Paypal Horror Story

[shotthebreeze]

Oh, Paypal. It's really a wonderful way of doing business. Accept a payment, dump it in your bank account, all in one sitting. No paperwork, no trips to the bank...just money. Flat out.

I opened my hosting site about 2 weeks ago and previously I decided that I needed a credit card gateway. This is because I know, not everyone uses Paypal, and signing up for it can be a pain. But, I figured that I'd be loyal and use Paypal's "Virtual Terminal" so that all of my payments (Paypal transactions or credit card transactions) would be in the same spot...you know the drill. Well, I apply for Virtual Terminal and the next morning my account has limits.

Paypal claimed that they needed a social security card, license, and a signed affidavit to confirm my identity. To make a long story short, my account had been locked for almost 3 weeks, I had sent the requested information by fax 15 times because they requested it 15 times, I called customer support a total of 12 times, and they finally tell me I need to call Experian to get my social security number verified. A week later my Paypal account limits were removed and I was denied Virtual Terminal for some reason unknown to me and unknown to any of the 8 different customer service reps that I talked to.

For credit card transactions, I'd reccomend 2checkout.com. No monthly fee and no verification of your DNA for God's sake.

[newgenservices]

Lol . I can understand your frustration.. Even i read such stories of them. But the Basic part is good and i never faced any probs .Hope it continues that way..

[ASP-Hosting.ca]

I would never use paypal for business.

[SimpleSolutions]

They can be tricky at times, i had a similar problem when trying to add my credit card to the account.. apparently my credit card number was blocked from their services... that was never resolved... dident have the time to keep calling them... waste of time if u ask me.

[PGHostingUK]

I do use Paypal and havent had any problems yet!

I do hear a lot of people saying they have had major problems though!

[icestorm]

I would never use paypal for business.

I'm not a big fan of Paypal myself. However, it's now vital for online business, especially in the hosting industry.

--Adrian

[WebzPro]

About three years ago I bought Quick Books on EBay, used PayPal for the insurance to make sure if something happened I was covered. The post office lost the package, stolen my guess, PayPal refused to cover the loss. Had to re-order and then had it sent UPS. I use PayPal for because clients want it and that's the only reason.

[DamirG]

paypal is really good. but if something bad happend and you try to retrieve ur money. then you are in big trouble.

except that everything is good

[SecureServerTec]

I havent had that kinda problem with paypal, they are a very inpersonal and inconsiderate company though.
I think it is ridiculous that you can pay for a digital good or service and then simply say someone broke in your account and sent it, and you will get your money back no questions asked. This has happend to me twice on admin work but I guess that is what I get for doing work for shady people. First guy was some casino site and the second some warez server looks like now.
I have had stolen paypal sent to me and I understand why it is reversed but when you verify a person over and over and even talk to them on the phone and they do that it is a joke. And I have even submitted this proof to paypal each time and they keep on telling me to send them postal tracking info and such like an ebay item.
I hate using paypal but so many people use it you cant refuse it. I just do western union now on services or orders over $50. I even had my account limited once because someone sent me payment with stolen paypal.
I think customers should be responsible for their own accounts anyway unless tehre is some paypal site exploit. I bet online merchants loose thousands each month due to fraudulent charge backs and so called "stolen paypals"
I think if someone is dumb enough to fall for a phishing email they should lose their money.
It has gone too far with paypal, there is no seller protection for digital goods and services. And when you ask them about this they start the ebay item crap wanting tracking info and such.
You will never get a straight answer from any of them, they are untrained idiots and they do not care.
Try and see if you reall wanna experiment, buy some digital goods or services and claim your account was stolen, you will get your money back no questions asked and they will just reverse it from the merchant and there is nothing they can do.
I wish there was a more widely accepted payment method without the ridiculous chargebacks.

[UnionDance]

. No monthly fee and no verification of your DNA for God's sake.

no verification, i like that :P i have had some problems with paypal, too

[alemcherry]

2Co is okay but lots of customers would like to pay through paypal, thats the problem. Now any comments regarding google checkout?

[SecureServerTec]

2Co is okay but lots of customers would like to pay through paypal, thats the problem. Now any comments regarding google checkout?

Anything that has a better chargeback policy Im all for. Too many people are taking advantage of the "Unauthorized Funds" bit in paypal. I know a guy recently who fully verified someone, submitted moderbill logs and info, after talking with paypal on the phone the guys ip address did match the logs and it was the same isp the guy always used so it was obviously him.
So you would think paypal would give you back the reversal? Nope. They said the guy said he had a trojan in his computer and thats how he was sending money lol. Can you believe these idiots?

I have even had paypal reverse funds on me no questions asked, no hold period months after the transfer. For example a $20 donation to my site once, the payment went through and everything, 2 months later out of the blue it gets reversed and to this day they wil still not tell me why.

I truly hate paypal, I have been screwed out of quite a bit of money and like I said I guarantee that over 75% of these so called "Unauthorized Transactions" are fraudulent chargebacks. People know they can do it everytime and get away with it and that makes me sick. I cant believe the guy I had issue with for $125 had done the same thing 6 times before when I googled his name, he did it like 3 times for hosting and digital services and 3 times on ebay. He is not the only one either, lots of people are pulling this crap now.

If that google co was widely accepted and had better chargeback policies and protection for merchants Id go with it in a heartbeat. I wish something would come along and put paypal out of business.

Of course you will have the people who is like I love paypal, they have great customer service and all that but Id be willing to bet you dont deal with large amounts of money for digital services and what not. Yeah paypal is real good until you have to deal with stuff like this. Give it time and you will if you havent already. I would suggest dont ever accept any payment through paypal over $20

[watchdoghosting]

We had the same problem when trying to sign up and get our bank account verified. Since our company goes through a special bank account, PayPal just didn't like it. After trying to get it resolved for over a week, we just decided to open a different bank account just so that PayPal will get us verified.

[veggie]

Yes we use 2checkout as our credit card payment processor, their customer support is a lot better, they actually do have a toll free number and 24/7 support! However, many of our customers still prefer paypal, that's one of the main reason why we actually kept our paypal account.

[loon]

Where are your website based on? Paypal is good in USA market. If used credit card, something you should look for is Visa/MasterCard Standards Compliance (CISP/SDP). One of the best indications of a secure hosting provider is its compliance with the guidelines set forth by Visa and MasterCard in their Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) and Site Data Protection (SDP) standards. CISP/SDP compliance is required of all merchants and service providers that process, store, or transmit Visa or MasterCard Cardholder data. If you are operating an eCommerce website that accepts credit card payments, your hosting provider must be CISP/SDP compliant. The requirements set forth by the CISP/SDP programs are stringent enough that compliance with them is a good indication that a website or service provider is relatively secure.

Hope this help