No Mobile Phone

Choreo
New Community Member

I keep getting emails from PayPal asking me to add/verify my Mobile Phone Number (sending me a code). I do not own a Mobile Phone. I have had the same land-line phone number for over 45 years, but I guess they "assume" that everyone now has a digital ball & chain connected to them.

 

Do I really need to go out and buy a mobile phone and sign a service contract to have a PayPal account now???

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139 REPLIES 139

Alycidon
Contributor
Contributor

@gfml You can have the number as a landline. The only problem is that the number is read out as a single number e.g. Eight hundred thousand three thousand and twenty-four would be 803024. My bank on the other hand would read the digits one at a time Eight Zero Three Zero Two Four.

 

 

 

#Cheee - now I need to jump through CAPTCHA hoops just to post this, having had to go through two-factor authentication and CAPTCHA just to get here.  For heaven's sake, it's just a forum posting...... Having said that it let me in after 4 attempts even though it was wrong what I selected (proving a point).

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dntigerp
Contributor
Contributor

To the twits married to ther cell phones. You are missing the thrust of the blocked logins. I have no objection to those who want to use there devices.

What about hos like me who live in an area with decent internet service but horrid to non existent cell service. I have no reliable cell service in my house, at my work and numerious points  in between. 3G + was a screwup in terms of service reliability. Alternatives not using cell should be available. cells are hackable, can be lost, but the biggest issue is unreliable, poor or no service.

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gfml
Contributor
Contributor

dntigerp, that is exactly my situation when I go to my summer home in a rural area. I do have acceptable internet service there, but those who try to use a "mobile" phone in that location usually give up in frustration due to the **bleep** poor "mobile" phone signals there. 

 

gfml 

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dntigerp
Contributor
Contributor

no solution. Just pandering to the pro-cell phone crowd

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mobilemadness
Contributor
Contributor

I find it reprehensible that Paypal can arbitrarily bring in the requirement to have a mobile phone to log in and effectively cancel users who don't own such a phone and just keep their money with no recourse. I called Paypal's Costumer Service number and after a long conversation the agent told me they had no way to close my account or send me my money. I've had a Paypal account for 20+ years but no more. Shame on Paypal. 

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dolt1
Contributor
Contributor

I forget the particulars of our previous conversation about PayPal's mobile phone requirement, but seem to remember that after a week or two I could use my account despite having no mobile phone--and to this day: for instance, when logging in just now I had a test: "either we'll text you a code or call you on your phone", which let me in using my (only) landline phone.  When I got the email notification of your comment, I doubted that paypal-community.com was legitimate.  I didn't get reassurance from Google search.  I called PayPal, its computer exhausted my patience as I asked about this, I punched in a zero, within one minute had a human on the phone, but just then I noticed "community forum" on the "contact us" page which indeed took me to that "paypal-community.com" website where I indeed could log in with my PayPal credentials.  One might wonder why they (?) make this so mysterious and difficult.  So I signed myself as "dolt1"!  So I just come to say, I hope you will be patient a bit longer with poor old PayPal.

Chris//I forgot to mention, the email notice about your comment came from Khoros, which seemed entirely unbelievable.  But there is such a thing, Microsoft used/s it, too, again a failure to "keep the troops informed".

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gfml
Contributor
Contributor

mobilemadness, I too have been a PayPal customer for more than 20 years and have made thousands of dollars worth of payments during that time using PayPal. They are just too lazy or unappreciative of us non-"mobile" phone owners to bother to give us another way of proving that we are who we say we are before using their service. For example, if they were to have either a person or a "bot" call us on our landline and give us a verification code number, that would be just as secure a method of sending us the required verification code number as sending it to us via "mobile" phone. (And isn't a landline an even more secure method of communication than a "mobile" phone because the communication signals that reach us via a landline aren't being broadcast to the whole area as they are when a "mobile" phone is used?) 

 

gfml 

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Aurymn
Contributor
Contributor

When I was working, having a cellphone was a necessity. After 12 years of using my cell for everything to keep track of what went on at a site and personal, I realized I didn't require it anymore. So I stopped using it. One payment I didn't have to make and could use that saved monies for other more enjoyable uses.
What is wrong with calling people at home during business hours and leaving a message?
I just don't see the point.
Another fact. The cellphone these days, with the correct app, is more a leash to the user than they were 12 years ago.

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gfml
Contributor
Contributor

Aurymn, I would buy and use a "mobile" phone too if I needed it for work or for some other important reason. In fact, years ago I did have a "mobile" phone for a while when I was driving in rural areas where I might need to call for assistance if my car broke down or I was in an accident (which actually happened once, at which time I was glad to be able to call for help on the "mobile" phone). However, as many Canadians have determined to be the case, I found the "mobile" phone expensive to keep using after I didn't need it anymore, and I dropped my "mobile" phone subscription. 

I cannot believe how many people seem to "live" on their "mobile" phones these days, to the point of being oblivious to what is going on around them, and I am determined that I will not become like them. 

 

gfml 

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@gfml 

 

Do they not offer cheap pay as you go phones in Canada? 

Then you only buy a prepayment card and use it when you want to without any monthly payments?


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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