We just got the “follow up survey” from PayPal … Oh foolish PayPal, will you never learn …? Maybe we can help.
To the question of “Why would you not recommend PayPal”
The support received over the 107 day period that this issue lasted, consistently failed to be of the value and quality required for a business environment.

- PayPal’s chargeback team consistently focused on implementing incorrect policies and procedures of negative value to the situation.
- PayPal’s chargeback team gave incorrect and contradictory responses.
- PayPal’s chargeback team consistently referred us to online resources that were not applicable.
- PayPal’s chargeback team responses were often tardy and slow. The team had to apologize on multiple occasions for the tardiness of their responses.
- Some members of the PayPal’s charge-back team are notably inept and need to be scheduled for retraining immediately.
- PayPal’s chargeback team is inflexible, even in the light of overwhelming facts.
- PayPal’s chargeback team responses are often on the punitive side of helpful.

The charge-back process takes too long. The length of time is exaggerated by the poor performance of some members of the team.

Moving forward, we will be releasing a strong advisory to our customer base, actively warning them to migrate from PayPal immediately.

Overall I would describe the experience of PayPal’s merchant services as more onerous than our combined burden levied by government regulation.

PayPal hides behind barriers of bad policy and poor performance, and is therefore simply not a viable partner for small to medium businesses.

So there you have it dear reader. From what I can understand of PayPal’s ChargeBack Investigation Process, it consists of the following.

1. The Seller sends a fax of the evidence to PayPal.
2. PayPal Takes two weeks to read the fax. Which is a long time considering that PayPal does not read it very well.
3. The PayPal rep presses a few buttons on their computer, which sends an email to the Buyers Credit Card Company.
4. The PayPal rep spends the next 80 days hiding and avoiding the Seller, aka their customer.
5. Once the Magic 80 days deadline is reached, the PayPal rep will continue hiding and avoiding the Seller, aka their customer.

And that is the PayPal ChargeBack Process.
PayPal, an eOstrich Company

In an earlier episode, a PayPal agent ‘Stu’, had recommended that our client (the Buyer) call the super-useful reps at PayPal to cancel a chargeback. They even gave a handy-dandy number for the client to call. The client just needed a “Secure Web Pin”, which they could easily get by logging into their PayPal Account.

Oopsie

Of course my client paid an emailed invoice with their credit card. They did not use a PayPal account. So they were never going to be able to get one of these mythical “Secure Web Pins”.

So I tested the system. When you call up, the first thing the PayPal GateKeeper Autonotron will ask for is your phone number. If you put in a real phone number, she will then demand your PIN and you will be stuck in a loop forever.

However if you put in a bogus number (I did 402-555-1212) she will pause for a long time. Then she will ask whether this is a Person, Business or Enterprise Account. I just started saying the word “Agent” over and over again. She kept asking “Person, Business…etc” But two can play at the loop game. I just kept responding “Agent, Agent, Agent,….”.

She got testy and stated that “She did not know which kind of Agent to transfer me to until she knew whether it was a Personal, Business or Enterprise Account.

I work with computers. The emotions of a machine do not phase me, so I quickly retorted “Account Security Department”

She relented …. “Alright Coupon Error, Unknown Charge, …”

“Unknown Charge” I snapped.

I was transferred to a real person.

I hung up. I now knew how to get in. I let my client know the secret key combination.

1. Click on Help.
2. Click on “Contact Us by Phone or email” near the bottom right of the page.
3. Click on “Call us” link under the “Speak to Us” Heading
You will then get a magic Secure Web Pin