Paypal Rant/Warning

[uhuru]

This morning I check my email and find that I was charged $55 by some unknown IP company through my paypal account. This occured at 3AM when I was sleeping. I never ordered this crap! So I call paypal and explain that this is a completely unauthorized charge. The chick that answers can barely speak english.

 

Their only concern is that I have enough money in my bank account to cover the charge! Then they make sure my CC info is up to date, in case there isn't enough money in my bank acct. I say [language filter], so whether or not these guys scammed me, they are going to get their money one way or the other. She says "uh huh, thank you for calling Paypal. Would you like me to send you the instructions for filing a dispute online?"

 

I ask her how long the process takes. About 20 days. And I can't even have my CC company reverse the charge because they were able to pull the money straight from my bank account. Unbelievable. So I filed the dispute and will be closing my paypal account afterwards. It has been very helpful in buying/selling stuff online but when someone can just go into your bank account and pull money out without your consent - and you can't get your money back for 20 days, that is just unacceptable. What if it was $550 instead of $55? What if that was my rent money? Do I tell my landlord to wait 20 days?

 

So a word of caution for everyone: if you have your paypal account linked in any way to a live bank account, make sure that you are not dependent on the money in that bank account to pay rent, bills, etc!!

[reef-fisher]

That sucks. Thanks for the heads up! I am always skeptical of banking online, so these stories help me justify my reasoning. I had a situation with Paypal as well, where they sent the wrong shipping info(I wanted the package to be sent to someone else, not to my address). They didnt even offer me an option for resolution. Basically I had to pay shipping twice.

Good luck with your dispute.

[impur]

That sucks. I might have to delete my bank acct and make my CC my primary acct.

 

Good luck on the dispute.

[dsoz]

One more reason why I don't do PayPal!

 

It would make buying stuff too easy on line, so I would spend way too much money anyway.

 

I hope that you get your problem resolved quickly.

 

dsoz

[downhill_biker]

i had a problem with paypal too. without making a huge long post, basically they couldnt process something and i lost the sale, not a huge deal, but what is...when i called in they said basically nothing and told me i was wrong and the person didn't exist or make the payment, and hung up. the person was my girlfriend's cousin. he existed.

[siskiou]

We are using a pretty much obsolete bank account for paypal, and always use the CC for payment.

That way, we can have a confirmed paypal account, but don't have to worry about having our money disappear unauthorized.

[JeffP]

Did that paypal email actually have your name in it - like your real name not just your email address/login ID? If not, then it was a phishing scam and you may have been taken.

 

The real issue here is that someone has your paypal login information - it's not paypal's fault that it happened. And yes - they are mainly concerned with making sure they get their cash/fees. It's like any financial company.

 

And really - outside of thinly veiled racism, what was the point in mentioning that the CSR could hardly speak english?

[uhuru]

Jeff - it was the real deal, not a phishing scam.

 

Whether someone has my login information, or paypal had a glitch in their system (I can give details about why this is a possibility, but I'm too tired now to do it), I expect paypal to honor my request. I am a customer and I pay my fees. I have perfect history with them, and am a premier member. But let's just say, it looks like the transaction never happened. No money was taken from my account. No recent activity when I log in. However, the transaction exists if I go into my disputes. I also called my bank. No pending transactions. Nevertheless, I closed my bank account, removed my other accounts from paypal, and will be checking all my bank accounts VERY regularly until this is resolved. Last thing I need to deal with since my dog is nearing her last days (liver cancer).

 

As far as saying she could hardly speak english - to me this is bad customer service. If an employee can't speak english well, put them in a position OTHER than answering the phone. That's what I would do. There are plenty of people out there qualified to do customer service that speak better english. No I'm not racist. Don't even go there. You don't even know me. I was not born in this country, I grew up with racism, my parents speak poor english, but that doesn't change the way I feel about having a customer service rep answer the phone that can't really understand what you are saying, and you have to ask them to repeat everything they say. Again, just not something that someone wants to deal with when they are worried that some stranger has access to their PERSONAL CHECKING ACCOUNT.

 

Man I sure made a mistake coming here and posting. Goodbye.

[defigart]

Uhuru,

 

Thanks for the heads-up on the issue.

[JManrow]

Did you ever receive an e-mail asking to enter your username and password? These e-mails look almost exactly like they were from Paypal.

Paypal will never ask for this information in an e-mail. If you have received anything suspicious like this, send it as an attachment to the legitimate Paypal site at www.paypal.com . They will let you know if it is a scam. I have received a couple of these scam e-mails over the years. It's good to occassionally change your password. Be sure to do this now if you suspect fraud!

