Payment page not displaying

[oldhasbeen]

Hi peeps

I've been reading with interest quite a few threads recently about checkout problems/drop outs etc.

We've recently had a flurry of customers say they can add to basket but when they go to the payment page it just hangs. Fortunately these customers still want to order so at least we know about it and can take the orders over the telephone (how many we just lose, I shudder to think about).

We've tried to replicate this on 6 different PCs/laptops and can't - our hosts (Techno-Web/4sure) have also tried and can't.

We redesigned our site back in July to the smart theme when things were a bit quieter and didn't notice any fall out of orders. But now we're in our busy season, obviously the number of problems grows exponentially with the number of people using the site.

Plenty of orders are coming through so we know it's probably not a server issue as after all, it doesn't pick and chose who can and can't order. So it would seem we're dealing some sort of problem on the customers' PCs.

This is where we get stuck on what to advise. We've had customers who have ordered from us for years who now can't and these are the last people we want to alienate! However, what strikes me as odd is that we've never had any complaints from what I'd call "professional" customers - i.e those who run their own websites and are IT savvy (so probably keep up to date anti virus, spyware and adware programmes running).

Is anybody else facing similar problems? Trying to find out from the customers who do have problems exactly what has happened is virtually impossible - they don't understand what OS they are using so anything more is beyond the realm. We're worrying now that the site design change may have caused the problems, but I can't see how...... at a loss?!

We've tried to advise customers to ensure they run programmes to keep their systems clean, but again this is beyond the realms of understanding of a lot of people - so far as they're concerned, our website is broke and we should fix it. Any ideas?

[Bruce]

Yes, this is a tricky one to track down, especially if you are uanble to replicate the problem. Have you checked to see if these people having difficulties have slow Internet connections or something like that. Have you had a look at the server logs or the error file for the particulat time around one of these failed transactions to see if there is a record of anything happening?

If any of you out there have any suggestions please do post here.

Kind regards,

[oldhasbeen]

Hi Bruce

Thanks for your reply. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason for it apart from something must have changed on the user's PC since the last time they ordered from us (although they say they can still order from other web stores, which made us think it could be something actinic specific).

We've always had this issue no matter who our hosts are or what version of actinic (both have changed over the years, but this problem keeps rearing up from time to time). Of course during peak times the last thing you need is for staff to keep breaking off from what they're doing to take telephone orders from customers who would otherwise have ordered on-line.

Staff do have a small set of questions to ask to determine why the customer wants to order over the telephone rather than on-line (and of course there are customers who have no other choice and that's fine, we're more than happy to accomodate), but for those who say they've had a problem we do have specific questions (obviously we ask would you mind answering a few questions in order to help us to resolve the problem you're experiencing). Answers are invariably "what's that then" or "I don't know nuffin about computers".

It's even harder to know what to advise, as at the same time we're fielding these "I can't get through check out" calls or emails, we can sit and watch orders rocking in.

Not being jaded or anything , but we figured it could be customers trying to jump the queue by placing telephone orders and "reporting" a fault, which is entirely possible in some cases (not that they get any further forward because telephone orders take longer and this is clearly explained). But when you have regulars of many years standing saying they can't complete on-line, while you're watching orders completed on-line coming through, it must be down to something on the user's PC having changed?

I guess we may just have to put up with it given our customer base, but if any other actinic store owners have any input please throw a line!

Thanks - Helen