Can Someone Help Me Decide About Getting A Paypal Account

[Phog Allen]

Well chaps, I went ahead and set up a PayPal account last night. I have not associated a bank account with it yet but will remedy that today. I am going to my credit union and setting up a separate account to be linked to PayPal. My credit union does not charge fees for savings or checking as far as I know. We shall see. They also offer a free debit/Visa card for these accounts so you don't have another inquiry on your credit record. It is probably being over cautious but I don't want any "payment" service linked to my regular accounts. There is always the chance that something gets overcharged or just messed up and I don't want it affecting my everyday personal business at all.

I will say this for PayPal, setting up the account was easy. Maybe too easy? I suppose once you associate an account with them they will be pretty diligent in making sure you are who you say you are. Thanks for all the replies.

Regards, Todd

 

[luvmysuper]

I think you'll be happy with the setup path you've chosen there.
Pretty safe, and Paypal, despite what its detractors say, is very handy indeed in the online world we live in.

 

[raisindot]

Another very satisfied Paypal user here. I've used it for more than 10 years, and have bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of merchandise through it and have never had a single problem with it.

Personally, I prefer vendors (like Westcoastshaving) that let you pay through Paypal instead of direct credit card usage. As many walls between my credit card and a vendor I can build the better.

And in terms of protecting credit card security, I trust Paypal much more than I would a credit card. That's because credit cards are issued by banks, which can rely on many other sources of income should people lost trust in their credit card business. (I worked for a bank and I can tell you their privavy and security processes were not nearly as tight as they'd like you to believe).

Whereas, if there were a serious breach of Paypal, the whole business would go under. It's in their best interests to maintain the highest level of security.

Jeff in Boston

 

[Nishnabotna]

I would never NEVER give Paypal my banking acct details. I have a Paypal acct, but I fund all my transactions with my CC. There is recourse with using a credit card, but NEVER recourse with using direct access to a checking acct or debit card. When that money is gone, it is gone with no chance of getting it back.
I don't do automatic payments from my bank accounts either for the same reasons. Mistakes happen whether malevolent or accidental. Protect yourself.
And www.paypalsucks.com

 

[Thebigspendur]

When you look at all the transactions they process each day it's a pretty good system. It's like complaining against the USPS. With all the mail they deliver each day sure there are some problems. However if Paypal disappeared overnight then what? A five mile trip to the postoffice,wait in line 45 minutes and snail mail the payment? Is that better?

 

[steveclarkus]

Dave Ray,

My son frequents a gun auction site and Paypal refuses to paticipate and that got his dander up a bit. I don't happen agree with their position but it doesn't bother me to the point of refusing to use Paypal.

I'll forgo the opportunity to comment on the latter part. I love arguing politics but I don't believe this is the place. I wish I hadn't made the comment.

Steve

 

[luvmysuper]

Dave Ray,

My son frequents a gun auction site and Paypal refuses to paticipate and that got his dander up a bit. I don't happen agree with their position but it doesn't bother me to the point of refusing to use Paypal.

I'll forgo the opportunity to comment on the latter part. I love arguing politics but I don't believe this is the place. I wish I hadn't made the comment.

Steve

..

 

[Dude123]

Lots of people have no problems BUT it does happen. I'm kinda against the grain here but:

I had one problem with them when I had to get a purchase refunded. Money went back to my paypal account, and I wanted to withdraw it back into my banking account. My given name is Matthew, which is what is used by my bank, but I go by Matt, and that is what I used when I signed up with paypal. Because these two names where different, I could not transfer the money into my bank account, and risked a fee for trying if it was declined. I tried to get my name changed and that was a huge problem.

The online tool would not let me do it because I did not have ground for it. I had to send two copies of ID via fax to a number I got after a long discussion with customer service on the phone. Nothing worked so I called back and was told I was given the wrong number, and got a new one. I had them repeat the number to make sure, and then tried it. Firstly, the number did not connect to anywhere, the fax call was bounced back, and there were not even enough digits in the number for it to work anywhere.

I called customer service again, and after eventually getting the most senior manager they had working finally got the name change done, on the phone, which everyone else had refused to do.

THe above story may not seem too bad, but thats just the basic outline, it was a nightmare, and for a fairly small amount of money too.

Also see: paypalsucks.com

some real horror stories about frozen accounts and other insanity there. I found it when trying to sort my issue out, scared the hell out of me.

Not meaning to bash paypal, but I think people should know about this stuff, cause I didn't until I started searching for a resolution to my problem. I use paypal still, but only because I often have no choice. I've removed all banking info from there, and at this point I have no credit card info on there either. Sounds crazy, but when I make a purchase I add my card, make the payment, then remove the card just in case.

YMMV, but at least give the site above a perusal.

 

[Amer]

I don't have a problem paying through paypal but I don't think I'll ever create an account with them or link my card/bank info to it.

Everyone that I know who has ever had their bank/cc info stolen has had it attached to their paypal account and it's always online purchases being made in their name.

