PayPal - Its Not My Pal Anymore

[mark_boyle2002]

I am distraught at the moment.

I have a paypal account and was delighted when they introduced the buy it now buttons and merchant tools.

I began adding these buttons on my website for various bits and pieces.

I got my mum to test this using her american express card and "*wow*" it worked my website looked like it was handling credit card orders all by itself.

I was however not just as impressed when my mum began ranting and raving about a strange charge on her american express bill.

I began to investigate.

The item I used to test the button theory was £30
I recieved My £30 in my paypal account minus 3% and 30 pence (standard rate)
My mothers credit card has been billed for £39.50 by me ???? and has a £2 charge for a paypal membership which didn't appear anywhere on the disclaimer.

I have contacted the people at paypal support who can't seem to explain it other than saying its because of exchange rates.

Hmm, The button was for £30 my mum agreed to pay £30 why the hell would it be converted to dollars and back to pounds before it was sent. Its beyond me.

Anyone else got paypal horror stories ?

[Tiger Shark]

Mark: Did your mum already have a Paypal account? If not then the charge may not be added to any more of her purchases 'cos she has ne now..... Though I do agree that it sux a little to be charged $2 and not be told up front that you were going to get a membership that you might not even want...... Come to that, after all the scams, information leaks etc. Paypal has been through I wouldn't want one now anyway.......

[mark_boyle2002]

All the behind the scenes stuff that goes on is not made obvious.

It chargeds her an additional £1.95 for membership which is refunded after you pump in a number which appears on your credit card bill.

This was seperate from the additional money added to my bill.

[the_JinX]

I told you not to use any product that pretends to be your friend..

bonzi-buddy paypall

it makes me sick to my sweaty balls..

http://www.paypalwarning.com/

[sickyourIT]

i love how paypal says that they won't do anything after 30 days of a transaction, yet ebay recommends waiting 30 before contacting any company about a fraud case. On top of that, paypal gets pissed if you ask your CC company to charge back the fraudulent purchase to you, when paypal admits they won't do anything about it.

grrr

little turds.

[thehorse13]

PayPal, when it started out, was a decent and useful service. Over time, they became a leaching agent. I stopped using them a while back when they decided to strong arm you into a business account. They also added tons of fees such as their percentage increase and the check/transfer fees. By the time you are done with Ebay and PayPal you are getting humped about 12 - 15% of your sale price. I just ask for money orders anytime I sell things on auction sites these days.

--my two cents--

[gunder]

I've always been warry of getting a pay pal account, and now it looks like I have another reason not to get one. Thanks for sharing.

-gunder

[Lv4]

paypal is evil, plain and simple. They may have started off with good intentions, but now they are just plain bad. All they want to do is seperate you from your hard earned money. The Jinx gave a good link, and you might want to check out http://www.paypalsucks.com too for some more information on the scam that is PayPal.

[Simo]

i used www.egold.com for my old site

[MemorY]

I also found some paypla problems .....

PayPal the "pal" YOU pay....

Paypal customers target of apparent scam

http://www.aboutpaypal.org/

http://www.ygoodman.com/paypal.asp

http://www.computerworld.com/securit...,74687,00.html

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/5039

http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/...palscam_1.html

Cancel it before you lose more money .... arghh Those bastards....