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Regretsy
As the growing rift between the haves and have-nots casts a Dickensian atmosphere this holiday season, could it be that PayPal recently received visits by three ghosts, and maybe even its dead money-changing partner, Jacob Marley?
Tuesday morning, the Internet raged at reports that the online payment service didn't just shut down a charity drive headed by Regretsy, an insanely popular satire site that pokes fun at the insanely popular craft marketplace site Etsy.
According to Regretsy founder April Winchell (who writes as "Helen Killer"), PayPal claimed Regretsy must return the money to donors — even though many of the charity drive gifts had been purchased — while PayPal kept a portion of that well-meaning dough as processing fees. Oh, and PayPal's handling of the whole Regretsy affair? The stuff of ghost stories.
With a seemingly Scrooge-tastic change of heart however, PayPal is now telling Digital Life, other media outlets and its customers that that it has released the funds donated to Regretsy, is making an additional donation to Regretsy to help family needs, and as such, is "working directly with the account holder on this matter." It even posted an apology on its blog.
The only person PayPayisn't saying "my bad" to, it seems, is Winchell.
"Paypal has issued a statement saying they have made a donation and they are working with me, but I have not spoken to anyone yet. I will let you know when I do," Winchell posted on Regretsy. Digital Life reached out to Winchell and we'll update this story when we hear back, but it seems PayPal made the only possible move in this epic tale of awful customer service.
Chronicling the charity drive debacle in increasingly (and many agree, appropriately angry) posts, Winchell stops short on sharing whether PayPal originally suggested prisons or union workhouses for Regretsy's charity drive recipients — 200 hundred families in the Regretsy community "who might not get much otherwise."
Submissions came from families overwhelmed by medical bills — from either a sick parent or child, from parents who couldn't afford to replace a beloved toy broken by the neighborhood bullies, and families who had just fallen on hard times.
Secret Santa isn't the first Regretsy charity campaign — the site has conducted many. It seems though it is the first time Regretsy mistakenly used the "Donate" button — only allowed for nonprofits. For-profits collecting for charity still need to use the "Buy Now" or "Shopping Cart" buttons.
According to PayPal's official statement on the Regretsy matter, "we have clear guidelines for any business who uses PayPal to accept donations."
("Clear," is relative however, if you take a hop, skip and a jump over to the Green Geek's blog, where, in a post titled "Why Paypal is wrong regarding Regretsy, according to its own policies," the PayPal Terms of Service legalese is deconstructed, and evidence is presented to support this thesis.)
Long story short: even though the Secret Santa campaign surpassed its $4,000 goal in mere hours, it ground to a halt when PayPal noted the error.
"Because I used the wrong button, they have made me send them everything from bank statements to Articles of Incorporation to affidavits and notarized statements, even though I have been a verified business customer of theirs for 10 years," Winchell writes.
Following a form letter of the icily polite variety, Winchell made calls to PayPal, posting highlights such as this one on the website:
PAYPAL: Only a nonprofit can use the Donate button.
ME: That's false. It says right in the PDF of instructions for the Donate button that it can be used for "worthy causes."
PAYPAL: I haven't seen that PDF. And what you're doing is not a worthy cause, it's charity.
ME: What's the difference?
PAYPAL: You can use the donate button to raise money for a sick cat, but not poor people.
Now PayPal claims it's not forging any chains in life, just following what the law requires of any regulated payment service. "We appreciate that this can be an inconvenience, but we have a responsibility to all our customers – both donors and recipients; or buyers and sellers," PayPal told Digital Life. "In this instance, we recognized our error and moved as swiftly as possible to fix it."
So swiftly in fact, PayPal forgot to include Regretsy in its acts of contrition. No worries however, the Internet is happy to help them remember. Across Facebook, users share stories of charity outrage and as of Tuesday afternoon, "Regretsy" broke into Twitter's top trends.
"I would also like to say that I did not expect this kind of global outpouring of support, and I truly believe that had you not all made your voices heard, no one from Paypal would have ever felt compelled to make this right," Winchell posted Tuesday. "There is no real support or appreciation for the consumer anymore. The customer is always wrong."
"I am extremely grateful to all of you for your efforts. If Paypal is sincere about allowing us to make these gifts, you will have made a difference for 200 children and their families this holiday season."
Still, one wonders if at least one particular PayPal customer service representative will suffer the spectral symptoms of an "undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese."
More on the annoying way we live now:
- Etsy scans your Facebook friends for gift ideas
- How to monitor major Twitter twantrums
- Reddit raises $31,000 for child's medical care -- in 12 hours
Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.
