Paypal emails 5 days late on Tuffmail

markwolk · 10 Mar 2015, 04:29 AM

For the past 2 weeks, I have been receiving Paypal transaction emails with a 5-day delay.

E.g. I buy a widget, pay for it with Paypal, and the Paypal email arrives 5 days later.

Today I called Paypal, was transferred from Canada to Spain to India and elsewhere, and finally got to talk to a chap who told me that he will pass on to the technical department, and parted with me politely but hastily.

Can it possibly be a fault with Tuffmail?

Am I the only one having that problem?

nbarr · 10 Mar 2015, 06:18 AM

I did a Paypal Transaction at the end of January and received the email at my Tuffmail account without any delay.

markwolk · 10 Mar 2015, 07:05 AM

This may help to diagnose:

Code:

+OK Message follows
Received: from m4b.mxes.net ([unix socket])
	 by m4b.mxes.net (Cyrus v2.3.12) with LMTPA;
	 Mon, 09 Mar 2015 12:57:26 -0400
X-Sieve: CMU Sieve 2.3
Return-Path: <service@intl.paypal.com>
Received: from local_scanner.mxes.net (mxout-02.mxes.net [216.86.168.177])
	by mxout-02.mxes.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6450EC9C5A
	for <MYADDRESS@MYADDRESS>; Mon,  9 Mar 2015 12:57:25 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from mx0.slc.paypal.com (mx2.slc.paypal.com [173.0.84.227])
	(using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits))
	(No client certificate requested)
	by mxin.mxes.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 606E8C9C4D
	for <MYADDRESS@MYADDRESS>; Mon,  9 Mar 2015 12:57:05 -0400 (EDT)
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=intl.paypal.com; s=pp-dkim1; c=relaxed/relaxed;
	q=dns/txt; i=@intl.paypal.com; t=1425671514;
	h=From:From:Subject:Date:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type;
	bh=W1X8IoZRpBr8bFPjxBZqEnRVJkFfEYX0aRrlK5s8/K8=;
	b=non0gKtcat/t1/Hnz2rcnuhS3L1TVUcPv7EgitYND/fe06f2ifrdJaKHs8eRLn+I
	VVDH+0SgAX2K7tudI3ljn2gjMvPlEUjgHsrpiQ2Auog4wHLBXey9zF1URZEwU4CL
	MlLBnwhEbe2Zc0Nf/XaEdlvqLpSW9TKzi2Z9DTVrF4Rf2r9xvKwMxWsllWQpvmbN
	JcOnxagPP1wQEPEIZKn0xT9W/5K2D2a6Xgo+255gE9VgXDoBGb5sQPLaKG3lu+IZ
	pEbfrGQeV2lGRgiYji4VIMieel1OSdUKqM3UliNUjrqBzLv/c78r9sYu5D7wwtPZ
	PYaP828U7bHDDdDnJ2VQGw==;
Received: (qmail 20638 invoked by uid 993); 6 Mar 2015 19:51:53 -0000
Date: Fri, 06 Mar 2015 11:51:53 -0800

The "Received" time at the top is the actual time I received the message. The "Received" time at the bottom is 3 days earlier.

What would that mean?

David · 10 Mar 2015, 08:12 AM

I use PayPal a lot to pay for goods (mostly from eBay) - messages sent to my domain name email address (hosted at Runbox) arrive at the most within a couple of minutes, often within a few seconds of the transaction.

nbarr · 10 Mar 2015, 09:06 AM

Looks like it sat somewhere at a service that uses qmail for three days:
Received: (qmail 20638 invoked by uid 993); 6 Mar 2015 19:51:53 -0000

I looked at the email I received from Paypal at my Tuffmail account on Jan 28.
There wasn't any service in the headers that used qmail, Tuffmail does not use qmail.

So the question is, what service is it that is using qmail before being sent to Tuffmail.

n5bb · 10 Mar 2015, 09:19 AM

You headers indicate that the message was created on:
6 Mar 2015 19:51:53 GMT
but that it was actually transmitted to your email provider by PayPal International on:
9 Mar 2015 16:57:05 GMT
which indicates a delay of about 2 days and 21 hours. Not 5 days, but still quite a long time.

