Looking to gather feedback from PayPal users

[PayPal_Colin]

Greetings, all --

My name is Colin Rule, and I am PayPal's Director of Online Dispute Resolution.

I am currently working with the Customer Advocacy team to gather feedback on aspects of our Risk Management systems that are generating user frustration.

The areas I am most interested in include:

1. Payment holds / reviews

2. Payment declines

3. Limitations / restrictions

4. Buyer and seller protections

5. The Resolution Center (disputes/claims)

6. Chargebacks / bank declines

If you have experience with one of these processes and you'd like to provide some constructive feedback on how to make it better, please post a message in this thread or email me at crule{at}paypal.com. 

Please note: I do not work in customer support, so I will not be able to help with individual disputes, claims, or limitations.  I am more interested in feedback about how our overall systems can be improved so as to minimize frustration moving ahead.

Many thanks!  I hope to hear from many of you soon.

Colin

[surplusdealdude]

Well, don't get me wrong, Colin - I think the 21 day holds are necessary.  If for no other reason, they'll sure make ebay unattractive for scammers.

By the way, although I'm sure you've realized it by now, there is an intermittent glitch going on with the posting of payments - I've seen at least 25 reports of it over the past 3 weeks.  Payments are delayed from posting for 3-4 days in Paypal, but they show up in ebay.

I think your servers are overloaded from those big customers you took on recently ( like Overstock and such).  Might want to be buying a few hundred more servers before other random glitches start showing up.

[surplusdealdude]

grangeranger,

you still need to go away.

[grangeranger]

Awwww, that is so sweet of you! I thought you forgot about me.

[grangeranger]

Now that's what I was trying to say when you told me I was not making sense. The server issue gets huge when there are millions of auctions in real time. You said it better than I can.  

Fiber Optic 1GB per sec. --Google is pushing ahead with this service. It is coming soon.

It will contribute to servers being more efficient. A better flow of info.

OK now I will go away....

[surplusdealdude]

Is that a promise?

[tonobo]

Definatly speed up the processing of claims. For people who don't keep thousands or even hundreds of excess dollars in their accounts, losing significant funds to obvious fraud and having to wait weeks for PayPal to move to other "stages" is a bad thing. Especially when they make a living off online transactions.

[grangeranger]

Hi Colin,

I am really glad to have found this post, I wish I had found it sooner. I have been selling on ebay for almost 5 years, and of course have been using paypal for the same length of time. I generally have very little trouble with transactions. I have only had a handful of customers who have not paid, and aside from 2 negatives that stuck in 5 years, I generally have happy customers. Every once in a whike someone is not happy or a shipping glitch occurs. I have always had a no questions asked return policy, and I used to deal with refunding customers on my own with no intervention from ebay or paypal. Most of the disputes that have been opened or claims, end in the customer finally getting an item that was shipped out of the US. Then there is that last few where paypal held the funds and even though I would have refunded the buyer much faster, eventually they get the money back. Well the last time that happened I ended up with a negative and I am sure that is what also ruined my DSR score for shipping. I am a low volume seller of vintage and collectible items so OUCH, it just really **bleep**s up all the hard earned praise. Shipping time is a killer it is totally subjective and when you don't get ratings from every buyer that just compounds the issue.

My point here is that some how there must be a way to form rules that are logical for a particular size seller. I am not Buy.com and do not want to be. When I look at the number of negs, they get  it makes me cringe, I would never purchase from anyone that continually gets feedback like that, and I am sure the consequence of what paypal does is low impact on cash flow for them due to high volume.

My suggestions are I think simple and would hush this undercurrent here, and matbe surplustrolldude could get some sleep if there were not so much ranting going on(I could not even be funny about my rant to lighten things up, he told me to go away!)

