[WebDNA] FYI: Internet slowly wakes up to PayPal's quiet fee hike

This WebDNA talk-list message is from

2009


It keeps the original formatting.
numero = 103348
interpreted = N
texte = This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------020407030400050509070006 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/internet-waking-up-to-paypals-qui= et-massive-fee-hike.ars PayPal made some policy changes in June, but it's likely that you=20 haven't heard much about them until very recently. That's because the=20 company quietly slid in extra fees that will affect nearly all users but=20 failed to be transparent about the changes. Now, the Internet is slowly=20 discovering what happened, and no one is happy about it. PayPal has generated its fair share of controversies=20 =20 over the years, but it has begun to stir up another one by adding new=20 transaction fees that affect all customers---without telling anyone=20 about them. The company slipped the fees in with a more general update=20 to its "send money" service in June, but because the changes were so=20 well hidden, the Internet has been slow to wake up to what amounts to a=20 good increase in PayPal's income. Under the previous system, fees were charged based on the type of=20 account the receiver was using as well as where the money was coming=20 from. If the receiver was a premium or business account owner, he or she=20 was charged 30=A2 plus 2.9 percent of the transaction---the same applied=20 to /all/ accounts if the money was coming from a credit or debit card=20 instead of a PayPal balance or directly from a bank account. People=20 using personal accounts could make all these payments to anyone else for=20 free. In June, PayPal made a number of changes to its User Agreement and=20 posted an update to the PayPal Blog. At that time, director of product=20 marketing Heinz Waelchli wrote=20 that=20 PayPal had now begun allowing those with business and premium accounts=20 to make personal transfers to friends and family for free. This, in=20 itself, is a welcome update---I use my PayPal account to receive=20 payments for items I sell on Etsy, but now I can send money to my=20 brother from the same account without either of us having to give PayPal=20 a cut. What PayPal failed to do was inform users of the fact that /any/=20 transfer having to do with goods or services will be charged the 3=A2 +=20 2.9 percent fee no matter who or where it's coming from. This includes=20 payments sent from personal accounts as well as payments made after=20 someone has sent you a request for payment (even if that request has=20 nothing to do with goods or services). For example, a personal account sending another personal account money=20 for a one-time payment for, say, mowing your lawn was not previously=20 charged any fees on either side, but is now charged the usual=20 transaction fee (the sender gets to decide who pays). The only way to=20 avoid this is by selecting "gift" when making the transfer---something=20 you can't do if you're following through on a purchase or invoice from=20 someone. And, if you fall into this category (which many people do),=20 it's likely that you had no idea about the changes until just now. On the one hand, PayPal insists that it made the changes clear to=20 customers via e-mail and a "formal notice" (aka legalese=20 =20 buried deep within the bowels of paypal.com and behind the login wall),=20 but it only takes a bit=20 of=20 digging=20 =20 around =20 to discover that this issue was obviously not clearly communicated at=20 all. When pressed for a reason for being so quiet about the changes,=20 PayPal PR manager Charlotte Hill told /PC World=20 /,=20 "We didn't want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing=20 change, because we weren't really adding any fees, and we were hoping it=20 would be a more useful experience for people." Well, it appears as if the lack of a "huge formal communication" has now=20 begun to anger users, as it comes off as a shady way to hide the=20 addition of fees to mass numbers of transactions. Sure, users would have=20 been irritated either way, but doesn't PayPal know that the way to=20 handle bad PR is to be the first one to control the message? People=20 value openness and transparency---especially when bad news is involved.=20 Now, those controlling the message are other, ticked off users, and that=20 won't be an easy one to clean up after. *Update*: We spoke to PayPal spokesperson Anuj Nayar who explained that=20 the fees were basically shifted from account types (business versus=20 personal) to payment types (personal transfers versus goods and services)= . --------------020407030400050509070006 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/internet-waking-up-to-paypals-quiet-massive-fee-hike.ars

PayPal made some policy changes in June, but it's likely that you haven't heard much about them until very recently. That's because the company quietly slid in extra fees that will affect nearly all users but failed to be transparent about the changes. Now, the Internet is slowly discovering what happened, and no one is happy about it.

PayPal has generated its fair share of controversies over the years, but it has begun to stir up another one by adding new transaction fees that affect all customers—without telling anyone about them. The company slipped the fees in with a more general update to its "send money" service in June, but because the changes were so well hidden, the Internet has been slow to wake up to what amounts to a good increase in PayPal's income.

Under the previous system, fees were charged based on the type of account the receiver was using as well as where the money was coming from. If the receiver was a premium or business account owner, he or she was charged 30¢ plus 2.9 percent of the transaction—the same applied to all accounts if the money was coming from a credit or debit card instead of a PayPal balance or directly from a bank account. People using personal accounts could make all these payments to anyone else for free.

