posted on December 10, 2000 01:01:31 PM
OK, Someone just kick me in the A___s for what I just did. With 563 feedback and 4 years on ebay I DIDN'T READ THE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION WHEN I JUST BID ON AN AUCTION!!!! Good Grief, I harp and harp about my buyers doing that and NOW I ARE ONE.... So now that I have publicly flogged myself for this idiot move....here is my dilemna.....The seller uses Exchangepath.....I am not a member. I have seen it mentioned here but since I have paypal, paydirect, bidpay, moneyzap I thought enough is enough...I went to the Exchangepath page to check it out and it sounds good (don't they all) so could you users tell me if you have had good or bad experiences with exchangepath???? Are they reputable...? Are you happy with them??? Any horror stories?? Regards, Pam
posted on December 10, 2000 01:21:11 PM
If you go to the partner services section, you will find many Exchangepath links. EP is a leader in the payment service field. They have the distinction of being:
-the only service WORSE than Paypal
-the only service that has frozen thousands of accounts for having done nothing wrong
-the only service that freezes a seller's account when the seller reports having gotten a fraudulent payment
posted on December 10, 2000 01:30:22 PM
A buyer paid me 2 days ago with EP. I recieve a notice but the payment did not even show in my account until this morning. I wrote customer service but no reply - payments used to show up immediately.
posted on December 10, 2000 01:47:23 PM
Still suspended here! What's it been now, 5 days I've been suspended? Heck, I dunno. I've been too busy removing ExchangePath logos from my auctions.
posted on December 10, 2000 01:56:52 PMyisgood: I so sick of you being so wishy-washy about these pmt services! Why don't ya tell us how ya really feel??
posted on December 10, 2000 02:31:47 PM
YISGOOD.....CONSIDER YOURSELF HUGGED for that great website and great info. I read it "cover to cover" and learned a lot. And thanks to everyone else for their input....I have decided that I don't need Exhangepath...I will just send this seller a money order. I will stay with the payments I have....anyone know where I can get a logo for the Western Union Money Zap???
posted on December 10, 2000 02:49:35 PM
I got a Moneyzap logo. First, I went to the site, right clicked on the logo and chose save picture as and saved it to my hard drive. Then I uploaded it to my web site. I can put it in my auctions with the code
<a href="www.moneyzap.com" target=new><img src="moneyzapUurl"></a> where moneyzapUrl is the full path to the image I saved (http://www.ygoodman.com/moneyzap.gif). If you dont have your own web site, there are plenty of free ones where you can store images: mysiteinc, geocities, etc.
Thanks for the hug, when it clears my moneyzap account in two days, I'll send it back.
posted on December 10, 2000 05:06:53 PM
It's easy to say that EP accounts get frozen..but no one has said WHY those accounts got frozen. What, EP just freezes accounts on a lark? Just for fun? If an account gets frozen, there's a probably a good reason. (Where's there smoke...) I've been using many of the associates that AW promotes with NO complaints. Even when AW promoted X.Com, I was happy as a lark with them until the rug got pulled out from me and other loyal and satisfied customers. I closed my account, even got a service charge refund and have joined EP. An on-line payment company wouldn't freeze funds/accounts for no reason. Use common sense, people.
posted on December 10, 2000 05:27:49 PM
Petpost: Why do you assume that there is always a good reason and that it is always the other person's fault? The fact is that there are quite a few Internet businesses set up by folks who had a good idea but no idea how to make it work. In EP's case, it wasn't even their idea in the first place. They were another "me too" payment service trying to grab some of Paypal's market share. Maybe they figured they had to copy Paypal all the way, including freezing accounts without warning. Just read some of the posts in the partner services forum. There is a pretty strong rumor that the EP site got hacked and they froze all accounts while they are checking to see which were affected. But among the stories that I have verified:
-EP did NOT record the cardholder's billing address for weeks after they were in business. When the stupidity of that was pointed out to them, they froze thousands of accounts and informed the account holders to contact them. They left a message that strongly suggested the account holders had done something wrong. They did not have enough customer service people to handle the calls and emails, so a week later, many of these accounts are still frozen. This happened just before the famous free listing day.
-Some of the accounts seem to be missing substantial amounts of money upon resurrection.
-Based on my own conversations with them over the phone and here on AW, they not only don't seem to have a clue on how to run a business, they don't care to get one.
-Sellers were paid with fraudulent credit cards by buyers who asked to ship to Indonesia. The sellers themselves informed EP. EP responded by freezing the sellers' account for months. Some of these sellers have been so badly damaged (can you imagine running a business where customers pay you and you have no way of even seeing what came in?) that they are instituting lawsuits against EP.
These are not wild rumors. If you go to the partner services section, you will see the many complaints the occasional apology from EP.
