Alex, all I can do is send along my sympathy and hope by this reply to keep the topic alive. I've been having a similar (but not exactly the same) problem with OSC not retaining (writing out to the database) peoples' shopping baskets when they leave a site. I've posted numerous times, tried everything I know of to fix it, reported it as a bug, and still the problem is steadily ignored. I'm actually having this on three different sites. I haven't been idle but have been searching, reading, trying--for three long months now.
I've been an osCommerce enthusiast for several years now, but I am beginning to think that it's a "play party" as opposed to serious software, and that it really should not be used if peoples' livelihoods and businesses are at stake. In fact, I think this is a classic and textbook case of why businesses and organizations do not opt for free and open-source software. If you want to know why Microsoft will prevail, you have only to look at this and similar conversation threads. I have three people who are genuinely hurting over this, and the guilt is mine for suggesting a shopping cart system that has no real path in place for problem-solving.
I suspect no one will read this, because I suspect no one actually cares. With great sorrow for a failed experiment, I'll be shopping for "for pay" software with a bug-fix mechanism in place.
Regards,
Anne