Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/02/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I've been staying out of this, but I just have to question how submitting money via PayPal is "less safe" that using personal check, credit card, money order or cash. If you pay someone by personal check and you don't receive your merchandise you can stop payment on the check (for a large fee), but the seller still has your account information and can use it to clean out you account before you know it is happening. You MAY be able to get your money back, but unless you do a lot of business with your bank, expect to be treated like a criminal. If you pay someone directly using a credit card you MAY be able to get the credit card company to reverse the charge (if you follow their rules) but the seller still has your credit card information that he can use to cause you endless grief. If you pay someone using a money order, certified check or cash you have NO recourse outside of filing criminal charges. As far as accepting payment, it's not much better. Based on prior experience, I now require a 45 day waiting period for a personal check from someone I don't know. This is after the last time the bank returned an unpaid check 38 days after I deposited it. When I asked the bank how long it took for a check to "clear" I was told that while 10 days is usually enough, that there is in fact no maximum and delays over a year can happen. Although I have never personally received a counterfeit money order, you need only spend 30 seconds searching the Web to find endless stories of bogus money orders. The last time I went to cash a postal money order it took them 10 minutes to search through lists of stolen money orders before they would pay me. I'm always willing to accept US cash, but considering the reliability if the US Post Office, I can't recommend that anyone send cash through the mail. Is PayPal perfect? Of course not. Their fees are high and their customer service stinks. In addition, they are so afraid of fraud that they will sometimes close legitimate accounts that just don't "feel right". (Sorry, using one time use credit cards seems weird to me too.) However, if you follow their rules they are quick and no more or less risky than any other way of moving money. Chuck Peacock - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html