Great idea but so frustrating sometimes (paypal.com)

Member Name: underdog_78

Product:	paypal.com
Date:	09/07/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a safe way to buy or sell on ebay

Disadvantages: not always as safe as they want you to think it is

In theory paypal is a great idea but how does it work in the real world?

Well for those who don't know (and there can't be many of you) Paypal is essentially an online bank account so to speak. You can send and receive money via your account, and also transfer said money to your real world bank account.

For me the main use for Paypal is ebay, it's a secure way for people to pay you for items they have bought and also a secure way for you to pay for items you have bought.

It offers some kind of security as a buyer, if you buy an item off ebay and it arrives in poor condition, not as it was described or even not at all you should be able to claim via paypal and get your money back.

However (much like ebay) paypal isn't what it was 5 years ago. Maybe the fact ebay now owns paypal is the reason for this who knows, but in the last year or so I have found paypal offering very little support or help when I needed it.

First there was (and still is) an issue with bank cards. If I pay direct through ebay it says it's coming out of bank account number 1 (which it should do) if I pay via a paypal page on ebay it says it's coming out of bank account number 1 but actually takes it out of my other account which leaves me overdrawn and charged for it. I have spoken several times to paypal on the phone and via email and this issue is still not resolved.

Then there was a time I bought an item off ebay that was listed as faulty but it was listed as powering on, when I got the item this simply wasn't the case. The buyer would not refund so I contacted paypal and explained I bought it was faulty but repairable, but it simply wasn't, however paypal refused to arrange a refund even though the item was not as it was listed.

Also (again like ebay) paypal is so stacked in favour of the buyer now. I have had two buyers claim an item never reached them when I could prove it did and still paypal refunded their money.

Couple the above with the expense of using the system and the time it takes them to put money into your bank account (5 working days, why?) and paypal is a system designed to frustrate you and give you the minimum because there is little alternative in most instances.

Summary: if paypal had some serious competition it would suffer money wise