I'm being forced to login twice... every time, from every device

[HaveAnEpiphany]

No matter what device or browser I use, I'm forced to enter login information a second time. I've cleared cookies, used different browsers, and I'm having the same experience on mobile or desktop.

Often, I see the "You must log in before you access this page" error after the first login attempt.

This happens if I'm just logging in to check my account or if I'm in a checkout process.

The second time I enter my details, I'm always logged in. I'm not entering anything differently -- email/password are correct. I'm not seeing any errors related to incorrect login details. I just have to do it twice. Every time.

Any ideas?

[924kr]

So you're saying that the problem is only with people who use the PayPal Verisign secondary ID protection card that gives you the verification number ?

I sent them an email also about the problem but haven't rec'd a response yet.

[HaveAnEpiphany]

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@924kr wrote:

So you're saying that the problem is only with people who use the PayPal Verisign secondary ID protection card that gives you the verification number ?

I sent them an email also about the problem but haven't rec'd a response yet.

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Well... that wouldn't apply to me. This is still an ongoing issue without a Verisign card.

Thanks to all for jumping in on this. Glad to hear that we may have someone's attention!

[MFPrice]

I have been forced to login twice for over a year, it really gets old. 

[mconroy42]

Since this issue first showed up for me about DECEMBER 2014. Disconnecting the security key has indeed become a work-around but is certainly not the fix. Its kinda cool I guess to have a card in my wallet that will give me a random 6 digit number at the touch of a button, simple huh? But what am I do with this number?!?!?

I travel, infact am abroad right now. I find an extra layer of security comforting and want my security code back for Paypal (always works without issue on ebay) but Paypal has been stalling far too long. They have a new face on the business account page and many many new features have popped up to make the Paypal experiance better, but no one wants to fix this. Admins as us to send screen shots, bla bla bla, as if no one there knows what to test or how to reproduce the error in-house (WHAT???).

I am curious how many folks have purchased security keys since this issue showed up?

[924kr]

UPDATE: I just heard back from PayPal, very quick response to my email actually (although when you first send it via the automated system, it emails you with a generic password issues email and you have to respond to that to get an actual human). But once I sent the second email, I got a very fast response.

Here's my original email to PayPal:

>>>

My issue is that just in the last few weeks, I have to log in twice. The login on the PayPal home page won't accept my login like it used to, it always now sends me to a secondary login page where it says it needs more information from me. That login usually works, then takes me to the PayPal Verisign ID number entry page.  

So I have to enter my username and password twice, which is bothersome because I use a long password.  

It never used to do this before, I could always log in from the PayPal home page.  So something has changed in your system, or it's a bug?  

There's a growing discussion about this problem in the PayPal Community, so I’m not the only one facing the problem:  

https://www.paypal-community.com/t#/About-Business/I-m-being-forced-to-login-twice-every-time-from-e...

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And here's the response from PayPal:

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Thank you for contacting PayPal Customer Support. My name is ____ and I am happy to assist you with logging in.
I do have a known issue about you having to log in multiple times. I have added your account to the ticket #141113-000212. In the mean time I would try and delete your cache and cookies or try a different internet browser to see if the same issue occurs. If it does still occur please know we are working to resolve the issue. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

>>>

I tried deleting the cache and cookies (Chrome) and trying another browser (Firefox) that I have set to never save cookies or cache but I still get the same multiple login request. 

So here's hoping they get it fixed soon, the good news is they're working on it.

[HaveAnEpiphany]

Thanks for posting an update, @924kr 

It sounds like our situations are a little different, but may be entirely related. Like you, I've founded that deleting cookies and caches made no difference, nor did changing browsers (even to a completely "fresh" browser).

Looking forward to updates!

[SadCustomer]

I'm seeing this as well.

I have merchant support, so I called, and of course, get the "clear your cookies", "try a different browser" routine.

So, I opened a ticket, specifically saying that cleared cookies doesn't help, nor do different browsers.

And....they *still* gave me the "clear your cookies" speech.

What a sad shambles of a company this is.

[HaveAnEpiphany]

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@SadCustomer wrote:

I'm seeing this as well.

I have merchant support, so I called, and of course, get the "clear your cookies", "try a different browser" routine.

So, I opened a ticket, specifically saying that cleared cookies doesn't help, nor do different browsers.

And....they *still* gave me the "clear your cookies" speech.

What a sad shambles of a company this is.

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Hopefully it's pretty clear from the opening message of this thread that cookies are not part of the problem. I get it, the lowest level of support always has to follow the script, but when you open "Incognito Mode" or even a brand new, freshly installed browser and still have this issue, clearly cookies are not to blame.

An interesting development:

Whereas originally, I would often (but not always) see a "You must log in before you access this page" error after the first login attempt, now my first login attempt often just results in no redirection or error, but just being presented with the exact same login fields I just filled out (almost like I'd just hit "Refresh" in my browser instead of typing in my username and password).

So... I still have to log in twice, but the exact behavior is slightly different.

[SadCustomer]

I used the "live headers" plugin with Chrome, and it appears that part of the problem is that they are trying to post to a url that's being redirected via a 301.  That doesn't work...form data doesn't survive a url redirect.

For now, I've just bookmarked https://www.paypal.com/signin/, which seems to skip over the problem.

It's just dissapointing to me that Paypal:

a) Doesn't have some sort of internal monitoring that would tell them "hey...lots of people are having to log in twice".

b) Can't provide some level of real, technical support for customers that are doing significant volume.

[HaveAnEpiphany]

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@SadCustomer wrote:

I used the "live headers" plugin with Chrome, and it appears that part of the problem is that they are trying to post to a url that's being redirected via a 301.  That doesn't work...form data doesn't survive a url redirect.

For now, I've just bookmarked https://www.paypal.com/signin/, which seems to skip over the problem.

It's just dissapointing to me that Paypal:

a) Doesn't have some sort of internal monitoring that would tell them "hey...lots of people are having to log in twice".

b) Can't provide some level of real, technical support for customers that are doing significant volume.

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Good find on the 301 redirect. I'll try using that signin URL for a little while and see if it helps. 

As for your disappointments... agreed.