Topic: Grim Dawn and PayPal

[idolminds]

Yikes

I'm still amazed that nothing has really come along to challenge PayPal. Seems like they treat everyone like shit and that any half-decent competitor could kick their ass.

[Pugnate]

Everytime I hear the word PayPal, I do a little shudder. I am seriously traumatized because of them. Unfortunately, I am still so dependent on them as well.

[gpw11]

Somethingawful/Hurricane Katrina Paypal fiasco.  Touches on the major point:  They need to be governed.

[Pugnate]

Look I understand all these measures. There are criminals all over the world etc etc.

The problem is that paypal will lock your account and then the onus will be on you to make nice. Sometimes, when I make a large credit card purchase, my bank calls me to confirm. Why the fuck can't paypal have their people call you when something suspicious happens?

Oh, I know why. Because paypal are cheap.

[Cobra951]

There has been a qualitative change in what businesses can do and get away with during my adult lifetime.  There is testimony after testimony of how thieving and reprehensible Paypal is, yet there is absolutely no action to combat it in civil or (more importantly) criminal courts.  Businesses can become de-facto monopolies and abuse everyone.  No one acts against it with any success.

Since the justice system is all but in bed with big business, I have a feeling people will have to handle this kind of chicanery outside of it.

[Quemaqua]

I think the best solution is to get the word about these companies and stop supporting them.  PayPal has always been fine for what I use it for, but it seems awful if you're a business.  Ideally, businesses should stop accepting PayPal as a payment option until buyers like me eventually have no reason to continue doing business through them either.  Because of a lot of eBay sellers refusing to accept other forms of payment, I still use the service, but if I could reasonably throw away my account at this point, I would.  I don't like PayPal or support what they do.  I really wish they'd go out of business.

[Cobra951]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you forced to accept Paypal (and its terms) if you want to participate in businesses like ebay?  Why isn't there any direct alternative?

[Pugnate]

Yup, there are alternatives to paypal in the US, like paymate, moneybookers etc.

I also use moneybookers and it treats its users like human beings. Problem is that paypal has a huge foothold. Most US banks won't allow people to pay with master/visa debit cards using facilities other than something so recognized like paypal.

Also, for some reason, most of Europe (incl. UK) are paypal only on eBay.

The other problem is that paypal only fucks with sellers. If a change is going to come about, then you are going to have to see buyers change their preferences. That is unlikely to happen.

[Cobra951]

Well, knowing what I know now, I can assure you that I won't be using Paypal if I can at all circumvent it.  The more people get informed, the more pressure will come to bear on all concerned to change the abysmal status quo.  As long as there's genuine competition (I never even heard of those alternative services before) there's a good chance for improvement.