Paypal

Paul Douglass

Member
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4,984
Location
S E Washington State
I have used Paypal for probably 10 years to pay for internet purchases of small items. I have never had a problem and have always received good service. Lately they keep notifying me that I am about to reach my spending limit and won't be able to use Paypal services anymore unless I become verified. That means either getting one of their credit cards or giving them access to my bank account. I don't want another credit card and I really don't want to allow them to have direct access to my bank account. Seems to me that after so many years of everything working nicely and no problems with me paying my bill that that would verify me! I don't know what to do, a lot of places/people I buy from only have Paypal as the method of payment. I guess I don't have a question here, just a small rant...
 
Year ago I opened a free checking account that is only used for internet purchases, paypal is tied to that account, not my other bank accounts, different bank even. Not sure if the free accounts are still out there, but worth checking into for that purpose.
 
I made a few E-bay purchases over about 3 years starting about 10 years ago. Probably no more than 100.00 total over the 3 years. I got the same thing about tying to my bank account. I said thanks but no thanks, and haven't used PayPal or E-bay again. If it was working tied to my credit card and no issues, why did I need to change? Just smells fishy to me. I know millions of users do it with no adverse effects. I wasn't willing to trust them with that information. Not then, not now. If there is something I want that a seller has at the best price, and PayPal is the only method they will accept for payment, I'll pay more elsewhere. Jim.
 
Year ago I opened a free checking account that is only used for internet purchases, paypal is tied to that account, not my other bank accounts, different bank even. Not sure if the free accounts are still out there, but worth checking into for that purpose.

I did the same thing a couple of years ago. Didn't like the thoughts of having it tied to my or should I say my wife's account.
 
Seems to me that after so many years of everything working nicely and no problems with me paying my bill that that would verify me! I don't know what to do, a lot of places/people I buy from only have Paypal as the method of payment. I guess I don't have a question here, just a small rant...

I agree but, unfortunately, this is "old-think". I don't mean as in, "we're old", I mean things like long term relationships and customer loyalty (or a reason for it) are rare as hen's teeth anymore. Decisions are made by boards that know little about they're customer base that they cannot glean from a spreadsheet (usually rendered down to the "high points" by their administrative assistant :D).

Very simple solution that I use . . . open a second checking account, put a small amount of money in it and link Pay Pal to that only. It is a 30 second job to log onto your bank and transfer adequate funds in preparation for a purchase. I leave a cushion amount in the account lest I miscalculate ;).
 
If a seller will only accept PayPal, you can still pay with a credit card, just do it via PayPal. ;)

Vaughn, I don't understand how you do this. I have been paying with my credit card on Paypal. I have two of them and I just select the one I want to use at that time. I'm still about to reach the limit where Paypal says I have to get verified.
 
I guess I look at it that paypal is about as secure as any account is anymore.

You constantly hear about credit card companies getting hacked, people putting card skimmers on atm's, grocery store card readers.

I'm more worried about giving my credit card out at a restaurant or using my debit card at the gas station than I am about paypal.

Been using paypal for a long time to buy things on Ebay and other places without a hitch.

I even bought my bobcat off of ebay using paypal. Worked like a charm.
 
Are you sure these are really PP notices? Do you get them in email?

I get a few fake PP emails/month. Someone out there is phishing for info.

I'm getting them, too, and I've been PP verified for several years. They look like 'real' PP emails, but the links info shows that clicking on them will take you somewhere else - somewhere you DON'T (!) want to go. Roll your mouse over the 'link' and see what the info box says. It probably won't be "https...Paypal."

So far as I know, PayPal doesn't limit how much you can spend on a credit card. Only the credit card company does that, and they don't care where you spend the money; they just want you to spend it...:rolleyes:
 
as brent said, i to have a separate account that i use for paypal only and was asked to do the verification i pitched the notification and its working fine,, and as for accounts being safe,, none of them are completely safe,, i for one have been hacked for 3500 threw a debit,credit combo card but the bank took care of it after a time for them to do there work.. wasn't a pleasant experience and the banker told us that she had been hacked as well and that the only way to avoid it is just keep a account with a limit on it to stop them form getting very much.
 
Are you sure these are really PP notices? Do you get them in email?

I get a few fake PP emails/month. Someone out there is phishing for info.

I'm sure they are PP. I get the notice each time I use Paypal and if I log into my PP account it tells me the same. Seems like the limit for none verified it $10K. I'm going to just let it go to the limit and see what happens. It will take me another year to get there at the rate I spend.
 
As another user of PayPal, my comments/suggestions are:

  • Beware emails bearing PayPal notifications. I would contact PayPal CS at 1-888-221-1161 to inquire about these & other questions you may have.
  • Setting up an account at your banks specifically for PayPal disbursements is an excellent idea as mentioned above.
  • I recently eliminated my Debit Card as the source for PayPal payments just to keep anyone removed from my bank account. Instead, I re-directed PP to use my Credit Card. At the least that, along with the protection afforded by PP, would allow me to dispute any suspicious charge against the CC. Doing anything to counter a false charge against a PP/DC leaves you with only PP for protection; too late to do anything against a false DC charge.
  • Another alternative to have funds available for PP payments, and one that is completely removed from any bank account, is the Green Dot MoneyPak. This is basically like a Gift Card that you can buy at different locations. You can buy a card of a given amount that you want, $100, $500, etc, & use that as the source for PP to tap for purchasing things. There is a $4.95 for every card you purchase & for each time you renew the the value of the card. This keeps the same card number for future transactions.
  • I just inquired about this at a local Radio Shack & I think that is how I may salt away some "discretionary" ;) funds for future use. There are quite a few locations that you can purchase these cards & they are noted on the PP web site.
  • Also, I believe that these MP cards can be used for purchasing directly from other firms, just like a regular gift or charge card.
  • Check it out! This might be what interests you.
 
I got a notice, supposedly from Paypal, that confirmed a purchase I made several weeks ago. I did not make the purchase. Also, I got the notice at an email address that is not tied to my Paypal account. I do not have a credit card or bank account tied to Paypal. I did not open the email other than what showed in the preview pane of Windows Mail. I went to my Paypal account and queried the transaction number that was in the email and found it was no good. When I tried to forward the email to spoof@paypal.com, the address they tell you to use to report fraud, my Internet provider kicked it back as containing a virus (not sure yet why AVG failed to catch that). In other words, beware of opening email that just doesn't make sense!
 
One solution is to register with PP using a new email. Gmail is easy to set up. Get a few more years without verifying. Ditto on phishing. Never use a link in those emails.
 
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