Leave a Comment:
According to April, she hasn't even been contacted by PayPal yet. They can't even get their apology accurate.
She's updated the FB page. They've apologized, unfrozen her accounts (yes, that's right, plural, because they froze her personal account too (WTFBBQ?!?!?) and are in discussions regarding this "donation" they promised.
Paypal sucks! I use dwolla!
Paypal has poor customer service? Say it ain't so.
I stopped using this awful service over 5 years ago. All it took was a customer service rep stating," you must be stupid" when I asked for help on a transaction error. These folks make a case for using banks and that's truly ironic.
PayPal has customer service?
I not only stopped using PayCrooks years ago, I also stopped using eBay because of their connection to this den of thieves.
PAYPAL: You can use the donate button to raise money for a sick cat, but not poor people.
Really PayPal the person who was representing you company needs to see the poor house with a comment like that; if that is the official position of PayPal I would like to have nothing more to do with your or your parent company
there are several alternatives to paypal Fiserv Financial Services has a service called ZashPay it is a person to person payment system
Hmm, I tried to post this but I think I got new-usered to oblivion. In any case, Paypal is blowing smoke and has done exactly nothing that they said they'd done in their non-apology. Here's the link:
Absolutely horrible.
Pay Pal shut us down too. www.llyonscourtcharities.com.
Try PayJunction.com. Better rates than PayPal, no contract exit fees, easier to use, and no BS.
What boggled me was that a 'charity' and a 'worthy cause' are two different things, according to Paypal.
I never do any business with them -- their site has had major security issues over the years and they've shown, again, that they aren't to be trusted.
NEWS FLASH:
PayPal is greedy. Details later.
In a related story, TicketMaster is avaricious.
Oh! I just learned about that...since they started!
You neglected to mention that, after April made her first blog post on the debacle, Paypal also froze her personal account. I suppose in retribution for the bad publicity.
1. PayPal sucks!
2. Helen was using her personal account for the charity business also, which is why PP froze it. It all looked very suspicious from PP's POV.
3. With a better corporate philosophy and customer service, PP could have avoided this altogether.
4. With a proper charity, including a 501 (c) 3, Regretsy could have avoided this altogether.
5. Regretsy sucks!
6. The interwebs win!
I hope paypal gets taken to the cleaners on this. They are a bunch of low life scumbags.
That Grinch only claimed to give Christmas back. Its heart is not growing but shrinking.
Paypal is not a trustful company. They ban companies and people for no given reason, then freeze their funds for 180 days, no matter how 'verified' you are or how many documents you send them. I tell all my clients not to use Paypal for fear of their accounts (and money) being frozen for no given reason. As for the "worthy cause", since when is a "charity" not a worthy cause.
I wonder if Paypal freezes funds just to make money off the interest.
You know it! They need to be investigated!
You all realize that payPal is owned by Ebay, right? And Ebay requires any one who does not have a merchant account to only do business through PayPal. That is why Ebay is doomed. Soon they will be a second rate Amazon.
You mean they're not already?
I quit using eBay pretty much right before they actually bought PayCrooks. They had started "encouraging" sellers to use their puppet payment service before the actual deal went down. I now use Amazon and Craig's List. Don't even window shop on eBay any more. It's really just a glorified online flea market now. Nothing like what it started out to be. Buying PayCrooks and forcing users to use that so-called "service" just made it worse.
Go Amazon!
I donate to nine charities to the tune to tens of thousands of dollars a year and I am tired of being expected to contribute to every noble cause, every natural disaster and every disadvantaged individual.
I can only support so much! Every time I go to Safeway for groceries I am asked to donate to some cause, disease or something else.
I can't support the world. 'Tis the season to be jolly, not guilty.
And what does this have to do with PayPal being crappy? Good for you for giving to charities... but I say this, if they didn't ask who would you know there was a charity to give to? Choose where you can donate and don't feel bad that you can't help everyone. Others out there will make dotation when they can.
You have a very charitable mind. ...Or maybe you're just donating for the tax write-off, hmm? Anyone who says "I donate tens of thousands of dollars" and in the same breath begins b!tching about how they are tired of being asked if they can help out further isn't really doing it for the sake of being a selfless individual. If you were REALLY doing it for the sole purpose of charity, you wouldn't complain about people asking if you can help another charity, especially given they sure as hell don't know that you're donating. Yeah, you're just doing it for the tax write-offs. Way to utterly kill any respect people might have for you. It's only charity when you expect to receive nothing in return.
