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Paypal Agrees to Consumer Protections
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Fri Sep 29, 2006 07:12 AM
from the oh-all-right dept.
from the oh-all-right dept.
davidwr writes "Paypal settled a suit with Maryland and 27 states. Among other things, they'll conspicuously advertise a contact phone number and staff it 14 hours a day and be much more forthcoming about when they will debit your bank account. For those of you who think Paypal Sucks, well, starting soon it sucks just a little less."
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finally (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:finally (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Suckage (Score:2, Interesting)
Do people really think that when a corporation gets ordered by a court to behave in a different way, that the organisation will really change? At best, the screwing over and offensive behaviour will become more subtle, or "accepted" (by their customers) screwings from other finance houses will be done by PP but "enhanced". Shit like them taking x days to transfer money about, for example.
But they still suck, I
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"Under terms of the settlement agreement, PayPal said it is not admitting any liability for the allegations in the dispute."
From the actual court transcript: "Your Honor, my client PayPal is sorry, but not sorry for what the plaintiffs thought we should be sorry for. I mean sorry in a general yet noble way. My client will keep doing what they were doing but with a much more cautious unscrupulousness.
At the same time, Your Honor, PayPal recognizes that people were genuinely angry and my client is si
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If I pay someone on ebay by a bank transfer, they give me their details, not the other way round (so my privacy is actually maintained, of course they get an address to post the goods to). I don't use ebay much, but from my recent use it appears that a reasonable amount of (power?) sellers openly publish their bank details for payers' convienience. To transfer money I need the accounts name, sort code and account number, and with that info I can only put money into the account, not remove any. The ebay sell
Re:Suckage (Score:4, Informative)
Occasionally it's been known to turn to kidnaping and ransom when people visit Nigeria to try to get their money back or even follow an invitation to "help".
It's also called "Advance Fee Fraud". I still don't know why it's the Nigerians who make it so famous, since the scam has been played for centuries, even without bank transfers. They just seem to have turned it into a national industry.
Parent
Nope, they'll still suck (0800 358 7929) (Score:5, Informative)
- locking out accounts for 'attempted signing in from another country' - yeah, without even getting a correct password
- only use a password to secure accounts
- only provide a national rate number in the UK, although you can get them on 0800 358 7929 for free
- expect you to send absolutely everything by fax yet they won't talk to you except by email
- not allow you to speak to anyone in the dispute or resolution centre, leaving you arguing with sales staff who don't have a clue
- make it impossible to close your account if it is locked, even after providing all the information you can and no money left in there
I'm disgusting with Paypal and going through the process of deleting my account. It's not easy, but I'll keep trying. Paypal will always suck in the UK it seems...
Dug
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If there's a payment problem on eBay, eBay will say "No, it's Payal's problem."
You go and contact Paypal, they say "No, it's eBay's problem."
See here [clarkhoward.com]
Re:Nope, they'll still suck (0800 358 7929) (Score:5, Interesting)
Bleh. Asshats.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Nope, they'll still suck (0800 358 7929) (Score:5, Informative)
They will continue to suck, but you don't have to let them get away with it over here. Unlike in the US, the UK holds Paypal responsible for nonsense like this. Screw their "customer support" lines, go directly to the Financial Ombudsman [financial-...man.org.uk] - Paypal is permitted 8 weeks from the time you initially state your complaint, and then the Ombudsman can take over. This is a tax-funded service that is free to you as a consumer; Paypal is obliged to cooperate with them as a condition of doing business in the UK at all. Any decision made by the Ombudsman is binding on Paypal in the same manner as a court judgement would be.
Having taken care of that, feel free to report the whole affair to the Financial Services Authority [fsa.gov.uk]. Where the Ombudsman takes care of your case, the FSA shakes the company by the neck until they stop creating more cases. This one in particular:
is an offence that already carries a hefty fine if proven. A company regulated by the FSA is not allowed to create barriers like this; they are required to have a clear and efficient complaints procedure and follow it precisely.
