I'm beyond frustrated with PayPal and the PayPal Extras MasterCard.
Here's an abbridged version of my experience:
- I had a PayPal account linked to "PayPal Buyer Credit" which I closed in late 2014 because it would not allow me to link my "Bill Me Later" account, currently known as "PayPal Credit"
- I created a new PayPal account and successfully linked it to my Bill Me Later (a.k.a. PayPal Credit) account
- For a time, everything worked fine with my PayPal account linked to PayPal Credit
- I got an offer in the mail in mid-2016 to "upgrade" my PayPal Buyer Credit account (linked to the account I closed in late 2014) and link it to what I presumed was my current PayPal account; this sounded like a convenient option for managing an old credit account so I accepted the offer and was approved
- I waited nearly two weeks after receiving and activating my PayPal Extras MasterCard for it to show up in my current PayPal account, it never appeared
- I called PayPal support and was informed that I could not have more than one PayPal "credit product" linked to my PayPal account; this is not only inconvenient - it seems counterintuitive, assuming PayPal credit products are profitable one would think PayPal would want consumers to utilize ALL available credit products (concurrently!) with a PayPal account instead of forcing them to create separate PayPal accounts/identities for each credit product
- The PayPal support representative advised me to create a new PayPal account which could be linked to my PayPal Extras MasterCard, after expressing my disdain for this solution, I agreed to create yet another PayPal account, solely for the purpose of managing my "PayPal Extras MasterCard" since there seems to be no other means of managing the account online -- something most consumers expect with a credit card issued anytime in the last decade
- At this point I was transferred to a support representative for the PayPal Extras MasterCard; after sitting through the voice prompts and waiting to be transferred to a representative, the system informed me that no one was available and hung up
- I called back again immediately and magically, representatives were available to take my call; I was transferred to "John"
- After explaining the problem to "John" several times, that I needed my PayPal Extras MasterCard linked to my current PayPal account (I provided the correct email address), he claimed to submit a request to have my PayPal Extras MasterCard linked to my newly-created PayPal Account and set the expectation this process would take ~4 business days to complete
- Over the next week, I received even more marketing emails encouraging me to use the PayPal Extras MasterCard and promoting how "convenient" it is to use since it integrates with my PayPal account (this is highly infuriating and frankly, false advertising based on my experiences thus far)
- After more than a week, the PayPal Extras MasterCard is still not showing up in my newly created PayPal account
- I called the PayPal Extras MasterCard customer support line again; coincidentally my call was answered by "John" although this does not seem to be the same "John" I spoke with previously
- John proceeded to inform me that he "understood my frustration" and claimed my request/ticket was "submitted several times and escalated" but the account could not be linked because "my PayPal account was closed"
- I explained to John that his findings were incorrect - that I had already contacted PayPal support directly and was advised to create a new PayPal account to which my PayPal Extras MasterCard could be linked
- John advised that my PayPal Extras MasterCard could *only* be linked to the original PayPal account (the one I closed in late 2014) which was associated with the PayPal Buyer Credit account I "upgraded" based on the offer I received (more than a year later) in 2016
- Furthermore, I explained that the first "John" I spoke with collected the email address for my newly-created PayPal account to submit the request to link my PayPal Extras MasterCard; he could offer no credible explanation as to why no one made me aware of this when I called a week ago, or why anyone would ask for the email address of my newly-created PayPal account if it was NOT POSSIBLE
Taken together, PayPal (and the folks at Synchrony Bank, issuer of the "PayPal Extras MasterCard") have succeeded in adding unnecessary frustration to my life and wasting my time - offering me a credit product that is frankly USELESS and does not work as advertised. At this point I'm ready to shred the card, delete the newly-created PayPal account and move on with my life.
I'm posting this here as a cautionary tale for those who are considering accepting this offer who (like myself) may have more than one PayPal account and/or "credit product" in the hopes it might prevent someone else from wasting their time. I'm also posting this here in the hopes that someone from PayPal or Synchrony Bank (who cares about customers in the slightest) will take notice and realize how frustrating (and misleading) this product/service is.
For all the time, effort, and attention PayPal puts into making their web site look simple, friendly, and easy to use - their credit products have consistently proven themselves overly complicated and frustrating to use. Every other financial institution I've worked with does a much better job of handling customers with multiple credit products/accounts; I wish PayPal would either step-up their game or step away from offering integrated "credit products" they're either unable (or unwilling) to FULLY support in-house.
