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Paypal refused to refund me when I had proof of mail fraud. It took my bank stepping in to refund the money. They get my vote and I will never use Paypal or Ebay again. They had their chance to redeem themselves and failed.
Paypal refused to refund me when I had proof of mail fraud. It took my bank stepping in to refund the money. They get my vote and I will never use Paypal or Ebay again. They had their chance to redeem themselves and failed.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-65015-100x100.png\")
this one is actually a bit tough
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Quite possibly the most difficult vote yet.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-349596-100x100.png\")
Having never dealt with Sallie Mae.... Ebay/Paypal HANDS DOWN. I bought a picture for my kitchen off of ebay, and although it was only $5.00 for the pic/shipping, I never received it, and the sellers never responded to my inquiries. I checked their feedback... when I bid on the item, there was 1 negative like 6 months ago, otherwise all ++. I checked after 3 weeks of no responses, there was 3-4 brand new negative complaints about not recieving their items, they were in a dispute with paypal. I left my negative feedback as well, as I was already in a dispute.
Needless to say.... these sellers still have an account on ebay. THANKS EBAY FOR PROTECTING ALL THESE IDIOTS FOR PROFITS.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-33654-100x100.png\")
I never had a problem with Ebay/Payapl. Last Christmas, I bought a Coach purse for my girlfriend off of Ebay, and I found out it was a fake, So I tried to contact the seller, asking for my money back and I would send her the purse back. She told me \"no. Just re-sell it on Ebay. You'll probably get more money for it.\" so I contacted Ebay and Paypal, disputed it, and got my money back.
The bitch that sold it to me got into deep shit. So, thank you to Ebay and Paypal for helping me out!
Oh, and Sallie Mae is just pure evil. I had to move my student loans from them to my credit union because of the interest rate that they were raping me with. So, fuck Sallie Mae!
Sounds like the problems with eBay are really not with eBay at all but with the career sellers that *use* eBay. Not really a fault of eBay; in fact probably part of its continued value as it leaves the market free and open to everyone.
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Definitely the toughest one yet but I'm sure we will have tougher matches as we get further down the line.
Paypal is a greedy company that doesn't care about anyone except their bottom line and will do anything to nab more money.
They got my vote this round
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This is an impossible choice, like being told you can have only lemon-meringue or pecan pie for dessert. Impossible.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-103766-100x100.png\")
Gotta go with ebay, only because of paypal.
Best incident was when I tried to claim a $15 rebate they were running. The expiration elapsed and still no rebate in my account. So began a series of emails which did not \"build upon the previous ones\" (you know, the ones where each rep fails to actually read the previous conversation).
They ultimately tried to deny me because my purchase was for $70 and showed a $5 refund for free shipping. They said \"We can't count that because the item was returned\". Finally they gave me the $15 but did not concede any errors. That was the end of my dealings with them.
I was a member of eBay from 2001. Gradually, after they went public they started to suck more and more. I've been burned twice on transactions. Most of the people doing buying and selling are 14 it seems like.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-16563-100x100.png\")
Crushing the dreams of lusty coeds aside, eBay/PayPal took what was one of the shining lights of Silicon Valley and destroyed it. I'm amazed that they still have a share price measured in entire dollar bills.
It IS a tough one tho, and not only because of tight-fitting sweaters and brisk morning air!
Not that anyone cares, but I'm not voting in protest to calling every contest a round. The Stars and Wings didn't play round 4 last night, they played game 4 of the third round, or conference finals. Not every contest is a round.
eBay and Paypal's got nothing on Sallie Mae. Besides, I never buy anything more than $30 off eBay, so I have no problem with the site.
But debt collectors piss me off.
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We use PayPal as a payment choice where I work. It always happens where PayPal takes the funds from a customer, but they forget to upload the actual order to us.....OOPS!
Its a joke, it really is.
EBay/PayPal all the way. Sallie Mae is greedy, Ebay et al is corrupt, incompetent, monopolistic...
@ChuckECheese: Pecan.
Linguistic Police: Shouldn't the new Start a discussion text above the comment box be changed? I mean, there's only one guy that's starting the discussion, versus the dozens that are adding on. Thus, it's incorrect the vast majority of the time.
Perhaps, Pile onto the writhing morass of indignant comments? Or Blame the victim here, or ...
