Alternate Address

[JJoker]

Why is it so hard to verify an alternate shipping address?  I completed a request, Paypal sent me a letter with the confirmation number, but the instructions did not match what show on their website (one of their own links they said to go to came up as "out of date" on their website!).

I emailed customer support, and someone there sent me a nice reply, but again, where she tells me to go does not appear for me.  I am supposed to go to "Notifications" but that is nowhere on the main menu, and it's not under any of the tabs - ideas would be much appreciated.

I've told Paypal - and not too politely - that they need to make this process easier.  WAY too cumbersome.

[PayPal_Adrian]

nicolemayhem - it's likely this address slipped in via eBay (I'm assuming this was an eBay item).  eBay tends to maintain a separate database of shipping addresses, so you'll want to make sure it is updated there so this doesn't happen again.  If it was a merchants website, they may have an outdated address that their shopping cart is passing along.  I had that happen with one merchant I purchase from on an annual basis because I forgot to update it on their end as well. 

TimXCampbell - If you've moved, you may want to update your billing address for your credit and debit cards on PayPal.  This should get you back around to having a confirmed address again, rather than having to go through the Alternate Address Confirmation process. 

CNY2010 - Yes, any change in address can cause it to be unconfirmed; the original confirmation is very character specific. 

csaba2000 - whoa.  That's quite a post!  I'm sorry you had such a hard time with this. 

To clarify for everyone's benefit, the https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_account-aac link is for a member who has already started the confirmation process, but is unable to reach the page where they enter the code before sending in faxed documentation.  If you haven't started the Alternate Address Confirmation process, this link will dead-end you back to the Account Overview page.

The https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_account-aac is, indeed, the manual post to initiate the Alternate Address Confirmation process.  This landing page will let you know if the account is eligible and if any of your addresses are eligible for this process. 

I'm sorry that the links on the website weren't immediately helpful.  We're currently undergoing a major site renovation - please pardon the virtual dust!    I'll make sure to save a copy of your post and pass it along to our content team so that we can get this straightened out in the future.  It's the feedback of our members, after all, that helps us determine where the website goes in the future and what changes to make. 

I do think you deserve a round of applause, though, for your tenacity and resourcefulness in locating the information you required.  You also performed admirably in documenting the route that was taken - both of which are reasons why I gave a kudos to your post. 

Adrian

[BillR]

I also wasted a fair amount of time following impossible instructions twice.  I gave up the first time.  Once I finally found the right page (without benefit of the prior posts, alas), PayPal says I'm not even eligible to try verifying that way.  No reason is provided.  I've only used my account once in a couple of years, but I've been a member for over a decade. 

I have just changed some some information because I have moved a couple of times and my bank was recently subsumed in a merger.  After jumping through hoops to verify my new credit card account and billing address  (and I presume I will have to do this again when the bank account number changes shortly) and missing a pair of sale items, I am once again stuck because my street address is not verified, I am not eligible to use the alternative method, and even if I was, I probably won't have the necessary documentation as the house is owned by my brother-in-law and utilities are in my spouse's name.

My situation may be partially complicated because I have gone to a lot of trouble to change all the financial and other addresses to a PO box but many companies won't ship to a PO box at all and others charge substantially more to do so. 

I appreciate that PayPal needs to prevent fraud (and wish that Visa/MasterCard would do much more of this instead of dumping on merchants), but the procedure in use now is overly cumbersome.  How about sending a letter to a verified financial address with a code that will suffice to verify a different shipping address?  That might also help with the forthcoming for me problem of shipping a present to a third party or having packages delivered to a work address -- an almost mandatory requirement in my prior neighborhood.

[bilaliz]

1- yes, hours spent here too, is there a way to sue paypal for raising my blood pressure and causing me headaces? there should be because they are misleading customers with invalid links ...and as a result, crappy service!

2- those dead end links should be immidiately replaced with the right link.

3- even the link that they provide a few posts above does not qualify the canadian clients. so there ....

4- perhaps its time some of the consumers pooled together to make an alternative to paypal.

[marksz]

This "alternate address" procedure is a complete farce. I've been using PayPal for 10+ years. It's MY account, MY money so why can't I decide what address to ship a simple package to????

Nobody is home during the day so I want packages delivered to where I've been working the past 8 years. Leave it to PayPal to make something as simple as this SO INCREDIBLY COMPLICATED FOR NO REASON AT ALL !!!!!!!!

[ianlin]

I had the EXACT same problems as csaba2000 decribed. I went throught the exact same same steps he did. And came up to the exact same brick walls he did. I wish I had read his post first. What a waste of my time.  Nothing is fixed yet.

[JohnJablonski]

I feel your pain, I have the exact same issue. None of the information plainly states what needs to be done, all it does is loop you arround unitl you give up in frustration. And who has a utility bill or a phone bill or anything form the company they work for in their name? It's stupidity in management in action. Seriously Paypal, make this easier or even possible or make it go away completely.

