PayPal Credit - BEWARE!

sourcrates

Takmon wrote: »

If you are unable to come up with a logical counter argument maybe you should go away and rethink your point of view. Do you honestly want to be treated like a child when you are an adult and think this is a step forward?

If someone put a large bowl of sweets in front of you would you gobble them all up like an excited child until you felt physically sick?. Then start complaining to the person who put them there saying they are irresponsible?

Takmon takes the view that as adults you should all be able to manage your credit properly, anyone care to comment on why that is not always possible ?

Takmon

Once again sourcrates has been abusing his privileges as a board guide and has been removing posts because they disagree with his points of view and he has no argument against them.

The solution to creditors giving out high credit limits is for people to act like adults and not spend more than they can afford.

If you put a large bowl of sweets in front of a small child and they eat them all until they are sick then you can partially blame the person who gave them the sweets but the child also needs to learn a lesson from it.

If you put a large bowl of sweets in front of an adult and they eat until they are sick then would you blame the person who gave them the sweets or would you say an adult should know better?

The same concept applies to being given credit but some people on here are so fixated on blaming the creditors they lose sight of their own mistakes and they will never learn.

sourcrates

honkus wrote: »

Hi EssexHebridean

I think it was £250 or thereabouts. I'd not long opened an Amazon card through Newday with a £500 limit, so would assume they thought I was a risk (spolier - I was).

They don't let you transfer money to friends and family, betting sites, or some international Ebay transactions.

I'm kicking myself and wish I could turn back time.

I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much, temptation can be a very desirable mistress, such a high limit is not uncommon with PayPal Credit, after all, they are in the business of making money, they make nothing off people who clear their balance every month, they want you to run up a balance that you can’t reasonably repay in one month, that way they can charge you interest.

Can I be cynical and suggest this is a deliberate policy among credit card providers in general, and PayPal Credit in particular, but no, surely not.

mbaske

I've racked up a £885 debt with Paypal. Worst thing is I'm a student so struggled to pay it.

I noticed aswel that when using Paypal, Paypal credit moved to the default way to pay. So then I checked my statement and as I use PayPal for things like Uber, I was paying for uber with credit

natlie

Hi

I opened a Paypal account to pay off my iPhone and Apple care, they gave me a £5k credit limit, I then put an AirBnB on it and I maxed it, I've been trying to pay it off since 2017 but it has been tempting to add to it especially groceries - online shopping.

For me the hardest part has been that they put the payment up from 1% to 2% with about a week warning and now I'm stuck paying £240 a month which I can afford - the 1% I was paying when i started was manageable

EssexHebridean

Takmon wrote: »

You seem to think the solution is for people to be treated like children and it's perfectly reasonable for an adult to spend more money than they can afford simply because they are offered it.

If you went into a restaurant and ordered two desserts and the restaurant said "I'm sorry sir but that is too much sugar for a healthy diet so you can only have one". Would you describe the restaurant as being responsible?, i know what most adults reaction to that would be.

I have one credit limit with a £15k limit but i have never spent anywhere near that in one month and it has always been repaid in full every month. Just because something is being offered doesn't mean you have to accept it and use it to the full and this is part of being an adult.

It's not always that straightforward, though. Someone who is already struggling for cash - possibly even through circumstances outwith their control, is not necessarily thinking as logically as you and I - in our position of privilege with an income/expenditure balance that allows us to make rational decisions and repay spending on cads each month in full - would be. Take the example of someone who perhaps has had a benefit payment delayed through no fault of their own, but their child needs new shoes urgently, or the fridge has broken at home - they might well see an offer of this sort of credit as a great way to get them out of the situation they are in, and they might indeed tell themselves that they will pay it off in full when the payment comes through...only then the payment gets delayed again, and then something else needs paying for....and so it mounts up. There is also the question of those with mental health issues that may from time to time affect their rationality being included in these indiscriminate offers from Paypal and the like.

It's all too easy to over-simplify and say "Oh well *I* manage my money OK, so you should be able to" but we really do need to remember that is FAR too broad a brush to apply to the question of debt - perhaps you need to do a little more research as to the incredibly diverse demographic that find themselves on these boards, asking for help?

It's about responsibility - and that needs to come from both sides, not just the borrower.

EssexHebridean

Josh_Milner wrote: »

I've found PayPal like to default all payments to credit.. sneakily racking it up, you must make sure you don't allow this as you can easily change it but you've just got to notice they've done it!

There have been a couple of times that I've nearly clicked the "apply" button ion error because of its placement on the payment page, too.

mbaske wrote: »

I've racked up a £885 debt with Paypal. Worst thing is I'm a student so struggled to pay it.

