Your Pay Pal Experiences?

glenn bradley

Member
Messages
11,514
Location
SoCal
I know a lot of folks here use Pay Pal. Unfortunately in my business they are often used as the example of everything wrong with security on the web. Bearing in mind that I have done almost everything financial via online transactions for years; I still have concerns with these folks.

I believe they have resolved their problems of days gone by but I have an ingrained nervousness left over from watching them "mature" from their early days going forward. I'm sure its just a case of "residual experience opinion" as I haven't heard any horror stories for quite awhile. I'm just looking for a little re-assurance. Have any of you had problems in the last year or so? Are there things I should be aware of before I decide to open an account?
 
Hi Glenn.

My PayPal experience is only as a buyer and I had no problems at all, most of the times I've used to pay items bought at Ebay and at some shops. In some other shops I've used my credit card.

However, recently I clicked on a link that took me to a page where there are hundreds of testimonials, (I don't know if true or not) against PayPal specially as far as sellers are related. To me it looked like some sort of advertising of using a different type of payment, ( maybe their competitors?)

If make a search on the web with the keywords "PayPal rip-off", or "PayPal cheated me" ,"beware of PayPal" orsimilar you'll find them.

I insist, I do not know if they are true or not but it may be worth looking at them.
 
I've been using them for over 10 years now - mostly for eBay sales and purchases - hundreds of them. In all that time I have had only one problem and it was due to a glitch on their end regarding the prompt reporting on status of an unclaimed payment. They addressed the issue, sent me an email explaining and apologizing. It did take my sending them 3 emails in 2 days to get a response, but it was taken care of.

Overall, I would not hesitate to use them (don't like the fees, but that's life). Whenever I get my own site up and running I will most likely use them as my primary means of receiving money. The ability to link every transaction to a specific purchase/sale is quite helpful.
 
Pay Pal is no different than any other debit card. It is a Chase Manhattan Bank debit card with a different name.
My experiences with it are all favorable. It is an easy and convenient way to buy and sell. And I use it to keep records of my purchases and sales for tax purposes.
 
I another one that has been a member for years & years. It was mostly for ebay but then online stores started using it as well (ie. Wixey) and its much more convenient. I have done quite a few transactions both as buyer and seller and haven't had any money problems.

I did have issue with getting a "phishing" email or two everyday for a while. They look idientical to PayPal emails accept for the way you are addressed I think. I kep reporting those emails and had to do so every day for about two weeks, then they finally died down.
 
No issues on this end. I think I have 25 Ebay purchases this year alone. Ive also sold a couple things and collected money without any issues.

I would recommend it.:thumb:

Randy
 
I too have been using it for about 10 years, often it is by far the cheapest way to get money from Japan to the US or Canada. I did a $5000 transaction when I sold one of my vintage racing motorcycles to a guy in the US, it went off without a hitch.

I will continue to use my PayPal, but a healthy skepticism is a good thing too.

Cheers!
 
I quit using PayPal when they stopped my account that was tied to a credit card. Tried to force me to use a regular bank account. I refused, and haven't used them since. If I had a separate account for selling, then I would probably do that. But I'm not giving them my regular checking or savings account numbers.
I do know a guy that bought a Cale Yarborough limited edition Torino, 1969 I think. The guy in Canada ripped him off by getting payment twice, then wouldn't follow through with the refund. I think my friend got some of the money back, but not all. That was about 3 years ago. PayPal wasn't helping him a whole lot, and I'm sure he is at fault for letting the double payment happen. Jim.
 
Last edited:
Well, it sounds like good news in general. Jim's point is what keeps me held off. They want to pay out of your Pay Pal balance, your directly attached checking and then your credit cards . . . in that order.

I wanted to contact them for clarification but you have to be signed up to use the "contact us" function. This was just another red flag for me so I asked here. I don't like doing business with people who make it hard for you to contact them.

Sounds like good comments mostly so I will go ahead a little further and see if I can get an answer on the payment sequence. The way it was described during my 'almost' sign up process was that if you didn't want them to tap your bank account, you better make sure you keep enough money in your Pay Pal "balance" account(?). This was emphasized a few times, they really want you to understand what you are authorizing. But it sounds like if you stay on top of it, things go along pretty much OK. Hmmmm. I 've been in networking and security for half of my life. Maybe it is starting to make me paranoid. ;-)
 
Last edited:
I don't use them, Personally I don't trust them. They belong to fleabay. I quit doing business with them years ago when they made it clear that they would willingly give up your information to law enforcement without a warrant.

Keep in mind they can freeze your account anytime.

I have to believe that some if not the majority of the horror stories are true. If they weren't true you would think paypal would go after them.
 
I've not had a problem using them on my site. I like that they take Visa, MasterCard... etc. Makes it easy for me to sell without alot of confusion.
 
If you look hard enough you will find people that had bad experiences. You will find people that hate them and love them. But I think the good outweighs the bad. But I wouldn't keep a lot of cash available for them to access as a precaution. Just set up a separate free checking account and tie that to the PayPal account. Could save you from getting ripped off by someone.

I have my first issue with them right now but it's not PayPals fault as far as I can tell. I use PayPal to take credit Card payments in my business. I don't get but one ever few months so it it by far cheaper than a Merchants Account for me.

I had my first charge back recently. My Corporation name is is not the same as my DBA/Business name. So the client didn't recognize it. He realized who I was before I contacted him and had notified his CC company. But it is has been 3 months and they still have not recovered the funds. It falls on the other bank to refund the money, but it is very annoying trying to contact anyone at PayPal and find out what is going on. Other than this I have had no problems.

This is not a huge issue and I will continue to use PayPal, it's just to handy not to. But I am debating on the Credit Card payments right now. There is something to be said for a paper check or cash! Much harder to do a charge back and no waiting 3+ months to recover the funds either.
 
I don't use them, Personally I don't trust them. They belong to fleabay. I quit doing business with them years ago when they made it clear that they would willingly give up your information to law enforcement without a warrant.

Keep in mind they can freeze your account anytime.

I have to believe that some if not the majority of the horror stories are true. If they weren't true you would think paypal would go after them.


This is no different than with any other bank card.
 
This is no different than with any other bank card.

Which part? Bank cards and paypal have nothing in common. I can walk into my bank and resolve a problem. Not that I've ever had one with them. Try that with paypal.

You sell an item and the customer does a chargeback, PP will freeze your acount till THEY decide its settled.
What if you have several thousand dollars in there?
Good luck with getting them to move in a timely fashion.

I've never had a bank account frozen,
I know for a fact our bank won't give up any account information to LE without a warrant.
 
I don't think I'd do my day to day business through them, it wouldn't be cost effective. I've used them for about 9 years now and I simply opened a "free" checking account at a different bank which is tied to it. I also use the debit card for the checking account for all my internet purchases. I figure if I do get taken, they aren't going to get more than what's in that account, which is usually less than $1000.
 
I too have been using them for many years, at least 6 or 7, and have only had one problem. Someone was able to get into my account (it happened to a few people at the time) and made an Ebay purchase for $85 and some change. I filled out all the appropriate online stuff and called Paypal and I had my money back in less than a week. This was 4 or 5 years ago and I haven't had any trouble since.
 
Top