I have had a PayPal account for 15 years. I have authorized literally hundreds of merchants over that time, many of which still show "active" even though they haven't billed me for years.
However, recently I had an annual subscription I forgot about hit my account for $263. They had billed me annually for $108 for the last 2 years. I never agreed to the $263. I disputed the charge and PayPal said I didn't cancel, therefore dispute was settled in favor of the merchant. Apparently, my agreement is irrelevant and a merchant can charge literally any amount they want, as long as I don't cancel before they bill me. I disputed the charge with my credit card company, so the problem is solved.
However, I'm now concerned there are more annual subscriptions lurking out there, able to take any amount of money they want. I don't want to file a credit card dispute every time. For most of the subscriptions, it says I need to go to the vendor's website to cancel. In most cases, this would involve resetting passwords and be an incredibly arduous process for hundreds of vendors. I tried to simply close my account and make a new one, but PayPal won't allow it, because I have undescribed "account limitations".
I'm about done with PayPal. How do I protect myself from these unscrupulous merchants I've apparently permanently attached myself to?
