Forum Moderators: buckworks
The problem is that PayPal expects the customer to CLICK the Log In button rather than pressing Enter, like they can do on just about every other web form on the planet. If the customer presses the Enter key, then PayPal doesn't even try to log them in, it tries to process the name/address fields which weren't even filled in. Hey, I code my own sites better than that, and I don't even have a gazillion-dollar budget like PayPal.
I suggest we all call or write PayPal to complain. PayPal has a tendency to blow off concerns that are reported to them, so I don't expect we'll get any action unless we all report the same problem en masse. I just tried to call by the number was busy, I'll keep trying.
The problem is semi-obscure because it requires that (1) it's a browser that has no PayPal cookies, and (2) the user presses Enter instead of clicking the Log In button manually. I guess it also requires that the user can't figure out what's wrong and then abandons the order. Some users will be able to figure out that the problem was that they pressed Enter instead of clicking, but I'm sure a sizable number of them won't.
There are a number of reasons a browser might not have PayPal cookies. A report last year said that 40% of users delete their cookies at least once a month. There's also switching to a new browser (lots of people are going to Firefox over IE), or using another computer (like, say, at a relative's over the holidays).
In my case, I was testing the shopping cart for a new site I created, on my Dell laptop which I got to check cross-platform problems. I routinely delete cookies from that machine because I'm sometimes test cookie-setting code.
I got the problem by clicking my Checkout button which passed all the shopping cart data to PayPal, on IE6/Win.
While it's not counterintuitive or breaking any "standard," it is a deviation from the norm. I don't suppose it helps PayPal that the occassional Google SERP has a blurb to the effect of 'You don't need to click the "Search" button, just press "Enter."'
Are you seeing this behavior on the live site, or in the PayPal Sandbox? What browser are you using - does it have any special settings, Javascript disabled, etc.?
I had been testing this in Firefox. I just cleared my IE 6 cookies & tested it out - it's still working just fine. I type in the email, hit Tab, type in the password, and press "Enter" on the keyboard, and I'm logged in to my account.
Is the cursor still in the password field when you press the Enter key?
