12/12/2011 Known issue with Invoicing Tool

[PayPal_Frank]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to acknowledge that we are experiencing issues with the Invoicing Tool right now.  If you try to send an invoice you may receive an error message.  Our engineers are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

The normal "Request Money" option is still working which may be helpful as a temporary workaround.

I'll post an update here when the issue has been resolved.  If you have found a different workaround, please post it here so others may benefit. 🙂

- Frank

[OohLaLa]

Spoiler

This is causing a lot of back-up issues with our Christmas orders, we're sitting on inventory we can't ship until we get payment, I'm using the "Request Money" tool but my clients are confused about how to pay...can anyone give me any tips of what to tell my clients about how to pay with that "Request Money" they're getting from me? I've never been on the receiving side myself so I don't know. I also asked them to use the "Send Money" tab and that has worked for a couple but I have two clients in particular who are having a hard time with that too. And, a fix to this issue would be even more appreciated! Thank you!

[CCNinc]

Hello friend, I'm so sorry. I'm having the same problem too and it's a nightmare. I called PayPal and they gave me a temporary work-a-round. See my post for the instructions. Good luck ~ laurie

[PayPal_Frank]

Hi everyone,

If you're reading this thread and you have experienced this issue, please post if you have not already done so.  Providing more examples to our engineers will assist us to resolve this issue.

Thank you,

Frank

[CCNinc]

Several of my clients are unable to pay their invoices when they click the links from my sent invoices. I can't create invoices or send reminders. I can't even see the invoices I've sent or who's paid and who hasn't. At this rate, I'll make no money over Christmas. Can't even find the words to describe how I'm dealing with this right now.

[valfischer]

Mine comes and goes... it is really wierd.   but I have friends who have not been able to invoice for days and it is really hurting them.   Two of them cannot even log-in and it gives them the same error that I get on the create an invoice page.

[CCNinc]

Hi All, Apparently it's time for the admins to stop with the happy faces. Just got off the phone with PP and they say the invoicing tools will not be fixed until January!! Am in completely shock. Right before Christmas??? Am in utter shock...

But won't rant and vent my despair here as I'm sure none of us have time for that...   - Here's the work-a-round they gave me we can use in the meantime:

From Homepage, click the following:

- Merchant Services

- Buy Now button

- fill in name

- fill in price

- fill in tax if applicable etc.

- Create Button

- Email button

- then copy and paste the code from the next screen into an email to your client. Clients can then click on that and pay.

* If you want to see what it will look like, paste the code into the address bar of your browser and hit enter.

* This is a unfathomable, but it appears we have no choice. Right before Christmas!!!!??? Good luck friends

[valfischer]

Thank you for a viable work around... Bites they could have (A) given us the January timeline a few days ago. and (B) given us this much more viable work around.... thank you so much for sharing it!

[CCNinc]

You're welcome. But yes - How come the admins didn't post this before me?? Very bizarre.... and worrisome in terms of trust.

[PayPal_Frank]

Hi CCNinc and valfischer,

Thank you for posting in this thread.  The more examples I can collect, the better.

I am surprised to hear that you were told this would be fixed in January.  No confirmed fix date or ETA has been provided for this issue.  Since the issue has been ongoing since Monday, there is the possibility that a fix won't happen in the short term.

If you have not already done so, please reply to this thread if your business is being affected by this issue.

CCNinc, thanks for posting the workaround to create a PayPal button.  If others want to use this option but their email client does not support HTML forms, you can also use the "Email Link" option.

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I also want to reiterate that the basic Request Money option still works.  It doesn't provide the detail or customization options of the invoicing tool but clients can still pay with the option of using PayPal or their credit/debit card.  The request money option also allows a note to be included to the client.  It has a 300 character limit so this option may not be realistic for some businesses. I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware of these options.

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The client receives an email that looks like this:

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 I hope the PayPal button and Request Money options are adequate as temporary workarounds to keep business up and running. I know both options are not as convenient as the invoicing tool but I'm still glad that there are options available to still allow payments until the issue has been fixed.

Please let me know if you have any questions about creating PayPal buttons or using the standard Request Money option.

Sincerely,

Frank

[betzmethod]

Are there any updates in the Invoicing issues? I have been trying today and no good?

Larry