One and One hosting - Problems with emails and placing orders on the site

[pmsupport]

Hi All,

We have been having reports from customers who are using one and one hosting, that when an order on the website is completed, the website hangs for a long period of time (Around 1 minutes). Shoppers can then sometimes go back and forth in the browser placing multiple orders. Also, shoppers will not receive an order confirmation email.

At the moment, we believe this issue has been caused in a change to how one and one hosting handle SMTP authentication.

SellerDeck are aware of this issue, and are working towards a workaround for the problem.

We are maintaining a knowledge base article below:

http://community.sellerdeck.com/showthread.php?t=54979

Thanks

Paul

[Mike Hughes]

Hi Paul,

This is the first I've heard about this but I suspect it is the smtp issue.

When sending emails from within Sellerdeck I get a delay of around 20 seconds before the email is sent and I can use sellerdeck again.

It sounds to me like you're on the right track and I look forward to seeing a resolution.

Mike

PS. The issue of sellerdeck hanging during the checkout stage when there's smtp problems has been known for a long time. It's a shame this wasn't fixed when the checkout process was redesigned in V10 (I think).

[PC Int]

One and One checkout problem

We have experienced this issue for past week (on three SD 2013 v12.0.2 NVGA sites) and have followed suggestions from 1and1 about change of SMTP server but the problem remains. Has anyone succeeded in resolving the issue and if so how, please?

In case it helps anyone, the SMTP servers suggested by 1and1 that we have tried are:

mrelayeu.kundenserver.de (which has even longer time out)

mrelay.perfora.net (which subsequently 1and1 clarified was for use in USA only)

mrvnet.kundenserver.de (this is the server we've been using for two years without problems until a week ago. It 'works' but with the delay and issues mentioned in this thread.)

We have submitted the MailForm script used by SD to 1and1 in case they can spot anything but not holding my breath.

Situation getting desperate.

Paul

[graphicz]

A client is having a similar issue but he is not with 1&1. He is on my Reseller account.

I have advised him to not use localhost but to use the mailserver for his domain name:

eg: mail.graphicz.co.uk for example,

tick the Username and Password required box
and enter the full email address specified in Business settings as the username and the respective password.

This only works of course if the email address is the same domain as the web hosting.

This rules out issues to do with shared servers.

[PC Int]

1 and 1 checkout problem email related

UPDATE: I turned off the customer receipt email AND emptied the email copies to us box under Business Settings>Ordering>Email and the order completed straightaway - no delays - which does seem to confirm that the problem is related to using the 1and1 SMTP server.

This is a temporary fix and of course means that the customer does NOT receive an order confirmation email and neither do we, but we can check for orders regularly and send the order confirmation email to customer direct from SD Orders panel instead.

At least this means the ordering process is not as confusing/disruptive from customer perspective, until a proper resolution to the issue is found.

Paul Tanner

http://www.bookpalace.com

[pmsupport]

Hi All,

Just to give you an update.

Our developers are still investigating this issue.

Paul Tanners idea is a great short term work around. We will update our knowledge base article shortly to include this.

Thanks

Paul

[graphicz]

How do you 'turn off the customer receipt'?

Thanks

[pmsupport]

Hi Jonathan,

Please see below:

It is possible to temporarily prevent duplicate orders from occurring by going to 'Settings | Business Settings | Ordering' and removing the tick from 'Send Receipt Email to Customer' and removing everything within the 'Send Receipt Email Copies to' field, clicking 'OK' and uploading the site.

Thanks

Paul

[John Ennals]

Hi,

As a temporary measure I've put the following text on the last checkout page beneath the Confirm Order button, which seems to have more or less stopped the duplicate orders:

"NOTE: You may experience a delay of up to 60 seconds after clicking 'Confirm Order'. We are working to fix this problem. In the meantime please be patient - you will be taken to the payment/receipt page eventually! Thank you, Tortoys."

John

[Ricc]

I'm having the same issues. Duplicate orders and also when sending emails from the admin it takes about 10 seconds to send.

I'm with 1and1 and version 10.4

[PC Int]

Update: 1 and 1 checkout problem email related

I have a reply from One and One about the email delay at checkout on their servers.

It's only a full week after the issue was "escalated" within One and One but suppose we should be thankful...

Our mail server administrators have informed us that this delay is a current design decision on our systems in order to discourage recent SPAM messages originating from our networks. The currently set delay is 19 seconds. This ticket is currently still open, we will be providing you with any further updates. We apologize for the issues this has caused on your services.

You may receive a short survey within the next 24-48 hours. Please take a moment to complete it so that we may continue to improve our customer experience.

I kept their last para in cos I know how much we all admire their sense of humour.

Note: that is 19 seconds for each message sent, so if you send the order received email to the customer and a copy elsewhere, that is 38 seconds before the buyer will see the "Order Receipt" screen.

Where this leaves us: unless 1and1 change their policy pronto, looking for a new web host.

Surely 1and1 know precisely who may be generating spam using their SMTP relay servers and can just block them.

Paul Tanner
http://illustrationartgallery.com
http://bookpalace.com
http://illustratorsquarterly.com

[Mike Hughes]

surely the immediate change that would at least get things working while it's sorted out would be for 1and1 to send the first email immediately and then have a delay before another is sent.

Why do they think they need a delay before even the first email is sent?

Mike

[KarenBM]

We have been having the same problems, slow sending email in admin, and very long delays in checkout, and have lost a lot of business because of it. 1and1 have denied that it is their fault, saying:
"If you have an issue on sending email from your website, then we strongly advise your check your script and make sure mail settings are authenticated. However, we would like to ask for the exact domain and a screenshot of the error that you got during check out. It would be better as well if you can provide us instruction on how we can replicate the error. "

This was this evening. Quite amusing especially in light of the admission of an intentional design implementation in the post above.

[John Ennals]

After receiving a phone call today from a confused regular customer who I don't want to lose, I've reluctantly gone with Paul's suggestion and turned off all automatic emails.

Unfortunately I'm a one man band and also have a day job, so I can't check the computer every now and then for orders. I've added a note above the 'DONE' button on the receipt page to tell customers that they will receive a confirmation email in due course.

It would be useful to know from SellerDeck whether they envisage eventually being able to resolve the issue with a script change or similar. If so, I'll be very happy to wait for the solution. However if the solution is going to depend on One and One making a change then even if it happens there's no guarantee it will stay fixed, so I will need to change hosting provider despite the likely extra cost.

John

[guccij]

Here's the latest from woeful 1and1 this morning:

"Unfortunately we are not able to implement outbound spam filtering on our mail servers. This is due to restrictions placed by federal German law. We are unfortunately unable to remove the 19 second delay on sending mails at this time, as it is needed to prevent abuse of our mail servers. We apologize for any inconvenience."

We have a dedicated server. I've had enough. I'll pay more for a host that doesn't treat its customers like idiots.