Is paypal safe?

@ronaldinu (12422)
Malta
October 17, 2008 7:50am CST
A friend of mine sold a pair of shoes to a buyer via Ebay and paypal. Everything went smooth. My friend received the payment after a few days, later on my friend received a positive feedback and that the buyer was pleased with the item. However after fifteen days from the purchase Paypal deducted money from my friend's account because they claimed that the money was fraudaulent. The buyer had 100% positive feedback. My friend tried to contact paypal several times each time talking to different people and give the same answer, it was a fraudalent money and we cannot do anyting about it. So my friend ended paying even for the item's postage from her own pocket. As a result she removed her paypal account.D on't you think that since it was Paypal's job to secure that money was safe?
6 people like this
52 responses
@moondancer (7433)
• United States
17 Oct 08
Paypal has done me wrong a couple of times. And when they tell you that your account is closed, it's not. I called them for over 3 years, many times in that time. Each time being told that all of my information, as I requested was being removed from their system. WRONG! They never did it. I kept getting emails telling me someone had added something to my paypal. If I didn't do it to go into my account. I would not go into my account but call them. Telling them, I'm not even suppose to have an account with you any longer. Each time getting the same response. They will take out all of my info, never doing this. One time someone got my info and bought over $500 worth of things and sent them to some apartment in California. When they "investigated" they got told by someone at the apt that no one there had recieved a package. Like they would really tell them they had when they used someone elses account to purchase things, come on now...get real! Another thing happened I don't know what it is. I still have an account with them after about 7 years of fighting with them over it. One I can't ever get into if I wanted to. I have tried in the past 2 months and have to call them everytime. The only reason I "need them is because of mylot. I wish mylot would let us use another paying place besides paypal. They don't yet and I don't foresee it in the near future. When I told people here that I'd had trouble with paypal, they seemed to think I was crazy or something. They or no one they know has had trouble with them. Well, you know me and I have. Paypal will not make good on any money sent through them or mistakes in many ways, not made by you but them. It's a shame when many places only allow us to use them to get our money here in the US.
3 people like this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
17 Oct 08
Your feedback is really enlightening.
• United States
17 Oct 08
Thank you for the BR. This is a touchy subject for me, as I litterally do hate paypal as of awhile back. For all the heck they have put me through.
@vmksvmks (413)
• Canada
18 Oct 08
From you post indeed i would quit Paypal myself but i have been a membre of PayPal for 10 years and never had a problem and i am talking from at $10,000 I mean no offense but i suspect i am missing something Nevertheless I was be furious if this happened to me As a matter last week i had $500.00 sent to my bank account from Pay Pal and no problem it arrived in 4 days Good Luck
2 people like this
@rusty2rusty (6751)
• Defiance, Ohio
17 Oct 08
No, it isn't Paypals job to make sure the money isn't from a stolen account. It sounds like your friend was caught up in a scam. The person on ebay had used someone elses account to buy the shoes. I will back up paypal. But have my reserves with all the scam,ming going on with Ebay.
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
17 Oct 08
If they are receiving commission from the seller than it is their job to ensure that the transaction is smooth. otherwise why are they getting paid for?
1 person likes this
@redfang (967)
20 Oct 08
There are two sides to the scam you are talking about here. The first side is what you said, someone hijacks someone elses account, buys a product, also hijacks their paypal account, pays for the item then has it delivered to a different address. This is the less likely of the two scams to be used. The second type of scam is that someone buys a product ( as has happened ) they pay for it via paypal, they receive the item, they leave feedback then a few days later they say to paypal " this wasn't me who paid for it my card has been stolen ", paypal then take the money back and refund it to the buyer, so now the buyer has the goods and their money back while the sellers is minus an item and minus the money. Paypal is about as safe as leaving your money under your matress, if you get burgled your money is gone the loopholes paypal have open are the same as allowing burglars into your home. Many people know about paypals loopholes and so do paypal yet no matter how many people are scammed through them they do nothing to tighten their policies and remove these loopholes. As paypal are owned by ebay and ebay is run by a board of extremely greedy people there is no likely hood of paypal ever changing for the better. Anyone who is under the illusion that stuff like this does not go on on the " sacred " Ebay and paypal check out www.paypalsucks.com you'll be horrified. If you sell on ebay you must always be prepared to loose your money and your goods as paypal will not give a toss about you if that happens.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Oct 08
I have been using paypal for 8 years and have never had any trouble with them
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
18 Oct 08
neither do I. But I never sold online through them. I always bought items through paypa and up till now it was ok. However it seems that sellers are not protected enough with Paypal
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Oct 08
PayPal is as safe as the people who use it. Its not PayPal jobs to hunt down those who misuse its intent, its not their job, they house the money and you spend it.
