PayPal: Fill-up wasn't $81 billion

No. We can't pay down the debt. Heavens no. It will go to some pet project in another country.

Ahh, now you know how Obama is going to pay for everything.......and they said Bush spent money like a drunken sailor. Obama and the dems have spent more money in 30 days than Bush spent in 8 years!

PAYPAL is NOT safe. A friend of mine was ripped off on Ebay and had used paypal to pay, paypal refused to reimberse his loss basically saying "so sad too bad" READ THE SMALL PRINT IN THE PAYPAL AGREEMENT!

Ido & Bonepony

Did you ever stop to think it may have been some of the Greedy CEOs of these Oil Co's whose bonuses run into the $100 of Millions of dollars annually?

Amen to that, Bonepony. My sister had her identity stolen using pay pal, shopping on ebay.....and worst part is trying to get the problems rectified.

Before people sign on with any new company dealing with their money,they should ALWAYS make it a point of trying to contact and speak with their customer service department. How accessable and helpful the staff are may give you an indication of what type of company you'll be dealing with BEFORE a problem arises.

Mistakes are made, this particular one is on the same par as Amtrak charging you for a round trip to the moon......ludicris. It took customer service too long to pick up on the math as it is...but what would have happened had the bill been $500? This person may have never recovered his loss.....and you are very right....cash is best. The economy has driven the cockroaches out of the walls and onto the streets....be very careful with whom you allow access to your money...

PayPal's customer service is the worst I have ever had to deal with. I actually think it is their internal policy to argue with you on the phone so that you will just give up. This case involving the $81 Billion fuel charge only illustrates the point in that the customer service rep. at PayPal automatically started in arguing the situation with this gentleman. I have also had a dispute with PayPal and all I got from them was the run-around so I refuse to do business with them. PayPal does not care about their customers one bit...their sole concern is to mitigate chargebacks from VISA & Mastercard.

Haven't you guys realized yet that PayPal stands for Pay Up Pal or else.

How do you mistake $81 for $81 billion?

Just like EVERYTHING else that Paypal & EBAY claims "Can't be our fault, becuase we DON'T give a RAT's A$$!"!

It COULDN'T POSSIBLY be "OUR" fault!

Prove it is, talk to the hand!

Did you ever talk to someone at American Express, etc., they are not in this country. You don't know if the operator was in this country.

I'll disagree - it doesn't say anything about people in this country, but rather people outsourced from other countries.

Actually, most PayPal reps are in this country...there is actually a huge office in Omaha NE where some of their customer support is based out of.

What gets me about this whole thing is that he had to argue with the rep about it.

So typical of the "people" on the other end of the line. They were born perfect and correct in everything they say and do..........

I agree 100% I wonder if the rep was in another country like most CSR's I get transferred to with other companies I think I've been all around the world and never left my house

I've worked in a call center. You're not allowed to think for yourself or venture off the script you are given to read.

Try this sometime. The next time you talk to a call center, completely change the subject on them, they will have no idea how to respond.

Some customer service huh?

With his luck, the operator WAS from INDIA or Pakistan and didn't understand what was going on.

I've been on the phone many times and have gotten frustrated because the "operator" on the other end was having a hard time understanding me or got confused when my responses deviated from their script.

Needless to say not all call center operators are bad.

Am I reading the same article as you? No where does it say or imply that the Paypal rep argued with this man. It says that after some discussion they resolved the situation. What would they argue with him about? They clearly did not bill him this 81B or expect this payment. What's the rush to always slam "big bad businesses"? Perhaps the discussion took longer because the customer couldn't read or speak English?

I see they have changed the article to say something slightly different than the original posting. So no Douglas, you are probably not reading the same exact article. That's just assuming you didn't see it this morning. After reading your comment, I went back to see if I read it right and it has been completely modified from the one posted this morning. I tried to find the link to the original to send to you but can't find it. It keeps bringing me back to the one that's posted now.

haha, I live in Richland - it really isn't all that "rich"... haha. I can't believe that something like that happened here. AND I still can't believe that the CSR actually thought that someone could spend 81 BILLION dollars at a gas pump? Who even has that kind of money...besides the dems.

I've had the same experience with PayPal...they are not only unhelpful, but argumentative. PayPal should be ashamed.

$81,400,836,908? Well, I think Mr. Zamora deserves a refund to his debit card of $81,400,836,882. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

haha, totally agree! And maybe a couple extra dollars for his trouble?

