Paypal Timeout Problems

We've had a number of emails about Paypal payment procedures timing out before you're able to pay. First of all, we'd like to extend our apologies to our users for this. Unfortunately the problem lies with Paypal and not with our own site, so it's not very easy to solve.

Paypal has provided the following information for users. The problem seems to be stemming from cookies.

"The PayPal system is designed to drop your connection, or time out, after five minutes of inactivity. This is just one measure of many PayPal uses to offer the highest levels of security for our members.

If the system is timing out in less than five minutes, it may be caused by a lost (or dropped) secure connection, which is often a result of Internet congestion. When Internet congestion occurs, secured web servers (the backbone of most websites) are affected the most.

If the problem persists, disconnect and reconnect to your Internet connection (whether via a dial-up or DSL or cable connection). You may also want to wait a few minutes before accessing the PayPal website.

Also, make sure to clear your cache files periodically; otherwise, you may experience slow connection and closing times attempting to access or log out of the PayPal website. To improve overall performance on the web, and specifically while visiting PayPal, routinely clear your cache by following these steps (if your web browser is not listed below, the best solutions are to check the browser's Help section or connect to its customer service center.)

For Internet Explorer:

Here's How:

1. Click the Start button.
2. Select Settings and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click Internet (or Internet Options) button, and select the General tab.
4. Click the Settings button in the Temporary Internet Files section and choose View Files.
5. Click Edit and choose Select All.
6. Press the Delete key on your keyboard. If prompted to verify that you want to delete your cookies, click Yes.

For Netscape:

Computers store copies of frequently accessed web pages in the system's memory cache or disk cache. This way, the computer doesn't have to download the web page each time you access it. To change the size of the memory cache or clear it altogether (Windows and Unix only), follow these steps:

Here's How:

1. From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
2. Open the Advanced category and click Cache.
3. To clear the Memory Cache immediately, click Clear Memory Cache.

For AOL:

Here's How:

1. Open the AOL account.
2. Click Settings on the toolbar, (My AOL for older versions).
3. Select Preferences.
4. Select the Internet Properties (WWW) link on the left-hand side.
5. In the middle of the Internet Options box is a section called Temporary Internet Files.
6. Click Delete Files. Place a check mark in the Delete All Offline Content box.
7. Click OK.

Note: If you need to write a long description when sending a payment or Money Request, open a text only document, type your message and then copy and paste the message into the PayPal sending document page."

I really hope this helps. We are actively trying to arrange other payment methods for our sites, but this is proving quite difficult. Indeed, if any users have experience of web payment requests, then do let us know!