 

[Phog Allen]

Believe me, if it were as easy as always using a credit card online I would not even consider PayPal. eBay has really sewn this thing up. If I am reading their site correctly, they will NOT allow e checks, money orders or cashiers checks for anything other than auto sales and other pre approved big ticket items. Regular, every day stuff I have no idea how you pay for it and stay within their TOS if you don't use PayPal or are dealing directly with one of the online store fronts that has a merchant account for accepting credit cards. Individual sellers have it rougher. If they accept PayPal then they have to accept any payment PayPal authorises including credit cards. Not only are they having to pay the PayPal fee but the credit card bank fee. This also means if an unscrupulous buyer decides to do a fraudulent charge back, the individual seller is hit with not only the other fees but PayPal passes along the charge back amount as well. Even though PayPal is the merchant of record, not the individual. This all weighed on my decision and is why it was put off so long. I don't plan on ever using the savings account for anything but PayPal so there will likely be no money in it unless I add funds to cover a purchase. It is basically forced upon you if you want to buy anything from an individual on eBay.

Oh btw, my credit union is fully aware of PayPal and how it works. They assured me they will NOT allow PayPal or any other payment service to access or force funds from ANY account number or sub share with a number different than what is given PayPal.

Regards, Todd

 

[DavyRay]

Dave Ray,

My son frequents a gun auction site and Paypal refuses to paticipate and that got his dander up a bit. I don't happen agree with their position but it doesn't bother me to the point of refusing to use Paypal.

I'll forgo the opportunity to comment on the latter part. I love arguing politics but I don't believe this is the place. I wish I hadn't made the comment.

Steve

I just listened to an NPR article about medical marijuana stores in California. They are having problems keeping a bank. The banks are concerned that they may have expanded reporting duties if they have these businesses as customers. They are risk-adverse, so are dropping these people as customers. In a weird way, this is not too different from any payment service refusing to support transactions in commodities they do not approve of.

 

[Phog Allen]

Hey chaps. I thought I would add one more update to this thread. I stopped by my credit union today to set up a separate savings/checking account with visa debit/credit card. The young chap at the credit union was very positive about that approach yet wanted me to look at something else as well.

What it was was a prepaid Visa card. They call them "travel Visa" since paper American Express Travelers Cheques are going the way of the dodo. I had thought about these cards before but the ones you pick up at the checkout line at stores always seemed a little murky. Expensive to initiate and fairly hefty recharge fees. Enter the dear old credit union. Their version of these cards have valid lives of around 14 months. Mine expires October 2011. You can reload them four times before they have to be replaced. It was $3.50 to set it up and it will cost $2 per recharge. The first charge was gratis by the clerk. If it is unused for ten months you will be charged $5. After the expiration date any balance is forfeited. He told me if there was anything left on it when the expiration date looms to just bring it by the credit union and they would run it down to zero as a cash advance and give me the balance. $1.50 charge. Or better yet, just use it to fill up your tank. Check the balance, go to a petrol station and have the clerk ring up the exact amount on your card and voila, used up with no charges. I used money orders the few times I bought on eBay and they cost between 50c and $1.00 each time. This is better for me.

I hope this works well for PayPal. It gives me an actual Visa card to link to my PayPal account(though the debit/credit Visa would do the same bloody thing). It will make vendors happy to know they are going to get paid. It will let me pay individuals on eBay. AND it gives me regular credit card protections. If things go south with PayPal they are only going to get the balance on the card and nothing more. I will let you know if there are any issues setting this up at PayPal. Thank you for all the responses.

Regards, Todd

 

[dpm802]

Money went back to my paypal account, and I wanted to withdraw it back into my banking account. My given name is Matthew, which is what is used by my bank, but I go by Matt, and that is what I used when I signed up with paypal. Because these two names where different, I could not transfer the money into my bank account, and risked a fee for trying if it was declined. I tried to get my name changed and that was a huge problem.

The online tool would not let me do it because I did not have ground for it. I had to send two copies of ID via fax to a number I got after a long discussion with customer service on the phone. Nothing worked so I called back and was told I was given the wrong number, and got a new one. I had them repeat the number to make sure, and then tried it. Firstly, the number did not connect to anywhere, the fax call was bounced back, and there were not even enough digits in the number for it to work anywhere.

I called customer service again, and after eventually getting the most senior manager they had working finally got the name change done, on the phone, which everyone else had refused to do.

I have a similar problem with PayPal ... My account (and my PayPal debit card) lists my first name and last name, and I wanted to add my middle initial. Despite numerous attempts online, I was unable to insert my middle initial into my profile their system.

Similar problems when I tried to list a change of address with them. It took me about three days, and numerous log-ins to my two linked bank accounts to get everything sorted out. Apparently, you have to change your addresses at the bank BEFORE you notify PayPal ... although I don't really understand the reason for that.

I have one Credit Union account that has so many levels of passwords, secret questions and PINs (including online CAPTCHA codes) as to make the account unusable. I can understand the reasons for enhanced security, but making it so cumbersome doesn't really help the end user.

Despite all these shortcomings, I still like PayPal, and continue to use it extensively, especially here on the BST.