While I decry PayPal's "social credit" policies as much as the writer does, let's not be too starry-eyed about "the good old days" of PayPal. Paying for legal gun purchases would get you banned from PayPal. Federal Firearms License holders--businesses vetted to the extreme by federal and state law enforcement agencies--were not permitted to use PayPal to conduct transactions. As the writer mentioned, online gambling was ban-worthy.
PayPal has always gored its oxen; it's only the oxen that have changed.
PayPal screwed me with my credit score. I tried to take advantage of a financing offer while making a large purchase online - 0% for 24 months. Why not? Take the money and earn 3-4% in a savings account in the meantime. My purchase was rejected after a couple of attempts, not knowing why. The retailer’s credit department referred me to PayPal. After three phone calls I got through to an offshore call center at Synchronicity Bank, which runs PayPal’s personal credit products. Because my credit line with PayPal was too low to coołkover the purchase I needed special approval to extend the line. After I took care of that I found out my credit score went down significantly because the bank did a hard pull of my credit every time I attempted to pay on the retailer’s website (3-4x) which doesn’t make sense because I wasn’t applying for additional credit at that point in the process. The outstanding amount on my new credit line was also a factor. TransUnion told me that this often happens with PayPal. I paid off the balance immediately but now have to wait almost a year for my score to get back to where it was.
The retailer took no responsibility and said it was between PayPal and me.
If PayPal were legally a bank they would be in hot water with regulators. Or Sen. Warren’s consumer finance protection agency.
I became The little guy also gets screwed. PayPal squashed my high credit score when I tried to take advantage of a special offer from a retailer when making a large purchase. 0% interest for 24 months. Why not? Pay almost nothing and invest the money in a savings account at 3-4% interest.
After getting rejected after a couple of attempts to pay through the retailer’s website (not knowing why). I jumped though hoops till I reached someone at an offshore call center run by Synchronicity Bank, the entity that runs PayPal’s consumer credit. They said that my credit line with PayPal was too low to cover the purchase
After speaking with someone else I was approved for a higher line. Turns out it wasn’t high enough to cover the purchase. And because they made a couple of credit inquiries (one for each time I attempted to make the purchase), plus I now had a new balance, my score dipped significantly. The woman at TransUnion told me that this often happens with PayPal. I paid off my balance immediately but now have to wait a year for my score to go back up.
I called the retailer to let them know and they responded that this is only an issue with PayPal and took no responsibility.
I don't have a business that accepts PayPal but I do use PayPal for payments. But, not for much longer. If you a fraudulent payment come through or need to stop a subscription payment DON'T count on PayPal to help. Especially, if it subscription is through a third party such as PADDLE. I am not using PAYPAL to make payments to vendors anymore. Why deal with a middleman such as PayPal. My PayPal account will close on the end of the year. One less headache to track.
When Colin Wright was cancelled by PayPal, I closed my Account. Then I talked to several people, and they closed their accounts too. A small gesture, but at least we could do something to voice our descent.
I feel like Paypal was always like this. I recall in the early 2000's refusing Paypal's invitations to link my bank account to make it easier to pay and receive funds. I knew from multiple horror stories all over The Ripoff Report and various blogs and postings at eBay that Paypal was not to be trusted.
For years they have capriciously frozen customer's accounts for unknown reasons and really screw them over for no good reason.
I think the better question is why there hasn't been a push for a better competitor to Paypal.
I do use it to pay certain vendors on eBay as some only use Paypal, but I use my CC to pay, I do not and never will trust Paypal with my money.
Is PayPal going to ban all the pro-terrorist supporters?
Thank you for revealing the truth. Pray we can defeat totalitarianism.
I can’t help but wonder how much George Soros has invested in this …
While I decry PayPal's "social credit" policies as much as the writer does, let's not be too starry-eyed about "the good old days" of PayPal. Paying for legal gun purchases would get you banned from PayPal. Federal Firearms License holders--businesses vetted to the extreme by federal and state law enforcement agencies--were not permitted to use PayPal to conduct transactions. As the writer mentioned, online gambling was ban-worthy.
