So, I’m trying to purchase a membership on a website that uses a company called Epoch to handle the payments (biller). Epoch doesn’t have good reviews (customer service is a pain in the butt and site often charges your credit card twice, or randomly charges your card for no reason). I normally get around situations like this by buying a Visa giftcard because it allows me to put a specific amount of money on the card (just enough to buy what I want), then if they try to unrightfully charge me for something, they can’t because there are no funds left. However, I can’t do that in this case because this is a non US website that Epoch is the biller for, and Visa GiftCards can only be used for US websites. This website however, does accept PayPal. So since I can’t risk paying with my debit card (Epoch will charge it whenever they want in the future), and Visa gift card won’t work (the site Epoch is billing for is not in the US), my only option is PayPal. So my main question is, “What is the safest payment option I can use with PayPal” when dealing with a company like this. If I add funds to my PayPal balance using my debit card or checking account, and pay with that balance, is that safer than just paying directly with my debit card on PayPal? I’m new to PayPal, so I don’t know what merchants see when you pay with it. If I paid with my PayPal balance, would that be equivalent to purchasing stuff with a Visa Giftcard (both have a limited amount of money on it and can’t be charged multiple times)? Or would they see what card I used to add those funds to my account? Basically I’m looking for a way to pay without Epoch getting my credit card # in the end to use whenever they like. Sorry for the long description and I’d appreciate any information you may have on what merchants see when you pay with PayPal. If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them. Thanks in advance.