 

 

Report to https://www.paypal.com/ewf/f=sa_fake

[spectra]

I am not racist either but feel the same way as Uhuru when it comes to customer service. You call a company who is a United States corperation and can not even get someone who speaks good englishDOH! I have dealt with it before and understand what he is saying. It is real frustrating tying to get something resolved when you can not even make out what the other person is saying.

 

As for Pay Pal not going there a whole nother issue.

[JeffP]

Phishers are crafty - and seriously, some of the emails look like the real deal. If you ever get an email from "paypal" that seems fishy, forward it to spoof@paypal.com.

 

Paypal likely will honor your request - but you need to go through the proper channels to do so. The same you'd have to do with a credit card. Sure CCs may move faster, but it will still get resolved.

 

Odds are - someone got your information somehow. If it's an email address/password combo you use anywhere else, then the hack could have happened anywhere. It's one of the dangers we have to live with these days - people are unscrupulous. People are shady. We need to protect ourselves and not be so quick to pass blame. But if it's on paypals side as you say it could be - those details would be great to know - because by the looks of it, almost all of us here have a PP account.

 

FWIW - I'm not from this country either.

 

Jeff - it was the real deal, not a phishing scam.

 

Whether someone has my login information, or paypal had a glitch in their system (I can give details about why this is a possibility, but I'm too tired now to do it), I expect paypal to honor my request. I am a customer and I pay my fees. I have perfect history with them, and am a premier member. But let's just say, it looks like the transaction never happened. No money was taken from my account. No recent activity when I log in. However, the transaction exists if I go into my disputes. I also called my bank. No pending transactions. Nevertheless, I closed my bank account, removed my other accounts from paypal, and will be checking all my bank accounts VERY regularly until this is resolved. Last thing I need to deal with since my dog is nearing her last days (liver cancer).

 

As far as saying she could hardly speak english - to me this is bad customer service. If an employee can't speak english well, put them in a position OTHER than answering the phone. That's what I would do. There are plenty of people out there qualified to do customer service that speak better english. No I'm not racist. Don't even go there. You don't even know me. I was not born in this country, I grew up with racism, my parents speak poor english, but that doesn't change the way I feel about having a customer service rep answer the phone that can't really understand what you are saying, and you have to ask them to repeat everything they say. Again, just not something that someone wants to deal with when they are worried that some stranger has access to their PERSONAL CHECKING ACCOUNT.

 

Man I sure made a mistake coming here and posting. Goodbye.

[Benny503]

Most of the members in here know me by seeing me or talking to me on the phone, reading my posts and they all know that I am not an American. But I do expect that all the customer service that I calls speak clear English and try hard to understand my sistuation. This is not about racist, this is about the quality of paypal service to their customers. I never have problem with paypal (Thanks GOD), but becareful of all the scam out there. Good luck and hope they clear your issue.

[uhuru]

I don't think it was an email scam because I can bring up the transaction on paypal, it just doesn't show up on recent activities. Also the number I called was real, and they were able to bring up the transaction. If it was an email scam, it was extremely elaborate, I mean they must have linked the transaction to the real paypal somehow. Who would be able to do that? And if they could, why go after some poor guy for $55?

 

Yes I know paypal will likely honor the request, but like I said, the problem is the "proper channels" can take 20 days, or more actually. Could be a problem for some people if that is their main checking account. If it were a CC they would credit me back and investigate AFTER. My bank offered the same protection. Credit my account right away, and investigate AFTER (although I know not all banks will do this). However for safety I chose to simply close out the account.

 

Also Scott and Benny thanks for understanding where I am coming from on the speaking english issue.

[defigart]

I just thought of something. Where did you find phone number for PayPal? I have never seen one on the site, granted I haven't searched it completely.

 

Doran

[reefboy]

You may want to change banks I've talked with mine do to this problem and they stop payment like a check "YOU" have to except payment just like any credit card if your bank is saying you have to except payment and it's fraudulent thats abunch of B.S on there part switch banks your money's not safe I use Northwest community credit union if anything weird happens they email and call and if I say this isn't correct they stop payment until fact's are rectified.This is very weird.

[reefboy]

By the way YOUR BEING SCAMMED BE MEAN OBNOXIOUS WHATEVER DON'T LET THIS GO THRU!!!!can give A+ to paypal they charge me but no more then anyone else but thing is you have to except charges they cant just charge your account at least from my understanding of pay-pal you have to except a charge you dont get just charged.