TimeOut Errors
Learn how to address PayPal timeout errors that occur when payment processing exceeds 120 seconds, including steps for verification and resolution.
When a payment is attempted using the PayPal payment gateway, if the processor takes longer than 120 seconds to process such payment transaction, PayPal can return timeout errors for the payment.
PayPal can generate the following timeout errors:
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104: Timeout waiting for processor response. Try your transaction again.
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1000: Generic processor error: 10001 - Timeout processing request
If a payment results in a timeout error, it is unclear whether or not the payment processor eventually processed the payment successfully or if the payment failed.
Most payments do not take longer than 120 seconds to process, but some do. For these outliers, Zuora recommends manual intervention by checking in the PayPal virtual terminal to verify whether or not the payment was successful. It is important to check on the final payment status before you attempt another payment on the same charge to avoid overcharging the end customer.
The following describes how to address PayPal time out errors, based on whether the payment was attempted through a
subscribe()
call or through the Z-Payments interface.
For Payments Attempted Through a subscribe Call
In a
subscribe()
call, Zuora will attempt to process a payment for the subscription. If a payment was processed successfully, the customer account/subscription/invoice/and payment information will all be stored in Z-Billing.
In the event the subscribe call fails due to a payment error, the application rolls the data back and will not create a customer account, subscription, invoice, or payment in Z-Billing. In such cases, we suggest you monitor timeout errors in the API by setting up an alert that is sent to you when there is a payment timeout error. When you receive this alert, you can decide on a process for handling such errors.
For example:
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In the event this error occurred when an end user attempts to sign up for your service, you can do the following:
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Decide whether or not to allow the end user to continue the sign up process, or display an error stating there is a problem with their order.
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Ask the end user to please try again later or let the end user know that your company has been notified of this error.
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Ask the end user to enter a different payment method
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You should always go to the PayPal virtual terminal to verify if the payments with error code 104 or 1000 timeouts were successfully processed by the payment processor.
For Payments Attempted Through the Z-Payments Interface
To check for error payments, you can export data from the Payment data source. To export data from the Payment data source:
- Navigate to Reporting > Data Sources .
- From the Data Source field, select Payment . The Fields panel displays the fields provided by the Payment data source.
- In the Payment folder, select Gateway Response Code and Gateway Response Message . The exported data will contain columns called "Payment: Gateway Response Code" and "Payment: Gateway Response Message" that list the gateway response for each payment. To export more information about each payment, select more fields in the Fields panel. Alternatively, select Select All "Payment" Fields .
- In the Time Frame panel, select Payment > Effective Date from the Filter By field, then select Daily > Today from the Date Range field.
- Click export . When the export is complete, the exported data is available for download at the bottom of the page.
- After exporting the data, check the "Payment: Gateway Response Code" and "Payment: Gateway Response Message" columns for errors. For example, Generic processor error: 10001-Timeout processing request.
- Go to the PayPal virtual terminal to verify if the payments with error code 104 or 1000 timeouts were successfully processed by the payment processor. If they were successfully processed, add an external payment in Zuora to show that the invoice was paid. If it was not successfully process, you can re-attempt the payment using a payment run or create a payment.
It is important to handle payments with error code 104 or 1000 timeouts as soon as you are made aware of them (we recommend checking daily for timeout errors), especially if your company has set up daily payment runs to occur. If payment was attempted for an open invoice and such payment resulted in an error, the next time a payment run is executed it will attempt to collect payment on the same invoice. Therefore, ensuring the payment was not already collected in PayPal ensures your end customer will not be overcharged.
If a payment that timed out was successfully processed in PayPal, you can reflect this in Z-Payments to ensure that your customer is not charged again for the same invoice by going to Z-Payments and creating an external payment for the invoice that has been paid.