Tracking Problems with Orders / Payments

[SamPatt]

There are multiple issues which are preventing an unknown number of users to be unable to properly use the product. This issue is to keep track of where they are at in order to resolve them.

1. • [ ] Order Payment Missed, Leaves Order in Awaiting Payment for Seller

This has been seen on multiple occasions on our own store as well as reported by at least two users. The order cannot proceed from the client; it has required manually changing the order state, something not possible for most users to achieve.

It's possible that this is also a part of a long-standing open issue on the desktop.

2. • [x] Missing orders

This issue is closed, but I recommend it be re-opened. There are currently two missing (funded) orders in our own stores (separate nodes), and we have had occasional reports of users missing orders for a long time.

3. • [ ] Handle ltc address error from blockbook

This issue impacts LTC users and prevents trade from occurring.

4. • [ ] Zcash broadcast sometimes errors

This issue impacts ZEC users and prevents trade from occurring.

5. • [ ] Order in FULFILLED state with no funds pending cannot completed by vendor

This issue is likely an edge case and a low priority, but it does result in orders being stuck for vendors.

6. • [ ] Orders are stuck when Vendor Store is "off"

This issue is likely an edge case and a low priority, but it does result in orders being stuck for vendors.

7. • [ ] Inventory problems

We know there are problems with the inventory system that hinder it from being relied upon by users, but there's no single issue devoted to clarifying what those problems are. #952 and #1189 reference inventory.

8. • [ ] Fix these issues for impacted nodes
9. • [ ] Moderator cannot resolve dispute

[jenncloud]

More on 7. :

I've been told these things may be in play or may be the same things described incorrectly. We want to gain clarity on the root issue(s) so that we can improve user experiences or at least communicate with them clearly the problem(s) & steps they can take:

• There is a server bug that is causing all inventory on the network right now to effectively be 0 - what does this mean?

• There is a bug which causes a node who sees a node as "offline" to not register inventory but there is no issue with a node who sees a node as "online" interacting with inventory accurately and reliably, ie if there are 4 items and the 4th just sold, the user will see the inventory as out of stock or similar - This seems to be relating to this issue, is that correct? https://github.com/OpenBazaar/openbazaar-go/issues/952 - What does this mean?

We then need to gain clarity on the following:

1. What will it take to build reliable and accurate inventory tracking? 1a) If the answer to 1) is "a whole lot of work that will take a very long time," what could we do to at least carry the behavior of prohibiting a purchase of an item that is not actually available?

[jenncloud]

More on 4. :

2 new issues popped up in Zendesk today that Chris responded to. Will link to issues if they are created here on GH to track.

[jjeffryes]

Those are not inventory bugs, they're the system working as intended.

[jjeffryes]

To explain how inventory works:

1. If a seller node is reachable, it processes purchase requests as it gets them, and can remove the quantities of those requests from inventory, or reject them if insufficient inventory remains.
2. If a seller node is not reachable, it can't process the purchase request, because the requester can't communicate with the seller. Instead the seller has to create an "offline" order.
3. Offline orders can pile up without the seller knowing about it. When the seller node finds them, they can be found in any order, and usually arrive in a batch. That means nodes A, B, and C can all buy the same listing with a quantity of 1, and there is no way to update the order to show it's sold out until the seller finds their orders. Once the seller does find their orders, the seller has to decide which one gets the 1 item for sale, and refund the others.
4. Listing data is never guaranteed to be up to date. Even if we published the last known inventory on a listing, it would be wrong frequently.

[SamPatt]

User report of order showing "Paid in Full" but funds not showing up in wallet:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenBazaar/comments/cuf30i/btc_and_ltc_orders_appear_as_paid_in_full_but_the/

[SamPatt]

Another user report of the same issue as above, this one is a LTC order:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenBazaar/comments/cwts3i/dont_received_ltc_payment_although_its_marked_as/