Paypal is pretty much the only game in town for online payments. But as with every monopoly, that causes poor customer service.
I needed to pay a translator yesterday, but I fumbled. I entered the wrong password three times. When I did manage to log in, I entered the details of my payment – to someone that I have paid many times before – and got the unhelpful message:
We’re sorry, but we can’t send your payment right now.
Which means nothing. After several attempts, I contacted Paypal customer service via the link – and got back a form letter which told me nothing. I responded to that … and never heard anything more. Poor service indeed.
But 24 hours later, I tried again and … it worked! Yay!
It seems that Paypal lock the account for certain transfers for 24 hours, after which you can try again. But they don’t tell you this! I suppose it helps reduce their losses from fraud. But it’s bad luck for anyone who urgently needs to send money. Effectively Paypal becomes unreliable.
I wish one of the big banks would roll out some competition for them; really I do. It is much the best way to send money overseas.
Hi Mr Pearse!
Stripe.com is worth the try.
Love U
Thanks – but I’d be wary of an unknown company.