Welcome to the world's largest eBay and PayPal consumer gripe site network! Have you been burned by PayPal or eBay? Join the club! No, we are not here to just sit around and complain. You see, individually, your voice gets easily lost in the crowd, or just ignored. But, together, WE CAN MAKE A HUGE NOISE. Join our fight to expose the truth about PayPal and Ebay to the world. Unite with us as we build the largest united front against this evil empire. We WILL FORCE PAYPAL AND EBAY TO HEAR US. By joining us, you are making our voice that much louder. However, We need your help. Follow the important steps below to make OUR VOICE LOUDER.
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1. According to PayPal accepting their ToS (Terms of Service) in effect means you waive your rights to credit card consumer protection laws if you want to use their service, and that you may not issue a chargeback for unauthorized use of your credit card and PayPal account, or if you do, then they have the right to limit your account. Is this legal? We don't know. But it's how Paypal operates. See my credit card waiver page for more information.
2. Their customer service is horrible. They used to hide their telephone number, (intentionally - by their own admission) and only provided support via "form" emails:
"As for the customer service, Sollitto said they intentionally make the phone number very difficult to find in order to save costs."
This is confirmed in the book "PayPal Wars". If you have a problem, you are at their mercy! (And you will eventually have a problem.) The only reason their number can be found now is because they were forced to by law (EFTA Electronic Funds Transaction Act) due to complaints from users of this website. You can also click on our FAQs page. Just scroll down a bit, and you'll find their phone numbers, plus their toll free numbers as well, plus a huge list of unpublished PayPal phone numbers.
3. Their terms of service are not completely disclosed upon signup and some key "conditions" are not disclosed. They fail to mention their total lack of security to prevent your account from being compromised by phishing & spoof sites. That if your account is accessed by a criminal using one of these methods, PayPal will hold YOU monetarily & legally responsible! Also, no place do they openly tell potential members that their money is 100% at risk. That PayPal can, will, and has in the past, completely cleaned out customers' accounts, (including your checking or savings account) with no appeals process available. Instead they bury in the fine print of 37 pages of their "Terms of Service" (ToS) where they disclose to you that PayPal can close your account for any reason what-so-ever, or no reason, and then you have to wait 180 days to get your money. Think that'll never happen? Think again. That's what everyone thinks till it happens to them.
4. If PayPal feels your actions are questionable, PayPal is the investigator, judge, jury and executioner. "Telling your side" of what happened, in most cases seems to be irrelevant. They also refuse to provide you with the details of their investigation and withhold documents they relied upon to make their decisions. Your only contact will be an email that says:
Thank you for contacting PayPal. We apologize for the delay in respondingto your service request.
After review, the decision has been made to keep your account locked. This decision cannot be appealed.
If you have any further questions, please reply to this email.
That will be the end of it as far as PayPal is concerned. You can email back, but you'll just get more of the same. Oh yea, and you'll have to wait 180 days to get your money.
5. If you are a bona fide, up-standing individual with hundreds of successful transactions, but someone pays you with a stolen credit card, your account (by PayPal's own admission) is immediately flagged as being "criminal behavior" and any money in that account is confiscated. If a customer "disputes" the charge, same thing happens. (See email above.) PayPal claims that they will fight chargebacks, but read this before you fall for that one.
6. Paypal's fees for NON-credit card funding are the same as for credit cards! This is the single biggest rippoff on their site. We understand Paypal charging a fee when you fund your account with a credit card. After all, they are being charged by Visa/Mastercard, etc. And we understand there is a lot of fraud with credit card funding. However, most of the money sent within the Paypal system no longer comes from credit card funding. However, money spent from PayPal account to PayPal account is subject to the exact same fees credit card purchases are! This money has been in the system for years and is "clean." That is, there are no fees at all to Paypal, and there is almost no fraud at all with this money, but Paypal charges the SAME fees to transactions with NON-credit card funds! Thus every transaction makes PayPal money, but it's nothing more than an entry in a computer database on their system. No money has actually moved, and there are no costs to Paypal. They are just skimming the gravy.
While I'm sure it was the not the intention of the author, the book "PayPal Wars" confirms many of the statements made by users and former employees of PayPal.
I'm sure you've seen the posts across the net for a new "company" called "greenzap.com." You might want to read my thread GreenZap.com is probably a scam before you give away your money and personal information.
- We all get a win from PayPal: "As a result of customer complaints, PayPal has also received inquiries regarding its restriction and disclosure practices from the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of a number of states. If PayPal?s processes are found to violate federal or state law on consumer protection and unfair business practices, it could be subject to an enforcement action or fines. If PayPal loses the litigation described above or becomes subject to an enforcement action, it could be required to restructure its anti-fraud processes in ways that would harm its business, and to pay substantial damages or fines. This according to eBay's annual report filed 3/8/2004 with the SEC. That's US! You, me, and all the others who have sent the letters, faxes and e-reports to the FTC and Attornies General. It works! Just have to keep the pressure on them.
PayPal makes lots of changes to their Terms of Service! Better get reading. Better yet, get your attorney to read it. One important note: First time PayPal openly tells you they will debit your bank accounts for amounts owed. They've stated this in previous ToS, but always hidden behind the wording. First time they admit it in plain language. (Or so I'm told, I've not found it yet!) But before you do that, please read Judge Fogel's decision.
"We made good use of your site in evaluating complaints we've received about PayPal, so from both a law enforcement and first amendment standpoint, we're very supportive of "gripe sites" (assuming no libel, etc.)." Ken Dreifach Chief, Internet Bureau NY Attorney General
If you are looking for the link to the class action lawsuits, click on "links" and it's there.
Here's how PayPal/X thinks of you:
As for the [PayPal users on] eBay complaints, Sollitto said the company reads them, but takes them with a grain of salt, believing many of the complaints to come from a vocal minority of squeaky wheels.
Note to Sollitto: It was a "vocal minority of squeaky wheels" that founded this country! So, if you are scammed and PayPal doesn't even offer a phone number to talk to you about it, if your account is frozen for reasons completely out of your control (or even knowledge) and want to know why, or when you can get your money, or if you can't get the site to take your credit card or bank account, you are just a "vocal minority of squeaky wheels." Just thought you might like to know. (As quoted in an MSNBC report on PayPal which is no longer online.)
Disclaimer: Some of the language in the forums can get a little "colorful." We do not condone such language, but we also realize people are angry over what PayPal has done to them. Just a warning; if you are offended by harsh language, you might want stay clear of the forums. However, if you want to know why people are so angry, then you owe it to yourself to find out .