1 person likes this
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
18 Oct 08
I think that 15 days are excessive. If the money was fraudalent they should have realised immediately. The item was already sent so the seller has to bear the expenses of the item plus posting. It's not fair on the seller.
1 person likes this
@sudalunts (5523)
• United States
17 Oct 08
My husband and I have used paypal for years as payment for Ebay items. The only thing I can think of is the buyer must have used an invalid credit card as payment. It could be that the credit card had expired, or the wrong numbers were put in. I think overall, paypal is relatively safe. With paypal, if you do not have the funds in your paypal account the money will be taken from your checking or credit card account that is on file with paypal. If the buyer has a 100% rating, maybe your friend should contact him and let him know that the payment did not go through. The buyer could honestly not realize that his card was bad.
2 people like this
@avonrep1 (1862)
• United States
28 Oct 08
Some people are theives. Its a sad world, but I too have had something like this happen to me. I put on ebay a collectors edition of Risk. A woman bought it, gave me feedback and then told paypal the item wasn't as discribed, though it was. She even damaged the box, which had no damage when I sent it out. Luckly, I was able to resell the item, but for about $10 less that what it sold for the first time, as the witch put a hole in the box, so she could get paypal to refund her money. Come to find out, her husband got mad at her, for buying their 5 year old son a collectors edition of this game and for spending so much money on it. When she requested a refund from Paypal, paypal suspended my account. I was angry, and not too happy about it. It took over a month to get it all straighten out and for my account to be back up. I have since included in all my listing that ALL USED ITEMS ARE FINAL. That way paypal, will back up the seller and not the buyer. Now it is different if someones information is stolen, but I haven't had anymore of people trying to get something for nothing.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
28 Oct 08
I am sorry that you had to go through this experience.
• Ireland
17 Oct 08
I can't understand how PayPal can accept fraudulent money. Having used PayPal for a number of years, I have never had any problems with them and I have always assumed that they were 99.9% safe. I don't know about other countries but here in Ireland, it is necessary for us to register a credit card in order to open a PayPal account. Then whenever we purchase anything via PayPal, they take the money from out credit card. If there was no funds on the card, I am sure that the payment wouldn't go through. I feel that PayPal should be responsible for the payment for the shoes as your friend wouldn't have posted them without first receiving payment. I must talk to a friend of mine who works for PayPal and ask about what happens in this type of situation. It would certainly make me think twice about receiving PayPal payments in the future.
• Ireland
17 Oct 08
Will do ronaldinu.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
17 Oct 08
Please do forward me any answers you might receive from your friend who works for paypal
• Malta
20 Oct 08
Paypal is only safe for buyers! An identical problem happened to me. So you end up paying postage from your pocket, and without your shoes. The expense was only about 18 sterling but I am not worried about that, It's just the way you are treated. We hear alot from ebay - not to do transactions outside ebay because we are not protected. My transaction was done through ebay and I wasn't protected also. You just keep getting the same reply from all the different people you contact in ebay and paypal. For me it's paypal's mistake as they are supposed to check about the money I received. I also closed both accounts. They asked for a reason I am closing account "WE HATE TO SEE YOU GO!" I gave a description of the whole thing and I did not even get a reply. Buyers and sellers should all be protected especially in a case where it's obvoius the person ha no fault. Speaking "from the business point of view" sellers should be protected more than buyers because it's the seller who pays commission!
