Paypal cancels cards in response to disputed transactions

[myst woman]

I am the last to know? Paypal cancels debit cards in response to disputed transactions. Even ones for 95 cents. Evidently I am the last to get the memo that disputing a transaction on Paypal results in a closed card with no warning, even if Paypal determines the use was authorized and valid.

Did I just not hear about this or is it well known? I just spoke to two operators, one of whom made up an entire Paypal feature that did not exist when i went into my account to look for it. God these people are stupid. When I asked to speak to a escalation manager they just kept saying they were sorry and I found no accountability in the calls.

Isn't it against fair banking practices or laws to do this? Isn't this the kind of punish the victim mentality that gets people to not dispute transactions? What kind of banking laws are in the united States if companies can cancel your credit card without notice instead of dealing with the customer?

Paypal is a disgusting disappointment to a tradition of banks that should have had some other answers than I dunno and i'm sorry. How is a bank sorry? . No wonder Moneybookers and others are sprouting up.

[hina]

This is new to me. But, is PayPal a bank? Should they adhere to "fair banking practices or laws"?

[jdk]

If someone is disputing a charge, saying they did not make the charge, why would a credit card company want to keep the card number active? Of course they are going to cancel it. Did they tell you they would not re-issue you a new card?

What is your story with them? Did you dispute a charge? Was it for $0.95? It seems your story is missing some facts unless you are just citing there so-called policy.

[myst woman]

I did dispute a charge and then they said it was good. THEN they deactivated the card to prevent future "losses". If the charge was valid, what loss was there? With no notification to me, the traveling cardholder, with no way to get a new card within 2-4 weeks at an address three states away?

The only one who loses is me. They falsely said I requested cancellation of the card and had no foundation for this when I called. The "duh" sound was evident. Per paypal: "we're really sorry" is the way they put it.

[Dale Hubbard]

PayPal are a law unto themselves. I don't understand why people get 'surprised' when they are royally screwed. They ARE a bank in their own right, set up in Luxembourg. Ask yourself what banking code of practice they are obliged to adhere to there.

[jdk]

Without knowing the whole story, if you disputed a charge with paypal, they must have had some kind of proof that the charge was legitimate i.e.) signed proof, or other methods of proof from the retailer to validate the charge. It sounds to me as if you made the charge and disputed it for some reason. Then you got screwed by Paypal stating the charge was legitimate and closed your card. As any bank will do, they will reissue you a new card number.

Think of it this way - You dispute a charge, saying you did not make the charge, this means someone else has your card information and is using it. Why would Paypal, or yourself, want to keep this card active? To minimize losses, ANY card company will cancel the card and re-issue a new one. IF NOT - who is to say the card will not be used again to make other purchases you are bound to dispute.

The only solution it sounds to me is to login to paypal and transfer the funds to your bank account on file. Then in 2-3 days the funds will be in your bank account and you can use your debit card or go to an ATM and get cash.

[abalto]

Paypal is horrible to deal with. I avoid them unless I absolutely have to use them. They only care about one thing and that is the fees that they extract out of everyone. It is not a coincidence that they are owned by eBay, because eBay is identical to deal with.

[Acro]

Paypal refused to reverse a charge for non-rendering of web Hosting services; they classify them as intangible items! Never pay a web host with Paypal, use CC instead.

[myst woman]

No they responded with no proof. still no proof even after I called.

The lesson stands: dispute a charge, lose your Paypal card. Nice way of a banking company to square its customers into a corner, no?

Sure, you can dispute a charge, but we'll cancel your card so you arestranded while traveling. Thanks for Paypallling!

Responding to a customer trying to protect themselves by questioning a charge unknown; especially by a google result that has fraud fraud fraud fraud scam scam scam result on every returned item for that company name. Banks should not have the customer penalized with a canceled card. How can they claim no further losses if no loss, according to them, was found? Amtrak has an online special that is usable only is you buy the ticket online. Maybe Paypal should write a handbook on hitchhiking eh?

Can't blame Amtrak for not having the Paypal plugin right? The Paypal representative on the phone told me allllllll about how I could use it and then when he guided me to find it....sucking sound...oh I'm really sorry. In fact, the word that resounds again and again in my head with Paypal. The word at Paypal is.....sorry we can't we don't are you sure then sorry. This on top of the bite and slice they take out of every payment and charge?

On top of that, if I had known the card was going to be canceled. i would have had time to make other arrangements. Then I got a email from them saying i had requested the card be canceled. i never did this, and when i called and asked what they were talking about I never got more than a "sorry". Paypal is sorry sorry sorry sorry.

That is not professional policy for online business dealing or legal banking practice. Banks have to notify you.

1. I could have transferred my balance and then after buying my travel online could have canceled the card.
2. I could have used an online travel service. They all need the MC card number and now thanks to Paypal I do not have it.
3. All my other accounts scheduled to recur that billing will now fall due or bounce. yay for Paypal!

another card in the 2-4 weeks does not help me at another address Payal won't send another card unless the bank in California verifies as my bank in oregon. Paypal will play gaaaaaaaaaaaames aplenty.

4. I specifically wrote in my email that I was traveling, and that I NEEDED THE CARD. paypal responded by canceling it.
Wow you have to give Paypal people credit for the customer service that keeps people standing on the freeway offramps.

