Dear SEAL Members:
This e-mail contains information on three items:
- instructions for those having difficulty making payments through the website;
- information on a revised deadline for early conference registration (in light of some people having difficulty making payments through the website); and
- information for those needing receipts for payment of registration.
1) PayPal Payments
A number of you have encountered difficulty with attempting to pay dues or conference registration fees by credit card through the website.
In particular, some users experience a message from PayPal (our vendor for electronic transfers and credit card charges) suggesting that the session has timed out and encouraging you to re-enter your data (presumably faster). This has undoubtedly proved very frustrating for some of you.
Through conversations with PayPal, we have been able to determine that the error message from PayPal incorrectly diagnoses the problem. That is, the problem is not caused by timing out, but rather by a temporary incompatibility between PayPal's operation and the user's own "cookies" setting.
If you have encountered difficulty with PayPal, here are three solutions:
First Option: you may e-mail ( seal@vanderbilt.edu ) or call (615.343.2034) SEAL's Administrative Assistant, Janelle Steele, to provide the necessary credit card, billing address, etc., information, and she will process the credit card; or
Second Option: you can send your dues or conference registration by check and snail-mail (see www.sealsite.org for address and related information); or
Third Option: you can adjust your cookies setting in a fairly quick fix that will enable PayPal to complete the transaction. If you choose this Third Option, here are the instructions PayPal provided. (They look more complicated than they are.)
- Go to the "Start" button and select "Settings," then Control Panel
- Select "Internet Options"
- Click on the "Privacy" tab, and then the "Advanced" button
- Check the box: "Override automatic cookie handling"
- Check the circles to accept "First-party Cookies" and also "Third-party Cookies"
- Check the box "Always allow session cookies"
- Then click "Ok" and "Ok" to exit.
If you encounter any further difficulties, please contact Ms. Janelle Steele as indicated above to report the problem.
2) Revised Early Registration Deadline
In light of some people having difficulty paying their registration fees on-line, I am extending the deadline for the lower, early-registration fee (of $175.00, instead of $225.00 for later registrations) one week from February 1st to February 8.
3) Registration Receipt
Some of you have encountered a "Charitable Donation" receipt, rather than a "Conference Registration" receipt when paying your registration fees on-line. We are working to get this kink corrected. In the meantime, if you need a receipt for conference registration, please contact Janelle Steele as indicated above.
* * * * *
I regret any difficulty that some of you have encountered making payments online. Thanks to all of you for your patience as we continue to correct the problem.
As always, the SEAL website is: www.sealsite.org
Owen Jones
SEAL President