rant Paypal.

[TTRickeh]

Firstly, i'll set the scene. I'm on holiday. I log into Facebook, it asks me security questions and to identify photos since it seems to notice im not where I usually am in the worl when I log in. Fine, done.

 

PayPal notice the same thing, more annoying since I actually need to pay for something that i'm buying from a member, but I indulge them and change my password, and answer all the other questions and what seems to be an OTT amount of steps and information to restore access in response to my account limitation.

 

First snag, i'm on holiday and one of the steps is to enter a UK phone number and enter a pin once the phone is answered. I obviously can't do this because im abroad so I change my phone number to a mates house and get him to enter the pin that's on my screen (not exactly a strong measure of security if you can change your phone number for this, assuming they thought my account had been hacked). So anyway that goes fine and says step completed, but then I proceed to do the rest of the steps and notice it says that step hasn't been completed. ffs.

 

I do the other steps although one is account verification which takes 2-3 days to do as they deposit small amounts into your account and you need to tell them how much each deposit was. So I email about this and get told to do the step with the phone call again, I say I can't because i'm on holiday. A couple of back and forth emails later my account is restored. (Note: Had to go through the help process on the website menu each time as there I can't find an option to reply to their emails/person you spoke to or a specific email address on the site??)

 

So I try to pay the guy from the forum, but it says I need to add funds to my account, I email about this as well, they say the transaction im trying to make has a high statistical risk of failure (???) and that it might even work if I try again later. So I try but it doesn't so I add funds to my paypal account, however this takes up to a week.

 

So to where I am today, I log on to see if my funds have been cleared into my account yet, then immediately after receive an email saying my account has been limited (back to square one). So I email and say i've already done all this stuff several days ago, I am on holiday etc, only to receive an automated reply saying I should go through all the steps to lift my account again. (Change password, the phone step, account verification through bank account deposits, and whatever the last step was). So i'm just going to have to email again under the help headings that got me a human reply before and hope that works.

 

Miffed. Wasted a lot of time. PayPal customer service is pish. Issue unresolved and a forum member that's probably getting pissed off that i'm taking so long to pay.

[Matt H]

I also find Paypal a joke. One of those systems that you pray doesn't go wrong as it will be a pain to sort out as you've experianced. I try to avoid it whenever I can. For some reason though, paying fees to transfer digital money is an attractive prospect for most.

[TTRickeh]

I'd rather not pay them either but i'm not sure what the alternatives are? Not everyone's keen to do a bank transfer.

[jonathanc]

Paypal is convenient but they have massively jacked up the fees.... 2.4% now is it? I find bank transfers cheaper sometimes. I am still using it since its the most acceptable and convenient form of payment atm. Thinking about Google Money or whatever that's called.

[Geo]

Paypal = Gay Anal Sex

 

Bank Transfer = Straight Sex, Simple, and Quick.

[TTRickeh]

Well another arsey email under a different help heading and my account is restored again and i've managed to pay the member with the money i'd transferred. Success!

[Nick]

Sounds familiar. I closed my account some time ago because I got utterly fed up with it all.

[Josh]

They charge you? I didn't know that!

 

Good job i've only used it once for Suprapod.

 

That sounds like a really bad experience, hope you complain when you get home.

[Guest ugp]

I closed my account after they refunded a buyer for the box being wet! Funny thing is, the box contained brake disks! The courier wouldn't refund me as it was delivered and signed ok! End of paypal for me. £500 down.