Balance transfer to PayPal Extras MasterCard?

[tacoman1]

Help! Why is it impossible to do a balance transfer from a different credit card to the PayPal Extras card (or to put it more plainly, to use the PayPal Extras card to make a payment to another credit card)?

The documentation that came with the card talks about fees and interest rates for balance transfers, and the PayPal Extras MasterCard FAQ on the Paypal site says the following:

• Can I transfer my balance from another credit card to the PayPal Extras MasterCard?
• Yes, you can transfer balances from other credit cards to your PayPal Extras MasterCard by either visiting the Service Site or by contacting us at 1-866-300-6432. For rate, fees and other cost information, See terms and conditions. You can get to the Service Site by logging in to your PayPal account, then clicking the "View Card Details" link in the PayPal Extras MasterCard section on the "Account Overview" page.

But under "Account Overview" and "View Card Details", there is no such option!

I called the number on the back of the card and was told that they do not do balance transfers! I also asked through the "Contact" link on the PayPal site, and was told again that balance transfer is not an available service!

I replied and quoted the paragraph above, but of course I have not received any additional answer.

I called again and cited the documentation that came with the credit card, and was told that it only applies to some GE Capital Retail Bank cards, but not to the PayPal Extras card. WHAT?!

Why do they advertise a service that they don't actually provide? It's right there on the Paypal website, and in the legal paperwork!

[tacoman1]

Apparently nobody else has dealt with this....

So Paypal support said they would forward my question on to management, but I never heard back again after that.

I finally had to file a complaint  through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in order to get a real answer from someone at GE Capital Retail Bank.

Hopefully Paypal will remove any references to balance transfers from its website in the near future, so others won't be duped by such false advertising of a service that isn't actually provided.