Just a Paypal Warning

Originally Posted by bsharrah

Paypal is a bank, just not in the traditional sense. Asking for your SS# is not unusual. The fact that they are telling you your SS# is wrong should be raising huge red flags. What are they seeing that would suggest it isn't correct? My advice would be to contact SS Administration and verify your number is still yours, and no one else has been using it through them. Then obtain a credit report from all three reporting agencies. You can get these free once a year but often it is only from one of the three agencies. I highly suggest getting a copy from all three.

Paypal IS NOT a bank. Paypal is notorious for causing major problems for a lot of people. I do need to contact the SS administration though. But I know there is zero way for anyone to have used my SS.... My SS is only in use for my healthcare and my real bank. Nothing else. I've only been using the thing myself (as far as not being controlled by my parents) for a couple of years. I don't work or have any other reason to use it besides my real bank, which has never asked to see it since I signed up from day one.

Paypal said something like "it wasn't public domain" or something, which really is a weird thing to say about a SS card. The Paypal rep I talked to was very helpful & friendly, but that is the ONLY part of Paypal that is either of those things. I dealt with ridiculous automated responses for days that just had me running in circles before I finally just called them. Bottom line is Paypal does not need to know my SS#. They never asked for it for the year I used it before I tried to get the card through them. I am not the only one who feels this way. I wouldn't feel this way if Paypal didn't have an ever increasing horrible and shady track-record building. Just look at all of the anti-paypal sites out there... Those aren't hundreds, thousands of made-up stories. Those are some regular Joe's and some small home businesses who have had nightmare scenarios play out because Paypal IS NOT professional and should not ever be thought of as a bank. They hold your money, that is the only similarity with a bank that they have.

I'm not telling people that you can't get a debit card smoothly. Just explaining my experience, and the experience of many, many others. Just do a quick Google search and you will find stories of people who've had their money held in limbo by Paypal for no reason for up to 6 months, when their livelihood's depend on their money in that account and there was nothing they could do. I just don't want others to get in any messes with them.

It's great that some of you guys got your cards fine - I'm sure millions of others have too. But there are plenty of people like me who has had major problems one way or another with Paypal that surely are unnecessary.

I'm not anti-Paypal, I just think they need to get their together. Not just in situations like my own, but all kinds of situations I've read about not only here on Fauna but all across the internet. Just be careful folks.

I do not have a PayPal debit or credit card, so I do not know the specifics....but, if PayPal is not a "bank", there is most certainly one backing the credit and debit cards. Think of it like a store credit card - say, Home Depot, for example. Home Depot is not a bank; but, to get the card, one has to provide a social security number. Why? Because the bank involved requires it...it has been THE identifier for anything credit/banking related, and only somewhat recently (in the grand scheme of things) have US banks considered other possible options think: the issuing of credit cards or loans to illegal aliens, who have no social security number)

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I do not have a PayPal debit or credit card, so I do not know the specifics....but, if PayPal is not a "bank", there is most certainly one backing the credit and debit cards. Think of it like a store credit card - say, Home Depot, for example. Home Depot is not a bank; but, to get the card, one has to provide a social security number. Why? Because the bank involved requires it...it is THE identifier for anything credit/banking related - period.

I understand that, I just don't fully trust Paypal. It's a bit ridiculous when they have your name, bank account number, social security number, address.... See what I'm saying? I'm a little more willing to trust Home Depot than a shadow of an internet company. My main complaint is that they are refuting my SS# when much more serious places, such as my health insurance and real bank NEVER refute it and use it fine. I would imagine one of those places would get a red flag and have problems sooner and more frequently than Paypal, unless there is something wrong with Paypal itself.

I trust that you already checked to ensure that you didn't transpose a number when you applied, and that they didn't when they processed it? I know it's obvious, but it's also probably a pretty common occurrence.

Your bank needed your SS# to open the account. They do not monitor your number and would have no way to know if it was being used elsewhere or by someone else after you opened the account. You are assuming a lot and assuming wrong.

I think Harald explained it very well and it is what it is, whether you think it is ridiculous or not. Unless banking goes another route, you are not getting a debit card through any financial institution, which Paypal most certainly is, without giving up your SS#.

Originally Posted by bsharrah

you are not getting a debit card through any financial institution, which Paypal most certainly is, without giving up your SS#.

Obviously I did give it to them so I don't know why this matters anyway.

Harald, I gave the exact number... Both in text form (picture proof of) as well as telling the rep over the phone to make sure he read it correctly. No dice.

Originally Posted by KelliH

I love my Pay Pal debit card. I've used it hundreds of times and have never had a problem. I love it.

Same here.

ive had mine since i opened my account and ive never had problem, infact i wish my bank was like them, i receive texts and emails when i send or receive money or use my card. i gave them my ss once,name address and thats about it. got my card like a week later. srry your having problems

I was one of those people with a bad Paypal experience.

Paypal removed a $400+ payment to a seller twice from my banking account. I contacted them to have the money refunded. About two weeks later they told me that they had evidence that I contacted the seller outside of eBay to do business outside of eBay. They were with holding the payment from the seller also, so he would not ship what I had purchased.

First, that was untrue. I contacted the seller and asked him if he had a product other than something he had posted - never any business outside of eBay. Second, what did that have to do with removing a payment twice from my bank account?

A month later, I contacted Paypal and told them they were refunding my money TODAY or I was closing my account and reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. They refunded my double payment and paid the seller.

No - Paypal is not a bank.

Two ways to deal with this. One, use a credit card other than Paypal to pay for your purchases. Credit cards have protections that debit cards do not. Second, open an account speciffically to use for Paypal. Only put money in that account for Paypal, and only as much as you need. Do not put overdraft protection on the account, and Paypal cannot take more than you put in the account.

My two cents...

Originally Posted by aboznut

I was one of those people with a bad Paypal experience.

Paypal removed a $400+ payment to a seller twice from my banking account. I contacted them to have the money refunded. About two weeks later they told me that they had evidence that I contacted the seller outside of eBay to do business outside of eBay. They were with holding the payment from the seller also, so he would not ship what I had purchased.

First, that was untrue. I contacted the seller and asked him if he had a product other than something he had posted - never any business outside of eBay. Second, what did that have to do with removing a payment twice from my bank account?

A month later, I contacted Paypal and told them they were refunding my money TODAY or I was closing my account and reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. They refunded my double payment and paid the seller.

No - Paypal is not a bank.

Two ways to deal with this. One, use a credit card other than Paypal to pay for your purchases. Credit cards have protections that debit cards do not. Second, open an account speciffically to use for Paypal. Only put money in that account for Paypal, and only as much as you need. Do not put overdraft protection on the account, and Paypal cannot take more than you put in the account.

My two cents...

Thanks for sharing your experience! And I'm glad that you got your money back.