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I've had Paypal since 2000, and it was a boon when actively dealing with virtual properties. More recently, I've come to love their virtual credit cards for mak

by sireat 17y ago

I've had Paypal since 2000, and it was a boon when actively dealing with virtual properties. More recently, I've come to love their virtual credit cards for making one time purchases on sites which may not be entirely trustworthy. That said, when things did go wrong it was a major PIA to correct them. When their fraud detection kicked in because of my traveling, the hoops to get the account reactivated were enormous. When doing business through Paypal, I had to take in account the fraud rate, which for virtual properties was quite high. Most likely, for normal people selling normal things, the hassle is just not worth it.

petercooper 17y ago
That said, when things did go wrong it was a major PIA to correct them. When their fraud detection kicked in because of my traveling, the hoops to get the account reactivated were enormous. I'm a platinum card holder of a major credit card and I had exactly the same issues (except my card was deactivated for 2 weeks). I don't think this is a PayPal problem per se but one of a general lack of customer service standards in the finance industry.
- mblakele 17y ago
  Hmm... I've had the opposite experience with my credit card issuers. When I'm traveling a lot for business, I seem to have a card number stolen every 9-18 months. When this happens, the issuer always phones me before I notice any odd charges (and then I phone them back to handle it, because anyone can claim to work for the fraud detection department). Both companies have also been good on the rare occasions when I've disputed charges. Of course I always travel with at least one spare card, so it doesn't inconvenience me much if they need to cancel a card and send me a replacement. But I wonder how that would work if I didn't regularly return to a fixed address? How do the digital nomad types handle these problems?
  - petercooper 17y ago
    Not exactly a solution, but I have five credit cards. A few of them I don't even use any more but it's handy to have them there.

by sireat 17y ago

petercooper 17y ago

That said, when things did go wrong it was a major PIA to correct them. When their fraud detection kicked in because of my traveling, the hoops to get the account reactivated were enormous. I'm a platinum card holder of a major credit card and I had exactly the same issues (except my card was deactivated for 2 weeks). I don't think this is a PayPal problem per se but one of a general lack of customer service standards in the finance industry.

mblakele 17y ago
Hmm... I've had the opposite experience with my credit card issuers. When I'm traveling a lot for business, I seem to have a card number stolen every 9-18 months. When this happens, the issuer always phones me before I notice any odd charges (and then I phone them back to handle it, because anyone can claim to work for the fraud detection department). Both companies have also been good on the rare occasions when I've disputed charges. Of course I always travel with at least one spare card, so it doesn't inconvenience me much if they need to cancel a card and send me a replacement. But I wonder how that would work if I didn't regularly return to a fixed address? How do the digital nomad types handle these problems?
- petercooper 17y ago
  Not exactly a solution, but I have five credit cards. A few of them I don't even use any more but it's handy to have them there.