PayPal Community

Well said, Blinks80. It's the fine print and the way Paypal allows subscriptions that is the issue here. ... View more

Asri,   Wrong. My argument is that I do know things generally work to a high degree and yet I still fell for it.   AVG is at fault for crappy and misleading and that it is fairly common today is no excuse for what is a dodgy practice which does deserve kicking up a fuss.   Paypal is at fault too for a feature which is not clear at all about activating automatic payment when someone as me does not want that happening. Yes, the customer is king even if things generally don't play out that way.   Not sure what I mean about pornographic sites? They are the ones that came about with this "free" but paid underhand approach. Not exactly a good source of inspiration, don't you think? You can keep your toilet humour to yourself, thank you, and that something isn't a scam doesn't make it any less scammy coming from what should be respected names in various industries. Now, I'll just leave you on your high horse to denigrate the dozens of people who obviously did not knowingly consent to the transaction. I have better things to do like sort out my sock drawer. ... View more

Asri, - AVG is at fault for dodgy advertizing. - Paypal is at fault for the one touch feature that can be abused. - Digital River is an intermediary but is still a "partner in crime" in enabling money to be taken out of your account. You can say this is an "error 30" in insulting the user and being completely oblivious to how misleading this all is. My own background is in IT and programming with Internet experience going all the way back to 2000 and I still fell for it. It is incorrect to assume that card details automatically leads to a payment or subscription as booking.com, for example, only requires it in case you are not able to pay for a room by debit. Do you know what web sites promise something "free" while requiring card details? They usually have to do with pornography.   If this isn't a scam it is still scammy and the goal is obviously to get fresh subscriptions from people who might not react before a few months or a year in wondering what the payment is about. So keep your misplaced morals to yourself.   ... View more

Asri,   There's something you fail to understand here. Other people like me were charged without realizing it.   In the case of Avast, what happened is that something was advertized as FREE but becomes a PAID subscription on the second month.   This unclear advertizing along with Paypal's one touch makes it possible to mislead people into paying for a product or service that they might not want.   You may say people are "dense" for not realizing this but not everyone uses their Paypal account 24x7x365 and is familiar with all its features. ... View more

sharpiemarker, the fine print should be clearly stated in the order itself.   The "free" trial from Avast is misleading in that it tacitly renews as a paid subscription.   On top of that, Paypal's One Touch makes it possible for money to be taken from your credit card without your consent.   This is deceptive, dodgy and could pave the way to abuse. As a consequence, I have removed all my cards from the Paypal account. ... View more

I'm aware of this being a user forum and this was just informational. If there's nothing that can be done through Paypal then this could turn into a serious loophole with dodgy third parties. The issue here is one of consent and I did not knowingly agree to activating a paid subscription nor have my credit card charged automatically. It should not be possible to make a payment without a pin code and Cardholder Verification Value (numbers on the back of a card). I have put in a support request with Avast and waiting for a reply, and will get in touch with the card company if unsuccesful at resolving this with the seller. Neither credit card or the Paypal account were used by myself as the payment was automatically triggered while I was away from the keyboard celebrating the new year. This is what One Touch enables and if I knew what the feature (?) does I would have immediately deactivated it. The trial has been removed, the software has not been downloaded and the activation code has not been used. ... View more

Dear Sir, Madam, I noticed an email saying a payment had been made to Digital River Ireland while I was afk celebrating the new year. A free version of Avast is installed on my computer and I may have done something to get rid of a nag screen or renew what I thought was a free trial. Further investigation reveals an order from the 2nd of November with unnoticed fine print saying that a subscription will automatically renew as a paid one. The only email from Paypal on the same day says that One Touch had been activated. Apparently, this enables automatic credit card payments without entering a Cardholder Verification Value and appears very risky . This is something I do not want in any way as I always pay my bills manually at home and have removed both my debit and credit card from Paypal. I am seeking a refund. ... View more

Hi all,   I just noticed an email from Paypal saying that I've been automatically charged €45,48 for DRI*AVAST Software. I may have done something but I certainly did not enter credit card information and a CVV. The only email from Paypal on the 2nd of November says that One Touch has been activated. Apparently, this enables automatic payments which I do not want and I feel tricked by an unclear process. I have removed all my registered cards from my Paypal account and am seeking a refund. ... View more