O.MG. That's beyond unbelieveable. I think you handled yourself extremely well. In the circumstances I probably would've torn some new holes in the customer service people in my rush to get it fixed. Go you!
Also, it's nice to have my irrational gut-feeling justified :p I've avoided paypal for years, since way back in Red Board days, even. It's always been in that "slightly irrational" basket of things I don't like for no obvious reason. Something about the whole thing just struck me as, I dunno, off. Lately I've been eyeing it up and thinking it might be useful, and that perhaps I'm just being paranoid. Guess not. Yikes. Hehe, go the years-long gut feeling.
Y'know, that's interesting that you mention your gut feeling that's kept you away from PayPal. I had the same feeling about it when I encountered it for the first time several years ago... and obviously I ignored it. I justified myself by saying, "Well, eBay uses it almost exclusively, so it's got to be reputable and reliable and safe." Um, not so much.
In its defense, I have used PayPal for YEARS with no troubles. For a while earlier this year, and for a while last year, there was a LOT of activity on my account, because I was getting stuff for Bag End off of eBay. I wonder if I got targeted in part because mine is one of those accounts that sees a lot of activity for a couple of months, and then no activity for several months. Maybe the identity-thieves figured nobody would catch on. I'm SO glad that I'm a compulsive e-mail-checker. God knows how much they would've charged to my account if I hadn't caught them while they were actually doing it! Maybe after this I'll take a lesson about listening to my gut instincts.
( ... )
A year ago, my eBay account was spoofed. I got an email from them stating they had cancelled several auctions as suspect. Ebay placed a hold on my account. I went through most of the hoops to change all the security settings, but just left the account held. I don't need no stinking eBay. As for Paypal, I think I going to close that up as soon as I finish typing this post.
I've had a couple of rocky experiences with eBay, but nothing that put me off using it... but I expect it was just a matter of time before something did. But PayPal, oy. *headshake a LOT*
Last year or so, somebody got hold of my credit card number online and made some fraudulent purchases with it. My credit card company really looked out for me -- they caught it and called to ask if it was really me, and when I said it wasn't, they credited me back, no questions asked, and pursued the investigation on their own time with no penalty to me. When I bought Colin (and also bought books from a company in the UK on the same day!), my new credit card company also contacted me to make sure it was really me. It makes me feel confident to know that they're looking out for me. PayPal, though, is doing the opposite. They're giving the OTHER person the benefit of the doubt and penalizing me. Assholes. Well, here's one customer they've lost, hardcore.
That REALLY sucks. Big time. I'm glad it got "figured" out, but still...
a year or two ago, I inadvertently clicked on a PayPal link in an email (now I know it was a phishing one), and before I realized what I was doing, it was too late.
A couple of months later, Paypal was telling me my account was fraudulently accessed. So, I had to go through all the mess to re-privatize it. It wasn't fun and my account was suspended until it was cleared. NO ebay!
I haven't had any problems yet, but I have heard a lot of bad things about PayPal lately.
That sucks!! It's a particularly low blow that you had to go through all that when you weren't even using the thing in the first place. PayPal is really going to have to make some improvements to its methods if it wants to survive, I think. The security of people's identities and finances is the LAST thing they need to be playing around with! >:|
Sorry to hear this happened to you! *hugs* It's too bad that paypal is so ubiquitous; if they had more serious competitors they might provide better customer service.
Thanks, my friend. If this sort of thing happens very often, PayPal needs to worry about getting hella better security even more than they need to worry about customer service. They're bound to get sued a LOT. >:(
By the time I realized PayPal was taking money out of my bank account, it was already done; the money had been transferred. If PayPal hadn't made it right TODAY and put the money back, I was jumping through that phone to kill somebody, I tell you what. NOT COOL.
Fortunately, the whole thing ended with no harm (besides the stress) done. Whew!
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Also, it's nice to have my irrational gut-feeling justified :p I've avoided paypal for years, since way back in Red Board days, even. It's always been in that "slightly irrational" basket of things I don't like for no obvious reason. Something about the whole thing just struck me as, I dunno, off. Lately I've been eyeing it up and thinking it might be useful, and that perhaps I'm just being paranoid. Guess not. Yikes. Hehe, go the years-long gut feeling.
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In its defense, I have used PayPal for YEARS with no troubles. For a while earlier this year, and for a while last year, there was a LOT of activity on my account, because I was getting stuff for Bag End off of eBay. I wonder if I got targeted in part because mine is one of those accounts that sees a lot of activity for a couple of months, and then no activity for several months. Maybe the identity-thieves figured nobody would catch on. I'm SO glad that I'm a compulsive e-mail-checker. God knows how much they would've charged to my account if I hadn't caught them while they were actually doing it! Maybe after this I'll take a lesson about listening to my gut instincts. ( ... )
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Identity theft can be too freaky easy.
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Last year or so, somebody got hold of my credit card number online and made some fraudulent purchases with it. My credit card company really looked out for me -- they caught it and called to ask if it was really me, and when I said it wasn't, they credited me back, no questions asked, and pursued the investigation on their own time with no penalty to me. When I bought Colin (and also bought books from a company in the UK on the same day!), my new credit card company also contacted me to make sure it was really me. It makes me feel confident to know that they're looking out for me. PayPal, though, is doing the opposite. They're giving the OTHER person the benefit of the doubt and penalizing me. Assholes. Well, here's one customer they've lost, hardcore.
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a year or two ago, I inadvertently clicked on a PayPal link in an email (now I know it was a phishing one), and before I realized what I was doing, it was too late.
A couple of months later, Paypal was telling me my account was fraudulently accessed. So, I had to go through all the mess to re-privatize it. It wasn't fun and my account was suspended until it was cleared. NO ebay!
I haven't had any problems yet, but I have heard a lot of bad things about PayPal lately.
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Fortunately, the whole thing ended with no harm (besides the stress) done. Whew!
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