Forum Moderators: buckworks
While staying in China I checked my Paypal account and sure enough: The next day access was restricted because of assumed unauthorized 3d party access. So I can still accept payments however not access my money until I have verified my identity. OK, better safe than sorry I would not mind. How could they know I am on a business trip to China.
The verification process as I understand it goes like this. I fax a document to proof my identity (like my identity card with address on it). I have done that.
Then they take some data from the document I have sent and use it as "secret question" in their system and when I log in I can then change the password after I have answered the question. So far the theory now topractice:
I fax the documents: An email returns, sorry we can not read it, too dark. I fax it again, I email it, I fax it. Then finally the status changes apparently the documents have been received and reviewed. So I press the button to answer the secret question and guess what: No question there. Only the message "Please fill out the categories below to proof your identity." I'd like to do that but there is nothing. So I phone them and tell them of my problem and they tell me to fax my documents again. Status changes back to "documents in review" and has remained there for several days now.
Now whats that. Is the system broke or what?
Paypal is a multi million dollar business but their system has so many bugs, any local bank has a higher standard.
By the way - the design of the Paypal payment page was changed recently and guess what: My german customers report payment problems again because part of the informaton on the payment page is not readable: The space reserved for the English "CSC" is not big enough to handle the German word "Kartenprüfziffer". Beginners mistake. And sure enough I am loosing sales again. (Oh yes I have reported the error, but I guess it will take about a month or two until it is corrected, then last for a few month and then will be returned to the previous status again like several other errors I reported in the past.)
Oh and here another funny story:
The first time I called Paypal two weeks ago I gave them my account information and the Paypal guy told me: Oh you have a business account, your account is handled in another department and gets preferential treatment. I'll put you through. He did, the other phone rang and I got my special treatment from an answering machine: "Sorry you are calling outside business hours. Please call again tommorrow." Now that sure was not the treatment I expected.
I think when my account is going again I have enough material to write a book.
Anyway has anybody first hand experience how long it usually takes until they get their act together and I can remove money from my account again?
And should anybody at Paypal read this here a few suggestions:
- Before you release changes, test in all languages.
- If someone reports errors in your system, get them fixed quickly.
- If there are conflicts within an account assign the case number to one specific employee. So I do not have to talk to another employee again and again and explain myself again and again.
- Use the normal snail mail more often. For example for verification purposes. Send me a new password per snail mail, like a normal bank does and I am willing to show my identity card to the postman. I would even pay the costs for this process.
If anybody has some more suggestions for Paypal to improve their business, please feel free to add them below.
They had a security system for me to verify; password etc, and finally a bank details.
This wouldn't let me verify - because I already had a bank account set up (Duh!), and returned me to to the same screen. Continuously. Apparently, it SHOULD have told me to fax a document to them, and supplied a reference number. It didn't. Ever.
It took three phone calls to human beings to get a fax number, and two faxes - the first operator didn't volunteer that I needed a reference number for the fax to be read by the right person.
I don't mind any of that; I want my account to be secure, and if that means a few hoops, fair comment.
What offended me was that all the human beings clearly had a script, and wanted me to tell them things I couldn't; the first two clearly did not believe that I wasn't seeing the web page their script said I was seeing (And I'll bet £1000 that they never passed on the info to the webmaster).
It took me to say to the third human being "Excuse me, please let ME tell YOU what happened" before we actually had an intelligent conversation, and the problem got sorted.
But this is standard for all companies these days; I've had much worse from other banks and credit card companies. And, after all the fuss, I was only 'suspended' for four days. Four days too long, but nothing compared to problems I've had with ISPs, phone companies, gas companies ... every large organisation. And all three people spoke good English and were polite and friendly. All in all, better than average support, I'd say.
[edited by: Quadrille at 7:04 pm (utc) on Aug. 1, 2007]
The documents I sent them were not used to create a secret question and I had not to change my password they simply reactivated my account.
So if this really had been third party access and not me accessing my account from another country the guy with my password could now happily access my account and transfer my funds. And I could not even prevent it: I am no longer able to change my password. Everytime I want to change my password I am asked to answer "the secret question below" to prove my identity. However there is no question below the text. Only a Submit button...
