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From Office Watch

Paypal insists on me having an account
While in the past, Paypal might have required you to create an account with them, that is no longer the case if you simply wish to make a credit card purchase.

There is an exception, Paypal has a security feature that, like most security features is both sensible and annoying.

Here's what happens:
At some time in the past a Paypal account had that credit card recorded against that account. Now you try to pay directly with that same card and Paypal will insist that you login to use it. This is presumably a security measure to stop unauthorized use of a credit card that a Paypal customer has recorded.

Your options in this situation are:
o Login the Paypal account attached to that credit card or
o Use another credit card or
o Use one of our non- Paypal payment methods .

If you have questions about how or why a credit card is linked to a Paypal account, you'll have to ask Paypal .

Paypal won't accept my card or country!
Paypal accepts most major credit cards however the exact cards available depends on your country of origin, their local policies and the laws in that country. In addition some countries residents are limited due to excessive fraud from those regions. This is a Paypal decision over which we have no control – click here for details on the Paypal site .
o From June 2005, South African residents have limited Paypal access .

Session timeout problems
If you get 'session timeout' errors on Paypal then it is most likely a session cookie related issue. The error message is a little misleading:
"Your Payment Session has expired. To complete this transaction you will need to enter your information again."

It makes it sound like you're not typing fast enough - which is silly. Alas even in Oct 2005, Paypal's own support has not realized the true cause of the problem and suggests irrelevant fixes (like copying the details from a separate document).

Like many online commerce sites (including our own online store) 'session cookies' are used to retain your information separately as you go through the ordering pages.

It's is not a privacy breach, in fact the opposite - session cookies make sure your account details are kept separate from all the other customers using the site at the same time. Session cookies only last while you are on that web site and are not saved on your computer beyond that time.

Testing
To help you test the session cookie status on your computer we've created a test page - click on it for a short test. We create a small and essentially empty session cookie on your computer (called OWCookieTest) then try to retrieve it from your computer a few moments later - if it is 'Not Found' then it means your browser or firewall has removed the session status.

We provide this page as a service to our customers to help your test their computer, firewall and network setup. We regret that we can't help with free support for individual systems but have documented the possible fixes for you to try.

Fixes
There are two ways that session cookies can be blocked either or both might apply to you:

Firewalls
Firewalls (personal or corporate) can delete a session cookies very soon after it is created. This means that the web site can make the session cookie but it is destroyed by the firewall.

This is known to apply to firewalls like EZ Firewall, Zone Alarm, Personal Firewall and BlackIce Defender among many others. You may also have a firewall and not realize it. Many companies have firewalls installed and some ISP's have a firewall system in place for their clients.
Firewalls that affect session cookies will not only stop you from using Paypal but also many, many other web sites where you login to gain some level of access. That includes our own online store.

The test: to see if the firewall is the source of the problem, switch off the firewall temporarily (you may need to restart your computer) and try to use Paypal again. If it now works you know the firewall needs re-configuring.

The fix: you need to change the settings on your firewall to allow cookies, or at least session cookies. See your firewall help or manual for details.

Web Browsers
Web browsers can also block session cookies but this is easily fixed.

Note: it is important to close all browser windows after making the change suggested below then open a new window for the new setting to be active.

Internet Explorer 6.0:
1. Start, Settings, Control Panel (or Click Start, then Control Panel for Windows XP)
2. Choose Internet Options
3. Select Privacy | Advanced
4. Check "Override automatic cookie handling"
5. Check "Always allow session cookies"
6. Click OK
7. Close all browser windows
8. Open a new browser window and go to our store.

For Internet Explorer 5.5 and below:
1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel
2. Double-click Internet Options
3. then Security tab | Custom Level
4. Scroll to Allow per-session cookies
5. Select Enable
6. Click OK to save your changes
7. Close all browser windows
8. Open a new browser window and go to our store.

Mozilla Firefox users:
1. From the Tools menu, select "Options".
2. Click the Privacy icon.
3. Click the + sign to expand the Cookies section.
4. Select the "Allow sites to set cookies" option.
5. Click OK.

For Netscape 4.X users:
1. From the Edit menu, select "Preferences".
2. Click the + sign to expand the "Advanced" option.
3. Select the "Accept All Cookies" option.
4. Click "OK" to close the window.