Can someone advise me on my web site?

[carlos123]

Hi HireMyMum,

I will consider what you have said. Thanks!

I could write a small booklet on my aversion to using PayPal. Suffice it to say that you will get an earful if you simple do a Google search on "PayPal sucks" or some such. Pardon my French but it's the best search phrase to pull up what is wrong with PayPal that I know.

My own aversion to PayPal started when they suspended my account for no other reason than they said that my name had shown up in some U.S. government list. No matter what I said to them they simply would not tell me what that list was. But they wanted all kinds of personal information from me to prove who I was. Copies of my passport, bank statements, and other things that were utterly ridiculous to give them simply because I had shown up on some supposed list that they said I had been on.

So I told them to get lost in so many words (I was not very polite back then).

Years later I found out that I was on a terrorist watch list when I tried to fly to the States from Canada. Apparently my name, Carlos Gonzalez, is a favorite of terrorists. Like John Smith. Or Tom Smith. Or any number of other generic names. Carlos Gonzalez is the John Smith of the Spanish speaking world.

I don't fly much these days but I imagine that I will be likewise stopped every time until they see my full name (which is comprised of four names) on my U.S. passport.

At the time with PayPal though I did not know any of this and they were as tight lipped as Fort Knox about their gold.

A couple of other things....

They are not a bank. And they do not have to abide by bank laws respecting your money. If they decide for whatever reason to suspend your account and keep you out of your money, even if caused by a glitch in their accounting systems...too bad. They are King. And there is no other as far as they are concerned.

All you can do is plead nicely and even perhaps beg if you are inclined to do that kind of thing. Just maybe they might stoop down to show you some pity. But more likely they will ignore you and just do whatever they are going to do. Releasing your funds only when they feel like it and not before while making interest on your money all along.

Not the kind of company I want to be dealing with. Ebay...who bought PayPal is just as bad. Almost completely unresponsive to customer input. They will do what they do when they feel like it in whatever way they feel like it no matter how many people they step on on the way to their ultimate goal of making the most money they can.

Perhaps my impressions of these two companies are skewed by my limited and relatively rare experience with them but that's been my experience. That's all I have to go on.

With a true merchant account...the money goes straight into your bank account. You are in control of your own money not the merchant account company. And the money is available to you right away. Not just that but they are subject to laws that regulate the financial services industry in a way that PayPal is not subject to.

I just haven't gotten around to getting a merchant account yet but will do so shortly.

Carlos