In June, PayPal made a number of changes to its User Agreement and posted an update to the PayPal Blog. At that time, director of product marketing Heinz Waelchli wrote that PayPal had now begun allowing those with business and premium accounts to make personal transfers to friends and family for free. This, in itself, is a welcome update—I use my PayPal account to receive payments for items I sell on Etsy, but now I can send money to my brother from the same account without either of us having to give PayPal a cut.

What PayPal failed to do was inform users of the fact that any transfer having to do with goods or services will be charged the 3¢ + 2.9 percent fee no matter who or where it's coming from. This includes payments sent from personal accounts as well as payments made after someone has sent you a request for payment (even if that request has nothing to do with goods or services).

For example, a personal account sending another personal account money for a one-time payment for, say, mowing your lawn was not previously charged any fees on either side, but is now charged the usual transaction fee (the sender gets to decide who pays). The only way to avoid this is by selecting "gift" when making the transfer—something you can't do if you're following through on a purchase or invoice from someone. And, if you fall into this category (which many people do), it's likely that you had no idea about the changes until just now.

On the one hand, PayPal insists that it made the changes clear to customers via e-mail and a "formal notice" (aka legalese buried deep within the bowels of paypal.com and behind the login wall), but it only takes a bit of digging around to discover that this issue was obviously not clearly communicated at all. When pressed for a reason for being so quiet about the changes, PayPal PR manager Charlotte Hill told PC World, "We didn't want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing change, because we weren't really adding any fees, and we were hoping it would be a more useful experience for people."

Well, it appears as if the lack of a "huge formal communication" has now begun to anger users, as it comes off as a shady way to hide the addition of fees to mass numbers of transactions. Sure, users would have been irritated either way, but doesn't PayPal know that the way to handle bad PR is to be the first one to control the message? People value openness and transparency—especially when bad news is involved. Now, those controlling the message are other, ticked off users, and that won't be an easy one to clean up after.

Update: We spoke to PayPal spokesperson Anuj Nayar who explained that the fees were basically shifted from account types (business versus personal) to payment types (personal transfers versus goods and services).


--------------020407030400050509070006-- Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:

    
  1. Re: [WebDNA] FYI: Internet slowly wakes up to PayPal's quiet fee hike (Kenneth Grome 2009)
  2. [WebDNA] FYI: Internet slowly wakes up to PayPal's quiet fee hike (Dale Lists 2009)
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------020407030400050509070006 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/internet-waking-up-to-paypals-qui= et-massive-fee-hike.ars PayPal made some policy changes in June, but it's likely that you=20 haven't heard much about them until very recently. That's because the=20 company quietly slid in extra fees that will affect nearly all users but=20 failed to be transparent about the changes. Now, the Internet is slowly=20 discovering what happened, and no one is happy about it. PayPal has generated its fair share of controversies=20 =20 over the years, but it has begun to stir up another one by adding new=20 transaction fees that affect all customers---without telling anyone=20 about them. The company slipped the fees in with a more general update=20 to its "send money" service in June, but because the changes were so=20 well hidden, the Internet has been slow to wake up to what amounts to a=20 good increase in PayPal's income. Under the previous system, fees were charged based on the type of=20 account the receiver was using as well as where the money was coming=20 from. If the receiver was a premium or business account owner, he or she=20 was charged 30=A2 plus 2.9 percent of the transaction---the same applied=20 to /all/ accounts if the money was coming from a credit or debit card=20 instead of a PayPal balance or directly from a bank account. People=20 using personal accounts could make all these payments to anyone else for=20 free. In June, PayPal made a number of changes to its User Agreement and=20 posted an update to the PayPal Blog. At that time, director of product=20 marketing Heinz Waelchli wrote=20 that=20 PayPal had now begun allowing those with business and premium accounts=20 to make personal transfers to friends and family for free. This, in=20 itself, is a welcome update---I use my PayPal account to receive=20 payments for items I sell on Etsy, but now I can send money to my=20 brother from the same account without either of us having to give PayPal=20 a cut. What PayPal failed to do was inform users of the fact that /any/=20 transfer having to do with goods or services will be charged the 3=A2 +=20 2.9 percent fee no matter who or where it's coming from. This includes=20 payments sent from personal accounts as well as payments made after=20 someone has sent you a request for payment (even if that request has=20 nothing to do with goods or services). For example, a personal account sending another personal account money=20 for a one-time payment for, say, mowing your lawn was not previously=20 charged any fees on either side, but is now charged the usual=20 transaction fee (the sender gets to decide who pays). The only way to=20 avoid this is by selecting "gift" when making the transfer---something=20 you can't do if you're following through on a purchase or invoice from=20 someone. And, if you fall into this category (which many people do),=20 it's likely that you had no idea about the changes until just now. On the one hand, PayPal insists that it made the changes clear to=20 customers via e-mail and a "formal notice" (aka legalese=20 =20 buried deep within the bowels of paypal.com and behind the login wall),=20 but it only takes a bit=20 of=20 digging=20 =20 around =20 to discover that this issue was obviously not clearly communicated at=20 all. When pressed for a reason for being so quiet about the changes,=20 PayPal PR manager Charlotte Hill told /PC World=20 /,=20 "We didn't want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing=20 change, because we weren't really adding any fees, and we were hoping it=20 would be a more useful experience for people." Well, it appears as if the lack of a "huge formal communication" has now=20 begun to anger users, as it comes off as a shady way to hide the=20 addition of fees to mass numbers of transactions. Sure, users would have=20 been irritated either way, but doesn't PayPal know that the way to=20 handle bad PR is to be the first one to control the message? People=20 value openness and transparency---especially when bad news is involved.=20 Now, those controlling the message are other, ticked off users, and that=20 won't be an easy one to clean up after. *Update*: We spoke to PayPal spokesperson Anuj Nayar who explained that=20 the fees were basically shifted from account types (business versus=20 personal) to payment types (personal transfers versus goods and services)= . --------------020407030400050509070006 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/internet-waking-up-to-paypals-quiet-massive-fee-hike.ars

