Chronology of the recent PayPal Outage as presented by eBay
By Admin, lifted from the eBay announcement page. Preserved for it's newsworthiness and to document the outage. 		Created 10/12/2004

I've taken it upon myself to preserve the history as presented by Ebay of this PayPal outage. [Update: And I'm glad I did. Because now PayPal is referring to the October Outage as "intermittent issues". PayPal was down for 5 days. Nice bit of Newspeak there Amanda.] You never know when you need to document things like this, [how prophetic] and eBay has as habit of making things it doesn't like disappear. Also, you'll get a good feel for the outage and how it affected people by reading our thread on it.
***PayPal Update***
  Date: 10/12/04    Time: 07:19:37 PM PDT
 
We have made good progress in our efforts to restore the PayPal site functionality. The PayPal site performed well during peak traffic levels this evening, and the overall member experience has improved significantly. Most members are now able to log in to the PayPal site to access account information, use shipping functions, use PayPal debit cards, and pay for items online with no difficulty. Should you encounter any errors when attempting to log in or use different PayPal functions, please try again.

We are monitoring this situation closely, and we will continue to update you as new information is available. We appreciate your patience.

Regards,
eBay

  Message Address: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2004-10-12191640    Return to top   
***PayPal Site Update***
  Date: 10/12/04    Time: 10:49:03 AM PDT
 
We understand the PayPal site issues may be impacting many of you and your ability to do business with PayPal on and off eBay, and we apologize for this situation. We would like to update you on the current status and the efforts being made to resolve these issues.

Today, access to PayPal continues to be intermittent. Some members are able to log in to the site and make payments and perform other activities, although they may be experiencing very slow system responses. Other members are not able to get in right away, or at all. PayPal users may also be having problems with their debit cards.

Sellers who use PayPal shipping functionality may be having problems shipping products to their buyers, and buyers may be experiencing difficulties paying sellers. We encourage members to be patient with trading partners as we work to improve PayPal access.

These PayPal issues are the result of unforeseen problems that resulted when a new code base to upgrade the site architecture was introduced to the PayPal platform on Friday morning. The code worked well when tested and during the first hours of launch. Unfortunately, problems handling peak levels of traffic developed later in the day that created intermittent availability and errors for members. These problems have continued in varying degrees since Friday.

Account data and personal information have not been compromised by these issues. eBay and PayPal technical teams are working at full force to fix the underlying problems and improve site access.

We will continue to update you on the status of this situation.

Regards,
eBay

  Message Address: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2004-10-12104649    Return to top   
***PayPal Site Issues Update***
  Date: 10/11/04    Time: 07:25:16 PM PDT
 
A technical problem with the PayPal platform has caused intermittent errors and availability for members attempting to use the PayPal site since Friday 10/8. Activities such as paying for ended eBay listings, using the Immediate Payment feature, using PayPal shipping functionality, and accessing account information have been intermittently available. Offline use of PayPal debit cards has also been impacted intermittently, and some members have been unable to use them.

eBay and PayPal are continuing to work to resolve these issues, and we will continue to update you. We understand the inconvenience this issue has caused for some members, and we appreciate your patience.

Regards
eBay

  Message Address: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2004-10-11192319    Return to top   
***PayPal Update***
  Date: 10/11/04    Time: 02:22:06 PM PDT
 
We are aware that members may continue to experience intermittent errors while accessing the PayPal site or when attempting to pay for eBay items with PayPal. We are aware of the problem and are currently working on a solution.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused and we appreciate your continued patience.

Regards,
eBay
  Message Address: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2004-10-11142017    Return to top   
***Errors Accessing PayPal***
  Date: 10/11/04    Time: 08:55:00 AM PDT
 

Members may be experiencing intermittent errors while accessing the PayPal site or when attempting to pay for eBay items with PayPal. We are aware of the problem and are currently working on a solution.

We appreciate your patience at this time.

Regards,
eBay

  Message Address: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2004-10-11084618    Return to top   
***Resolved: Errors Accessing PayPal***
  Date: 10/10/04    Time: 09:55:58 PM PDT
 

Recently members have experienced intermittent errors while accessing the PayPal site or when paying for eBay items with PayPal. We have identified the problem and corrected it.

Regards,
eBay
  Message Address: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2004-10-10185512    Return to top   
***Errors Accessing PayPal***
  Date: 10/10/04    Time: 06:36:49 PM PDT
 

Some members may currently be experiencing intermittent errors while accessing the PayPal site. We are aware of the problem and are working on a solution.

Regards,
eBay