The nice thing about cash is that it doesn’t care what you use it to buy. But the folks at PayPal apparently don’t want their service to be used for the purpose of buying e-books that reference certain sexual acts or behavior. [More]
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PayPal Tells Buyer To Destroy Purchased Violin Instead Of Return For Refund
By 1.3.12
Oh PayPal… will you never learn how to resolve a situation without having everyone hate you? Mere weeks after enduring the wrath of the internet resulting from its war with Regresty.com, PayPal has once again hit viral vitriol gold. This time, a seller claims that she’s out $2,500 and an antique violin after the company told the buyer to destroy the instrument. [More]
PayPal And Wells Fargo Promise To Get Your $400 Back, Don't Know How
By 12.22.11
Shannon made an error when transferring money out of her PayPal account, giving them an incorrect Wells Fargo account number that belonged to an actual person. PayPal assures her that the money will come back to her if she’s patient, but $400 is a lot of money to her, and she’s losing patience. She’s caught in a loop between PayPal and Wells Fargo, and neither company knows how to get her money back. [More]
PayPal Throwing Its Hat In The Online Daily Coupon Ring
By 12.14.11
PayPal is planning its own daily deal program in the U.S., joining the already crowded online arena where Groupon and LivingSocial are currently duking it out to offer the best discount. It’s all about options, these days. [More]
PayPal Admits Regretsy "Donate Button" Fiasco Should Never Have Happened In The First Place
By 12.7.11
As any regular reader of Consumerist knows, PayPal is a company that’s not exactly known for admitting its many failings. But not only has it opted to release the Regretsy.com funds it had frozen because that site had used a “Donate” PayPal button without being a non-profit charity, it has also confessed that it should not have put that money on lock-down in the first place. [More]
PayPal Bows To Internet Scorn, Agrees To Release Regretsy's Funds
By 12.6.11
Anyone who has followed PayPal’s not-exactly-customer-friendly behavior over the years is likely in for a shock. After previously telling the owner of Regretsy.com that all the money she collected for her Secret Santa campaign had to be refunded because she used a “Donate” button — oh, and freezing her personal PayPal account just for fun — the online payment service has done a complete 180 and now says it will release Regretsy’s funds. [More]
Visa Launching PayPal-Like V.me Service Next Year
By 11.17.11
Visa will roll out its V.me online payment service early next year. The company, which announced plans for the service in March, has also launched a developer program to help merchants incorporate its payment systems into their web sites and other products. [More]
Paypal Links Account Missing $2,000 To Yours, Demands You Pay
By 11.3.11
Reader Ben awoke to a rude discovery. Somehow another account had been linked to his Paypal account, and the new account was $2,000 in the red. Paypal was knocking on Ben’s door, telling him to pay up, or else. They locked up his account and froze his cash. When he protested, they treated him like a criminal. [More]
Direct2Drive Charges $149.85 For Stuff You Didn't Buy
By 10.7.11
Reader Andrew noticed a funny Paypal charge from Direct2Drive, a site that lets you buy computer games online and download them to your computer. Direct2Drive had helped themselves to $149.85 from his account, even though he didn’t order anything from them. [More]
Pay Target.com With PayPal And Return Stuff, Only Get Store Credit
By 9.28.11
Cora has a warning for the Consumerist community: while you can pay on Target.com using your PayPal account and then return it, it’s not necessarily a good idea. You’ll get your money back, but it won’t be automatically credited back to your PayPal account. Instead, you’ll receive the balance on a Target gift card. This can be either frustrating or convenient, depending on the amount of the order and how often you shop at Target. [More]
eBay Asks New Seller To Shell Out For Shipping
By 8.31.11
Jamali is a longtime eBay seller, but his wife isn’t. So he was shocked when his wife went to sell something on her account, and was asked to pay for the shipping ($21) out of pocket while PayPal held on to the money until the transaction was over. Normal auction practice has the buyer send money to the seller, and then the seller ships the item. The buyer can file a chargeback if the item is not as described, never arrives, or if the buyer is a jerk. [More]
PayPal: You Owe Us $38.41 From 2004 Because We Say So
By 8.26.11
Did you know that there’s a seven-year time limit on PayPal chargebacks? Yeah, neither did we, and neither did Dan. He still had to fork over $38.41 owed to PayPal from an an unknown account belonging to him, even though he didn’t recognize it. What? [More]
After 10 Years Of Selling, Why I Swore Off eBay
By 8.12.11
After having used eBay for 10 years, Daniel has vowed to never do it again. “If I have something I know I can sell on eBay,” he wrote in a letter to eBay executives, “I’ll give it away before listing it.” Why is Daniel so steamed? [More]
Apple App Store Charges Over And Over Again For New Operating System
By 7.28.11
Apple’s new version of Mac OS has some new and exciting features, and for Mac fans is a bargain at only $30. It is not, however, worth three times that. Or even $4,000. That’s what some customers have paid, without exactly meaning to. More than one person has come forward complaining that their PayPal accounts, linked to their iTunes accounts, are getting charged for their purchase of OS 10.7 Lion over. And over. And over. [More]
PayPal Keeps Freelancer's Pay 'Under Review' Because They Feel Like It
By 6.30.11
Kate works as a freelance something-or-other, and uses PayPal to bill her clients. She received a $2,000 deposit from a client after a period without working, and needs the money to pay bills right now. Because her client didn’t have a verified PayPal account and was using identity theft protection, his original payment got flagged as fraudulent. A new payment has been stuck in PayPal limbo: not fraudulent, but alsonot not released to Kate, and seemingly no one at PayPal is able to help her. Update: The issue has been resolved. [More]
3 Big Banks Launch Pay By Cell And Email System Called clearXchange
By 5.25.11
Three of the nation’s biggest banks have teamed up to offer a new payment service that lets you transfer money from your bank account using only a cell phone number or email address. It’s called clearXchange and it’s being offered to Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers. An inkling of how it will work is revealed on the initiative’s placeholder web page. [More]
