homesteader
New Member
Posts: 16
Joined: Jul 21, 2014 17:25:32 GMT -8
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Post by homesteader on Aug 21, 2017 4:45:29 GMT -8
I'm really discouraged with Paypal after they deducted a small amount (about $36) from my account with no documentation as to why. I had no receipt, nothing on my activity page, and no recollection of a purchase for that amount. If I hadn't been paying attention to my bank statement, I never would have noticed. I opened a case at the Paypal resolution center, received an email reply with a case number, and was told I'd hear back within a certain amount of time. Two months passed, I'd heard nothing, and there was no record of either open or closed cases on my resolution page. Eventually I found a phone number, punched in my case #, and got an auto-message informing me that in July 2016 I'd made a claim for so many pounds sterling but the case was decided in favor of the seller. HUH? ? I looked back through my July 2016 activity, found one purchase I'd made from Great Britain, but for a different amount. However, I'd received the product, was happy with it, and in checking my bank account, they were indeed paid. The only way I could protest was to open another case file, but that one's been dismissed as well. I was told I would find more information on my resolution page, but that says I have zero open cases and zero closed cases, so there is no record of any of it. In browsing complaints on the Paypal community forum, I see increasing complaints of folks feeling scammed. I realize some of these will be sour grapes, but I don't think it's sour grapes to have a legitimate concern about why Paypal helped themselves to money from my account and isn't being forthcoming with enough details to convince me that it was a legitimate deduction. Fortunately I'm only out $36. It could have been $136 or $336 and there would have been nothing I could do about it. I'd do away with Paypal but it's the way I get paid through a couple of activities I'm involved in, like Smashwords sales. Folks, just pay attention to what's going on in your accounts. Please don't fall into a false sense of security just because it's your bank or a big company. There are a lot of legitimate businesses out there, but there are also a lot of folks who think nothing of dishonesty. Do take care.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 14:12:26 GMT -8
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Post by Ria Stone on Aug 21, 2017 6:02:56 GMT -8
I'm really discouraged with Paypal after they deducted a small amount (about $36) from my account with no documentation as to why. I had no receipt, nothing on my activity page, and no recollection of a purchase for that amount. If I hadn't been paying attention to my bank statement, I never would have noticed. I opened a case at the Paypal resolution center, received an email reply with a case number, and was told I'd hear back within a certain amount of time. Two months passed, I'd heard nothing, and there was no record of either open or closed cases on my resolution page. Eventually I found a phone number, punched in my case #, and got an auto-message informing me that in July 2016 I'd made a claim for so many pounds sterling but the case was decided in favor of the seller. HUH? ? I looked back through my July 2016 activity, found one purchase I'd made from Great Britain, but for a different amount. However, I'd received the product, was happy with it, and in checking my bank account, they were indeed paid. The only way I could protest was to open another case file, but that one's been dismissed as well. I was told I would find more information on my resolution page, but that says I have zero open cases and zero closed cases, so there is no record of any of it. In browsing complaints on the Paypal community forum, I see increasing complaints of folks feeling scammed. I realize some of these will be sour grapes, but I don't think it's sour grapes to have a legitimate concern about why Paypal helped themselves to money from my account and isn't being forthcoming with enough details to convince me that it was a legitimate deduction. Fortunately I'm only out $36. It could have been $136 or $336 and there would have been nothing I could do about it. I'd do away with Paypal but it's the way I get paid through a couple of activities I'm involved in, like Smashwords sales. Folks, just pay attention to what's going on in your accounts. Please don't fall into a false sense of security just because it's your bank or a big company. There are a lot of legitimate businesses out there, but there are also a lot of folks who think nothing of dishonesty. Do take care. Thanks for your story. I use paypal just for Smashwords and to pay for publishing expenses etc. But, Paypal scares me for just the experience you described. My account is separate from my other activities so if there are any problems it doesn´t mess up my other account. Corporation like electronic banking and the distance they can put between themselves and "customers." Unresolved issues usually benefit them.
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Post by Ted on Aug 21, 2017 6:51:48 GMT -8
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Post by garyweston on Aug 21, 2017 8:32:25 GMT -8
I had a couple of emails from paypal recently asking me to update my paypal card details. Odd, as I've never had a card??
With so many scams about I ignored it and didn't open any links. Smash put a tiny payment in after that, so I assume all is ok. We are all getting so paranoid.
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homesteader
New Member
Posts: 16
Joined: Jul 21, 2014 17:25:32 GMT -8
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Post by homesteader on Aug 21, 2017 8:35:32 GMT -8
Ria Stone, maybe I need to start with a new bank account somewhere else and just keep a minimal amount in the one I used for Smashwords royalties. I really like SW but have seriously been thinking of just publishing elsewhere because of this Paypal fiasco.
Ted, thanks! This is very helpful. I'm seriously thinking of switching banks since they've already got my account numbers and apparently don't need authorization to help themselves.
Gary Weston, yes I got those too and ignored them. I usually find that if I hit reply (without actually sending a reply,) the tip off is that the return e-addy is usually kinda fishy.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 14:12:26 GMT -8
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Post by Ria Stone on Aug 22, 2017 4:27:07 GMT -8
Ria Stone, maybe I need to start with a new bank account somewhere else and just keep a minimal amount in the one I used for Smashwords royalties. I really like SW but have seriously been thinking of just publishing elsewhere because of this Paypal fiasco. Ted, thanks! This is very helpful. I'm seriously thinking of switching banks since they've already got my account numbers and apparently don't need authorization to help themselves. Gary Weston, yes I got those too and ignored them. I usually find that if I hit reply (without actually sending a reply,) the tip off is that the return e-addy is usually kinda fishy. Homesteader, I also have a credit card just for online purchases and one for regular monthly payments like insurance. I do this because of a bad experience. I was a member of a "netflix-like" movie subscription service, after a year, I went online to my account with the company and tried to cancel the subscription. Had trouble, called chat line, thought I accomplished goal, next month they debited my credit card. Called company again, promised to cancel account, never did. The only way I could stop them from debiting my account was to cancel the card. Caused a lot of grief for me, so now I have multiple cards. If a corporation does not stop debiting me for services I cancelled or debits me for something I did not purchase or returned or something. I cancel the card and order another. This has stopped all unwanted and unauthorized debits to my accounts. Corporations do not care, they do not really offer customer service. Gary, I do have a pp account. I get lots of emails from "pp" but never open them. Primarily because I don´t like or trust pp.