One very simple and reasonable item is that if a seller is new and the have confirmed the info such as proof of banking or credit to back up actions, once they have verified who they are there should be NO need to hold funds. it is not right to assume they need to be pressured and stressed out , **bleep** you already have garnered personal info from them, plus the buyer thinks that they paid the seller. No one should have to go raise the money for shipping if they have already raised it. It takes time to list and sell items and time is money! It would be like a new employee at paypay having salary witheld for just being new and then the company steps on that by saying you will have to come up with your own money to get gas to come to work and once 21 days or a manager gives you praise then we will release your pay to you.

does this make sense?

It is not ok to treat your customers as suspect it is just bad form. Paypal and eBay have the potential to be stellar but there is this vibe of insidious greed that overshaddows the whole thing.

Transparent is a lousy buzzword, strive for being solid and have some backbone. Be a pal.

thanks for stepping up.

ps...some of your forum advisors need a spa day, they are a touch uptight

[camani]

Regarding PayPal disputes for Significantly Not As Described items: I know (now) what it says in the user agreement, but as I went through the dispute process (as a buyer), the site never said clearly that paypal would not help resolve a SNAD item.  Since that is one of the original choices we make when filing a dispute, it would be very helpful at that point if the web site says clearly "This dispute cannot be escalated as to a paypal claim, because is a  SNAD dispute".  Instead, even though I specified the dispute was SNAD, the paypal website and emails continuted to remind me to escalate to a paypal claim etc.  I mistakenly believed that if I did my best to resolve the issue with the seller through paypal dispute process, that if that failed, paypal would look at all the communication and actually make a decision.  False.  I am disappointed to find out that PayPal does NOT help with this issue at all.  Making this information clear from the beginning - not just in the user agreement - would be much better.

[grangeranger]

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@camani wrote:

Regarding PayPal disputes for Significantly Not As Described items: I know (now) what it says in the user agreement, but as I went through the dispute process (as a buyer), the site never said clearly that paypal would not help resolve a SNAD item.  Since that is one of the original choices we make when filing a dispute, it would be very helpful at that point if the web site says clearly "This dispute cannot be escalated as to a paypal claim, because is a  SNAD dispute".  Instead, even though I specified the dispute was SNAD, the paypal website and emails continued to remind me to escalate to a paypal claim etc.  I mistakenly believed that if I did my best to resolve the issue with the seller through paypal dispute process, that if that failed, paypal would look at all the communication and actually make a decision.  False.  I am disappointed to find out that PayPal does NOT help with this issue at all.  Making this information clear from the beginning - not just in the user agreement - would be much better.

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Was it an eBay item or did you make a purchase through paypal on another site?

I am primarily a seller on eBay and I know that if a buyer is unhappy because the item is not as described(and I have always had a 7 day no questions asked return policy if a buyer is not happy I want to see them happy) you go through the process by resolution center on eBay. Then they facilitate communication and sit on the seller to act like they own a brick an mort. Store and take the item back in exchange for a refund. The ONLY way that a seller would be excused is if the seller can prove the buyer is being false and malicious. Which sometimes happens

It might be to late to go that route but please keep that in mind. Ebay has the slogan "we've got you covered" and I think they mean it. Aside from paypal I have to have a back up method of doing a refund on file. The only thing I can ask the buyer to do is return the item ASAP in the same condition it left here in. I always grab a picture prior to packing up. I once had a really sweet 1930's dress come back with stage makeup all over the neckline and it was a drag because that was malicious and I had no recourse.

If it is a different venue other than ebay I agree that paypal needs to give an alternative tutorial aside from the law geek speak. Use the contact us at the bottom of the screen on paypal they do respond and it is not canned it is a real response. They are owned by eBay but there is still a human intelligence element in there you just have to poke it with a stick sometimes to wake them up.

I hope this helps.

Ciao!

[mooseboots]

Yes, I had the exact same experience. I'm never using PayPal to buy anything on-line again, other than eBay where they're the only game in town. I know that if I had used a credit card, I would have received better support in working a dispute resolution.