I noticed aswel that when using Paypal, Paypal credit moved to the default way to pay. So then I checked my statement and as I use PayPal for things like Uber, I was paying for uber with credit

This is surely another major issue with Paypal credit if it is changing people's default payment method without asking them very clearly whether they want to do that?

Takmon

sourcrates wrote: »

Thank you for your comment, however describing people in severe debt as “children” just serves to dissuade them from seeking advice, it’s clear you are proficient in the management of your own money, unfortunately many others are not, this can be due to many different issues, mental health, controlling relationships, autism, like my own son, or just plain ignorance, whatever the issues people need help and guidance, not sarcasm, not everyone has the mental capacity to deal with real life.

Show me where i described people in debt as "children".

You are the one who is constantly wanting creditors to treat people like children and tell them what they can and cannot borrow. I'm saying adults should be treated like adults and they shouldn't be mothered by companies offering credit.

Yes some people are unable to manage money and they should be given support on an individual basis to meet their needs. We shouldn't have to change the rules for everyone due to certain groups of people.

Another example is allergies, some people are extremely allergic to nuts and they can easily be killed by them. The solution to this is to ensure all nut products are clearly labelled.
The people who are allergic to nuts can still go out and see adverts for nuts, go into shops to buy them and eat them but they know they have to avoid them.

The solution is not to control the supply of nuts by having to be checked if you are allergic to them before you buy them and being told if your allowed to buy them or not.

sourcrates wrote: »

Takmon takes the view that as adults you should all be able to manage your credit properly, anyone care to comment on why that is not always possible ?

Like the old saying goes "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime".

The best solution is for people to learn how to manage their money and control their spending and then this will last a lifetime.

If someone is addicted to gambling the long term solution is to get help to get over their addiction. Nobody will say a gambler has resolved their addiction just because they have excluded themselves from all gambling sites, they also need to change themselves.
It's a similar kind of thing with poor money management.

Takmon

EssexHebridean wrote: »

It's all too easy to over-simplify and say "Oh well *I* manage my money OK, so you should be able to" but we really do need to remember that is FAR too broad a brush to apply to the question of debt - perhaps you need to do a little more research as to the incredibly diverse demographic that find themselves on these boards, asking for help?

The majority of people on this forum come on here in debt and post an SOA. The people on the forum then help them to reduce their outgoings, increase earnings etc and a plan to pay off their debts. They then change the way they manage money, pay off their debt and mostly continue to manage their money in a better way.

The only thing that changes was how their managed their money so this shows they were doing something "wrong" to begin with.

A common phrase used on this forum is "Lightbulb Moment" which is the moment people realise they need to change the way they manage money.

So i'm saying treat these people like adults, have a frank discussion about the mistakes they have made and help them manage money better in the future.

Blaming the creditors does not help people at all.

EssexHebridean

Takmon wrote: »

Blaming the creditors does not help people at all.

Unless of course the creditors are behaving in a way that is adding to a problem, in which case highlighting this behaviour might help others to avoid falling into the trap that is being set for them.

Better by far if people can avoid falling into the debt trap in the first place than needing to go through the process of getting into debt, coming here, asking for help, and getting sorted out.

The point of this thread was initially my suspicion that Paypal were behaving in a way that is designed to lead people into debt, rather than lending responsibly, ensuring that their service is offered to those who can use it in a responsible and balanced way, and setting credit limits that are reflective of the limits that are really required allowing the purchases that are being made. In fact the posts here from those who have used it has shown that it is actually far, FAR worse than I originally thought, and confirmed that yes, something really does need to be done about it.

I appreciate that you feel that debt is down to people behaving irresponsibly - my view is that you are generalising, and that this is not always the case, as I have already said. I - and others who are commenting here - have been active on these boards for a very long while - and have seen an awful lot of cases where the situation is far from as clear-cut as you think it ought to be. If you do a little bit of reading back on the DFW boards you will find that we do indeed treat the people that post asking for help as adults - as previously said, likening them to acting in the manner of children is unhelpful and would likely drive most away! In many cases nobody has taught people about budgeting, managing money etc - and while to you & I this might seem to be obvious and second-nature, that's not always the case. You have already been given reasons why it's not always as simple as just "not getting into debt" as well.

Regardless, I think you have made your point on this matter, and your posts are bordering on the judgemental. As such and as the originator of the thread I'm going to ask that you step away from taking further part in this thread please unless you do actually have something constructive to add - your current constantly repeated standpoint is coming across, quite honestly as thread-spoiling.