Why I won't use PayPal again

[turbo36]

I'll try to keep this short.

In November I bought an item through Amazon.com and paid through Paypal with my credit card. When my December statement showed up on Jan. 7 ( 1 week later then normal) I noticed I got charged twice for the item . Since I didn't have contact info for the"merchant" I bought the item from ( this is not uncommon because many of the "merchants" use multiple names) I called paypal and talked to "Chuck" in India who assured me he would take care of it and there was no reason to call the credit card company because the charge will be reversed on the next statement. When the January statement showed up the reversal was not made so I called Paypal again (this time it was the North American office). The first person I talked to said it was past the 45 day period to file a dispute so I was SOL. I asked for her supervisor and was given the same story so I asked for her supervisor and was read the same script again. I asked him since the 45 day period is not dictated by law and is a discriminate period set by Paypal didn't he have the ability to waive the 45 days? His answer was "yes, I can but No, I won't" you need to learn how to us Paypal better next time because you either clicked on the pay now button twice or hit the back button during the transaction so It's not PayPals fault!
Fortunately for me since this was a credit card payment I can fight it through the credit card company but if it had been a debit card or some other method of payment I would have little recourse.

I asked the second supervisor how if their software allows double payments (seems to me they could write algorithms to detect this) how can I monitor my stupid actions and he said to log in to your Paypal account after each transaction and look for problems. My reply was thanks, but no thanks, I don't need to use Paypal again and hung up.

 

[RollingsFarms]

I'll try to keep this short.

In November I bought an item through Amazon.com and paid through Paypal with my credit card. When my December statement showed up on Jan. 7 ( 1 week later then normal) I noticed I got charged twice for the item . Since I didn't have contact info for the"merchant" I bought the item from ( this is not uncommon because many of the "merchants" use multiple names) I called paypal and talked to "Chuck" in India who assured me he would take care of it and there was no reason to call the credit card company because the charge will be reversed on the next statement. When the January statement showed up the reversal was not made so I called Paypal again (this time it was the North American office). The first person I talked to said it was past the 45 day period to file a dispute so I was SOL. I asked for her supervisor and was given the same story so I asked for her supervisor and was read the same script again. I asked him since the 45 day period is not dictated by law and is a discriminate period set by Paypal didn't he have the ability to waive the 45 days? His answer was "yes, I can but No, I won't" you need to learn how to us Paypal better next time because you either clicked on the pay now button twice or hit the back button during the transaction so It's not PayPals fault!
Fortunately for me since this was a credit card payment I can fight it through the credit card company but if it had been a debit card or some other method of payment I would have little recourse.

I asked the second supervisor how if their software allows double payments (seems to me they could write algorithms to detect this) how can I monitor my stupid actions and he said to log in to your Paypal account after each transaction and look for problems. My reply was thanks, but no thanks, I don't need to use Paypal again and hung up.

i am sorry to hear about your luck. however i would have called the credit card company the second i hungup the phone with "Chuck" in India. i would trust him about as far as i could throw him. never rely on people to take care of your well being, you usually end up dissapointed. hope you get this mess straightened out. for the record, i never have nor will use pay pal. yeah yeah its so easy and convinient as some might say, but i am VERY finicky when it comes to making online purchases with my credit or debit card. i usually just do without or just go the the store for the product i am looking to buy.

 

[Bird]

I, long ago (about 3 years), decided to never buy or sell anything that required the use of PayPal when I made an eBay purchase and they kept saying I still needed to pay for it, after I had done so. Someone eventually figured out their error, but it sure won't happen again.

 

[Bedlam]

Sorry to hear about your experience. The good thing is it was against a credit card that will give you some 'pull' on the disputed charges.

