Paypal ... good, bad or indifferent?

[Doc4]

Paypal annoys me. I dislike using Paypal, and tend to avoid buying from internet retailers that only accept Paypal, except in rare cases. I am wondering if I am alone, or if this not unique and Paypal discourages others here from making purchases where Paypal is required.

 

[adonnellyr]

I'm the exact opposite; I only buy stuff online when paypal is required (unless its a reputable company/site that takes credit card, as I also do this). But if it's from an individual (ie: BST or EB*y) I only make transactions via paypal--safe and secure!

 

[cfriend]

I've had nothing but great experiences from paypal. What do you prefer to use for online purchases, specifically from people (BST) as opposed to vendors?

 

[The Knize]

i'm the exact opposite; i only buy stuff online when paypal is required (unless its a reputable company/site that takes credit card, as i also do this). But if it's from an individual (ie: Bst or eb*y) i only make transactions via paypal--safe and secure!

+1

 

[Maher]

Ian, I agree with you but unfortunately PayPal is a fact of online business, like it or hate it. I remember the days b4 PayPal, I used to use i escrow a lot which is a much safer way of doing business. You send the money to them, the seller sends you the item, you like it, contact iescrow and release the money otherwise, tell them no, return the stuff and get your money back - commission. PayPal also has some stupid safety triggers that will trigger in the wrong time with the wrong person. I think you can use it, I do use it, very carefully and I do change my information frequently. Never leave large amounts of money with them the system is liable of blocking you out of it in the notion of protecting you,

 

[Luc]

I think paypal is great. It offers a safe way to buy online and having a third party involved in case of a problem. I know, paypal can be annoying with delays and fees but, every company has to make money to survive. There are ways to avoid them but usually, as a buyer, you only get the delay...

Always look for http://www.paypal.com/ as your address when you are login in to pay from any website. If it's like that, it's safe! I am uncertain with paying on a website that doesn't use paypal. How do I know the website is legit? Anyone can create a secure page with a little logo saying secure checkout, our terms, we do not store your information, etc.

 

[Maher]

deleted quote

 

[reverendyo]

I loved paypal for years until 3 months ago, when some company made fictious claims on me through paypal to the tune of 5 claims in 5 minutes for over $525 each claim. Paypal took the money out of our account, we disputed it and they held the entire amount for 10 days while they "resolved" the matter. Our phone calls were ignored, paypal said they were investigating, but would not return the money for the entire 10 days. Fortunatly, our bank account was protected and they filed claim against paypal so they helped in our dispute. But we had a $2750 negative for almost 2 weeks and we had to juggle our auto payments to avoid having NSF charges.

Paypal was very rude when we called them also, refusing to do anything except 'investigate'. We had never used paypal for any amount more than $100 ever previously in 5 years, so this one set of charges raised flags with them. I disputed from their flags, and they still took the money under dispute.

Bottom line, we will never use paypal tied to a debit card ever again.

 

[thirdeye]

I have never had a problem with Paypal until this week. I should say 'I've been using them for over 7 years often. Seems for some reason my account was locked for no apparent reason and I've had to go round and round to get it corrected. Everyone I have dealt with thus far has been more than willing to help try and figure it out. It's not corrected yet but I was told it should be back up and working in a matter of a couple days....We'll see. I trust they will get it fixed and I will keep using them.

 

[LawLess]

I've used paypal for 10 years now and only go through them when absolutely necessary.

They have been sued many, many times for deliberately hiding their customer service phone numbers, understaffing, and generally running an incompetent business.

I keep my account there with a zero balance, tied to a non-existing checking account. All payments I accept are either spent quickly on other transactions or withdrawn via cheque.

All purchases I make through paypal I make with a credit card. The reason for this is if there is a problem, you can dispute the transaction through your credit card company, rather than paypal. NEVER PAY BY eCHECK OR DEBIT TRANSACTION! CREDIT CARDS OFFER THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CONSUMER DEBT PROTECTION!!!

In many instances, I've had problems where the seller was obviously at fault, and I had documented proof. Paypal will 'investigate' until they feel like doing something; more often than not, that 'something' is just emailing you or shuffling you to a different department. When a problem arises, I don't even dispute through paypal any more, I dispute directly with my credit card company. I usually have the chargeback credited to my account within a week.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

[Stubblefield]

I dislike paypal and only use them when I must. I will be canceling my account REAL SOON, as I am leaning away from eBay as a selling and buying venue.

 

[pal]

I have never had a bad experience with PayPal. My son ordered a Gibson Guitar on ebay and it turned out to be a knock-off. We protested and after sending proof from Gibson the the guitar was a fake, our money was refunded plus we were allow to keep the guitar. I feel like they really went to bat for us.

 

[theperfectstorm]

I just got some fine Rocawear from Dr. Jays, paid for a razor on eBay yesterday, got some C&S from our boy Rorschuck, a Braniff DC-8 Calder die-cast model from airparadigm.com and some ridiculous pancake mix and syrup from Stonewall Kitchens--all took about a minute each through Paypal.

Too much information I know--sorry.

Point is: How existentially tortuous would all that have been 5+ years ago? Invoices, and money orders, envelopes, stamps, having to fill out all your information every single time you want to check out online--miserable! I for one was overjoyed when some of our better grooming stuff vendors started taking Paypal.

I have been with paypal for years and I can say this--they do screw up sometimes but the people I have dealt with have always seemed keen to help. And truly they have helped me re-coup much more money from knuckleheads than they have ever cost me in mistakes.

 

[htownmmm]

Been using since 2001 and have not experienced any problems.


marty

 

[Dubbya]

I love PayPal. I use it almost exclusively. Even secure sites can be helped by paying via proxy.

 

[Dubbya]

Ian, I agree with you but unfortunately PayPal is a fact of online business, like it or hate it. I remember the days b4 PayPal, I used to use i escrow a lot which is a much safer way of doing business. You send the money to them, the seller sends you the item, you like it, contact iescrow and release the money otherwise, tell them no, return the stuff and get your money back - commission. PayPal also has some stupid safety triggers that will trigger in the wrong time with the wrong person. I think you can use it, I do use it, very carefully and I do change my information frequently. Never leave large amounts of money with them the system is liable of blocking you out of it in the notion of protecting you,

I just leave a relatively small amount of money in the account linked to my PayPal account. PayPal automatically transfers whatever I just spent into my PP account and then on to the seller. Keeps things nice and safe from most angles.

 

[Hemlock]

I've never had a problem, but I use it with caution and almost always through a credit card. So far the risk is worth the convenience.

 

[FLTiger]

No option for, "I love the convenience of PayPal, but it scares the Bejeezus out of me"?

 

[packRat]

I've been using PayPal for about two years without any problems.

 

[Pureslab]

They are evil scum , but they hold a total monopoly on the 'easy online payment' process.