Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 11712
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2025/05/28 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
5/28    

2004/1/8-9 [Computer/Companies/Ebay] UID:11712 Activity:nil
1/7     Don't EVER, EVER, EVER send money order to any seller on eBay. eBay
        has absolutely no control of anything and does not make refund when
        you're screwed. I learned it from the hard way.
        \_ ebay has no fraud department? i'm shocked.
        \_ use a credit card, sucker!
        \_ details?
        \_ Uhm, duh?  Next you'll be telling us that PayPal has fucked you
           over, too.  Ebay's policy is online and you can read the PayPal
           policy at http://paypalsucks.com
        \_ Especially if the seller's address is the International House.  I
           worked for 6 mos. at a company that (unbelievably) took credit card
           orders, purchased money orders and sent them to sellers--with no
           item escrow (oh, and that was the side business, not anything I
           worked on).  One seller from IHouse (I recognized the address when
           it was being passed around the office) legitimately sold
           electronics for 3-4 years, and then skipped town (to Turkey) after
           taking $10,000 in payments and shipping nothing.  Last I heard, the
           FBI is getting into it, but the company basically got
           screwed--credit card payments got reversed even though we performed
           the service (because the buyer didn't receive the product).  Did I
           mention how quickly I went to another job?  [formatd]
           \_ I'm confused.  What role did your company play in this?
              \_ The buyer purchased a money order from us using a credit card.
                 We (well, not me) then sent the money order to the seller.
                 Scary, eh?
                 \_ Is that company still around?  I'd like to do some
                    business with them.
                    \_ That part of the business is closed.  The other part (the
                       part I worked on) is doing quite well.
        \_ so what's the safest method of payment on eBay? Is it this order?
           dangerous|  cash->MO->check->paypal->credit card   |SAFE
           \_ I'd send cash in a clear plastic envelope before I used PayPal.
              http://paypalsucks.com
        \_ Watch 'Catch Me If You Can', good movie
        \_ Don't buy stuff on eBay unless you're willing to risk being
           ripped off, or willing to pay for escrow.  Also, the buyer
           should pick the escrow company.  There are a number of cases of
           crooked sellers reccomending fake escrow companies.
2025/05/28 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
5/28    

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paypalsucks.com
FAQs page and it's right at the top, plus their toll free numbers as well. No place do they openly tell potential members that their money is 100% at risk. That PayPal can, will, and has in the past, completely cleaned out customers' accounts, (including your checking or savings account) with no appeals process available. "Telling your side" of what happened, in most cases seems to be irrelevant. They also refuse to provide you with the details of their investigation and withhold documents they relied upon to make their decisions. Your only contact will be an email that says: Thank you for contacting PayPal. We apologize for the delay in respondingto your service request. After review, the decision has been made to keep your account locked. If you have any further questions, please reply to this email. You can email back, but you'll just get more of the same. If a customer "disputes" the charge, same thing happens. At one time, PayPal was the cheapest way to send money, but they are now one of the most expensive, plus you totally at their mercy in regards to chargebacks. We understand Paypal charging a fee when you fund your account with a credit card. After all, they are being charged by Visa/Mastercard, etc. And we understand there is a lot of fraud with credit card funding. However, most of the money sent within the Paypal system no longer comes from credit card funding. However, money spent from PayPal account to PayPal account is subject to the exact same fees credit card purchases are! This money has been in the system for years and is "clean." That is, there are no fees at all to Paypal, and there is almost no fraud at all with this money, but Paypal charges the SAME fees to transactions with NON-credit card funds! Thus every transaction makes PayPal money, but it's nothing more than an entry in a computer database on their system. No money has actually moved, and there are no costs to Paypal. UPDATE: - We all get a win from PayPal: "As a result of customer complaints, PayPal has also received inquiries regarding its restriction and disclosure practices from the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of a number of states. If PayPals processes are found to violate federal or state law on consumer protection and unfair business practices, it could be subject to an enforcement action or fines. If PayPal loses the litigation described above or becomes subject to an enforcement action, it could be required to restructure its anti-fraud processes in ways that would harm its business, and to pay substantial damages or fines. Note to Sollitto: It was a "vocal minority of squeaky wheels" that founded this country! So, if you are scammed and PayPal doesn't even offer a phone number to talk to you about it, if your account is frozen for reasons completely out of your control (or even knowledge) and want to know why, or when you can get your money, or if you can't get the site to take your credit card or bank account, you are just a "vocal minority of squeaky wheels." Multiple that by their "average" of 29% and you see they are making $464,000 A DAY, or about $14Million a month. One would think they could hire some real customer service people to handle customers' issues.