-EP is no longer accepting Amex. A rumor has it that Amex has revoked their merchant account due to the many fraudulent accounts.
-There is a rumor that the EP site was hacked and the accounts were frozen so EP can see which were affected. Based on what has happened on the EP site, I believe it to be possible.
Before you jump into any service, do a little research. If you go for anyone who promises you $5, you can wind up handing your business to another Paymentalt, like about 14,000 victims did. Read this:
Mine was among the thousands of ExchangePath accounts frozen.
Here's why-
ExchangePath upgraded its system and started requiring more information than early members were asked to provide.
But OOOPS! ExchangePath forgot to notify any of us that we needed to add information before the upgrade.
So, when the upgrade took place, our accounts were suspended because they lacked the newly-required information.
So see, it wasn't the members' fault. ExchangePath simply didn't take care of business.
My account was reopened within an hour after I complained. My complaints were routed two ways -- via audix message to the head of fraud prevention and via e-mail (in which I threatened to immediately charge back the $5.40 I had put on my credit card to fund my Exchange Path account).
As soon as my account was "unsuspended" I emptied it and e-mailed ExchangePath to close it.
posted on December 11, 2000 12:06:44 AM
yisgood, you wrote:
"-Some of the accounts seem to be..
A rumor has it that Amex has revoked their merchant account due to the many fraudulent accounts.
There is a rumor that the EP site was hacked and the accounts were frozen so EP can see which were affected. Based on what has happened on the EP site, I believe it to be possible. "
You claim the problems are not "wild rumours" yet you present rumours as evidence, as well as cases which are described as "seem to be, appear to be, etc etc".
You also wrote:
"-Based on my own conversations with them over the phone and here on AW, they not only don't seem to have a clue on how to run a business, they don't care to get one."
This is pure opinion, not fact. Again, no evidence.
Again, where there's smoke, there's fire. Accounts are not frozen for no reason. I'm sure if you dig past the stories which are reported second and third-hand, there is cause, if any for such action.
posted on December 11, 2000 01:46:27 AM
Hmmmmmm.....!
<p>Well, just to add a log or two to the flames...
<br>(You know, the flames that there <u>must</u> be because of all the smoke!)
<p>Here's a copy of the email I sent ExchangePath this morning in response to a message concerning my suspended account.
<br>(The odd word edited for family consumption!)
<p>Re: your email copied below:
<p>"Dear Valued Member"....????? Mygod.. I'd hate to see what you'd do to
someone you DIDN'T value!!! I quit counting a while back, but I've
submitted AT LEAST a half-dozen emails and COUNTLESS attempts to
telephone your apparently unmanned phone numbers...and finally receive
this automated bit of fluff!
<p>"we are now requiring additional account information." Cool...! I have
no problem with that.
I, and THOUSANDS of other users have a REALLY BIG problem with the
arbitrary and extremely unprofessional way you chose to implement these
changes. I'm sitting here with your online payment service offered (and
advertised) on over a hundred auctions. So what happens when a winning
bidder tries to pay through your service? They find the seller's account
has been suspended!! Well GEE... doesn't THAT make them feel great about
the person they've chosen to do business with!!! I've spent almost three
years accumulating my excellent reputation and feedback profile ... you
folks managed to cast a shadow on it in mere seconds!
<p>And was there ANY notification to any of the affected parties prior to
this purge? NO...NADA...ZIP...ZERO...!!! Then one of your
representatives makes the statement that you "MAY have acted
hastily"...!!! That surely qualifies as the understatement of the year.
I'm wondering what gave you the first clue! (Apparently no one there had
ANY SORT of clue beforehand!)
<p>But all that is now moot. Due to the way this situation was mishandled,
I will never consider utilizing your service again under any
circumstances. All I want ... no, make that DEMAND... is an accounting.
You cut off all access to any information about my account. I have no
way of knowing whether there was any money in it at the time, or how
much. I am completely and thoroughly pi**ed!
<p>The amount of money involved in itself certainly shouldn't merit
litigation...but the callous and unprofesssional attitude of your
company certainly does. I ran this situation past a lawyer friend... he
was last seen kicked back in his chair , dollar signs in his eyes and
probably visions of class action lawsuits and condos in the Bahamas
filling his head. I didn't have the heart to tell him it would probably
be a "pick a number and get in the back of that really, REALLY long
line" situation.
<p>So...PLEASE give me a full accounting of my few transactions, and the
status of my account when it was suspended. Then I can go on with my
business, and try to repair any damage done. You will be free to
continue your erratic business practices...(but not, I fear, for long!)
posted on December 11, 2000 02:35:28 AM
I haven't had very many payments come in via EP, but they have all worked fine. I got my electronic transfers from them in a reasonable time, too.
Last time I checked, I haven't been frozen [at least from what I can tell] but maybe I need to check again.
posted on December 11, 2000 06:21:01 AM
>>yisgood, you wrote:
"-Some of the accounts seem to be..
