PayPal fraud and poor customer service

[Deactivated] on 23/03/2014 - 15:09

Anyone here still uses Paypal?

I've recently been frustrated with Paypal's (A) poor security, (B) poor customer service and (C) slow action after someone has used by savings account (linked to my Paypal account) to transfer a 'large' amount of funds and converted it into Euros (I suspect it's to another European bank account).

My savings account was without my hard earned money for a good 2 weeks until Paypal decided to credit back the amount.

Anyone else experienced this with Paypal?

And what alternatives are there? Some sites prefer (read: only uses) Paypal as an payment option.

General Discussion

Comments

  • ozhunter on 23/03/2014 - 15:16
    +7

    2 weeks? Consider yourself lucky.

  • scotty on 23/03/2014 - 16:19

    Yes the question is — what alternatives are there? PayPal is usually the lesser evil when dealing with unknown merchants, comparing to credit card or (heaven forbids) electronic fund transfers.

    • plmko on 23/03/2014 - 17:45

      Dunno, if 'lesser evil', is adequate to describe Paypal. Last time (and last ever) I used Paypal, Paypal ripped out my $2000 and paid it to a scammer who successfully abused their automation systems, on top of this they froze my account, trapping my remaining $400 balance with a risk of being forfeited.

      2 months of back and forth phone, email etc arguments with their 'anti-fraud department', baiting me with a possible solution, ended up with the exact same result that took them 1 hour to decide to steal my money and give it to a scammer.

      Personally I'd rather deal with the credit card company, than paypal. At least a credit card company is put on a leash by financial regulation with due care. Paypal just does what it wants.

      • headsortails on 12/09/2014 - 15:55
        +1

        Paypal is registered under Commonwealth Registered Financial Institution.

        You can take Paypal to the Financial & Insurance Ombudsman!

  • c64 on 23/03/2014 - 17:01

    i use a dedicated visa debit card (ing direct) for paypal payments. i keep the balance zero unless i am about to do a payment. unexpected authorisations are simply declined.

    i also have all my visa debit cards registered with v.me so that i get alerts when authorisations (even declined ones) occur on any of my cards

    I've recently been frustrated with Paypal's (A) poor security,

    i suspect it has more to do with poor security on your computing device. have you registered your mobile for two-factor authentication with paypal?

  • whodidthat on 23/03/2014 - 17:40
    +2

    I agree, customer service with Paypal is not good (much like parent company ebay) and it is not as secure as they tell people it is!

    The main alternative here is Paymate but there are also others now.

    As for problems with Paypal, FOS is your friend http://www.fos.org.au/

    • zolinger on 24/03/2014 - 00:56
      +3

      i second this! I got ripped after ebay closed the account of a merchant. Apparently he 'posted' my bag but it never arrived. Paypal asked me to wait and open a complaint via ebay. ebay decided to suggest I contact paypal. in the end, the 45 days passed and I couldn't open a complaint. They sidelined me until I went to FOS and within three days Paypals refunded the money. I was so happy that I wanted to donate to the FOS but couldn't find the button. FOS Rocks

  • DEvok on 24/03/2014 - 03:19

    That's why PayPal ain't so popular like the usage of a credit card. I hate that PayPal transactions ain't instant a takes a few days to display in accounts.

  • headsortails on 12/09/2014 - 15:56

    What is the Paypal's AUSTRALIAN phone number?

    This is a requirement for registration under Financial Ombudsman regulations.

  • altomic on 12/09/2014 - 16:06

    but it's vault is guarded by ninjas!

  • juventino on 12/09/2014 - 16:09

    haha you have no idea what constitutes poor customer service. They handle lots of enquiries, 2 weeks is perfectly normal since they will need to conduct investigation. Try do it with banks intead, it might take up to 3 months. By then you'll probably be scratching your face off.

  • Belistic on 14/09/2014 - 14:41

    A few years ago, I had the typical $1 and then ~$1300 taken from my account. Took just over 6wks to get it back with a lot of paperwork involved.

    I make a lot of purchases through ebay, and I will claim through paypal when the item hasn't arrived.

    I received an email from paypal, stating "Your Eligibility for PayPal’s Buyer Protection
    During a recent review of your PayPal account, we’ve noticed you’ve had a higher number of claims with your transactions. This could include claims you’ve initiated with PayPal or through your bank.

    We may need to exclude you from PayPal’s Buyer Protection Policy if we continue to notice an excessive or unreasonable number of claims, reversals or chargebacks with your transactions. Pending further review, we may also deny any open and future claims.

    We want to give you a chance to review your account activity. You don’t need to take any action and we don’t require a response to this message."

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