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More Paypal nonsense

regretsy.com

211–220 of 257 posts

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#211

I've been sitting here for the last five minutes trying to make a point eloquently. I'm having a hard time with it. So I'll just put it like this: What else can we really expect from a product whose parent is eBay ? This company is a fucking fossil with all the hunger for customer satisfaction of a used tissue. Is it convenient for users? Yeah. Is it worth gambling your entire business on? Given the lack of accountab…

Please read saurik's posts in this thread. He provides excellent, reasoned explanations for what is going on.

Personally, I think the conclusion should be: if you have an unusual business model or transactions that are not seller-to-buyer, don't use PayPal. It goes against their rules, and you will lose money and go through a lot of grief.

edit: wdewind as well.

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#212
post #66

I've been sitting here for the last five minutes trying to make a point eloquently. I'm having a hard time with it. So I'll just put it like this: What else can we really expect from a product whose parent is eBay ? This company is a fucking fossil with all the hunger for customer satisfaction of a used tissue. Is it convenient for users? Yeah. Is it worth gambling your entire business on? Given the lack of accountab…

For the other side: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318009 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318173

Paypal may have a point, they may not. Regardless, freezing thousands of dollars on a whim because "they're worried" and then freezing the individual's personal account is just boneheaded. You can't run a bank like that.

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#214
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the other side: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318009 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318173

Paypal may have a point, they may not. Regardless, freezing thousands of dollars on a whim because "they're worried" and then freezing the individual's personal account is just boneheaded. You can't run a bank like that.

PayPal is not a bank, which perhaps is the problem. People expect them to behave like a bank, despite the fact they clearly state they do not behave like one.

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#215
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the other side: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318009 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318173

Paypal may have a point, they may not. Regardless, freezing thousands of dollars on a whim because "they're worried" and then freezing the individual's personal account is just boneheaded. You can't run a bank like that.

To my knowledge, Paypal is not a bank!

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why trust a business to such a stagnant concern? Because there is no alternative and they fucking know it . Oh if you're in the US for the US you might be able (and want) to gamble on an other younger service, but in the wider world? It's a fucking wasteland , it's either Paypal or Big Bank Merchant Account, and those are no fun at all either. My card expired (and was renewed) recently, I decided to stop using payp…

As a long time paypal user I must say that I rarely see such a good online based service. I phoned them multiple times and was always answered by well informed people that promptly provided me all the information I needed. Having lived in multiple countries and run paypal based businesses in more than one country simultaneously, I presented them with quite a few tricky questions which they always solved very quickly.…

Really? The only times I've had to phone paypal were when they started enforcing transaction holds on the account attached to eBay (despite having 100% REAL positive feedback on the account i've had since 2002) and I called to ask what the fuck they were smoking. Got no information what so ever.

It's impossible to get ahold of anyone who speaks understandable english, or can do anything other than apologize and make excuses for shitty, shady business practices.

All of the power of the bank with none of the responsibility.

Just say no!

(bitter? me?)

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Why trust a business to such a stagnant concern? >Because there is no alternative and they fucking know it. That's a bit like saying "I had to get a pay day loan at 27% per week interest, I had no alternative and they fucking know it". It probably means you're doing it wrong. If the business you're trusting to Paypal can't get a Big Bank Merchant Account, maybe you need to work out why (and whether it's a very goo…

That's a bit like saying "I had to get a pay day loan at 27% per week interest, I had no alternative and they fucking know it". It probably means you're doing it wrong. Either that or you don't have enough starting capital to do it right.

At least in the US, you don't need significant amounts of capital to open a merchant account. There is more paperwork, but then again merchant banks don't engage in the shenanigans that PayPal seems to do with alarming regularity.

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#218
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PayPal does not let you ship items to addresses that are not the billing address. General policy, in their TOS, no surprises. OP is also not a registered non profit, though the real issue doesn't really have anything to do with the charitable nature of it.

I do it all the time. You can add a "gift address" in Paypal.

Right, but you as the BUYER would have to do that. The seller cannot. So in this case OP would have to send you some random person's address - also extremely sketchy and worth freezing the account.

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#219
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the other side: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318009 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3318173

Paypal may have a point, they may not. Regardless, freezing thousands of dollars on a whim because "they're worried" and then freezing the individual's personal account is just boneheaded. You can't run a bank like that.

On the contrary, NOT freezing them would be totally boneheaded. OP describes an EXTREMELY sketchy way of collecting money (take money from one random person on the internet, promise you they are sending a "mystery" gift to some other person on the internet) that clearly violates PayPal's TOS (you can only ship to billing addresses on paypal).

There is not a payment processor in the world that wouldn't freeze someone under these conditions.

Re: More Paypal nonsense

#220

PAYPAL: I haven’t seen that PDF. And what you’re doing is not a worthy cause, it’s charity. ME: What’s the difference? PAYPAL: You can use the donate button to raise money for a sick cat, but not poor people. Sigh. At the risk of pedantry, it's hard for my wtf filter to believe this without more context. Is this a direct quote?

Yes this is the major point of the exchange to me. It is not really for scam prevention and it has nothing to do with what is a donation or legal context. I just don't get the reason why people is not ok.

i don't think it's an issue of people vs. animals, it's an issue of "save poor people that aren't being named and won't produce an audit trail" vs "save this cat that belongs to me, the owner of this paypal account".

strictly on a risk assessment basis, an organization not registered as a 501(c) taking in lots of money for a generic cause is more likely to be fraudulent than one specific person that paypal can easily identify taking a smaller amount of money to save his cat.

paypal is probably just as comfortable with "save walter white" as they are with "save mr. marbles", but not "save people like walter white" or "save cats like mr. marbles".

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