I'm thinking about getting a PayPal account but I don't know how secure it is. Your thoughts?
Yeah I trust it. I've only ever had one problem but PayPal fairly quickly resolved it. I think it was my own fault though, having multiple email addresses attatched to my account. As a pre-caution I've lowered it to one address. But yeah, in the 8 years I've used it, only one problem and it was resolved easily.
The only problem I had with them was a few years ago when I was doing a lot of ebaying and one day someone wanted to buy something from me using a credit card. A message came up asking me if I wanted to allow my account to accept credit cards, and I just pressed 'yes' without thinking about it. What I had inadvertently done, and what was not really explained properly at the time, was that my account had now been changed into a 'business' account. The upshot of this was that for a while afterwards I was paying tax on all transactions that I shouldn't have been paying, regardless of payment method... When I emailed PayPal, they got a bit tetchy with me and were reluctant to reverse my account, telling me I could only do it once.
But other than that they're a solid service and in terms of trust and security, there's nothing to worry about.
So far it works really fine. I'm not using it too often, though, but when I do, it works.
I've been using paypal for years, no problems. It's a great service, only downfall is the monthly limits to unregistered addresses.
I've used PayPal a lot over the years.
WAY back in the day (circa 1998-2002 or so) I loathed them. They had sketchy service and their customer service/support was pathetic (average wait time on the phone was about 2 hours) and even then it was 50/50 if they'd actually help you with anything. However when eBay bought them (2002) they gave 'em what they needed (more money/staff/infrastructure) and, since then, they've been a fairly top-notch operation (for me at least).
I've still had several issues, but they've worked very quickly to resolve them and have been fair about it.
Do I trust 'em? No ... but then I don't trust anybody (person or business) when it comes to money.
I think they're reliable though and don't have any problems recommending them.
I trust the service enough to pay Ebay sellers and occasionally receive payments, though I do not trust them enough to keep a large amount of money in my PayPal account.
I don't have a credit card, so I've been using paypal quite lot in the past years. Haven't had any problems with the basic functionality and now even if I got a credit card, I think I'd be more comfortable using paypal. Internet and money don't usually mix all that well, but I think paypal is one of the best choices out there if you want to make payments online.
Technically, they're secure. Ethically, less so. (http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/paypal-fiasco-summary.php)
I use Paypal primarily for my Steam purchases since I don't have much use for a creditcard. I've never had any trouble with them so far. That doesn't mean I trust them. Always keep an eye on your own money.
As a customer who intends to purchase things via PayPal I'd say it's safe as bananas. As long as you're making modest transfers, there's nothing to worry about.
As a company who wants to sell things through PayPal.... I'd say the service is great for coverage, many customers have a "I''ll purchase through PayPal and nothing else" mentality. The downside is your account can freeze up randomly, thus rendering your income somewhat difficult to access. Also their corporate support is horrible so when the p00 starts hitting the fan lord knows how long time it will take to clean it all up.
Quote from: theo on Mon 10/01/2011 09:47:36
As a customer who intends to purchase things via PayPal I'd say it's safe as bananas.
You mean like this? :P
(http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/1004/im-overqualified-overqualified-banana-peel-idiot-stupid-geni-demotivational-poster-1271540412.jpg)
I don't like paypal simply for the fact that it seems like every second day that I'm reading about someone else who's had their account frozen, and I don't like the idea of someone else being in charge of my money.
Its only exceptional cases really.
Providing you arent dealing in tens of thousands then you'll be perfectly fine