Consumer Alert: PayPal and Us

UPDATE 07/02/2015: GOOD NEWS!  PayPal has updated their user agreement so that it clearly outlines their purpose for wanting use “autodialed or prerecorded message calls or text messages” and your non-penalized options. 
 
Below is an excerpt from that agreement.

1.10(a) Contacting You. In order to contact you more efficiently, we may at times contact you using autodialed or prerecorded message calls or text messages at the telephone number(s) you have provided us. We may place such calls or texts to (i) provide notices regarding your Account or Account activity (ii) investigate or prevent fraud, or (iii) collect a debt owed to us. You agree that we and our service providers may contact you using autodialed or prerecorded message calls and text messages to carry out the purposes we have identified above. We may share your phone number(s) with service providers with whom we contract to assist us in pursuing these interests, but will not share your phone number(s) with third parties for their own purposes without your consent. Standard telephone minute and text charges may apply. We and our service providers will not use autodialed or prerecorded message calls or texts to contact you for marketing purposes at the telephone number(s) you designate unless we receive your prior express written consent. 

1.10(b) Your Choices. You do not have to consent to receive autodialed or prerecorded message calls or texts in order to use and enjoy PayPal’s products and services. Where PayPal is required to obtain your consent for such communications, you may choose to revoke your consent by contacting customer support at 1-844-629-9108 and informing us of your preferences.

Original ********** Alert

Since the day that PayPal release the announcement of their new customers user agreement, which goes into affect on July 1^st, PayPal customers have been outraged, eBay bailed out its partnership, FCC is warning PayPal that it is running afoul of federal laws that prohibit the blanket use of robocalls and text messages to contact customers whether they like it or not should they remain with PayPal under this new user agreement.

Although little is being said about the situation locally, this PayPal case is one that depending on its outcome will have a far reaching affects on not only PayPal customers, but on how we as consumers  might end up dealing with other companies as well. 

For more on this follow these links.   

• PayPal could be in big trouble over its user agreement that forces you to accept robocalls
• Paypal’s horrifying new User Agreement lets the company robocalls and autotext users at will
• PayPal responds to Internet fury over its new terms of service
• PayPal to pay $25 million in fines for ‘deceptive’ and shady business practices
• FCC LETTER

Since the FCC intervention PayPal has not updated their user account agreement but in the user agreement they do provide an PayPal Opt-Out Notice that their new customers can mail within 30 days of creating their accounts.

Unlike some companies PayPal has not at this time provided their current customers nor their new customers with an online Opt-Out button that would immediately make their wish to not be called or text by robocalls and text messages known.

At present, should you decide to close your account there is a PayPal statement that states that your account cannot be reopened. This statement as written now sounds like a punishment to consumers who only want to protect themselves from companies that use deceptive business practices.