[ic] Vend/Payment sometimes fails to get response from Authorize.Net

[Mike Heins]

Quoting Dan Browning (db@kavod.com):
> > > Vend::Payment:debug: authorizenet response_reason_text= response_code:
> > > 
> > >  A normal response--even for a denied transaction--should be chock full of 
> > > header and document data, but all the variables are blank
> > > 
> > >  I don't know how to tell if the problem is mine or Authorize.Net. Can someone 
> > > help me figure out what's going on, or how to fix it?
> > > 
> > 
> > I had the exact error and situation occur the other day. The customer
> > called in and stated that the system (IC) actually told them the
> > transaction was denied and wondered why. In 4.9.7 IC actually produced a
> > new order number when the user submitted a second time it went through
> > (no dupe order but should have been).
> > 
> > I am not even sure my self what caused the error, but for some reason at
> > the same time this occurred the logs had errors in it stating it could
> > not speak with the sql server. After a restart on IC all was well. 
> > 
> > This was weird and thought it to be a isolated incident, like one of
> > those problems the only way to produce is if your hair was suddenly
> > orange, you have to stand on one toe and put your finger into a light
> > socket and finally your name has to be Velcarcha Domanta. OH Well I was
> > wrong.
> 
> I've had this occur on one of my clients' sites as well (4.9.7).  Thinking 
> it might have been a problem relating to PreFork mode, we moved back to HIGH 
> mode and enabled some debugging code (to alert us when IC gets a blank 
> response).  However, we haven't been able to get it to occur ever since.  
> What traffic modes are you two running?

This is almost undoubtedly related to bad net connectivity between the
system and processor, or slow processing.

The only thing I can think of that we could do is try to set an alarm on
timeouts and toss an exception to the administrator.

You can obviate this problem a bit by using pre-auth and capture. The
false sale will be auth-ed but not captured.

-- 
Mike Heins
Perusion -- Expert Interchange Consulting    http://www.perusion.com/
phone +1.513.523.7621      <mike@perusion.com>

I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work
the more luck I have. -- Thomas Jefferson