Forum Moderators: buckworks
In theory they offer the same service worldwide ( at least to the countries on their list) ..in reality in some countries the service and level of security and customer service is OK ..in others it is pure arrogant crap mixed with corruption by local staff..
The latter is what we have in France ..
I have just received their email asking me to log back in to them to update the xpiry date on my CC ..
Unless they are prepared to let me change the "team" that handles it and the ebay operation from France to the UK or the US ..NO WAY!
I'd rather trust my details on the new card to a ukrainien phisher than the people running their show here ..
Who may well be on holiday since last year ..based on their "rush to answer the phone" or emails concerning their service ..and the monies dissapearing for unordered items ..or charged out of ebay france for items worth a few dollars ..but which received "bids" of thousands of dollars ..and removal of commission by ebay/paypal from credit cards based upon these "spam" bids..
Even court action doesnt seem to phase them ..they obviously figure they can outlast the customer in legal fees ..in a no win no fee juristiction they wouldn't dare react this way ..
Nor would the ebay arm so blatantly allow the selling of counterfeit items ..warez etc ..and then say it's not their problem ..elsewhere ..I presume ..
MM
Overall, we are very pleased with their level of performance.
(BTW if you have any evidence that corruption is a problem you should be doing something about it elsewhere.)
I have been using them for about three years without a problem but then I only sell the odd report, etc. I don't use them on a full ecommerce operation.
I cannot speak for what happens in France but what we must not lose sight of here is the volume of transactions handled by Paypal. Clearly the number of people experiencing problems with Paypal is higher than that with some smaller providers. People who have problems always shout louder than those who don't.
Now we are the only place in the world with ebay threads restricted to no more than 10 posts ..gagged .
been going on for years now ..
And the worst is that the european office has so few french speakers that they beleive the staff they have in France that everthing is bunnies and sunlight ..cos the people from head office can't understand the posts made by the disgruntled french members ..
Paypal outside of the ebay system is reasonable ..but as you can't have more than one account ..if you want to buy or sell on ebay France you are at the mercy of the team in place ..
The authorities regard ebay and paypal as "American" ..and one is told ."what do you expect..don't use foreign owned outfits" ..
Most of those complaining are french people who speak english and see how the rest of the worlds sites are administered ..
Like I said if I could move my account to Uk paypal or ebay or US paypal or ebay ( I'd use German or Italian but my grasp of those languages is not total )..then I'd renew ..
I used to use paypal a lot for outside ( rest of world purchases ) and still do for non ebay purchases in France ..although as identity theft is also rife within french ebay and my paypal account is associated with the ebay account I will not renew the account ..
I you can read french I can sticky you some searches to run ...
PayPal is a controversial subject. There are some who absolutely hate and/or refuse to use PayPal. Reasons are all over the place from it looks unprofessional, to they don't provide this or that, to there are too many steps in the payment process. And then there are those who absolutely swear by it.
While the experiences you gather from the folks that post here will be invaluable, take a closer look for yourself. It's not perfect for all situations but it has been used quite effectively by some.
I personally have had my accounts frozen by PayPal, admittedly though it was justified the 1 time. The other time was complete BS though.. it just seems they are very quick with holding your money sometimes.
As far as reliability, they are pretty good. I can only recall a couple times where there were problems with processing. I *do* recall problems with their IPN (Instant Payment Notifcation) being delayed or not sent though.
I haven't tried their newer payment processing account yet.. i am in Canada and I don't think it's available yet.
Never had a problem with it.
I would say their performance is weak and that you can find lower rates by searching online for merchant accounts
Based on what?
Paypal can freeze your funds without notice.
And this is different than a merchant account... how?
For instance, my personal bank account. I think my bank is horrid. Yet, I have heard many good things about them from other people. Go figure.
I guess you take your chances no matter where you go.
Not in the last few years. Only when they first started and were ripped off for millions by frausters did some innocent people get involved. After that, the frausters themselves took to posting bogus stuff everywhere.
I've been with them for 5 years and it is the best bank I have ever dealt with or used. It is the only service on the web I would recommend without hesitation or reservation. Every dealing I have ever had with them has been first rate service and class.
Now that PP has the virtual terminal and the transparent cc processing, I think it is hands down better than a merchant account.
> on how reliable they are.
In what regard? They have a perfect track record here (over 10k total transactions through them this year and about half that many each year back for 5 years.).
As a buyer, I prefer using Paypal since I do not have to give out my credit card (CC) details to every vendor. I like to minimize my CC exposure on the net. With Paypal, unless Paypal itself gets hacked, your details are safe. As a buyer, I also find it easier to dispute a transaction and receive my money than a traditional credit card.
If you are concerned about CC security, get a CC that offers throw-away numbers. For questionable sites, I give them the throw-away number with a low authorization amount with the card expiring in two months. Its hard for a thief to do anything with a CC like that.
Now we are the only place in the world with ebay threads restricted to no more than 10 posts ..gagged .
Untrue. I just had a look on the Ebay France fourm and there was one thread with 176,606 posts/replies.
The only problems for us, which have been recently solved with the advent of Website Payments Pro, were that many clients regarded paypal as "unprofessional" when they are redirected to make payments on the paypal page. Also, I often found people without a paypal account trying to make an instant payment would try to sign up for a new account rather than clicking the option for those without an account causing delays.
Payments Pro is a lot more flexible and you don't need to leave your website which takes care of the snob factor.
So, yeah, Paypal is all good.
With a 2.2% + 30 cents fee regardless of card brand or type, I'm very comfortable using PayPal Website Payments Pro.