[one-eyed_fatman]

It's months later and the links are still broken. The online help robot 'Sarah' gives you instructions that don't work. and today  I got these instructions in an Email from Paypal:

If you are unable to do so, you can try
the Alternate Address Confirmation.

   1. Log in to your PayPal account.
   2. Click ‘Security and Protection’ near the top of the page.
   3. Click 'Explore Topics' in the middle of the page.
   4. Click ‘sellers’ under 'Security Specifics.'
   5. Click ‘Address Confirmation’ under 'What we're doing to help
protect you and your business.'
   6. Click ‘Alternate Address Confirmation’ under ‘How to Confirm a
Buyer’s Address.’
   7. Click ‘Add a New Address.’ Add the alternate address and click
‘Save.’
   8. Look for a letter containing a confirmation code in the mail.
(You’ll use this code to confirm your alternate address.)

Try them! by step three you will get this error message:

We're sorry, the page you're looking for could not be found. The page may have been moved, or is no longer available on the site.
Please check the URL and try again. Or you can simply try to start from the paypal.com homepage.

For everyone who wants or needs to receive packages at work from shippers who will only ship to "verified address" there needs to be a simpler method. Or is it a deliberate ploy to make people sign up for a Paypal credit card usinf their work as the billing address?

Why do all the instructions lead to dead links?

[sshawn]

1) No, the link above does NOT work, it just opens my PalPal account overview.

2) Really, the previous poster said this quite well:  PayPal help is inadequate on this issue.  Help provides a 7 step process to find the link (and the process is wrong, no link exists) and if you ever find the process, you cannot follow the instructions.  

I'm self employed, had the same paypal address for my business address for 4 years (a valid, verified, nonPO.box, it's a street address at a UPS store) Thousands of people must be in this same boat.  Fix. This. Problem.  Here's how:

1) Um, GET SOMEONE WHO THINKS WHEN THEY WRITE HTML so that when I diligently search the online help, I get helpful text AND the link to the alternate address process -- not a 7 step list of out of date instructions to go hunting for a link one cannot find.  PUT THE LINK IN THE ANSWER TEXT.

2) Since I don't pay utilities for the local UPS store, it's not like I can fax in a utility bill to confirm that physical address.  Same for my driver license -- it's listed to my HOME address so faxing in my driver's license won't help either.  Put up a link where I can request you mail me at my alternate address (the ups store where Ive received packages for 4 years).  Make said link easy to find, like under my profile or my address info.  It's just that simple.

By the way, when I am in my profile, it lists my shipping address, says it's unconfirmed and there's a help link right there! but instead of that link ing to the addresss verification process, you get a blurb of generic text that gives a plethora of possibilities why the address is unconfirmed and what that means... BUT NO DIRECT LINK TO ANYTHING THAT THE USER CAN DO TO GET IT CONFIRMED.  Duh!  Add a link so I CAN start the confirmation process.

[DaffodilDesigns]

Just sent this through Paypal's email form.  Let's see if I get any response.

Paypal, are you aware that you have a LOT of angry users who are tired of being given INCORRECT AND IMPOSSIBLE DIRECTIONS for Confirming an Alternate Address?  

Firstly, there is no Topic or Subtopic option for this (email) form which covers the issue, nor is there an "other" option.

Secondly, people have been posting to the Community Forums on this issue for five months.  One of your moderators has been trying to help, but he clearly is not being supported by your company, as the instructions he gives lead to dead ends.  You Need to Have a Look at Your Website, as there are links that don't work, or that are missing.

Thirdly, your processes for confirming an alternate address don't seem to work very well when someone *does* manage to get through the missing links and dead ends online.  Most of the time, the customer doesn't receive utility bills at the alternate address, and when they request a confirmation letter from Paypal, it doesn't get sent.

People have different reasons for wanting to use alternate emails,  Mine is that I don't want my home address (the one that matches my billing information) to be available to my customers.  That's why I have a separate P.O.Box, so I don't have to worry about my housemate or myself being disturbed at home because that's the first address a client finds.  It's also the case that I don't always get my mail from my home address in a timely manner, because my housemate doesn't always pay attention when they bring the mail in.  If a client sends mail to my home address, I may not see it in a timely manner.  So I NEED to control what address is visible to other people on my account.

Paypal, you guys don't have a great reputation to begin with.  You seize funds seemingly at random, and it takes months to get them released again, if they ever are.  Your sister/parent company, Ebay, forces users to pay for auctions through you, so that you get your pound of flesh not just from the auction, but from the payment as well.  Your continued success is due pretty much entirely to your having been first to hit the net with this sort of service.  I would hope you would think about this, as other money transfer services are gaining notice and popularity, and make a better effort to keep your customers happy.

Now, will you PLEASE fix your process for confirming alternate addresses?

[DaffodilDesigns]

Of course, I put some carriage returns in that so it was actually legible.  The forum posting form took them out, citing "invalid html."  Since when is a carriage return "html?"