posted on September 18, 2000 08:00:09 AM" I hope that I will be able to come up with a rational solution to this problem"
HJW, if I may be so bold there is a tactic I'd recommend that might help you, and let your customer save face. Simply tell the buyer that you can't accept PayPal because you've got a very old computer and the encryption code they have won't let you access their web page. They won't argue the merits of the system, they'll simply understand you can't accept PayPal.
You can save that letter and send it to the next buyer that does the same thing, be it with PayPal, PayDirect, PayPlace, or PayOverload.
Yes, I realize you shouldn't lie, but in many cases of diplomacy a lie is an excellent tool. If you're married you already know this.
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "nice doggie, nice doggie" while you're looking for a rock. Will Rogers
posted on September 18, 2000 08:44:29 AM"Thanks for your creative answer. But I don't have a problem telling the bold faced truth to a customer."
I try and use the Japanese approach, if you can keep from saying the word "NO" you get to keep that peaceful look on your face longer.
A million years ago when I was a watchmaker it was common practice to sedate a customer with a canard, or prevarication (okay call it a lie if you like). If a woman came back complaining that her watch didn't keep good time, you could tell her one of two things.
A. You got a piece of junk there, and no amount of skill on my part is going to make it into a quality time piece.
or
B. Ah... I think I see the problem (holding a compass over the hairspring). You're one of these people with a lot of electricity in your body, and it's affecting the hairspring. Let me demagnetize this for you here (takes 5 seconds).
In case A. the customer was pissed off and left mad. In case B. the customer was satisfied with the answer and left feeling they were special. Maybe one in 2,000 would realize that they'd have to have enough electricity in there body to make a light bulb glow to magnetize a watch.
One of the biggest flaws in dealing with a seller over the Internet vs. a seller at a flea market is the absence of human contact and the animosity that anonymity can lead to.
posted on September 18, 2000 09:43:48 AM
First of all, I think ALL of the payment services allow you to send money to a non-existent account. I think it's a big mistake, but don't single out PP as the perpetrator. Where PP really falls short is that it does not have an "Accept" or "Reject" while the other services do.
Next, all these claims about PP making money on the float and that's their reason for doing these things (like accepting payments for non existent accounts), is nonsense. PP is LOSING MONEY on these. PP is paying 1.9% on the transfer. I would guess that the average payment sits in the seller's account for a week. So PP has paid 1.9% for one week's use of the money. That's the equivalent of 100% a year. Even if the money sat there for 2 weeks, that 50% a year. How are they making money on the float?
What I dont understand is if you are going to compete in a crowded market, shouldnt you look at the competition and make sure you offer everything that they do? Why does every service seem to miss one important piece? I will give my opinion here and label what I consider mistakes.
Right now my top choices for payment services are Paypal, Payplace, Exchangepath, Paydirect and Achex.
Paypal has made many mistakes in PR, but many people use it and it is still fast. The 2% doesnt bother me, I expected to pay something at some time. I make it up in the referral fees and what I saved on my merchant account when I took CC directly. As far as processing, PP doesnt confirm seller name when you make a payment, has no cancel or accept.
Payplace and Paydirect work with credit cards. Payplace will give you a $5 referral for sending them a customer but they give the customer nothing. They dont even tell you who signed up that you referred. I tell my customers sign up for Payplace with my link and I will give you free shipping. But unless they tell me, I dont know who signed up. I also think if the goal is to get more customers, give a fee to the person signing up.
Exchangepath - first mistake is the silly name. Why not Paypath or something easy to remember? The next mistake is requiring the seller to go to their site and refer the customer. No link you can just put on your auction page. Mistake three is limiting referrals to 20. If a customer is worth paying for, then why stop at 20? Mistake 4 is there is no confirmation of seller id. Mistake 5 is there is no confirmation button. You enter the email id and amount, press ok and it goes. However you can cancel before the seller gets it. EP works with all credit cards including amex and discover and via checking account. Sellers can accept the money as CC credits or deposits to their bank account. It's the most flexible. They pay $5 referral up to $100 and $10 sign up fee for new accounts.
Achex works checking account to checking account.
Payme has held money for two months without paying it. Moneyzap allowed a user to pay me even though I didnt have an account. But then they never notified me and gave the user the run around for a week. I finally signed up at his request and the money was sitting in my account. So far I'm not impressed and I'll be less impressed when they start charging $2 a transfer. Ecount is worse than PP. Their site says "free-free-free." Then you try to make a payment and they charge you $1. You try to withdraw your funds and they charge you $1.
posted on September 18, 2000 10:35:28 AM
IMO Paydirect is the way to go, at least for me. I've been using them for a month now with no problems whatsoever. And their TOU is crystal clear. No ambiguity. No "Always Free" BS. They tell you up front that they might charge a fee someday. So what? At least they're up-front about it. I was gladly paying PayPal 1.9% for the service that they provided, and I'll be happy to pay Paydirect when the time comes.
I love the way that they transfer funds from your account onto your credit card. A real timesaver.
There is one downside to Paydirect, though: A transaction has to be for at least $5. But I can live with that.
posted on September 18, 2000 11:00:14 AM
I guess I'll let paypal have the nine bucks that straggled in a week after I had closed my acct. I sent an email to the buyer and tried to explain to him the situation but I haven't heard back from him, so I mailed the item out this morning - to heck with it. Ebay was a good way to pick up some extra $$ when I needed it - but it's not worth it for me anymore. I don't want my money being held ransom by paypal until I decide to join their sorry*ss scam.
posted on September 18, 2000 12:31:48 PM
Hi bobbi355,
I would like to check on your account issue. If the account was closed at the time payment was sent, you would not receive the money and the sender should not be able to send it. Please email me at [email protected].
posted on September 18, 2000 02:01:53 PMI would like to check on your account issue. If the account was closed at the time payment was sent, you would not receive the money and the sender should not be able to send it. Please email me at [email protected].
PayPaldamon, my accout was closed at the time
payment was sent. I, also didn't receive the
money and the sender should not have been able to send it. Will you review my account
also?
Is this a new policy?
posted on September 18, 2000 03:17:11 PM
Well, I have been trying to get this problem resolved long enough.
It's clear to me that nobody is listening. I started a thread
several weeks ago, when I first had this problem that may be interesting to read. I guess it's ok to refer to this link since
I was the originator of the thread.
If I can't get a PayPal problem resolved that amounts to less than 25.00 it
really scares the hell out of me to imagine this organization in
control of my account.
As explained previously, the fault lies with the sender. This payment is theirs until you claim it and you have no rights to that money until you sign-up for an account.
It is akin to someone sending you a check and your not accepting checks. You would send the payment back to the user. In this case, your user can reverse the payment on the site if you advise them that you do not accept payment in this manner.
posted on September 18, 2000 03:55:53 PMPayPaldamon
We all know that the problem is a little more
profound than that. If PayPal did not
accept money sent to unregistered users, this
problem would not exist. I could go on and on
but I am tired and nobody''s listening anyway.
