PayPal recently emailed all merchants with details about an upcoming change in the case_id that is sent in dispute-related IPN data, which PayPal sends to s2Member and s2Member Pro behind-the-scenes.

This change has no impact on the s2Member or s2Member Pro software, because it is the event itself (e.g., dispute or chargeback) that s2Member will respond to (if configured to do so). We look for txn_type and case_type. The case_id is of no importance to s2Member or s2Member Pro at this time. In short, there is nothing you need to do. This change does not impact current or past versions of our software.

PayPal writes...

Important PayPal dispute case tracking changes.

If you are currently using the Instant Payment Notification (IPN) process or the Case report in your current integration, we want to notify you of a change that may impact your business.

To ensure you don’t experience a disruption of PayPal service, we encourage you to make any applicable changes by July 7, 2015.

What is happening?

We’re enhancing our dispute management system to ensure you receive more detailed and timely information.

The first phase of this enhancement will encompass chargebacks and ACH bank returns. As part of this enhancement, we’ll be updating the format of the Case ID which is the unique identifier we assign to a dispute case.

Why is this happening?

Enhancing our dispute management system will provide more detailed, accurate, and timely information regarding disputes.

What do I need to do?

If you are directly integrating data from the IPN process and/or the Case report into your systems, you will need to ensure that your configuration will accept the format change for the unique dispute identifier as outlined here.

Data passed contains a case_id value. This value will now be formatted in two ways:

Existing format: PP-XXX-XXX-XXX-XXX New format: PP-D-XXXX For the new format, XXXX is an integer. The “D” indicates the case is a dispute.

Effective July 15, cases will be identified using either ID format until the transition to the new dispute management system is complete. This is expected to take several years.

As a best practice, merchants are encouraged to integrate flexibly so that any future changes to the unique case identifier can be made without integration changes.

When is this happening?

We will begin generating cases using the new format after July 15. To avoid any disruption to the way you process IPNs or the Case report, please update your integration by this date.

Thanks for your patience as we continue to improve our services.

Your Merchant Services Support Team