I never really liked Paypal, but it actually just came to my rescue.  About four months ago I purchased a discount subscription to the Wall Street Journal on eBay.  It was from a guy that had positive ratings, and everything seemed fine at first.  It was an 18 month subscription, or so it claimed.  The paper came fine for the first three months, actually four months and then just stopped.  I called the WSJ and they told me my subscription had expired a month ago but out of courtesy they kept it coming for a month so I could renew and not have an interruption.  Evidently this guy sold me a three month subscription with the claim it was for 18 months.  Obviously I never knew until the paper stopped.  When I went to contact him his eBay account was closed, his email bounced and his phone was disconnected.  I called eBay and they basically said too bad, its over two months and we can't help you.  Then they said since you paid for it with Paypal they will take care of you.  I called Paypal and explained the situation.  They said they would try to contact the vendor but if they got no response in a week they would (and did) refund my full purchase price.  Kudo's for PayPal.

Not bad! I've relied on Amex for similar stuff in the past. The big companies do have solid service when it comes to consumer issues.

Did not even know they sold WSJ subscriptions on ebay.

 

This is why I am a HUGE fan of Amex.  Anything that I think can have issues... always paid with Amex.

Between Return protection, extended warranty and accidental protection... the cards more than pay for themselves.

Did not even know they sold WSJ subscriptions on ebay.

 

This is why I am a HUGE fan of Amex.  Anything that I think can have issues... always paid with Amex.

Between Return protection, extended warranty and accidental protection... the cards more than pay for themselves.

I agree, but some things only take paypal.  I have paypal pull from my Amex card rather than from a bank, so I actually have three levels to go after.

I soured on Paypal when they tried everything they could to not cover a fraud situation.  The seller took the $400 and that was the last I heard of him.  Verified bank account and so on.  Paypal claimed they could not debit his verified account.  Eventually they gave in and covered the maximum - $200, but they made it as tough as possible.

Maybe they have come around in more recent times.  But I heard so many stories of power sellers who had their accounts frozen for no reason.  Nobody regulates them, so they can do as they please.

 

But I also link to Amex now instead of my bank, at least that adds a good layer.  Amex also has pretty decent rates these days for carrying a balance, at least compared to many Visa/Mastercard offers.

Nice!