Lastly, the Office of Fair Trading [oft.gov.uk] can also weigh in when any company doing business in the UK fails to handle complaints in a reasonable manner or generally tramples on their customers for profit, in the unlikely event that the FSA is not interested.
Parent
Re:Nope, they'll still suck (0800 358 7929) (Score:5, Informative)
I went into the old account and apparently someone had complained that the printer I sold on ebay and advertised as "broken, parts only, as-is" didn't work upon recipt. So they charged me back the $20. So now, 4 years later, I have a PayPal account with a -120 balance, an "open collections" account on my credit history, and will never ever EVER use PayPal again.
The worst part is, even after I deleted that checking account, they tried to withdraw the 20 dollars for the charge-back from it. They tried four times! I was broke at the time, didn't even have 20 dollars in the account, so I got charged 25 dollar "insufficent funds" from them also. They can rot for all I care I will not pay that. I would have paid the $20 originally because it was my mistake for using eBay... but I will not pay the additonal fees. I filed a complaint against PayPal at my bank, and they told me that "they hear that a lot about them" and that they've blocked PayPal from ever touching my account...
Parent
Personally, I'm underwhelmed (Score:5, Funny)
In fact it sucks less by precisely the minimum decrement of suckage allowed under law, and only then when compelled by the court. Way to go, paypal.
This doesn't make them any more honest, it just stops one of their unfair practices. I'm sure they can think of others.
Consumer Suspicions (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm more interested in when they will be sued for blocking accounts [slashdot.org] based on "terrorist" last names.
Human rights [un.org], anyone?
PayPal not sucking? (Score:5, Funny)
Does it mean that PayPal will stop blocking accounts (and the money in them) for peregrine reasons like, in my case, your name sounding similar to Al Qaeda's terrorists? And I'm not even in the same continent nor religion as them!
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Re:PayPal not sucking? (Score:5, Interesting)
Paypal DOES suck. And they SHOULD be regulated like a bank. I suspect their business model might have issues if they do, though.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Here is why they sucked 4 me.. . (Score:3, Interesting)
They say i did not suppy tracking information when asked. I had 3 days to send this info before my account was jacked by some little twerp. (zabasearch gave me his home address) I did not check this email because it is only used for paypal, & with no business going on.. why check it?
So not only did i loose the data i sold,.. but i ended up paying somebody to take it for me.
So if you sell something as a "service" how are you to provide a tracking number? Any graphic or website payment can be charged back
-another loophole & it seems that paypal does not give a shat about the person who has been using the service from the beginning.
now i have to deal with the twerp & waste more time.
Happy Days! (Score:5, Insightful)
SCUMMVM (Score:3)
It'd suck even less if they'd allow donations for SCUMMVM [slashdot.org] again...
I hate when websites advertise paypalsucks.com (Score:5, Interesting)
StormPay
iKobo
YowCow
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
In Soviet Russia, YOU take money from PayPal!
Re:i've had no trouble with paypal (Score:5, Insightful)
In July, I sold an item on eBay, got paid for it, life went on. Second week of September, I get an email from Paypal saying that they had reason to believe this item was paid for with fraudulent funds, and asked me to provide tracking info, etc., for the item sold. I did, gave them everything they asked for.
Two weeks later, I get another email from them, stating:
"We have conducted a review of a payment that you received. In this case, returning the funds to the sender was determined to be the appropriate action, and we have completed a reversal of the payment. Good selling practices, like trackable shipping, prompt shipment, and communication between buyer and seller help prevent disputes."
Huh? I provided them with a tracking number, delivery was confirmed, item was shipped the same day payment was received. I contacted the buyer (this person has purchased multiple items from me, I have no reason to not trust them), asked them if they knew anything more than I did. They have not received any refund from Paypal, and in fact didn't even know there was a problem.
So, who was my money "returned" to? Repeated emails to Paypal have been ignored, so I've closed my account, I'll never use Paypal again.
Parent