and error was to enter the "base" password (no pin), then enter the pin on the next screen. Very frustrating because the "your last action could not be completed" gives no clue as to what is broken.

It is not clear if this works because it forces you to a new window and is therefore part of the same "frames" problem, or if it is another independent problem. I don't suppose it matters if you can get it to work .

Opera 9.64 - still no luck

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-07-20 17:04.

I'm using Opera 9.64 and all my Paypal checkout pages result in the same error you guys are seeing: "Sorry, your last action could not be completed." Argghhh!!!! This is terribly annoying. I tried opening the link in a new window but that didn't seem to do the trick. Meanwhile, I'm simply having to conduct transactions in another browser.

I still find Opera to be completely superior overall, especially in terms of memory use, so I have no plans of switching, but I'm surprised this problem has existed for so long and no one is taking action!

It's Paypal internal as well

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Wed, 2009-08-05 16:57.

I'm a merchant and have been trying to send invoice reminders WITHIN MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT ON PAYPAL'S WEBSITE, and am getting the same error.

Paypal support's response?... "We know about the problem and we're working on it."

Apparently nobody ever taught their developers to work kinks out in a testing environment first. They just decided to go live with updates that don't work.

Yeeha!

Same story here

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2009-08-16 12:20.

We just deployed PayPal yesterday after a month of testing on Sandbox. Now, I discovered if the browser is anything but IE, the notorious message is displayed! No frames are used in our case!

We tested the functionality on Sandbox using many browsers(FF,Chrome,..) with no errors!

Fix for the notorious problem

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2009-08-22 04:41.

I lost thousands of dollars in revenue because people could not place and order through Paypal on my website...

IT IS BECAUSE PAYPAL updated its code without telling anybody...
Cause they stink...

https://www.paypal.com/cart/add=1&................
changes to

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr/cmd=_cart&add=1&.....

That's the fix dang gone it...
8-22-09..............

Tell me how that works...... I'm Mr. T.

Vendio

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2009-11-14 15:39.

So, it is now November and this problem still occurs. I used FF and IE and neither would let me right click to open in a new window, thanks for useless info.

I did notice that when I bought from someone on Ebay a couple days ago it was all ok'ed. Trying to buy today and last night from someone I was told that the seller uses a different payment service that indirectly brings me right back for Paypal again. It is something called Vendio. I'm guessing that Paypal is being stupid and blocking the exchange through there.

This is EXTREMELY frustrating seeing as I have wasted almost 2 hours trying to fix this problem and I have gotten nowhere.

WTF.

This error happens within PayPal... WTF???

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2009-11-30 18:32.

I can log into my PayPal account, and I can send invoices from there just fine. I can see the list of people that paid, and as soon as I click
A) Add Tracking Info, or
B) Mark as Shipped or
C) Get Details,

from which page I also choose "Add Tracking Info", they all get me to the window where I can choose a carrier, enter tracking info and mark as processed, shipped or whatever.

As soon as I hit ok, I get the "sorry, we don't know WTF we're doing but thanks for being a valued customer" error. The browser can be FF3, Chrome, IE8, IE7 or IE6 on 3 different computers, XP or VISTA, and it does the EXACT same thing.

Of course their customer service hotline might as well just greet "Good morning Suckers, sorry you had to actually call us, what can we do you for today?".

Should I assume that PayPal just won't do anything about this?

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sun, 2009-12-20 20:25.

As stated on previous post, this happens regardless of FF3, Chrome, IE8, IE7 or IE6 on 3 different computers, XP or VISTA, and it does the EXACT same thing in ALL cases. Absolutely everything else works fine. I'm a merchant account verified by over 200 buyers, with a current running balance of aprox 10K, and I've been up to 15-20K more often than not. Not that it matters, but geez, you'd think they'd do something about it.

I can't see how to apply the

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-12-25 14:18.

I can't see how to apply the workaround.

The code I got from paypal doesn't have a plain link which I can set a target=blank in. The code from paypal is a form...

Thanks for the post... I hope someone can clarify!

An update. Thanks heaps for

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Fri, 2009-12-25 14:28.

An update. Thanks heaps for the clue, I made it work. The solution I had to apply was of course almost identical:

Some of the people above are users with the problem, not website owners.

People: this solution doesn't help you, because this workaround is something the website owner has to apply to their page!

Now you don't, now you do

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2009-12-29 12:17.

Using iframes...

Experienced the same behavior during development, but only when using IE. Applied the fix, target="_blank", and IE worked. That was several weeks ago...and now it no longer works. FF still works fine...so back to the drawing board.

Confirmed problem with frames

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2010-01-05 23:39.

Confirmed problem with frames also. Had a domain that was aliased using a frame "mask" and it screwed up Paypal. Removed frame and it's all good.

--Steve

Another solution

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Mon, 2010-01-25 17:55.

If you have 0 balance in your Paypal account (and have a backup credit card), but you select in your checkout preferences to use Paypal money first... the current transaction will go south on you until you put money in or use the credit card first at checkout.

This had my hair falling out for 2 days until I stumbled upon that option buried in my account preferences.

This is of course not a merchant-side problem, I guess... just for those who have both a CC and cash in the account. Lovely, isn't it?

Thank you!

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Sat, 2010-02-27 19:37.

I did lots of research, but your recommendation to 'open in a new window' helped me to solve my problem. I did not update the source code, but went to my page, clicked on the form properties for the button, and selected New Window. Saved, published, and it worked!

Thanks, and bless you.

Please help

Submitted by a visitor from afar on Tue, 2010-03-09 21:02.

I am just adding a Pay Now button to my Google website which uses frames. I have added the necessary HTML code to open a new page, but even when I right-click on the button it doesn't offer me that opportunity. Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Jane

Open Paypal button in new window

Submitted by cwd on Wed, 2010-03-10 08:37.

Hi Jane,

The right-click option actually only works if you're the shopper - and you're trying to open a button which is already present on a website. This will let you force the button to open the destination page (ie. shopping cart, checkout, etc.) in a new window.

Since you're adding the Paypal button to your own website, you'll need to add the code via HTML. In other words, you should be able to view the source code for your website page, where you typically insert your button. Within the button code, search for an anchor tag (<a href="..." ...) and add the following command that will force the button to open in a new window: <a target="_blank" href="..." ...

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