Paypal vs Credit Card for online purchasing?

T

TheReflex

Registered User
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Hi,

So between Paypal and Credit Card, which one offers more protection to the buyer when purchasing online?

On one hand, I don't believe in Ireland we have a similar credit card protection to UK's Section 75. On the other, Paypal can leave buyers often at the hands of less scrupulous sellers (ex: scammer sellers who demand their item to be returned before refund).

So which one is safer, from everyone's experience?

TIA!
 
With a credit card you have the right to a chargeback and for online retailers, unless their site is protected via 3D secure, my experience is that it is almost impossible for a retailer to defend a chargeback. The banks 9 times out of 10 tell the retailer to get stuffed.
 
Where available, I use paypal - but I pay the paypal bill via my credit card. So both therefore.
I really like the 45 day protection with paypal. As per my (limited) experience they are extremely responsive and always good to deal with.
That's not saying that CC companies aren't good to deal with either, mind. The fraud protection systems they have in place are quite good.

"What is safer" is not easy to answer as I'd say both paypal and CC companies spend a quite a few quid on security.

With CC payments I think one would need to be more vigilant, but on the other hand on needs to careful with paypal as well.
 
Seller doesn't get the card details if you use PAYPAL so surely less card fraud than if a credit card is used?
 
Just chipping in with my one bad experience of Paypal. I have had an account since 2005 and have had many trouble free transactions online. Not so long ago I bought an item of jewellery from Spain using Paypal and I received my package minus the item of jewellery. It could have been stolen in the post or the seller may not have sent the item in the first place. It was really really painful dealing with Paypal. I never got to speak to anyone - the whole dispute process was conducted online and it was like they didn't even read the text of what I was sending them. They insisted I get a police report on the matter which was not possible as they wanted to know where item was stolen (it could have been Spain, or anywhere the package was handled along the way). In the end I had to file a chargeback against Paypal and it was the bank/Visa who brought the case to arbitration and I got my money back. For high value items I would stick with the credit card.
 
Just to note with PayPal, even if they resolve a dispute in your favour, you will not always get a refund, whereas credit card providers will always refund you in such circumstances. I know that from personal experience.
 
My own personal experience with Paypal has a negative twist as well. After purchasing an item and receiving something much different from the advertised item (seller sent a fragile item on a plastic bag from the US to Ireland...), Paypal told me I could either

a) keep the item and shut up
b) get a refund IF I sent back the item to the seller, paying all the expenses

lose-lose situation really. I believe with a credit card I could probably have taken a more drastic approach?
 
The only advantage of setting up paypal is that if you get a new CC at least you only need to update one site with the new CC details if you use paypal mostly.
 
I had a recent experience with Visa and wanted to cancel a service that I paid for but never received. Visa told me that I needed to resolve the issue with the vendor or have a reply from the vendor to show them in order for them to stop payment, even when I told them that the vendor did not reply to emails, phone calls and didn't appear to have a full postal address. I await my monthly bill with interest.
 
Just to share a good experience with using Paypal last night.

I used it to take a 3 month subscription for an online magazine: no drama, payment went through and I had online access.

Fifteen minutes later, PayPal set me am email advising me that I had just signed up for an open ended subscription, renewing every 3 month, and more importantly, telling me how I could cancel it through PayPal.
I did this and got confirmation:
You successfully canceled the following recurring payment. PayPal will no longer bill you.
The cancellation was noted immediately on the magazine website
 
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