For so long, PayPal has been a convenient way to make payments online (so long as you don’t care about things like customer service or getting your payment disputes settled or even responded to). But the company has been edging its way into real-world retailing, especially through its Home Depot partnership. And today PayPal announced its plan to go whole-hog in this sphere with 15 new major retail partners.

At a press event this morning, PayPal said it will be rolling out its payment options at the following retailers:
Abercrombie & Fitch, Advance Auto Parts, Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Guitar Center, Jamba Juice, J.C. Penney, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Nine West, Office Depot, Rooms To Go, Tiger Direct and Toys “R” Us.

Additionally, PayPal announced partnerships with several point-of-sale terminal providers to integrate the payment system into already existing networks. The company says this will make PayPal available at 50,000 locations around the U.S.

As most Consumerist readers know, PayPal has a long history of some of the worst customer service in the financial world. It also has a well-earned reputation for a shoot first, ask questions later attitude toward dispute resolution.

Now that PayPay is opening itself up to more retailers and a larger customer base, we expect to see more complaints from consumers as the service rolls out.

PayPal’s Plans for Taking on Visa and MasterCard at the Cash Register [AllThingsD.com]

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