Software and online payment woes

Years ago--and I am talking years--I discovered a cool little service called PayPal. In the beginning you could even send money to another person via email. I told my friends about it, and we began using it as a easy way to square up after dining out or traveling together.

Then eBay bought it.

Two years ago I helped a friend out by selling some merchandise on eBay. One item was shipped to a woman in Australia. I offered and she declined shipping insurance. She chose the cheapest shipping method--the postal service. She paid via PayPal.

I shipped the item and let her know that the U.S. Postal Service estimated it would take 7-10 days to arrive. Two days later she filed a dispute with eBay claiming it never arrived. I supplied all of the emails to PayPal as part of their "resolution process." A week later I also sent them the confirmation number and a link to the usps.com website which clearly showed that the item had cleared customs in Australia and been handed over to the Australian postal service.

All the evidence showed that I had shipped the item in good faith. If it was lost by the Australian post office, especially after she had declined shipping insurance, it was hard to see how it was my fault.

PayPal's system ruled in her favor, and almost immediately, telling me that it was an automated system with no human involved.

Money lost on that effort to help a friend? $550

SOMEHOW I MADE THE MISTAKE of using PayPal again recently, this time to purchase a $15 utility for my computer (HDD Temp). It never worked as described, and while the seller tried to help me, when I asked for a refund, they became unresponsive.

I escalated the issue to PayPal, again providing the email trail showing that we had made a good faith effort to resolve the issue but without success.

Their resolution--again, it arrived immediately--was in favor of the seller.

So much for "PayPal protection."

Resolution: I closed my PayPal account. Since I have talked it up over the years, and I've now changed my mind, you should cancel your account as well.