I have had to use the disputed charges once or twice, The first time was when there were third party charges to my phone bill which is allowed .But they were for 900 line calls of which I had a block.However the phone company told me that you can be forwarded from 800 number calls to the 900 ones.
At the time my kids were teenagers and I disputed the charges through the phone company for almost 5 months each month I would deduct them, In this time I attempted to obtain the third party's name number and location and the phone company said they weren't allowed to release that.
However after telling them they could provide now or with a supeona they reluctantly gave me the number which turned out to be a suit in a hotel ,(obvious scam)anyways, eventually we had a threesome.I had the phone company and the third party on the line with me at the same time.And they clicked , and took some of the charges off, I told them I'm not settling for anything less than all charges removed.Which they did.
Point; Be stubborn persistent, aggressive. But hardly ever pays to yell or get angry.

Good Luck

 

[tallyho8]

I have been using Paypal now for 9 years and am extremely pleased with it. The problems that some of you have using Paypal with unknown sellers could be much worse if you had used your regular credit card instead. At least this unknown seller did not have your credit card number since you used Paypal and could not charge multiple charges against it.

Paypal will only pay the amount that you authorize, whether on purpose, or by accident such as hitting the Pay Now button twice. A seller who has your credit card number can charge any amount he wishes to it. I have contacted sellers that I paid twice and had them issue an immediate refund by Paypal and I have issued immediate refunds to people who paid me twice. The problem is when someone deals with an unscrupulous seller who they don't even have a name, phone number or address for and they think they are perfectly safe because they are not paying cash.

When dealing with credit cards or checks, you must read the terms of agreement and follow them perfectly or you wind up paying for your mistakes or someone else's transgressions.

You should treat all transactions as if you are handing the person cash and take the same precautions and you will discover that using Paypal is much safer than using your regular credit card or a check because you are not giving the seller any of the info needed for an identity theft as you do with other payments.

I can go online and check my Paypal account anytime to see if everything is in order and even go back and check transactions I made last year if I need proof of a date of purchase, etc. I might have trouble finding a paper statement from a year ago.

I also get a 1 1/2% rebate each time I use my Paypal card.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Paypal is an Ebay product. I don't use either anymore because they're both out to rip you off with their nickel and dime charges.

Podunk

 

[zzvyb6]

I'm a Pay Pal user and still can't understand how 2 payments were made. The way it works for all my ~100 purchases is: YOU log into paypal and release the payment. The vendor has nothing to do with it. YOU log into paypal. you initiate a billing, you assess the charges and any additional amounts (shipping, insurance, rush delivery, etc), then YOU hit the pay now button (Once). The seller has no idea who you are or what your paypal account info is. Even your bank has no idea, other than a direct withdrawal is being made or a credit card is being charged.

Someone Splain this and correct me if I'm misinformed....

I had a dispute with eBay once when a guy's son forgot to send an item his father sold. They refunded the $ via PayPal. Done.

 

[mohrds]

I've been using Paypal for close to 10 years and I love it. Yes, mistakes can be made, but that happens with every business. The number of times the phone company mis-charged me in my lifetime is unbelievable

With an "instant" society, I have made a simple protection plan. Every morning, I sit with my cup of coffee and check online for all of my bank accounts and credit cards. If you spot something right away, the bank or credit card company can revoke the transaction typically for up to 1-3 days after and they will return the money and let the merchant try to recover it. Once the money leaves, its **** near impossible to get it back.

One morning I woke up to see that my credit card had been used to buy stuff half way around the world. The credit card company was able to revoke the transfer to the merchants and credit me because the payment was still in electronic transit. Had I waited a few days, I would have had a much tougher time.

As it turns out, my credit card number was stolen at a local restaurant, along with a few dozen others by a worker, not through some type of Internet Hacker...

 

[pappy19]

I don't know why you just didn't call Amazon and get them to credit your paypal account. I have been using paypal for 10 years and only had one claim for an item that was never sent. It took 2 emails but within 30 days I had my credit.

 

[turbo36]

I've been using Paypal for close to 10 years and I love it. Yes, mistakes can be made, but that happens with every business. The number of times the phone company mis-charged me in my lifetime is unbelievable

With an "instant" society, I have made a simple protection plan. Every morning, I sit with my cup of coffee and check online for all of my bank accounts and credit cards. If you spot something right away, the bank or credit card company can revoke the transaction typically for up to 1-3 days after and they will return the money and let the merchant try to recover it. Once the money leaves, its **** near impossible to get it back.

