Dear fellow Ebay sellers: it's true...paypal SUCKS.
After selling on Ebay for over 5 years and receiving Paypal for more than 3, I came to the conclusion that Paypal do not give a #%&* to sellers. Check my story out:
I sold one item to a buyer in Canada back in 11/06. The buyer sent me an e-mail claiming that he received the item but was not happy with the size. I told he could sent back for an exchange (my return policy) and he never did. Instead, he filed a non-receipt claim with Paypal on 12/06 and escalated to a claim. The buyer is verified and has a confirmed address. The item was mailed via USPS Air Mail with those famous green customs forms. It shows on-line that it was mailed but Canada Post does not scan as delivered. Botton line: I contacted Paypal and told the claim was fraudulent because I had proof that the buyer had received the item according to the e-mail he sent me. I forwarded to Paypal with the case number , etc...Today , for my surprise, Paypal gave the buyer his money back. I called paypal and explained that the claim was FRAUDULENT from the beginning, their answer: "nothing we can do because it does not show delivered". So, for the Paypal mind, an e-mail from the buyer stating that the item was received was not enough! Believe it or not: it's true. How can we deal with a situation like this? Guiness Book of Records should have a special section named: Biggest Paypal Screw Ups.

Happy New Year

I'd like to see PayPal stop playing payment processor and actually do their job. The term "cleared" means nothing. I just had funds that were cleared 15 days prior withheld now because PayPal apparently had a problem collecting on their end. I know this because I got the buyer's # and called him, but I was told by PayPal it may have been "potentially" unauthorized. You can delete my post, I have many here, but Paypal is about deception. It would appear as though they are actually making transactions that are good, legal, and verified, they are not. And they are quite quick to deny any responsibility to collect on their end. Any PayPal transaction that says "cleared" is not cleared by any means. I'm filing legal complaints now myself, as well as pursuing criminal charges against the buyer for presenting a form of payment that is no good, and willingly receiving the item and signing for it. They sign him up, they authorize and call the transaction "clear", demand that I ship within 10 days, and then 15 days later tell me to hold the package. They have a responsibility to collect from that person now, not me, but as you see, I am spending my time chasing my money now. And until I get my money, I will continue to post anyplace that shows this topic, and I will be filing complaints against both paypal and the buyer. They have no right to use the term "cleared" if they are not clearing the transaction. What kind of Enron style game are they playing? This I'm sure has to be illegal.

Be aware that Virtual Debit Card DOES NOT give cash back when used for purchases. To me this is deceiving because it uses a credit card number and CVC, just like a credit card. I have lost substantial cash back rewards because of this.
Another PayPal marketing tool to increase their profit and reduce the customer's benefits.

denhop:
Make sure you block them at your bank. If you have a credit card listed with your information to them, call the CC company and tell them your card was lost, they will issue you a new one within a couple of days, usually, and Paypal won't be able to hit that either. Since you are a seller, they will do whatever to yank your funds. When it comes to demanding anything from a buyer, they won't even bother, that would require them putting forth some effort in their course of business, and that's not gonna happen. $300? Email me and tell me more. I'm putting together a nice package of different people's issues, especially the one's that are of a high enough value to fall into interstate fraud category that the law will pursue. I've also got a return email from Dateline NBC. They are very interested, especially if they can show blatant illegal activity going on, and complete disregard(which in turn is aiding the illegal activity) from Paypal. Right now I'm out $479, 3 weeks later and they have yet to even call the guy. Only after my phone calls to him direct is he doing anything, but all he's doing is giving excuses, saying "he'll take care of it".
Let's do it! Stop posting here, and that means me too. We are just posting, not accomplishing anything. And what's even worse, is it seems the payPal lovers run rampant here. You can see how many people have yet to see the bad side of Paypal, they have yet to get burned by trusting them. They'll have their day, and then they will be here complaining about it. Look at what you get here. Sure, there are quite a few interested people that post good advice, and it is appreciated. But read some of these posts. I LMAO at some of these people, alot of them with virtually no rating at all. They haven't taken this seriously as we have, doing whatever it takes to please people and maintain a positive feedback rating. It certainly isn't easy for the seller in so many ways, with shipping being a coin toss, with knowing that the criminal elements are out there, and may target us next. We post hear and tend to get a large number of people quick to point out your mistakes, and when you follow the guidelines and you still get screwed, they still come up with some sort of explanation of how you're overreacting and etc. The problem is apparently they are slipping past vague laws and getting away with it. Apparently these laws need to be changed, and the government will only respond to as PayPal will, with force. It's time to stop posting and venting to the people who don't care......until they sit where we do, then I'm sure they'll be crying foul loud enough for the Martians to hear.

As an alternative to all, open a merchant account with any bank. All you need to do is file for a Fictitious Business Name through your local agency, in California this is how it is done anyway, once you get your filing done with that, which if you go in person you can have it in just a few minutes, you go to a bank of choice and open an account. Once you open an account with a bank, you MAY qualify as a "merchant". These days you can process anything via the internet. Prior to regretfully giving Paypal a try, we used Quickbooks because it allows our customers to verbally give us info without having to have the card present and charging extra fees, BUT, fees are high in some cases. You can process the payments via your computer, print a transaction receipt, you can scan that and send it to your customers pdf. if you need to. We used them for years. The only drawback and why I gave Paypal a shot is every couple of years they MAKE you update quickbooks to coninue using the service at a couple hundred dollars pop, whether you want to or not. The flip side? I would never have had the problems with them that I have had with Paypal, they would and NEVER have frozen my account, or done anything close to what Paypal has done to hinder my business. No terminal needed, 15 bucks a month plus percentage fees.

smith481,

Have you tried using the Alternate Confirmed Address process?
.

Kath V35

Kath,
I am new and don't qualify yet.