Why I will never be using Paypal again

[Pythonideus]

I signed up for Paypal recently so my friend could send me a few bucks. I tried to send it to one of my buddies and I got the message that I had reached my sending limit. Interesting, because upon registering I was told that I could send up to five hundred dollars before adding a bank account. The amount I had sent up to this point? One penny(humble bundle,yeah I know I'm a cheapass).

I called customer support and they were of no help. The first person I talked to told me to have the person send an invoice. No dice. The second person blatantly lied to me and said that you're never able to send money without adding a credit card. The third person was a complete **bleep**. He treated me like an idiot when I told him the information I had been given upon signing up. He told me that I clearly misunderstood the policies in very slow speech, like how you'd explain something to a toddler. The fourth lady just said she wasn't sure what was happening but she couldn't help me.

So now Paypal has my money and refused to give it back or let me spend it.

[snowshoe]

PayPal's customer support is a challenge, most reps are totally clueless.  In defense, there are some excellent people who know what they are doing.  Basically it's a crap shoot when it comes to getting an issue resolved.

In order to really use PayPal and make it useful, one has to do their homework.  Read everything including the User Agreement and any other documentation you can find.

As for your issue, many things have changed this year.  The most important thing is you MUST ensure that you verify your PayPal Account before doing anything.  In the past, no one cared.  Verification means, you have successfully linked and confirmed both a bank account and credit card.  If you do that, life is good, if you don't, you have limits and issues.

New tax laws have been implemented this year and as a result, the regulations have put a monkey wrench in PayPal's policies.  PayPal is required by law to report specific information about YOU to the IRS.  You can thank Congress for that. People have used PayPal for years, made money and never reported that to the IRS as income.  Not any more.

 First, PayPal must report who their users are and verify they are who they say they are as required by the new tax laws.  As PayPal does not want to research each user at their own expense, they rely on verifying bank account info and credit card info as the research has already been done.   Why reinvent the wheel when you already have one.

Rule one, verify your account and life is good, else, you end up here complaining.

One thing to keep in mind, using PayPal is a choice, as there are alternatives.  No one force you to use this service.  If this service is not working for you, there are others and each has their own set of unique issues.  Bottom line, check them out, there may be one that's works better.

http://www.stayonsearch.com/top-10-paypal-alternatives

[Pythonideus]

You're right, no one forced me to use the service. When I signed up I was told quite specifically that I could spend up to $500 before adding a bank account. That's a matter of Paypal lying to me. If they're not able to legally do that, they should tell people that. I feel like Paypal has stolen from me right now. 

[murphyslaww]

After what looks like what will be another ordeal pulling money from PayPal, I've trolled the boards here a bit, and am amazed that they can continue on after creating what seems like a constant uphill battle to just utilize their service. 

While it's true that no one forces you, well, if you use Ebay, someone does, to use PayPal, you still have tools at your disposal to push PayPal to make the service work better. I'd like there to be a more non-ebay store account available, and I believe it is still set up this way, where a customer can use the service sparingly, and still not have to jump through all the hoops that one of the previous post says that PayPal HAS to do now due to tax rules. The government doesn't care about the person selling a phone or laptop from the same account once a year, or 6 months.

How difficult that Paypal has made it for that type of user, is more related to protecting their profit margin and even making more profit off of those transactions, I believe.

Their handling of this appears to be a moving target, so for others that would like to voice their displeaure to those supposedly truly protecting the consumer:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en

and,

https://sanjose.app.bbb.org/complaint/new/210387?bbbID=1216

[gigibeasley]

I hope someone can advise me on how to handle this issue. I normally sell in US only.I recently had a buyer from France who won my Ebay Auction and paid right away. Against my better judgment I agreed to ship to them.Now after 29 days this buyer has initiated a Paypal case against me.He has my Paypal funds Held for the amount of $377 dollars.He is not USA verified.His claim is items damaged.Items not described properly.Items not wrapped properly.The shipment was insured.How can a buyer do this as I have no proof of damage?

[bertie96]

I would call Paypal and calmly explain to them exactly what you said on here.  Then, as the seller, calmly demand that if item was damaged that the buyer need only claim the insurance since you insured the item. Dont give in, and dont give up...stay calm as this is the key...you will hit a ton of roadblocks but if you stay steady, you will prevail.

Also, the next time you list an item for US only and it is purchased and paid for by an out of country buyer...simply go into your Paypal and refund them., under explaination...Item not for sale outside of US as per listing.

Too many out of country buyers are getting savvy about exploiting buyers in the US.  If you list an item as not for sale outside the US and then let them do to you what they did....you really have no one to blame but you.  You should have cancelled the transaction and immediately refunded. 

You can block bidders from outside the US.  You have to set your listing up that way to stop it in the future.

Good Luck and stay calm.

[gigibeasley]

Thank you very much for your Reply. Just to update how this is going.I did talk with Paypal about 12 times.I talked with international shipping 4 times and local post office 4 times.This buyer shipped the damaged item back to me. When he made paypal aware I had received it, Paypal immediately decided in Buyer favor $377.I am still waiting for Insurance Claim I filed to be paid.My new policy is clearer.Absolutely No International sales and if Buyer does not honor that,an immediate refund will be issued.In this case with Paypal,it was a definite case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing. Different agents were sending me messages demanding tracking for the claim,appraisals by antique dealers and such.Finally they said that was all incorrect and no appeal was possible.I will never feel comfortable with Paypal again. Thanks!

[kannibbuss]

paypal is a total ripoff anyone who uses this site is going to get robbed by these people eventually if you haven't yet you are lucky

[zigzack2654]

Paypal could make so much more money if people actually enjoyed using their services.