Pay Pal / Internet Payment Systems - reply to online customer service survey

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on March 8, 2002:

From: York, Ryan [Email User]

Pay Pal / Internet Payment Systems - reply to online customer service survey

This is a friend's response to an online customer service survey for http://paypal.com/ This was entirely too slow of response. Your customer service - rather - lack of customer service was and apparently still is, beyond comprehension. Coming from a Customer Service representative, I would take heed in my advice of restructuring your support systems.

For starters, I would advise that you publish a phone number for the users to contact, instead of forcing a user to refer to OTHER dissatisfied Pay Pal customers for a contact number. Unpublished numbers do not equate to satisfactory customer service. This brings me to another point. Hold times.

An excessive hold time does not equate to a happy customer either. If you do not believe me, call your very own unpublished number and let me know if you are happy with the length of time you have to wait.

Of course, you may not have to wait in all instances as the system is very prompt to let you know that your problem is not as important as everyone else's and hangs up the phone. Thus forcing another LONG DISTANCE call to attempt to resolve my simple problem, only to be hung up on by a recording once more.

Your corporation is very quick to state that its profitability is expansive; please tell me why you can not staff additional customer service representatives to handle your "more than expected" calls and business transactions.

The next area of concern lies in your response times for refunds and lack of refund information. Your corporation knowingly, willfully and illegally held my funds without my consent. This is not only a violation of Federal Law, but a slap in the face for a consumer. Your corporation opens a whole new meaning to "let the buyer beware". It is unfortunate to say that a buyer of such a simple service has to beware of which "bank" they utilize.

It is also sad to see that all of this could have been avoided in a simple 2 minute phone call where Pay Pal would have corrected the mistake (whether it was the fault of the customer or the fault of Pay Pal). Judging by the lack of customer service that has been shown to this point, there is no doubt in my mind that this email will go unnoticed.

That is also unfortunate. I truly do enjoy the convenience of your service, but I believe that the few moments that are saved by using your service, do not justify the hardships that may be endured by a customer. When a transaction is completed properly - your service is fine.

In the event of a transaction error - your customer service is comparable to that of a used car salesman that knowingly cheated a customer. This is unacceptable.