Paypal is a joke

Adding to the staggering weight of disgust about the paypal service (see references below) here is my recent experience. We run a small SMS service and thought paypal would be a good way to make transactions safe and simple. We implemented their automatic payment gateway API and all went well for many months. Then we got a scammer sign up, buy the most expensive pack and use all the credit by sending SMS messages. Well, we thought, no worries, paypal will sort this out, LOL! Anyway, needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, paypal did not want to discuss this at all, even after a number of telephone calls and emails they simply refused to acknowledge that it was in any way their fault. Their response was and still is, hey just don't send them the goods, make sure you get paid first. Well paypal, you told us (via the API) that we did get paid, so we credited the account! So basically we thought, ok, maybe this is unusual, and put in a few more measures to sign up and payment, such as delay adding credits, but finally after it happening twice more we have had to shut down the auto payment system until we can implement a different payment gateway. The final straw for us was the requests for faxed documents, this is an internet payment gateway and they want us to use fax!!! So this is what we sent. >> FAXED TO PAYPAL >>>>>>>>>> Fax, get in the real world. I have never used a fax machine in my life, I haven't even seen a fax machine in the past 10 years. Paypal you are a joke, wish I never signed up to your service. So yes, we got scammed yet again because your system told our system this was a valid transaction, your auto payment system is a joke. We have had to suspend all new signups to our site because you cannot figure out that someone buying 5 lots of our service in within 5 minutes for $$$ is not a scam. We have proof they used our SMS service. Our provider has proof. Teach them a lesson and do not refund this scammer. (As if! You always side with the scammer because it is too hard to fight it) <<<<<<<<<<< >> RESPONSE FROM PAYPAL >>>>>>>>> We have conducted a review of a payment that you received. In this case, returning the funds to the sender was determined to be the appropriate action, and we have completed a reversal of the payment. Good selling practices, like trackable delivery, prompt postage and communication between buyer and seller help prevent disputes. The funds from the following transaction have been debited from your account: Transaction Date: ---- Transaction Amount: ---- Buyer's Email: bthirsk@telus.net <<<<<<<<<<< By the way, the sort of messages this guy was sending were like "You've won 50 million lottery, email foo@bar.com to collect your prize." So we lost quite a lot of money on that one, if I had time to implement another gateway and didn't need paypal at all I would certainly make a complaint here: https://forms.fos.org.au/OnlineDispute but I'm sure the second they heard about it our account would be frozen. I don't normally repost, but it seems like there is censorship happening here and the reference links below might disappear, like this blog appears to have been taken down: http://paypalproblems.wordpress.com/ Reposts of some blog entries from the references below: http://www.clearlysecure.com.au/node/77 References: http://reviews.ebay.com.au/Paypal-serious-problems_W0QQugidZ10000000006178850 http://ask-leo.com/i_keep_hearing_about_paypal_problems_should_i_avoid_paypal.html http://ask-leo.com/comments_002656.php http://www.auctionbytes.com/Email_Newsletter/41/41.html#paypal http://www.notgoodenough.org/viewtopic.php?t=36133 https://forms.fos.org.au/OnlineDispute