Archive for the ‘PayPal’ Category

Checking to see if a person’s PayPal user name is verified, is relatively simple.  You just need their PayPal email address, or the email address you suspect is a PayPal email address.

1. Then open up your web browser of choice
2. Log into your PayPal Account
3. Paste the following url – https://www.paypal.com/us/verified/pal=
4. Then paste the email address
   1. so that it looks something like this
   2. https://www.paypal.com/us/verified/pal=[email protected]
5. You hit enter, and
6. PayPal will spit out a check telling you if that email address is associated with a verified user.

I noticed an interesting little tidbit on an email from AirTran this morning.  About half way down the email they had a little blurb stating that AirTran now accepts PayPal.

Now as a internet publisher and blogger, I receive a large portion of my income in the form of payments through PayPal.  Even a great deal of my consulting work is paid via PayPal.

I also travel a significant amount and typically pay for my travel expenses with PayPal.  There was a time, when have PayPal as a checkout option was the mark of a web presence that could not afford merchant services or could not afford to pay a web designer to implement it.  That was also back when PayPal had a much smaller user base of users (before eBay and before blogging came into existence).

Now that PayPal is becoming more main stream, a website that does not offer it is actually possibly going to face a negative perception issue in the opposite direction.  Especially since PayPal pays 1% cash back on purchases made via PayPal.

In case you have ever attempted to make a credit card payment (ergo a payment to your credit card) directly from say your PayPal account where you receive 1% cash back, its not technically possible.

Credit card companies typically only accept payments on the phone or online directly from your bank account.  So this means you can not use your PayPal account to get a 1% discount on the payment of your credit card bill.

There are several reasons for this that include but are not limited to the following:

• Making a payment to a credit card account essentially with a credit card number or the full 16 digit debit card number, could enable money laundering (transferring funds back and forth between accounts very fast to hide something)
• Enabling this would make it possible for some kind of loop to be setup whereby you could borrow money from your credit card at 0% interest and then pay it back with your paypal account taking a 1% discount on the total(less the credit card transaction fees).  PayPal likes to work with the credit card companies not against them. 
• Credit card companies may want your payment, but they do not necessarily want your pay ‘offs’ to be easy.  Paying with another debit or credit card number such as paypal might make it too easy for you to make rapid micro payments, decrease your balance faster, increase the number of transactions they have to process and decrease the amount of the finance and interest charges they might accrue.

If you need to get funds from your PayPal account to your credit card fast, your best bet is going to be to withdraw the funds (3-4 days for free) or pay for electronic transfer, and then once the funds have cleared and are in your bank, you can transfer them in a payment to your credit card using a check over the phone or possibly through your normal bill pay service.

If the amount is small and you need the paypal withdrawal fast, then go to an ATM, use your debit card to withdraw cash, and then redeposit that cash into your bank account. 

possibly redepositing the cash into the same ATM using your back account ATM card.

All in all this micro finance stuff is not necessarily designed to be easy, on purpose.  So be prepared to work within the system and not skate outside of it.  It may not be as easy to work with as installing door hardware, but it can work to your advantage if you know what is allowed and what is not allowed.

Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

So I finally got the info to submit a claim to PayPal for the funds that they withdrew from my account in duplicate.  It only took 45 minutes on hold, and the help representative is still off on a lark as I type this.

I received an automated message that really pissed me off and sent my blood pressure up.  It stated

We have received your affidavit for the disputed debit card transaction.

Your affidavit will be processed within 45 business days.

Sincerely,

PayPal Chargeback Division

 

Now this problem involved a fairly large amount of money.  PayPal screwed up not me, not the merchant, PayPal and now they send me an automated message telling me that they may sit on my money for 45 days!

No, I don’t think so.  When that representative gets back on the phone (and I get off hold) I’m going to demand that they fix this tonight.

. .

Update he came back, Tried to tell me that I hadn’t been double charged at all, but then walks me through the details that initially show me that I was TRIPLE charged!

I ask to speak with his manager or supervisor (back on hold) (no answer from his manager) he then informs me that he is actually the supervisor but has no power of chargebacks.

He is ultimately able to confirm for me that there was in fact a duplicate charge and demonstrates to me in the account that the third charge was given back to me.

Holy Cow this is just nuts, and now I am waiting on a phone call from a manager that does not even answer his phone. 

I picked the wrong week to stop over dosing on Ephedrasil Hardcore diet pills cut with heroin.

So even though PayPal notified me that they would fix the transaction, that apparently was not correct.