Then don't Mr. Greedy. You do have a choice. I give where I can and when I can and I'm BROKE.
It's called being a compassionate human being.
I like Paypal. But trying to get verified was a pain the ass! By the way, ebay owns Paypal.
There is always Alertpay and few others similar to Paypal.
They only moved as 'swiftly as possible' as soon as it the word got out, before that was a completely different story. Paypal is a horrible horrible company that both discriminated against a charity and tried to profit from it as well. This is a sad statement of corporations and their willingness to do what's right ONLY when the spotlight is on them.
PayCrooks was a horrible, horrible company LONG before this story broke.
I had my PayPal account hacked several years ago. The hackers took over $900 but PayPal said they could only give me back $500/ month because I wasn't "verified". They alerted me of the fraud in the first place and then they weren't going to give me my money back in a timely fashion. I lost a whole paycheck for over a month, and spent way too much time arguing with them to get my money back. I can vouch that their customer service people are rude. They don't give a crap about their customers. I will NEVER use PayPal again and I advise anyone thinking about it not to use it either.
Lindsay Lohan-1950445
PayPal sucks. They're unfair and biased on judgments.
There is a reason 99.9% of the comments on this story here and around the web are negative re: PayPal. PayPal is evil and everyone who deals with them eventually has a horrible experience. They are only sorry they got caught. Only the loss of customers en masse will make them truly sorry. There are viable alternatives. Let's close our accounts and give them a try. They can't be any WORSE!!
why pay their 3% when u can move any amt of money with dwolla for .25.paypal ripped me off,and ebay can phukoff too
I closed my account with Paypal when I read the article on Regretsy yesterday. I've heard a lot of bad sh!t about them but this was the straw that broke the camel's back, the absolute worst and most vile thing I've seen them do so far. Paypal isn't owned by the people who originally set it up, they're owned by eBay now. The original owners aren't even part of the company, and I've noticed ever since that their customer service went to sh!t. That's ok, though. There's always AlertPay...or, heck, Visa is coming out with their own equivalent of the service soon.
I have been a Regretsy fan for over a year. April makes people snicker with her spotlighting and commentary on Etsy products (there are a few crafters who sell on Etsy who are either insane or are buying direct from online and then reselling on Etsy).
April and her site DO run a business; they sell items on their site and make money for advertising. However, they have been involved in charitable efforts for some time that sometimes also involve several Etsy crafters. She and her site have aided several deserving people.
I heard about the Paypal debacle on her site (via facebook) a few days ago. I was appalled by the controversy. Really? I have chosen not to have a Paypal account because of the negative experiences of a few friends and now I know I will NEVER use them. They overcharge, they lie in press statements, and they apparently cannot understand their own legal jargon.
Go April & Regretsy! C4LF
Visa is coming out with a pay service? That's good news! Do you know of a link to this? I had to send Paypal everything but a blood sample just to get a Paypal debit card, even though I have had a business account with them (and a personal account) for over 10 years, everything is verified, linked to my other bank accounts etc, and I have an excellent credit rating. As you said, since the original owners sold out, the customer service is sh*t. They send you a standard canned reply no matter what you ask them, and phone service is not any better, they say one thing and do another.
PayPal sucks. They're unfair and biased on judgments.
I have no use for paypal,I used to sell on ebay,100% satisfaction and feedback,paypal sent me a email a few months back saying they are putting a restriction on my account,were they hold any money I make for 21 days because in their opinion I have a high risk of a dispute or return! Never had one complaint,I sent two emails to them,got automated responses,there call center must be overseas judging by the English as a second language response I got.There was a class action law suit against ebay,since it was on vehicle sales and they overcharged customers I signed up,wasn't to long after that I got the email,funny paypal is owned by ebay,retaliation anyone? They can both stick it I use craigslist and other sites now,so paypal doing crap like doesn't surprise me at all.
Man, talk about a first-world tempest in a teapot.
There is a site called ----paypalsucks.com----
I signed up...THANKS!
Paypal is terrible, but you're stuck using them if you're on eBay. What really sickens me is that when you print Paypal invoices, packing slips, etc. they slap their slogan on the bottom. For a while it was "Paypal: The most trusted payment service on the internet." Now it's "Paypal:" the most loved payment service on the internet" Really? Loved? Really?
So, quit using eBay. They suck, too. (They bought PayCrooks, BTW. No surprise. Birds of a feather and all that.)