"And maybe a couple extra dollars for his trouble? "

According to the update on the article the 81400836908 was not an amount it was the the transaction number. I think that maybe Mr. Zamora should learn how to read and until he does should have his credit cards revoked for being to stupid to have them.

Tahtshould have said "TOO stupid to have them" not "TO stupid to have them".

Stupid yourself. It was a joke, you sap.

"Stupid yourself. It was a joke, you sap."

Given some of the comments made about PayPal and other issues an intelligent person would never assume that a poster is joking. BTW smokeysmom, your comment is not the one I was responding to, so how do you know that the other poster was not being serious?

My post was about the general story not about the poster. I never made a comment about the poster (ungricht or yourself).

actually, I was joking about him getting a little extra money. I don't know why people are taking this story so seriously, it is just funny. AND I find it offensive that people are blaming the this guy for not being able to read or speak English. AND I am getting most of my information from our local paper here in Richland, where it does say that the gentleman had to argue with the PayPal rep and the paypal company accidently switched his account number 81400836908 with the amount that needed to be debited. It was just a computer error.

As for PayPal making the mistake I have seen articles that say both things may have happened (his mistake or PayPal's). I was more focused on everyone blaming PayPal when the info available did NOT say that they had done anything wrong. IF that has changed then both are to blame.

As for my blaming him for not speaking English, I never did that. I never focused on his last name. I focused on the then avaiable info that he misread his statement. That was my only comment. Thre are peolpe out there who want to blame every problme they have on "big business". Although big business does make plenty of mistakes, people also need to take responsbility for their own screwups.

The only screw up here was from Paypal! You are obviously one of those people who believe everything you read. From your last comment to me a few days ago......the proof you so badly needed (to believe it) of the recording saying it was in fact an $81 billion dollar charge and not a mix up on my friends part is now in a video next to the article! Maybe you should learn when not to believe everything you hear!!

"The only screw up here was from Paypal!"

Actually it was from one thier processing partners.

"You are obviously one of those people who believe everything you read."

Until there is evidence to the contrary (which now there is) having read the same thing from several surces (all of whom tend to be fairly reliable, which is proven by their updating their info when more became available) makes one a good researcher. Now that three is more evidence I have no problem saying that it was not his fault.

" From your last comment to me a few days ago......the proof you so badly needed (to believe it) of the recording saying it was in fact an $81 billion dollar charge and not a mix up on my friends part is now in a video next to the article!"

And now that it is there I have no problem acknowledging that I was mistaken.

"Maybe you should learn when not to believe everything you hear!! "

I didn't. But I was not going to believe what a bunch of bloggers wrote either. I'll stick with my way.

Nightowl22

I'll bet everyone rushed out to THAT station to fill up??!! All the gas must be paid for already??

Yes but the station is having trouble getting that much gas in their underground tanks so the parking lot is full of tankers so now you can't get to the pumps to get that free gas.

You call me up and I break it to you real, no scripts, no recordings, no pestering a "manager" to have to make every little decision that involves even the slightest bit of discretion.

Airforce 1

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Michigan Mark

Airforce 1

and Airforce 2 and 3 and Nancy Pelosi's jet.

I'm with you, Dano. These companies use outsourcing to maximize their profit margin, and inasmuch only confirm that they answer exclusively to the interest of their investors.

We hate outsourcing because it eliminates American jobs. But the popular notion that it's good for consumers, used to defend the practice, isn't entirely correct.

Having a call center in another country does lower the price for the consumer, but it presumes that the company is only reponsible to the consumer up to the point of sale.

Anyone who's ever terminated a customer service call unsure if their problem was resolved, or that it was even successfully communicated to the service rep, can attest that language barriers can sour the experience after the sale. It leaves you with the nagging feeling that you're on your own.

Crapland, huh? Wow, you are not racist at all! Why don't you consumers just harden the @!$%# up and learn that everything can't go your way.

Dano,

Want the job back in the Good Ol' USA? Do it for less.

I purchased a $50 item through Pay Pay to avoid using a credit card and when I was a few days late paying I was assessed a late fee of about $25. I know this was in the fine print somewhere and they had me dead to rights and all that but what a rip off. They could have at least used a little more lube.

By best argument for "the computer is always right" is as follows:

"If computers don't make mistakes why do banks and such spend billions of dollars on ther IT budget every year?" They usually shutup after that.