A rumor has it that Amex has revoked their merchant account due to the many fraudulent accounts.
There is a rumor that the EP site was hacked and the accounts were frozen so EP can see which were affected. Based on what has happened on the EP site, I believe it to be possible. "
You claim the problems are not "wild rumours" yet you present rumours as evidence, as well as cases which are described as "seem to be, appear to be, etc etc". <<
I am separating the rumors from the fact. I laid out what I heard as rumors and I laid out what I knew as fact. The reason I know the facts are because they were posted on AW and the EP rep came in and responded, admitting that this happened. In some cases, sellers that I have dealt with who have high ratings emailed me directly with their horror stories. In those cases, I choose to let their reputations speak for themselves and believe what they say. Some of these sellers have been around for years, unlike EP.
>>You also wrote:
"-Based on my own conversations with them over the phone and here on AW, they not only don't seem to have a clue on how to run a business, they don't care to get one."
This is pure opinion, not fact. Again, no evidence. <<
What more evidence do you need then that EP has chosen for freeze thousands of accounts because EP decided they needed more info? Would you be happy if your bank froze your account because they suddenly noticed they were missing the phone number? And they did this without warning and expected you and thousands of others to just call and email for days while they worked it out?
>>Again, where there's smoke, there's fire. <<
That's right. When thousands of users are steamed at a service, there must be a good reason. We can either believe that thousands of users all cheated or we can believe that one service screwed up. Which makes more sense?
>>I'm sure if you dig past the stories which are reported second and third-hand, there is cause, if any for such action.<<
They were not reported second and third hand. They were reported first hand and EP came in and admitted it was their fault.
posted on December 11, 2000 03:55:35 PM
In the past few days several erroneous posts have appeared about ExchangePath™. We are providing this update to address your concerns and describe some of the recent activities taking place at ExchangePath.
This past week we did suspended some members’ accounts. These accounts were suspended for an important reason. Our fraud investigators witnessed numerous attempts by some members to open accounts in order to make fraudulent transactions. To protect all our users, both sender and receiver accounts that fit specific criteria were suspended so that an investigation could take place. Be assured that once we reactivate an account, we return valid funds to our members.
We are completing the addition of new security measures that will increase the security of your ExchangePath transactions. All account holders will now be required to submit the following additional information:
· Credit/debit card billing address (Please remember ExchangePath is only valid in the US)
· Home telephone number
· Credit/debit card verification number (the 3-digit number that appears after the 16-digit card number on the signature panel of the card)
· New credit card if your existing card on file is issued by American ExpressÒ card, DiscoverÒ card or JCBÒ card. We no longer process transactions with these issuers.
· New password help question and response
We implemented the temporary two-day hold on transactions as part of our efforts to minimize fraud taking place via ExchangePath. Once all the new security measures are in place this week, we expect this hold to be lifted.
We apologize to our consumers for interrupting our service. In order to protect those accounts in good standing, we felt it was necessary to quickly suspend all accounts willingly and unwillingly associated with suspected fraud.
We are committed to restoring service to our valued members while also creating a secure environment for their online transactions.
posted on December 11, 2000 04:13:33 PMThis past week we did suspended some members’ accounts. These accounts were suspended for an important reason. Our fraud investigators witnessed numerous attempts by some members to open accounts in order to make fraudulent transactions. To protect all our users, both sender and receiver accounts that fit specific criteria were suspended so that an investigation could take place. Be assured that once we reactivate an account, we return valid funds to our members.
So, ExchangePath, exactly what was the fraudulent activity associated with MY account? Exactly what was the criteria? Or was my account indeed hacked?
No one has transferred a dime into my account and I haven't transferred a dime into anyone else's.
Your story appears awfully flimsy, considering my account was reopened within an hour after I sent ExchangePath messages threatening an immediate chargeback of the money I had used to fund my account and making it quite clear that I have excellent connections in the national news media.
I want an explaination NOW. Or do I have to raise a much more public ruckus to get one?
posted on December 11, 2000 04:18:33 PM
And one more thing, "Exchangepath" --
Below is the excuse PAM from Exchangepath was trumpeting all over these very boards following the suspension:
Pam's full message below is from THIS THREAD: http://www.auctionwatch.com/mesg/read.html?num=41&thread=4929
[i]As many of you know, we are in the process of updating our system and as a result, now require additional information from our members, including credit card number, billing address and phone number. During this upgrade process, those accounts that did not have this information on file were temporarily suspended. Believe me, we regret that we did not properly inform our members about these changes, especially the new members who signed up in conjunction with free listing day.