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
20 Oct 08
thanks for your detailed contribution and a first hand experience with paypal
@bombshell (11256)
• Germany
19 Oct 08
paypal is safer to buy in ebay or online.you can even get your money back if you dont satisfied the stuff you bought in ebay.my hubby did it many times and it works.
1 person likes this
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
17 Oct 08
I don't think that they are responsible for making sure that the purchaser is a legitimate buyer with a legitimate account. I do not believe that it is their responsibility to do that. They do not have to assume that responsibility. Can you imagine if they did? They would probably not be able to stay in business. There are plenty of people who try to run scams and what happened to your friend unfortuately happens quite often. This is what can happen when you sell an item on Ebay. You run the risk of being scammed by the buyer. She is not the only person who this has ever happened to. I never would buy or sell anything on Ebay. I am not that trusting of people that I don't know. I have a girlfriend that buys and sells things on Ebay all the time with no problem. But, she has been lucky. I know others who have not been as lucky. Like I said, I don't believe that it is PayPals responsibility to absorb the costs if a buyer decides to scam a seller.
17 Oct 08
I have had problems with paypal in the past. I remember sending a phone to someone who I had sold it to on ebay, they recieved it, gave me positive feedback everything ok ... then all of a sudden a week or so later they are going through paypal saying they didn't receieve it!!!!????!! Even after I sent paypay proof of delivery they were trying to side with the buyerliar! It really got my back up at the time!
• Philippines
17 Oct 08
This is my first time to hear such an incident... thanks for the discussion. will look forward to other responses for me learn more... safe or not... we don't know much...
1 person likes this
@Humbug25 (12540)
18 Oct 08
Hi there ronaldinu That is really bad, I have never heard of such a thing happening. I must admit that I have never sold anything online and have only ever bought items. I think paypal should take some responsibility in this matter, really they should.
• Ireland
1 Nov 08
personally i think paypal is great but i have heard stories like that where paypal have been stupid and even frozen peoples accounts because of mistakes that paypal themselves made, but i think its a good system and to the majoity of people is very safe
• Canada
19 Oct 08
I have had a few minor problems with PayPal, but on the whole, I think PayPal is OK. The problems that I had were resolved quickly, and in one case PayPal called ME to report a problem with my account (someone hacked it) before I even had the chance to call them. They are really on the ball, and take good care of their customers.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
18 Oct 08
I use paypal all the time. But only for Mylot to pay me and for me to do something with that money afterward. Ebay is always saying Paypal is the best way to pay and be paid. Did your friend contact ebay and tell the problem? Did paypal contact ebay? Sounds like the 100% satisfaction for the buyer is because sellers are rating them before the money is redrawn out of the account. Maybe sellers should hold off on writing positive reviews before they know what will happen to the money. What took paypal 15 days to figure this out? Why did they pay your friend with fraudulent funds? They should have made sure the money was there and real before paying your friend. This really worries me because I wanted to sell on ebay and paypal must be a choice. I would just as soon have money order. They're good forever in the US and I know the post office will pay me. Take care.
@gtdonna (1738)
21 Oct 08
Never had any problems with Paypal so yes I would say that it is very safe but it all depends on what you do. For me I look at a person Feeback, and then look to see what others are leaving for them feedback wise. I have had money sitting in Paypal for years without any problems
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
26 Oct 08
How did they know it was fraudulent? I don't think it's Paypal's job to determine whether a transaction is good or honest, it's just a way to exchange money. If that money came from an overdrawn bank account, I could see where it would be fraudulent, but since Paypal allowed the transaction they should be the ones out the money, not your friend.
@iyah10 (4115)
• Kuwait
27 Oct 08
Whow, if it is not safe to have our money stay with Paypal then I guess it would be a good way to transfer the funds direct to our Bank account and I do hope it will work so well.....
@snipero (358)
• Italy
18 Oct 08
also for me is the first time i've heard a problem like this...i use paypal since 2006 and i never had a problem for sending or receiving money.