It's impossible to tell from such delivery headers why the PayPal International outgoing server delayed so long in getting that message transferred. It might be due to:

A problem at the PayPal International outgoing email system. I think that's the most likely cause.
A problem with the PayPal International outgoing server communicating with the Tuffmail system. I see no outage reports at the Tuffmail status page, so I doubt this is the cause. The only way to be sure is to get PayPal International email support staff to look at their outgoing server logs.

By the way, although I don't do business with PayPal International, my US PayPal service messages (as the one whose headers your posted - see the Return-Path address) all include a similar qmail identification by PayPal. This is because qmail is a very popular Unix MTA (mail transfer agent) and is used by PayPal for these service messages. PayPal does not include the qmail identification for non-service messages (such as their advertising and general system notices).

Bill

markwolk · 12 Mar 2015, 01:25 PM

The situation seems to be improving now. It takes "only" 20 minutes for Paypal emails to reach me. And it looks like it is indeed a Paypal problem.

10 Mar 2015, 04:29 AM	#1
markwolk Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 346	Paypal emails 5 days late on Tuffmail For the past 2 weeks, I have been receiving Paypal transaction emails with a 5-day delay. E.g. I buy a widget, pay for it with Paypal, and the Paypal email arrives 5 days later. Today I called Paypal, was transferred from Canada to Spain to India and elsewhere, and finally got to talk to a chap who told me that he will pass on to the technical department, and parted with me politely but hastily. Can it possibly be a fault with Tuffmail? Am I the only one having that problem?

10 Mar 2015, 09:19 AM	#6
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,926	Probably a problem at PayPal International You headers indicate that the message was created on: 6 Mar 2015 19:51:53 GMT but that it was actually transmitted to your email provider by PayPal International on: 9 Mar 2015 16:57:05 GMT which indicates a delay of about 2 days and 21 hours. Not 5 days, but still quite a long time. It's impossible to tell from such delivery headers why the PayPal International outgoing server delayed so long in getting that message transferred. It might be due to: A problem at the PayPal International outgoing email system. I think that's the most likely cause. A problem with the PayPal International outgoing server communicating with the Tuffmail system. I see no outage reports at the Tuffmail status page, so I doubt this is the cause. The only way to be sure is to get PayPal International email support staff to look at their outgoing server logs. By the way, although I don't do business with PayPal International, my US PayPal service messages (as the one whose headers your posted - see the Return-Path address) all include a similar qmail identification by PayPal. This is because qmail is a very popular Unix MTA (mail transfer agent) and is used by PayPal for these service messages. PayPal does not include the qmail identification for non-service messages (such as their advertising and general system notices). Bill Last edited by n5bb : 10 Mar 2015 at 09:43 AM. Reason: Added comments about qmail MTA use by PayPal

10 Mar 2015, 06:18 AM	#2
nbarr Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 606	I did a Paypal Transaction at the end of January and received the email at my Tuffmail account without any delay.

10 Mar 2015, 08:12 AM	#4
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	I use PayPal a lot to pay for goods (mostly from eBay) - messages sent to my domain name email address (hosted at Runbox) arrive at the most within a couple of minutes, often within a few seconds of the transaction.

10 Mar 2015, 09:06 AM	#5
nbarr Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Calgary Posts: 606	Looks like it sat somewhere at a service that uses qmail for three days: Received: (qmail 20638 invoked by uid 993); 6 Mar 2015 19:51:53 -0000 I looked at the email I received from Paypal at my Tuffmail account on Jan 28. There wasn't any service in the headers that used qmail, Tuffmail does not use qmail. So the question is, what service is it that is using qmail before being sent to Tuffmail.

12 Mar 2015, 01:25 PM	#7
markwolk Essential Contributor Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 346	The situation seems to be improving now. It takes "only" 20 minutes for Paypal emails to reach me. And it looks like it is indeed a Paypal problem.