Please help me complete my enrollment to Paypal's "Expanded Use" program.

June 25, 2004 12:36 AM

I can't, for the life of me, complete my enrollment to Paypal's "Expanded Use" program. [more inside]

To sum it up: I add a valid credit card (VISA) to my account, and when clicking on the "My Account" link, I see NO "Complete Expanded Use Enrollment" link in the "Activate Account" box, as I'm supposed to.

Actually, I see no "Activate Account" box at all. All I see is an "Enhance Account" box, with an "Upgrade Account" link inside, which is obviously not what I am looking for.

I've contacted Paypal's support (using the forms, etc.) 6 times about this. No matter how kind I am in that e-mail, noting that it's the n^th time I'm contacting them about the issue, and that I have a "Premier" account (in hopes that they'll consider my request more seriously), they ignore me.

I've also added a second credit card, hoping that the "Activate Account" box will show up, but nothing.

Before I close this message, I should mention that I live in Europe (=an overseas PayPal customer). Also, I know that many people think PayPal sucks (and from some of the horror stories I've read, I kind of share this feeling), but sometimes it's the only quick solution when participating in online auctions. Oh, and someone had sent me money in this account, so if I can't activate it, I'm pretty much doomed not to get' em.

Helpful tips/advice on how to deal with this situation would be highly appreciated..

posted by kchristidis to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

IIRC I talked with them on the telephone. Amazing technology, really. You actually talk instead of type, and its in real time.

Otherwise, I assume you've done the thing where they charge a small amount to your card, then you give them the reference number from your bill? When I did this from Germany, it was the only way to get the account activated. Visa, for all its bullshit advertising, is NOT accepted everywhere, if your card is issued in Europe.

Horror stories? I've heard none of those.
posted by Goofyy at 12:50 AM on June 25, 2004

I remember having problems getting around this when I started with paypal.

I think you need to click on the link next to "status" on the "my account" tab. It should have a verify option there. I can't confirm this though, as my account is verified....
posted by davehat at 5:00 AM on June 25, 2004

Response by poster: (Goofyy, regarding horror stories, etc. this can be a good start I guess.)

Davehat, I have done what you've said (repeatedly).

Click on the "Unverified" link next to "Status" on the "My Account" tab, get to to page that features a "Get Verified!" button, press it, go to the next page where I'm prompted to add my credit card, do so, and then nothing.

No "Activate Account" box.

(PS: Weirdly enough, that page where I'm supposed to add my credit card, says on the top that it accepts only "Mastercard, American Express, or Discover" credit cards. But next to the card number field, you can also see the "Visa" icon (see screenshot). What's going on here?)
posted by kchristidis at 11:01 AM on June 25, 2004

I have a similar problem, sort of, except I don't have a credit card at all with which to 'activate', and I've xferred out US$100 t0 pay for web hosting, which is the limit you can move without 'activation', and so I still have upwards of $80 (which is a lot of money, for me) stuck there, with no way that I can divine to get it out.

This is a bad thing.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:07 PM on June 25, 2004