One morning I woke up to see that my credit card had been used to buy stuff half way around the world. The credit card company was able to revoke the transfer to the merchants and credit me because the payment was still in electronic transit. Had I waited a few days, I would have had a much tougher time.

As it turns out, my credit card number was stolen at a local restaurant, along with a few dozen others by a worker, not through some type of Internet Hacker...

Isn't this a good example of how we have become "slaves" of technology? We have to continuously check our email , our bank accounts , our facebook and all the other social network Johnny come lately's. How is this better?
Perhaps I'm not "getting it" but I miss the security of a paper society and cannot see how the new electronic frontier has made our lives more secure?

 

[jeffinsgf]

...Perhaps I'm not "getting it" but I miss the security of a paper society and cannot see how the new electronic frontier has made our lives more secure?

"Secure" was never the goal of the electronic frontier. Convenient is the goal. We have a personal debt crisis in this country because "spending money" doesn't mean anything to anyone anymore. I haven't seen my paycheck for 8 or 9 years. Direct deposit. That's OK, I guess, but it makes it easier to spend by plastic if you don't have the physical contact with the piece of paper you worked your behind off for a week (2 weeks, month, etc.) to get. It's one thing to dig into your wallet and pull out a handful of Franklin's to buy an electronic geegaw, (new flat screen for the big game?). It's quite a different thing to just toss off a piece of plastic with the promise you'll get the money to the guy later. And, I'm as guilty as anybody. I'm working to get myself out of debt, and when I get there, I won't be back.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I used PayPal long ago to purchase an item off of a dealer on Ebay only because that was the only way to source the item. I had no issues with the transaction and never needed it again. Later on, I got a request from PayPal to update my account info via email. It seemed bogus so I deleted it and continue to delete the occasional email from PayPal.

I find shopping on Ebay too time consuming and would rather shop locally so I very rarely visit their site these days.

I buy tools from Amazon on occasion using my Amazon/Visa CC which I got to take advantage of the discount. I use that card for other online purchases also but not for daily use. I use another dedicated card for dining out and mostly use my debit card for groceries, gas, fuel, Lowe's etc.

I agree with jeffinsgf on our use of plastic. I think that last year's round of high fuel prices on top of other purchases have many people's cards maxed out.

 

[tallyho8]

Isn't this a good example of how we have become "slaves" of technology? We have to continuously check our email , our bank accounts , our facebook and all the other social network Johnny come lately's. How is this better?
Perhaps I'm not "getting it" but I miss the security of a paper society and cannot see how the new electronic frontier has made our lives more secure?

You don't HAVE TO check your accounts daily online, you just now have the opportunity to do it that you did not once have. Years back, someone could forge a check on your account and you wouldn't know about it for a month when you finally got your statement in the mail. Now you have the opportunity to discover these events daily if you wish, giving yourself a head start in solving the problem and preventing yourself from having overdrafts etc.

When I pay my 10 bills at the end of the month, I enjoy paying online and saving $4.20 in stamps, plus the ease of using Billpay over writing checks which can be lost, stolen or forged.

I don't have a facebook yet, maybe I should get one?

 

[Ronbo]

When I bought my truck and trailer from my BIL in Arizona, I used bill pay for wells fargo to send him over $20,000. No charge for a certified check, they paid postage, and since I never touched the check, if he never got it, it would be their problem.

Ron

 

[Soundguy]

You can get paypall invoices, and if on ebay, you can be directed 'thru' your paypal account if you provide the login info.

hope it works out for the OP.

soundguy

I'm a Pay Pal user and still can't understand how 2 payments were made. The way it works for all my ~100 purchases is: YOU log into paypal and release the payment. The vendor has nothing to do with it. YOU log into paypal. you initiate a billing, you assess the charges and any additional amounts (shipping, insurance, rush delivery, etc), then YOU hit the pay now button (Once). The seller has no idea who you are or what your paypal account info is. Even your bank has no idea, other than a direct withdrawal is being made or a credit card is being charged.

