"zbzbzb" <torrex6@cs.comzbzbzb> wrote in message news:20040114065404.07122.00000003@mb-m15.news.cs.com...

> Ironically I think PayPal themselves are huge scammers. I recently went into my

> account to withdraw a $400 payment someone made to me in November and when I

> saw my balance it was zero! The explanation was "This payment was automatically

> returned by PayPal on Dec.22, 2003 because it was not collected within 30

> days." Huh?! You have got to be kidding me?!

>

> So first thing I do is contact the man in Germany that paid me to ask him about

> it and then I called PayPal. I asked them after calmly explaining my situation

> who the hell gives them the right to do what essentially amounts to stealing a

> persons money from their account. The woman on the other end was silent for so

> long I thought we got disconnected. She finally says "I completely understand,"

> with a tone as if this isn't the first time she has delt with such an

> unbelievable problem.

>

> Obviously this is a new rule since I have left balances in my account for

> months on end before. They also never even bothered to notify me of such

> important changes and the basically criminal act of returning my accepted

> payment. Now I also have to upgrade to a "premier" account to accept a credit

> card payment for a current auction payment when before that was no problem. It

> is obviously their right to do that but again no notice at all.

>

> SoI have the man in Germany waiting to try and pay me again but because of the

> weak dollar I will now end up being paid less than what I was originally paid!

> Not only that but at the time there was no charge on my end to receive his

> payment with a "personal" account but now there will be because I am forced to

> upgrade the account to "premier" which charges fees for credit card payments.

>

> So in the end PayPal essentially steals *my* money from my account by returning

> it to the payer, gives no notice for what in any reasonable court would be

> considered stealing, gives no notice of their policy changes, and then now I

> and the gentleman from Germany have to pay fees on money he had already paid

> and I accepted!

>

> I am still debating whether I should just take PayPal to small claims court

> just out of principle. I have never delt with such an unethical, at the least,

> and unprofessional company in my life. My advice is DO NOT use PayPal if you do

> not have to!

>

> T.E.

> torrex6@cs.com

Thanks for the information - I hesitated to open a PP account for years

(I prefer alternatives), but the seller of something I could use NOW, at a

very good price (a bit of medical gear, 4X the price locally, with no ins.

coverage possible for 5 more months...) insisted on PP-only for payment,

alas (I'm thinking of discontinuing my account now, though...). BTW, a

ways back I bought a camcorder that was not at all as described, with

the seller refusing to refund (though he had promised to do so before

the purchase, if not happy). I used a friend's PP account to pay (encouraged

by the seller to do so, to simplify cross-border payment), and PP was no

help at all in settling this. Why do people like PayPal...? ;-)

--

David Ruether

d_ruether@hotmail.com

http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com