PayPal made some policy changes in June, but it's likely that you haven't heard much about them until very recently. That's because the company quietly slid in extra fees that will affect nearly all users but failed to be transparent about the changes. Now, the Internet is slowly discovering what happened, and no one is happy about it.

PayPal has generated its fair share of controversies over the years, but it has begun to stir up another one by adding new transaction fees that affect all customers—without telling anyone about them. The company slipped the fees in with a more general update to its "send money" service in June, but because the changes were so well hidden, the Internet has been slow to wake up to what amounts to a good increase in PayPal's income.

Under the previous system, fees were charged based on the type of account the receiver was using as well as where the money was coming from. If the receiver was a premium or business account owner, he or she was charged 30¢ plus 2.9 percent of the transaction—the same applied to all accounts if the money was coming from a credit or debit card instead of a PayPal balance or directly from a bank account. People using personal accounts could make all these payments to anyone else for free.

In June, PayPal made a number of changes to its User Agreement and posted an update to the PayPal Blog. At that time, director of product marketing Heinz Waelchli wrote that PayPal had now begun allowing those with business and premium accounts to make personal transfers to friends and family for free. This, in itself, is a welcome update—I use my PayPal account to receive payments for items I sell on Etsy, but now I can send money to my brother from the same account without either of us having to give PayPal a cut.

What PayPal failed to do was inform users of the fact that any transfer having to do with goods or services will be charged the 3¢ + 2.9 percent fee no matter who or where it's coming from. This includes payments sent from personal accounts as well as payments made after someone has sent you a request for payment (even if that request has nothing to do with goods or services).

For example, a personal account sending another personal account money for a one-time payment for, say, mowing your lawn was not previously charged any fees on either side, but is now charged the usual transaction fee (the sender gets to decide who pays). The only way to avoid this is by selecting "gift" when making the transfer—something you can't do if you're following through on a purchase or invoice from someone. And, if you fall into this category (which many people do), it's likely that you had no idea about the changes until just now.

On the one hand, PayPal insists that it made the changes clear to customers via e-mail and a "formal notice" (aka legalese buried deep within the bowels of paypal.com and behind the login wall), but it only takes a bit of digging around to discover that this issue was obviously not clearly communicated at all. When pressed for a reason for being so quiet about the changes, PayPal PR manager Charlotte Hill told PC World, "We didn't want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing change, because we weren't really adding any fees, and we were hoping it would be a more useful experience for people."

Well, it appears as if the lack of a "huge formal communication" has now begun to anger users, as it comes off as a shady way to hide the addition of fees to mass numbers of transactions. Sure, users would have been irritated either way, but doesn't PayPal know that the way to handle bad PR is to be the first one to control the message? People value openness and transparency—especially when bad news is involved. Now, those controlling the message are other, ticked off users, and that won't be an easy one to clean up after.

Update: We spoke to PayPal spokesperson Anuj Nayar who explained that the fees were basically shifted from account types (business versus personal) to payment types (personal transfers versus goods and services).


--------------020407030400050509070006-- Dale Lists

DOWNLOAD WEBDNA NOW!

Top Articles:

Talk List

The WebDNA community talk-list is the best place to get some help: several hundred extremely proficient programmers with an excellent knowledge of WebDNA and an excellent spirit will deliver all the tips and tricks you can imagine...

Related Readings:

WebDNA 5.0 Questions (2003) PayPal Instant Payment Notification (IPN) (2002) So when do we get something similar? (1998) unable to run webcatalog locally (1998) Bug at start of Apache 2 with iTools 7 (2003) really wierd browser truncating (1997) Log-in Scheme (2003) TCPConnect (2002) PCS Frames (1997) Smith Micro & e Frontier (2008) [WebDNA] An actual attempt to get WebDNA and MAMP Pro to work - (2018) Multiple prices (1997) PC site chck pls (2003) Plugin or CGI or both (1997) how does multiple [cart] commands work? (2007) help with duplicate records posted (1998) no global [username] or [password] displayed ... (1997) method of payment (1997) [url] with frames (2003) Dummy Credit Card Number for debug? (1997)