As you can imagine, our customer service department has received a large volume of messages, and we have dedicated all possible resources to answering your inquiries. If you have called or emailed customer service, we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and I apologize to those of you who are still waiting for a response. Pam[/i]
I believe another apology is in order, ExchangePath.
edited for ubb
[ edited by vargas on Dec 11, 2000 04:20 PM ]
[ edited by vargas on Dec 11, 2000 04:21 PM ]
posted on December 11, 2000 05:45:40 PM
Exchangepath is just unbelieveable. First, they restrict thousands of accounts in error. Then they apologize for it. Now they're back saying it wasn't a mistake, ALL those accounts were actually suspected of fraud. Are they really trying to emulate Paypal? At least get it right! No apologies! Paypal never makes a mistake. Everything they do is correct. Every frozen account is the account holder's fault. Paypal doesnt access bank accounts without permission, they just reverse deposits. But even Paypal isn't so stupid that they reverse apologies. Like I said before, Exchangepath is even worse than Paypal. But you don't have to take my word for it - just take theirs.
posted on December 11, 2000 08:43:26 PMexchangepath
You didn't suspend a "few accounts" you suspended thousands of accounts, and now 5 days later mine is still suspended.
Your phones are not answered, my email to you at [email protected] is ignored.
And you know what, my account has not had one transfer in OR out, so in no way could it have been involved in any fraud! In fact I signed up just before you "suspended" it and barely got the logos up, in time to take them down PERMANENTLY !
It sure appears to me you have taken PayPal's (lack of) customer support, and PayME's business plan and expect us the sellers and buyers to support you?
Further you appear to have been cut off from the only things that made you unique ie: American Express, JCB, and Discover.
You make PayPal look like saints!
Adios!
Ken
who edited to fix the $%@^!* ubb
[ edited by Pantheus on Dec 11, 2000 08:50 PM ]
posted on December 11, 2000 10:03:51 PM
Exchange Path-
so I am suspected of fraud?? that's why you've suspended my account? I've received money there before even have had to sign up for another account because someone sent the money before they asked for the email account, can't get into either of them now.
I've sent emails several times now asking what was going on and all I've received is your auto responder, I still have money I need to claim but like I said I can't even log in.
I am a "RedCarpet" member on PayPal if you do the math .0001% of their users can say that, the only reason I started looking at your site was for an alternative to PayPal. PayPal costs more money than they are worth, in my opinion, but at least I can receive my money, if I have a problem I can call them on the phone and don't have to read auto responder emails that don't answer the question.
I have over 4000+ feedback on ebay, I'm glad I didn't bite on the free listing day when you partnered up with auctionwatch. I would hate to think that I was duped into lending my feedback as well as 800+ auctions as an endorsement of your service.
I hope you will soon clear up your problems. It would make more sense to me to have my house in order before I strike an alliance with another service such as auctionwatch. I really would like to see someone give PayPal a run for their money, especially if you can do it as they said they could in the beginning, i.e.: a free service making money on the float of the members monies in the system.
I don't care to associate my name with yours so your link will be removed as a payment option until your/our problems are resolved.
posted on December 11, 2000 10:08:47 PM
any idea how long it's going to take before i can become un-suspended? or how i can go about it? i would like to claim the money that's sitting in my account. all i get is autoresponders too
posted on December 11, 2000 10:37:07 PMhwy111/airguy
While the AW Community Guidelines permit Users to register more than one account, only one ID may have Message Center privileges. I have revoked posting privileges for the hwy111 ID.
Please be aware this action will not affect any other AW Services you may utilise.
posted on December 12, 2000 07:34:20 AM
You guys said you were tired of apologies, so I was trying to provide some BACKGROUND on how and why accounts became suspended.
I guess I wasn't clear when I said accounts were suspended for TWO main reasons: 1/possible fraud, including receiving fraudulent funds; 2/ not having all the information on file, as required by our new security enhancements. Obviously, most people fall into category #2.
posted on December 12, 2000 08:17:38 AM
Good morning Pam.
Minx47 I have had no problems with EP. I have had several (20+) payments through EP with no problems whatsoever. They stated on their web site that there will be a 2 day hold on payments which is a temporary thing.
I haven't had any problems contacting EP by phone or e-mail.
I can still recommend EP based on my personal experience with them. I appreciate the fact that they are trying to come up with some tougher safety measures which I hope will include the ability to match the mailing address of the customer with the mailing address of the card that they are using so that I as a seller can be more proactive in helping to stem fraud.
It has some growing pains right now, but I like EP!
So now that I have publicly flogged myself for this idiot move....here is my dilemna.....The seller uses Exchangepath.....I am not a member. I have seen it mentioned here but since I have paypal, paydirect, bidpay, moneyzap I thought enough is enough...I went to the Exchangepath page to check it out and it sounds good (don't they all) so could you users tell me if you have had good or bad experiences with exchangepath???? Are they reputable...? Are you happy with them??? Any horror stories?? Regards, Pam
