I haven't tried setting up a VPN yet (I haven't done this before, although there are guides/tutorials on the internet on how to set up a VPN).
Shouldn't really have to set up a VPN anyway, and there is no guarantee that transactions via a VPN would allow PayPal transactions to be completed once again (for me at my location)?
I'll try test PayPal transactions again in a while without using a VPN first, and if unsuccessful (again), then try test transactions via a VPN instead and see what happens.
Very interesting. So I wasn’t the only one. I had this exact same problem, and it went on for at least 6 months without resolution. Specifically, I could log into my PayPal account and send and receive money. But I couldn’t use the PayPal gateway that integrates with the online vendor’s shopping cart system, and it was broken for 100% of retailers that I tried. I was getting the completely unhelpful “Things aren’t working at the moment” error screen during the transition from the merchant’s shopping cart to the PayPal gateway, and the error code in the URL was genericError?code=REVGQVVMVA%3D%3D
I made many calls to PayPal, and even got connected with high level tech support from somebody in the programming department, but they still couldn’t figure out what was happening, as they said that none of my failed attempts were even registering in their system logs, so they had nothing to go on. (Which was mainly their fault for providing the end user with the stupidly generic “Things aren’t working at the moment” error screen.) They suggested the typical “use a different browser / different device / clear cache and cookies”, etc., but none of that helped. I did also try both a VPN and even a freshly installed remote virtual server running in the same country as my PayPal billing address, but this also did not resolve the issue.
So I finally started experimenting and trying to order from different merchants, changing as many variables as I possibly could at random, and I finally struck pay dirt (or should I say “PayDirt”? Pun semi-intentional). I tried to order something cheap from GearBest and set the GearBest shipping address to the same address and country as my PayPal billing address. This time when I got transferred to the PayPal gateway it finally allowed me to login, and presented me with my funding sources. It also showed me my PayPal billing/shipping address and gave the checkbox for “Always use this address by default”, which I selected. The payment went through this time. After that, I could successfully pay with the PayPal gateway on all merchants I tried, and I could even use other addresses that were different from my PayPal billing address.
So my theory is that this is a weird edge-case bug that has something to do with the IP address location of a PayPal gateway connection at some point not coinciding with the requested shipping address, and it somehow blacklists the user without generating any logs at PayPal’s end. Apparently the only way to reset it is making an order with the shipping address set to your PayPal billing address. But PayPal tech support is definitely barking up the wrong tree by blaming the customer’s browser or cookies or geographic location, when the bug is clearly some malfunctioning blacklist on their server side.
If ANYBODY won’t. for any reason accept PayPal deals. I go elsewhere.
There’s too many dodgy ones on there nowadays.
I must be lucky. Over 20 yrs of Paypal and never once a problem at their end.
A tip…
My Bank Manager. decades ago. said
get a DEBIT card. Linked to an account in a Bank NOT associated to any of your accounts.
And just put/keep enough there to cover your normal monthly payment bills.
Then. any Hacker does get through. The most he can get. is what’s in that account then.
NO links to any other money.
Plus. specially with Ebay. Torches. Fishing. knives, etc.
It makes YOU wait. and think after you decide to pay for something.
Chance to change your mind.
Macka17 - I've used these merchants (that I'm currently having PayPal issues with) before without any PayPal issue occurring. These PayPal errors started only started happening sometime around September for whatever reason(s). Also, some items seem to be ONLY available from certain merchants, so I am obliged to use those merchants when wanting to purchase those items anyway.
sb56637 - Very useful information!! Thank you very much!!
I might try a "test" purchase shortly and follow your procedure for setting address's (correctly) and see what happens. I'll report back with the results soon.
However, I don't recall seeing any option for setting PayPal billing address at HKEquipment when attempting to make transactions? I might have missed that though? So I might instead try a "test" purchase at GearBest and then see what happens to that transaction and also for any subsequent transactions at other merchants websites.
Something to try also if you haven’t is completely clearing your cookies/cache. I have had this happen before and I would run a program called CCLeaner and try again and usually it would go through. NOT saying that is your problem but wouldn’t hurt to try if you haven’t already. Paypal is a finicky thing sometimes, I have had it not go through on certain websites for myself but my wife log right in and go straight through lol