Clever and creditable bankingn? No, senseless mass produced email 2-3 days late from some jacked up moron's home while watching the kids or WWF wrestling customer service. why read when you can just cancel the card. Thanks for playing Paypal, the home roulette edition.

I wrote that i did not dispute charges on either side of the disputed charge, and that my main concern was that no email notification from Paypal was sent to me of this charge, I only happened to see it in my account after reviewing my balance. That little detail was ignored by the "sorry" folks at Paypal. Sorry our big complicated computers can't do that Ricky....

Instead of answering why this email was never sent and the why the notification for this one charge was never sent, they responded by sending me a constructed email claiming i had requested the card be canceled, yet when i called nobody could answer those timely and important questions. Why deal with actual facts when you can strand customers! Paypal, thy name is dirt.


"I'm sorry" isn't that what Sirhan Sirhan said?

[draggar]

I did dispute a charge and then they said it was good. THEN they deactivated the card to prevent future "losses". If the charge was valid, what loss was there? With no notification to me, the traveling cardholder, with no way to get a new card within 2-4 weeks at an address three states away?

I wrote that i did not dispute charges on either side of the disputed charge, and that my main concern was that no email notification from Paypal was sent to me of this charge, I only happened to see it in my account after reviewing my balance. That little detail was ignored by the "sorry" folks at Paypal. Sorry our big complicated computers can't do that Ricky....

Unless I'm reading this wrong, you're contradicting yourself. You say you disputed the charge and they said that the charge was OK. This means that you saw a charge that you didn't make.

Then, you said that you didn't dispute a charge.

The thing is that if there was a dispute, this means that the card's security is compromised (it doesn't sound like you're stating that you didn't get something you paid for). Sure, it was $0.95 this time but next time it could be $95, $950, $9500, or more (thus cleaning out your bank account).

An email notification would have been nice to let you know that the card had been canceled, but normally when there are unauthorized charges on a card, the card will be canceled and a replacement will be shipped out (when my wife's purse was stolen it took us 3 weeks to get a new debt card so it was a nightmare for us just to get normal living items (groceries etc.).

[Keyword Factory]

The loss if the chargeback fee to the merchant. These are at least $15 - $20 if not more and some fees are charged to the merchant even when they win. There is nothing worse for a merchant than a customer who disputes a valid charge. The merchant has to drop what they are doing and file all this paperwork within a short deadline.

If someone caused me all that work over a 95 cent charge that was actually valid I would cancel their account.

[myst woman]

How can I provide paperwork for a company I never heard of?

I see what you are saying, but I specifically told them I was traveling and needed the card. Then they canceled it and then gave me an email letting me know.

How can I dispute a charge when I don't know what it was for? Normally i know my charges but this name I ahd never seen before. Paypal decided the charge was valid, then canceled the card to prevent "losses".

What losses if the charge was valid?

The loss if the chargeback fee to the merchant. These are at least $15 - $20 if not more and some fees are charged to the merchant even when they win. There is nothing worse for a merchant than a customer who disputes a valid charge. The merchant has to drop what they are doing and file all this paperwork within a short deadline.

If someone caused me all that work over a 95 cent charge that was actually valid I would cancel their account.

You'd wait until a client got their account cleaned out to then notify Paypal they didn't recognize you, the charge or vendor? Isn't responding to requests for verification of customer identity part of normal business procedure?

As I said before, the problem was that sicne there was no notification via email of this charge, i had no way to research it. I googled the name and it was a fraud scam company. That's why I asked Paypal for more information. They said I had to file a dispute charge to find out. So I did, and then they cancelled my card..

I am not HOME to receive a new card. I have to PURCHASE travel with the card I no longer have to GET there. Do merchants gamble that customers won't risk "bothering" the vendors whose bread and butter they pay for to protect themselves from identity fraud?

[denny007]

Well why not tell us who charged you for what ? Because sofar you did not convince me (probably many others) that Paypal done anything wrong.

[tekz999]

WHY did you chargeback is the main question for all confusion.

[myst woman]

I disputed a charge from avendor i did not recognize, whose billing notification memo was not sent to my email although every other Paypal charge always has been, and transactions on either side of the disputed charge were sent to me by email notification.

Asking questions about this got me burned. Paypal did not serve me, they served themselves form both ends, ducked my questions, did an end run around the requests I did make, and hid behind the bulletproof 1(800) I'm sorry customer service policy.

I don't have to make Paypal rich. I'll change my billing on as much as I can and like many many vendors out there discontinue using Paypal as much as possible.

[jdk]

I disputed a charge

Mystery solved. You disputed a charge therefore they will reissue you a new card. Any credit card company will do this. If you called to "question" a charge, to try and receive more information about it, is one thing, but when you dispute a charge, that is another.

Most of us know Paypal isn't the best. There are a few alternatives out there, but not widely used as Paypal. I still do not see the point of keeping funds in a Paypal balance knowing they are horrible with customer service let alone having a Paypal credit card with them. My money stays in the bank and if I want to purchase using Paypal, the funds come from my credit card. Then it is paid off at the end of the month.

Anyways best of luck.

[tekz999]

My suggestion for you is:

I know what you mean. Get a firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware all in one software, to clean and to protect your property, just like you would to protect your children, and avoid situations like this. If this is what I think to what you meant.