posted on March 27, 2001 05:24:54 PM new
I have seen all the problems listed on this forum and on the Ebay outlook board.
I for one have never had any problems with Paypal. I have been a Premier member for almost a year with never a hitch.
In my time selling on Ebay, I have had problems with Ebay, Payplace (out of business), Exchange Path (also out of business), Stamps.com, Auctiva Showcase, Goto Auctions, Auctionwatch, UPS online, USPS...I could go on forever. The point is all these services have caused me to complain about them at one time or another.
As far as I can tell Paypal is the only service with someone here all the time to take the 'heat'.
posted on March 27, 2001 06:02:48 PM new
*cheer* I couldn't have said it better myself.
The only problems I've experienced with Paypal were caused by my own lack of understanding about the system and how best to use it. I've learned my lesson (at the cost of $45) - but I now use it VERY effectively and it works for me.
posted on March 27, 2001 06:26:25 PM new
I think PayPal is a damn versatile money mover. I think I've learned to use the system to my advantage. One of PayPal's biggest problems is there is a lot of features which means there is a lot to understand. In today's 'click, click, click' environment that leads some people to problems. Most times when there is a problem PayPal becomes the scapegoat, few like to admit they didn't understand something or made a mistake. And nobody will admit they were getting cash advances, or kiting or doing anything illegal when their account was frozen.
I don't worry to much about Damon having to take the heat. I use to feel sorry for him, but I've decided he must be a masochist to continue the support in a format where he can get gang tackled.
posted on March 27, 2001 11:13:51 PM new
ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! I am completely sick of everyone who cheers paypal because they have not had to experience the terrible customer service that flat out lies to you on the phone, and saying damon is helpful and all this crap. Let me explain just one example of what I am saying, which I can not see how you paypal cheerleaders can say was handled reasonably.
I am 17 years old, and had sold an expensive DVD player through PayPal to somebody who won my auction on Yahoo. He had a verified paypal account, and me being 17 and new to business, shipped the item fedex next day (I now know this is a warning sign of fraud... no thanks to paypal's hard to find tips on avoiding fraud... However, I am not placing blame on PayPal for this mistake as uaru might say...).
The next week, I receive an email from PayPal that I have received "potentially" fraudulent funds, and need to log into my account to see who sent them, then send the tracking number, etc. to qualify for the seller protection. I had no idea what this was about, so I tried to log into my account.
First of all, it was frozen, so I had no way to log in. I emailed them saying to unlock my account so I can see who sent the fraudulent funds. After a week, they did not reply to my email, but my account was unlocked, and I saw who sent the funds (it was the person who had a verified account).
I also found out PayPal had restricted my entire account, and they had already stolen the amount in question (they marked it as a "pending reversal," but in reality, they are assuming I am guilty and owe them this money until I prove my innocence...).
I immediately emailed them the tracking number, and all the info they requested to show I qualified for their "seller protection policy."
To make this long story short, it was over 4 months of calling them, hearing the lie that I just need to email them, and will get a response (the people on the phone had NO IDEA why I was not getting a response, and couldn't answer any of my questions...).
Finally, after 4 months, they finally emailed me saying I qualify for their seller protection, and they finally credited the money back to my account.
Now, how might you people explain why they did not answer any of my emails, and why they would assume I am guilty so they can greedily hold my money, until I prove my innocence?
Also, I don't care that they have a lot of cases like this, it is ridiculous that I sent them emails asking simple questions, and their 500 "customer service" staff could not give me any answers.
posted on March 30, 2001 01:30:40 AM new
I've actually had both bad and good experiences with PayPal. Long story short, what keeps me from criticizing PayPal too much or too often is that they do seem to be improving, which is better than going out of the P2P business altogether (as PayPlace did, as PayMe did, as TradeSafe did, as nearly everyone did).
Anyone who has worked for an Internet company during the halcyon days of 1999 and early 2000 knows that many companies attempted to launch ambitious (or foolhardy, depending on your opinion) businesses with very little planning and even less manpower. I imagine that's what PayPal was like, back when they were getting flamed by irate users and bombarded by fraudsters en masse. But they stuck around, worked through the problems, and although they are not perfect - as witnessed by the WBN fiasco of, oh, 24 hours ago - they are still around, and they do still provide a useful service that, most of time, works quite well.
What I do hope for, however, is that the competition in the category increases. It's been decreasing for some time now. There's Billpoint and PayPal, and then there's a second tier with Yahoo! PayDirect and, perhaps, Citibank's P2P service and ccBill (which isn't totally a P2P, mind you). And, well, that seems to be about it. In addition to continuous feedback from users, competition will encourage PayPal and Billpoint to maintain or lower fees and to push forward with better features and, most importantly, even better customer service.
I'll never get the warm-and-fuzzies from the "PayPal" brand that I get from Coca-Cola, and I'll criticize them when warranted, but hey, I imagine they'll keep improving until they are no better or worse than your nearby multi-billion dollar bank.
Thanks for the bump and the kind words. I think I should describe my role in the forums a little more in-depth in the next several days---it goes a little deeper than providing customer service for issues (and there is nothing sinister about it).
I will think of the proper way of wording it and get it out. I hope it explains what I, and the company, want to accomplish by interacting with the users in a public forum.
