PayPal.com resumes operations after four-day service disruption

Todd R. Weiss   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Internet Business Stories  

Gain a faster, cheaper way to manage workload From Laggard to Leader: Transforming the Data Center Google's Universal Search for Business A Practical Strategy for Aligning the Business and IT Market Trends: Multienterprise/B2B Infrastructure Market, Worldwide, 2008 Extending COBOL to SOA, Web Services and Beyond The Business Value of Tape Storage Computerworld Technology Briefing: An open-source path to optimal virtualization Learn-Fast Guide: Get Up to Speed on Green IT Sign up to receive Internet Business Resource Alerts

October 13, 2004 (Computerworld) -- Four days after its online payment Web site was slowed and only intermittently available to users because of a coding problem, PayPal.com began recovering last night and was once again available to its customers.
In an update on the service problems posted on its site early this morning, San Jose-based PayPal Inc., which is owned by online auction vendor eBay Inc., said its technicians had finally solved the problem. The exact nature of the repair wasn't announced.
"We have made good progress in restoring the PayPal site functionality," the statement said. "Most members are now able to perform all site activities. Should you encounter any errors, please try again."
Sara Bettencourt, a PayPal spokeswoman, said in an e-mail late last night that the site's performance had "improved significantly" after the repairs were made, "allowing most users to transact without incident. We're monitoring the situation closely throughout the night and will update the community as soon as we have new information."
Many of PayPal's users had been having problems logging into and using the site since Friday, when a monthly code update went awry, drastically dropping the performance of the site and causing time-out errors and other problems (see story).
PayPal and eBay technical support personnel worked around the clock since Friday to resolve the problems. Details about the coding error weren't disclosed.
The impact of the four-day service disruption isn't known, but many eBay.com buyers and sellers were inconvenienced because they couldn't make or collect payments for items sold in online auctions and stores.
PayPal.com has about 50 million user accounts, including about 15.5 million that are active, according to the company.

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

Mozilla updates Firefox 3.1 with Alpha 2 build Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser' Mozilla: Firefox is faster than Chrome More top stories...

iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes At 10, Google reiterates commitment to CIOs Analysts: Google spreading itself too thin

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3 Users of Windows XP SP3 who try out IE8 Beta 2 won't be able to uninstall either one under certain circumstances. Opinion: Why Google has lost its mojo -- and why you should care Google has gone from innovative upstart to fat-and-happy industry leader in what seems like record time. Preston Gralla explains. Review: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 offers some nifty new features Microsoft's latest beta of IE8 includes better tab management, new services such as Web Slices and Accelerators, and the new 'porn mode.' IT Schools to Watch 2008 These leading-edge graduate schools are moving at the pace of the IT workplace, delivering coursework that's relevant to today's IT professionals. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone Identity & Security Management Zone See your link here

The Impact of Social Networks on Mobility Strategies The Impact of Social Networks on Mobility Strategies Download this webcast, free, compliments of RIM. Go to the webcast  Five Technologies Simplifying Infrastructure Management Get this white paper now! (Source: Liebert) Today's data centers must support more devices, are consuming more power and generating more heat. Learn five infrastructure technologies that are making it easier for growing businesses to introduce new IT systems as needed while maintaining high levels of availability. Download this white paper  Computerworld Technology Briefing: Meetings @ the Speed of Business Download this Technology Briefing now, compliments of Microsoft! (Source: Microsoft) For large organizations, Web conferencing gives a major boost to collaboration among far-flung offices. For smaller companies, experts say Web conferencing is no longer a luxury but a necessity for everything from webinars to customer presentations. But the real value lies in saving soft costs and in increases in productivity. Download this executive briefing  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Death to PST: Hidden Cost of Email Mismanagement Extend, Replace, or Convert; which is the best way forward for COBOL Applications? The Trend from Unix to Linux in SAP Data Centers View more whitepapers

• Mozilla updates Firefox 3.1 with Alpha 2 build
• iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes
• Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser'
• More top stories 

Creating Tiered Storage Architecture This paper shows how Brocade StorageX enables tiers of storage across Windows and NetApp storage to align storage practices with organizational objectives. Download this white paper now!

• Google scrubs search cache of Chrome download site

• Google's Chrome aims to kill Windows, make Web the OS of choice

• Google Chrome browser: Dethroning Microsoft or killing off Mozilla?

Read more news 

• Whoah the humanity!

• Try, try again

Read more Shark Bait 

Accelerate your pursuit of perfection For almost 80 years, Kodak has been helping banks, insurance companies, healthcare providers, government agencies and other businesses produce billions of document images. So Kodak is uniquely positioned to know and deliver–what customers want: easy-to-use scanners that output the best possible image quality. Download this white paper now!