PayPal has always gored its oxen; it's only the oxen that have changed.
Someone explain to me why I should keep my PayPal account. I only use it as convenience to pay for stuff. Serious question.
What is an alternative to PayPal?
PayPal screwed me with my credit score. I tried to take advantage of a financing offer while making a large purchase online - 0% for 24 months. Why not? Take the money and earn 3-4% in a savings account in the meantime. My purchase was rejected after a couple of attempts, not knowing why. The retailer’s credit department referred me to PayPal. After three phone calls I got through to an offshore call center at Synchronicity Bank, which runs PayPal’s personal credit products. Because my credit line with PayPal was too low to coołkover the purchase I needed special approval to extend the line. After I took care of that I found out my credit score went down significantly because the bank did a hard pull of my credit every time I attempted to pay on the retailer’s website (3-4x) which doesn’t make sense because I wasn’t applying for additional credit at that point in the process. The outstanding amount on my new credit line was also a factor. TransUnion told me that this often happens with PayPal. I paid off the balance immediately but now have to wait almost a year for my score to get back to where it was.
The retailer took no responsibility and said it was between PayPal and me.
If PayPal were legally a bank they would be in hot water with regulators. Or Sen. Warren’s consumer finance protection agency.
I became The little guy also gets screwed. PayPal squashed my high credit score when I tried to take advantage of a special offer from a retailer when making a large purchase. 0% interest for 24 months. Why not? Pay almost nothing and invest the money in a savings account at 3-4% interest.
After getting rejected after a couple of attempts to pay through the retailer’s website (not knowing why). I jumped though hoops till I reached someone at an offshore call center run by Synchronicity Bank, the entity that runs PayPal’s consumer credit. They said that my credit line with PayPal was too low to cover the purchase
After speaking with someone else I was approved for a higher line. Turns out it wasn’t high enough to cover the purchase. And because they made a couple of credit inquiries (one for each time I attempted to make the purchase), plus I now had a new balance, my score dipped significantly. The woman at TransUnion told me that this often happens with PayPal. I paid off my balance immediately but now have to wait a year for my score to go back up.
I called the retailer to let them know and they responded that this is only an issue with PayPal and took no responsibility.
What a great read. Thank you
I don't have a business that accepts PayPal but I do use PayPal for payments. But, not for much longer. If you a fraudulent payment come through or need to stop a subscription payment DON'T count on PayPal to help. Especially, if it subscription is through a third party such as PADDLE. I am not using PAYPAL to make payments to vendors anymore. Why deal with a middleman such as PayPal. My PayPal account will close on the end of the year. One less headache to track.
Was a fan of PayPal for quite a while but it has gotten shittier in the last few years, and this caused me to finally close my account.
I thought they removed the $2,500 fine from their policy and said it was an accident. Is it back?
When Colin Wright was cancelled by PayPal, I closed my Account. Then I talked to several people, and they closed their accounts too. A small gesture, but at least we could do something to voice our descent.
.
I've stopped using PayPal. Waiting for Musk to set up Twitter money.
I feel like Paypal was always like this. I recall in the early 2000's refusing Paypal's invitations to link my bank account to make it easier to pay and receive funds. I knew from multiple horror stories all over The Ripoff Report and various blogs and postings at eBay that Paypal was not to be trusted.
For years they have capriciously frozen customer's accounts for unknown reasons and really screw them over for no good reason.
I think the better question is why there hasn't been a push for a better competitor to Paypal.
I do use it to pay certain vendors on eBay as some only use Paypal, but I use my CC to pay, I do not and never will trust Paypal with my money.
I canceled my PayPal account a while ago. Somebody recently mailed me 00 bucks on PayPal. Not signing up for that. Sorry.