If you don't want to alienate some customers...

[HellHound]

I've kept my mouth shut in this thread initially, but I've had NOTHING but bad experiences with Paypal... See my post to the other linked thread for my full story.

 

[Mark]

I've kept my mouth shut in this thread initially, but I've had NOTHING but bad experiences with Paypal... See my post to the other linked thread for my full story.

I'm sorry to hear that. I did read your other post and it sounds like you accidently tried to use the same credit card to open a duplicate account, if I am not mistaken? I also understand that you haven't been able to get the address associated with the account corrected. I hope that if you are actively trying to rectify the mistake you will post the results when the situation is finally resolved.

I did have a problem, at one point, but it was not PayPal's fault. I, too, attempted to secure an account with them...not realizing I had started one a long time back. When I ran into difficulty, I contacted their customer service through Email, sent them my phone number, and re-established my account when they called by going through the process of giving them my information again and allowing them the time to verify it. The process took a few hours. Ultimately, though, the mistake was not theirs, it was mine.

I'm not saying that your problem is not serious or that you haven't had other difficulties with PayPal, but I did want to give at least one story from someone who has had a good experience with them and their customer service. As someone has also pointed out, Paypal processes millions of transactions everyday and in all of the time they've been in business they've had a relatively small amount of problems. I didn't see any complaints on those sites where someone suggested that the fault was anything but Payal's doing. I also do not think that there will ever be a site that is called PayPalIsGreat.com because we all know that when things go well people rarely make mention of it.

I hope you (and anyone else having problems) can resolve your difficulties. As with any transaction, there are risks involved. The overwhelming success rate of PayPal compared to the relatively few complaints that I have heard/read, has yet to shake my confidence in them, though it is always best when a business can offer more than one option for payment for online goods or services.

 

[rpghost]

It's one of those cases of "It could never happen to me" or "that's cause he's an idiot" .. etc... Untrue. All it takes is some dickhead to start something with you and Paypal will LOCK YOU OUT of your account and keep all your money and will not listen to your complaints. Period. It's happened to at least 3 people I personally know. It's happening all the time. That article above is 4 months old, I am sure the disputes are much greater then 100,000 now days. There are tons of sites about people getting shafted. It's closer to home then you know.

Cause you didn't get hit by a train the first two years you drove through the intersection has no relevence on wether it will happen to you in the future.

Granted, vendors/resellers are more at risk then the person who just uses it to buy stuff. But it's something I worry about all the time and I constantly dump my money out of there. It's really scarry. They are NOT a bank. They do not offer any protection of a bank. They will lock your account if you do a chargeback on your credit card (as someone mentioned they could do above) as it's against their policy. They are truely in it for themselves and their fees are not much better then a regular merchants account. Hell, until just recently you couldn't even return someones money for a canceled order without paying Paypal the processing fees.

Just a word of warnning... the people with horror stroies are not weirdos. They are real people just like you and I and they are getting screwed. I only support Paypal at RPGshop.com and RPGNow.com cause so many people request it... but I'm afraid someday my "luck" will run out...

James

 

[HellHound]

Actually, no.

I had my account frozen AGES ago because someone supposedly tried to access it with the wrong password. So now, in order to get it fixed, they are MAILING me a new password, but they refuse to actually mail it to me, they mail it to an address in California, even though the mailing address for my credit card is in Canada (they keep reading the CA at the end of the mailing address as a California address, instead of a Canada address, even though it's a bloody Canadian credit card and the mailing address is the same one as the billing address on the credit card...)

I have since opened a second account, using a different credit card. But I can't get this one "verified" or whatever they call it, when they take $1.95 off my card and ask me to provide the transaction number from my credit card bill.

 

[Cergorach]

No ofense guys, i actually work at a bank (ICT support) and i'm sure that there are lots of people out there that have horror stories of companies that ARE banks. That being said, yes PayPal has risks, if you don't like risks, don't use it and don't fly planes, trains or automobiles.

If you use it as a merchants account, don't i'm sure that a Bank will give you better rates on credit card trans actions. On the other hand, having PayPal is a service to the customers, use it as such and don't use it to store money (that's why there's such a thing as a bank account).

I'm sorry to hear that Morrus has big problems with his account, but i'm really curious what alternatives he's going to offer...

 

[Leopold]

I'm up on the "Used paypal for X years and no problem" It's only a matter of time before i get a problem but until then i will cross my fingers and use alternate means of payment if my clients want them. I know if your a big company you can have all your CC transactions done for your website for around $50/month by a 3rd party company (i have to investigate that one further as i might be going that route..) that's been around for ages.

For me it's the easiest way to get money to me from THEM, the client.

 

[DSC-EricPrice]

If you use it as a merchants account, don't. I'm sure that a Bank will give you better rates on credit card trans actions.

Dont be so sure. It all depends on your sales volume and the amount of your average sale, among other things. My friendly local bank recently decided to increase my monthly statement fee and transaction percentage as a result of me not reaching the target average ticket of $50. When I say they increased it imagine I mean by more than double! Nevermind the percentage they take out in fees when I have less money in there than they would like (I think a $2500 balance was good for a $5 fee) Banks. None of them are worth a . Remember, they're in it to make a profit, just like the rest of us. That said, the real advice to merchants is to ask around and keep asking around. I've recently latched on to someone who does not only the transactions but provides a free internet gateway. This feature alone saves me more than $30 a month in ecommerce fees. Combined with my programming and the new ecommerce software I have I just reduced the cost of my ecommerce store by more than half!

I too accept Paypal and I've never had a problem yet but I never let my balance grow either. Transactions coming in from Paypal are moved to my banking account ASAP. I recommend the same for other small publishing companies that decide to accept Paypal.