So I was then told to log in and submit a dispute on the charge.  Unfortunately, a duplicate charge is not a category option within the PayPal system.  This resulted in the new operator asking for feedback and putting me on hold at least 3 times.  He kept telling me to select options that were not on the form. 

I distinctly got the impression that he wanted to hang up on me and force me to go through the form by myself, but the form was obviously not the right form for this problem so I had to stick with this joker to get my account fixed and money back.

Now before I began working on the internet, I used to be an accountant and worked extensively with commercial collection agencies such as The CIT group and others.  I do understand that these call centers don’t like to keep people on the phone as this essentially costs them money.  As I write this, I’ve been on the phone for 32 minutes, which is probably completely screwing up the call centers response metrics.

Not my problem, but it shouldn’t result in agents trying to dump me off the phone before they have actually helped me with a problem.

This week I experienced a first with PayPal.  I was double charged for a debit card transaction.  I charged X Amount of money on my Debit Card.

The firm that I paid received X Amount.

PayPal then reduced my account by X Amount once.

Then PayPal reduced my account by X Amount a second time.

This was not a transaction where they initiate the charge just to confirm my balance.  This was a completed transaction.

This happened at the end of September.  About 5 days after the transaction I received the following email:

Due to a processing error, you were debited twice for a PayPal Debit Card transaction(s) you initiated on September xx, 2008. We apologize for any inconvenience our error may have caused.

We are in the process of correcting this matter and will refund the duplicate payment(s) directly back to your PayPal account balance.

If you have incurred any banking fees as a result of this issue, please contact us within 10 business days to request a refund. We may request copies of statements or receipts showing the amount of banking fees or charges that you incurred. 

Please know that this is not intended functionality and future PayPal Debit Card transactions should function as normal.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at (888) 221-1161.

Three days after receiving this email, I still had not received a credit to my account.  I phoned in to PayPal to find out where my money was.  The merchant did not have it, I did not have it, and PayPal had not apparently done anything yet.

The phone menu system of PayPal was extremely troubling, I finally was put in touch with an ‘Agent’ who promptly became confused by completely unrelated transactions with different amounts on my account. 

They gave up and transferred me to someone in the debit card section of PayPal, where I am on hold now. 

Bottom line lesson here is always follow up with your PayPal account.

Currently, I’m out a bunch of money waiting for PayPal to get their own accounts fixed, which they knew were out of whack.  Fortunately, I did not immediately need this money for bills or fitness equipment or food or something.

If you transact with PayPal on a regular basis, you may feel that the account operates much the same as any other bank or credit card account.  In many ways this is very true.  However, it is still an online payment facility and in some ways their security is tighter than other systems.

If you receive a large payment over $2,000 – $5,000, you can likely expect a temporary restriction on your account and a request for a personal or business credit check depending on your account type.  If you are a US citizen this will likely require the submission of your social security number or a tax identification number, a common attribute many professional bloggers use anyway.

Common Notification Message from PayPal for Credit Check

We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information about your business to allow us to provide uninterrupted service. We would like to return your account to regular standing as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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Why do I need to provide additional information about my account?
We require additional information about your account for the following reason(s):

Nov. 17, 2005: PayPal occasionally performs credit checks on selected account holders. Your account has been selected to go through this process. We must complete a credit review in order for the warning on your account to be lifted. In most cases, the account holder’s personal credit is analyzed using a Social Security number and an address likely to generate a match with a credit bureau. Please log into your PayPal account to provide this information. If an examination of your business credit would be more appropriate, please contact our customer service department to supply your Tax ID number.

PayPal like other banks is required to report large transactions to the US Government under SARS and several other systems and laws.  To complete these reports, they need your social security number.  The purpose of this is to give the United States Government enough information to track activity and insure that a person or group of persons are not engaging in money laundering activities.

This is a common activity that occurs when people buy cars, or large dollar items.  Credit checks help the company on the front line assess the likelihood of a potential credit freeze by other companies or banks as well.  This technique can be used when you apply for loans, credit, or even if you get a car insurance online quote.

ACT RIGHT AWAY!  Do Not Do Nothing

It is very important that you comply with this request as quickly as possible.  Otherwise, your restricted account could be locked and you could be prevented from receiving, sending or withdrawing money.

In addition, PayPal may also require you to ‘set your credit check address’.  You may recall setting a business address and or a home address.  This is an additional section or button in the same section of PayPal, a new feature that can be triggered by random or by large transactions.

PayPal Limits Transaction Sizes to No More Than $10,000