controller httpresponsemessage OK, but ajax always fires the fail method - asp.net-mvc

Question

im experiencing a weird problem.
I work with MVC (not web api), so the controller inherits from Controller, not from ApiController.
Im calling a controller action (POST) with ajax, and the action is returning HttpResponseMessage
This is the response i get:
{"readyState":4,"responseText":"StatusCode: 200, ReasonPhrase: 'OK', Version: 1.1, Content: System.Net.Http.StringContent, Headers:\r\n{\r\n Location: /\r\n Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8\r\n}","status":200,"statusText":"OK"}
However, when ajax receives the data, it fires the fail method.
This is the ajax function:
$.ajax({
url: "someurl",
type: "post",
data: data,
dataType: "json",
contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8"
}).done(function (data) {
alert(data.responseText);
window.location.href = "redirect to some url";
}).fail(function (data) {
alert("error");<-- this one is called even when i set HttpStatusCode.OK
alert(JSON.stringify(data));
}).always(function () {
});
This is a simplified controller action:
[HttpPost]
[AllowAnonymous]
public HttpResponseMessage Index(HttpRequestMessage request, Login model)
//public HttpResponseMessage Index(Login model) // i get the same with any of these 2
{
HttpResponseMessage response = new HttpResponseMessage();
string message = "";
if (something)
{
response.StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.OK;
FormsAuthentication.SetAuthCookie(model.UserName, true);
currentUser.LastLoginDate = DateTime.Now;
currentUser.FailedPasswordAttemptCount = 0;
ModelRepositories.MobileCommerceRepository.SaveChanges();
}
else
{
message = "User does not exist. The user name or password provided is incorrect.";
response.StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.BadRequest;
}
//response = request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);
string json = JsonSerializer.SerializeToString(message);
response.Content = new StringContent(json, Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
return response;
}
If i do the same ajax call to web api controller instead (with the same C# code inside), it fires success. What is the difference ?
Thanks

Answer 1

You cannot use HttpResponseMessage with an MVC action. Web API and MVC are two different frameworks, you can't mix and match pieces of them.

Answer 2

Just putting my answer if anyone is still looking. I agree with previous post as MVC will not return actual content. Instead I used
public async Task<string> GetAjaxCollateralSummary(string id)
{
//your logic
return JsonConvert.SerializeObject(result);
}
and the in my js page I have following code:
$.post(url, { id: '2' })
.success(function (response) {
console.log(response);
var jsondResult = JSON.parse(response);
}
)
.error(function (err) {
console.log("Error while trying to get data from MVC controller ");
console.log(err);
})