Someone Splain this and correct me if I'm misinformed....

I had a dispute with eBay once when a guy's son forgot to send an item his father sold. They refunded the $ via PayPal. Done.

 

[mohrds]

Isn't this a good example of how we have become "slaves" of technology? We have to continuously check our email , our bank accounts , our facebook and all the other social network Johnny come lately's. How is this better?
Perhaps I'm not "getting it" but I miss the security of a paper society and cannot see how the new electronic frontier has made our lives more secure?

I choose to live like this but I don't have to. Just imagine not being able to go online, get a parts manual for your tractor, find the part number you need, find which of a dozen suppliers have the best price and have it here tomorrow morning. In the past, you'd have to call your closest dealer, try to talk them through finding the part number, most likely have to drive there with the part and go through the parts book with the guy, then pay what ever they feel like charging, and have to drive back there the next day to get it.

Doug

 

[RobJ]

Paypal is an Ebay product. I don't use either anymore because they're both out to rip you off with their nickel and dime charges.

Podunk

True Ebay did purchase PayPal a few years back. But when I buy something on Ebay, then pay with Paypal...it doesn't cost me a nickel.

When I sell something it cost me about a buck to insert it, then fees for the payment and sales. Ebay/Paypal is still a business trying to make some money just like other businesses. Many times its still cheaper than most local stores or other online sellers. Plus I don't have to drive around shopping.

As far as double paying, yes you can easily check your transactions after you make them. I had a glitch with an online order the other day because I wasn't shipping it to my verified address, had to back up and redo. I saw the failed transaction in PayPal, then the correct one.

They programed this forum software to prevent peole from double posting the same message...some people still post double messages every now and then.

 

[RonMar]

The times I have used Paypal, I have received a confirmation E-mail for every transaction. I wouldn't mind getting that for all my credit cards. That way any suspicious activity would be immediatly noticed.

 

[RobJ]

"Secure" was never the goal of the electronic frontier. Convenient is the goal. We have a personal debt crisis in this country because "spending money" doesn't mean anything to anyone anymore. I haven't seen my paycheck for 8 or 9 years. Direct deposit. That's OK, I guess, but it makes it easier to spend by plastic if you don't have the physical contact with the piece of paper you worked your behind off for a week (2 weeks, month, etc.) to get. It's one thing to dig into your wallet and pull out a handful of Franklin's to buy an electronic geegaw, (new flat screen for the big game?). It's quite a different thing to just toss off a piece of plastic with the promise you'll get the money to the guy later. And, I'm as guilty as anybody. I'm working to get myself out of debt, and when I get there, I won't be back.

When someone created the first tractor, or even the single horse/single row plow I'm sure their initial goal was not to create a 24 row planter, or a 50' disk. Just sort of evolved.

I haven't seen my paycheck in over 25 years! Actually I think my first full time job ever was the only one where I got a check (ok I've only worked at 4 different places). Saves me a trip to the bank. It doesn't make me spend plastic more, actually I use a CC for dinners and a few online purchases now. Hardly any more checks, because my wife and I use a debit(not a visa) card. Swipe, PIN, need some cash?, if its not in the bank it's a nogo. I also like how more businesses are using paypal to keep my CC out of it. Who would think that I can order RC plane parts from Hong Kong(much cheaper), pay with paypal, and get it in 7 days for $15 shipping?

Getting out of debt is a good thing for anyone, most we ever had was about 10k, got it down to about 7k and said enough is enough. Used IRS refund, my small bonus, and savings to get rid of it. Only thing I have now is monthly bills and the house note. No car payment or worse...tractor payments!! But golly, I pay those monthly bill online through my bank.

Heck these days PayPal is about safe as you can get. The seller just sees my money in their account. When you hand your CC to a clerk, they have all the info right there to be you. Pretty easy to look up your address, phone number and order online shipping to another address. I do it all the time shipping to my office. No one checks it unless I spot it.

Rob