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Post by Ted on Aug 22, 2017 11:32:30 GMT -8
"Gary Weston, yes I got those too and ignored them. I usually find that if I hit reply (without actually sending a reply,) the tip off is that the return e-addy is usually kinda fishy."
Replying confirms the email address is still live and active. Good thing to know if you're phishing or doing email scams. Best not to reply. You can forward the email to paypal. They have some email address for it, which I've forgotten at the moment.
I use a secured credit credit card for all my online and dining out etc purchases. You put x amount of money in the bank, usually $1,000, your credit card gets a %500 dollar limit, your $1,000 earns interest, and you can simply top-off the credit card each month or anytime you like just like a regular card and not have any worries that some scam artist will roll up tens-of-thousands of dollars in credit. It's the amount of time spent correcting any CC problems that really costs a person.
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Post by jaydax on Aug 28, 2017 9:26:19 GMT -8
The rule is never follow a link from a credit card, bank or Paypal email. Such emails are easily spoofed and when you login you are giving the scammer access to your account. When you want to check Paypal etc., type the URL into the browser yourself. Another scam going around are all the wonderful offers where you pay 'just for postage.' Beware of these. Carefully read the terms and conditions - usually hard to find. You pay for the offer's postage but find yourself being billed an exorbitant amount monthly from then on. One scam I came across (or rather my wife did) was for a miracle face creme. She swore that she'd read the terms and conditions and there was no recurring payment but when I checked - there it was quite clearly labeled. I went to a coffee shop and used an incognito browser window on the site address. Sure enough - different terms and conditions with no recurrent payment mentioned.
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Post by galatea on Sept 22, 2017 12:51:17 GMT -8
Paypal's a bitch. Used to be an Ebay company. Explains the rotten attitude. We (actually my partner's company) used to do a lot of business on Ebay and consequently used Paypal. The amount of mindstaggering disputes was unbelievable. Anyone who pays you with Paypal can just open a claim and without any proof or evidence get their money back. I got tired of it. Threw out Paypal and Ebay. Profits were up ever since.
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Post by garyweston on Sept 22, 2017 13:54:32 GMT -8
Not fussed where my beer money comes from. Must admit I prefer the Amazon way, into my bank account every month. I almost have 90$ with D2D and haven't yet gotten around to claiming it. It will be a wild weekend when I do.
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chelsfield
SWF Writers
Posts: 700
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 3:07:24 GMT -8
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Post by chelsfield on Sept 22, 2017 23:02:42 GMT -8
Paypal's a bitch. Used to be an Ebay company. Explains the rotten attitude. We (actually my partner's company) used to do a lot of business on Ebay and consequently used Paypal. The amount of mindstaggering disputes was unbelievable. Anyone who pays you with Paypal can just open a claim and without any proof or evidence get their money back. I got tired of it. Threw out Paypal and Ebay. Profits were up ever since. What are you using now?
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 14:12:26 GMT -8
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Post by Ria Stone on Sept 25, 2017 10:38:07 GMT -8
Paypal's a bitch. Used to be an Ebay company. Explains the rotten attitude. We (actually my partner's company) used to do a lot of business on Ebay and consequently used Paypal. The amount of mindstaggering disputes was unbelievable. Anyone who pays you with Paypal can just open a claim and without any proof or evidence get their money back. I got tired of it. Threw out Paypal and Ebay. Profits were up ever since. Wow! We aren´t customers anymore, just people to be fleeced.
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Post by garyweston on Sept 25, 2017 13:28:27 GMT -8
Only just noticed??
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Sept 26, 2017 7:17:21 GMT -8
Been burned horribly by Paypal - to such an extent I quit selling on Ebay after some folks in AU claimed they didn't get their merchandise. Didn't help that the insurance I purchased from the USPS only covered the items to our border. That's my bad. Should have asked for more info when I purchased the insurance. What griped me was I had proof of shipping, proof of insurance, and Paypal still sided with the purchaser and made me refund over $200 US. I still use it (by necessity) but I pinch my nose when I do so.
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Ria Stone
SWF Writers
Posts: 1,055
Joined: Oct 30, 2013 14:12:26 GMT -8
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Post by Ria Stone on Sept 26, 2017 7:46:28 GMT -8
Been burned horribly by Paypal - to such an extent I quit selling on Ebay after some folks in AU claimed they didn't get their merchandise. Didn't help that the insurance I purchased from the USPS only covered the items to our border. That's my bad. Should have asked for more info when I purchased the insurance. What griped me was I had proof of shipping, proof of insurance, and Paypal still sided with the purchaser and made me refund over $200 US. I still use it (by necessity) but I pinch my nose when I do so. Chris, I am sure this is a bigger story. I don´t order items online because half of my orders never arrived here in Mexico. When I do have items shipped from the states via fedex (Items I bought and shipped personally), the boxes are opened and examined in customs and often I have to go and fill out forms in order to receive the items. Really puts a damper on online buying and shipping. Paypal probably took the easiest route rather then attempt to solve the problem. We are not customers anymore, we are just people international corporations fleece. So sorry to hear of your troubles.
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