Paypal update

I noticed when I was wrangling with my Paypal account last night that it showed my credit card as being billed already.

I confirmed with the credit card company that Paypal charged me for this transaction yesterday. And Conflikt doesn't have the money yet.

I do kinda see the reason for the hold. But charging my card before placing the hold smells like taking my money under false pretenses. I have notified Paypal that I am Not Happy about this.

Why PayPal gets on my nerves

I think I know why I am so ready to assume the worst of PayPal: because they've been pushing my boundaries for so long.

Every time I log in, I'm prompted to link a bank account to PayPal. Every transaction? They prompt me to link a bank account. This, to me, is the financial equivalent of a repellent co-worker nagging me for sex. Or trying to squat in my house.

I don't use my debit card online. I've noticeably limited how much I use it at stores (approaching never, actually). Online payments are setup on my bank's side, not the mortgage company's side.

Yes, I do limit how much money is in the checking account. Surplus money gets transferred to savings or invested elsewhere. But I have to think long and hard about letting someone else's typo clean out my bank account, and really? It's not something I like to do.

PayPal, of course, is not a person. It's a company. Its policies have nothing to do with my boundaries. Electronic transactions are cheaper than credit cards, yes, but it's also easier to open a fraudulent credit card than to maintain a fraudulent bank account - so from PayPal's fraud prevention mindset, linking a bank account is safer.

But I'm not worrying about me defrauding PayPal's customers. I'm worrying about limiting access to my checking account.

Having Amex as a buffer between me and PayPal is good for me, rationally and emotionally. I feel more secure. Each time PayPal nags me to remove that buffer, I feel that PayPal is trying to remove that security. So now that I feel that PayPal is always going to try to slip a fast one past me ... this happens, and I am primed to put the worst possible spin on it.

Because I've built a reflex of distrust where PayPal is concerned.

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Why haven't I canceled the account? Because it does offer a convenient method of payment for eBay, and I have some items I am thinking of selling. Of course, if I do sell something significant, collecting the money from PayPal would require ... drumroll ... linking a bank account.

I've been working on reducing my accounts and such, but a separate account just to link with PayPal might be a compromise I could deal with.

tweets

• 23:28 Listening to Margie Butler play harp music. Yay. Soothing. Calming. Sleep-inducing? One can but hope. #
• 23:29 For later reference: we had the sound gear down, packed, and stashed in Skydancer's second-floor room by 6. #
• 23:34 Paypal deemed paying 2009 reg from reg computer "suspicious". Funny how their security theater didn't have an "If this wasn't you..." option #
• 11:16 @Julesong - Sorry! #
• 15:20 Watching rosie the roomba determine that the wicker ottoman can only be entered/exited on 1 side. #
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tweets

• 11:16 @Julesong - Sorry! #
• 15:20 Watching rosie the roomba determine that the wicker ottoman can only be entered/exited on 1 side. #
• 16:20 I want to take this moment to confess that I stayed home not due to snow but because I didn't have time to do laundry before/during con. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter :)