A routine monthly code update performed on Friday (8
October) for the PayPal.com online payment website has caused havoc
for users, many of whom have managed to access the site only
intermittently since the changes were made, according to the
company.
In an update posted on eBay.com, which owns PayPal, PayPal said
the problems were apparently caused by the new code base, which was
meant to update the site.
"The code worked well when tested and during the first hours of
launch," the statement said.
"Unfortunately, problems handling peak levels of traffic
developed later in the day that created intermittent availability
and errors for members. These problems have continued in varying
degrees."
Sara Bettencourt, a spokeswoman for PayPal, said the company
did not know how many users had been affected by the service
disruption but that it did not believe all its customers were
experiencing problems.
"From what we have heard, some people have been able to access
their accounts," she said. "We do not have any way to assess the
numbers." Some users are experiencing slow access, while others are
unable to reach the site, she added.
PayPal and eBay technical support personnel have been working
around the clock since Friday to try to resolve the problems, but
there is no time frame for when repairs will be made, Bettencourt
said.
The type of coding error is not being disclosed, nor would
Bettencourt comment on which software language the code uses.
PayPal.com has about 50 million user accounts, including about
15.5 million that are active, she said.
Asked why the site has not chosen to roll back the update to
when the software was working properly, Bettencourt said it would
be a complex process and that the technicians are instead focused
on repairing the problem.
In its statement, PayPal said, "Account data and personal
information have not been compromised by these issues."
The company apologised to buyers and sellers who were unable to
complete their payment transactions over the weekend.
"We understand the PayPal site issues may be impacting many of
you and your ability to do business with PayPal on and off eBay,
and we apologise for this situation," the statement said.
A eBay seller, who asked that his name not be used, said he was
not sure whether the PayPal.com glitches reduced his sales over the
weekend. But he noted that the upgrade problems are reminiscent of
frustrating glitches he has experienced with eBay.com site changes
that were touted as "improvements".
"eBay would change formats on the site and had the same problem"
with users having difficulty logging in and making purchases, he
said. "Development people always want to bring out new versions
when the existing version is fine."
The problem with eBay.com's updates, he said, is that they do
not appear to have been tested enough before being deployed.
"That is what it really comes down to; they do not have it
debugged," he said. "There have been some features [on the eBay
site] in the past six months that I have been pleased to see, but I
do not think they have the methods in place to do it
seamlessly."
Todd Weiss writes for Computerworld