Even though I've never done business with them, I had to vote for Sallie Mae. I have to admit, that's mostly because of my general disgust with the private student loan business. I got through college and grad school with GSLs and Direct Loans. I pay 6.25%, and it could be a lot lower if I hadn't consolidated before the rate declines of the early '00s.
When I hear about people paying 10% and higher on private loans because they have nowhere else to turn I just shake my head. College students these days have been thrown to the wolves. Schools commonly raise tuition 8%-10% per year [How many times have you gotten a 10% raise?], meanwhile the cost of financing is up 50%-100%. 2/3 of college grads went into debt to pay for school and their average burden is around $20,000. I can't imagine being 21 years old and paying 10% on a debt like that.
How does Ebay still exist? They are a portal for fraud.
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College students these days have been thrown to the wolves.
THIS. Now make sure you vote for the right people this November. For a change.
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This was a tough one, but I had to go with Sallie. There's a girl I'm glad I never dated!
eBay and Paypal might cause you to lose $600 on something pricy you bought/sold on that site. Odds are, it's under $100.
Sallie Mae will make you lose thousands when they don't receive a payment that you sent them, but deposit it anyway, and the government helps them do it.
No contest.
Ebay/Paypal, and I work for a company that sells primarily there. There ARE honest sellers that are getting equally screwed by paypal and fraudulent BUYERS. It's my hunch that paypal simply decides that both parties recieved the \"paypal decided in [the other party]'s favour\" and is simply keeping cash. And if not, the interest rates on the float while they \"investigate\" must just rake in cash.
I don't know if this will get a fair vote, considering the fact that people are more likely to have dealt with Ebay/Paypal than Sallie Mae (esp for student loans). It's similar to the sudden blowup of all these tragic forclosure stories when student loan borrowers have been suffering this way FOREVER.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-122843-100x100.png\")
I really have to go with ebay/paypal on this one, because both present paypal as a safe method to exchange your goods for money, when it is anything but.
eBay screwed me over royally years ago when I bought a $700 digital camera from some idiot in Pennsylvania. The transaction went smooth as silk, he got the money, I got the camera, we each left positive feedback and everyone was happy.
Then about four months later, said idiot opened a dispute with me, saying I had defrauded him by paying with a fake MoneyGram, even though I had used PayPal. eBay suspended my account, and made me jump through about a million hoops in an attempt to get it reactivated. Even after providing proof of payment via PayPal records, they never resolved the dispute, and eventually stopped responding to my emails. When I called customer service they just laughed and gave me the number to their legal department.
I finally just sucked it up and wrote off the account, along with the high feedback score it had taken me years to build. But I'm still pissed at them, and I hope somebody starts a competing service some day. When they do, I will be THERE.
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No experience with Sallie. Back in the day I paid for college courses, because courses were reasonably priced so that a student COULD pay without incurring mind boggling debt. But ... PayPal ought ot be hunted down and killed for the virus it is. First time I used PayPal my (segregated account, thank the gods) was hit 21x for one transaction. PayPal just kept at it. Never apologized, never admitted wrong, only a great bank officer saved me from a ration of bovine scatology. Afterwards I spoke with my family member who is deep in (deep!) into the world of cyber-security (uber-geeks would recogize his name) and he cursed me as a fool for going anywhere near PayPal. \"As secure as a screen door in a submarine\" was the nicest part of his commentary. The ugly part involved the original code that the current PayPal is layered on top of.
As to Sallie, I wouldf hazard a guess that a group of 419's are running this scam of ludicrous costs of college.
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I refuse to use eBay due to fraud.
Boo, eBay!
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sallie mae owns me so i hate them for that!
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I have ordered like 3 things off of EBay.
I have no loans with Sallie Mae.
Salle Mae destroys people's financial lives. I think people who get scammed by faceless auctioneers should have known the dangers of unaccounatable sellers.
Caveat Emptur.
Sallie Mae FTW.
Man, tough choice. I'm willing to attribute Ebay & Paypal's issues to ignorance and poor growth planning. Sallie's whole business sounds like it revolves around extortion.
Sallie for the loss...
Sallie Mae: Permanent destruction of your finances .
Ebay/Paypal: Temporary damage to finances.
So why is Sallie Mae LOSING the vote?
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I used to love eBay, but now their robotic incompetence pisses me off. I had one of my listings cancelled once without notice because I described it as \"like-new.\" Apparently, you're not supposed to use the word \"like\" because people will put \"like Chanel\" in their descriptions to draw in people who search for Chanel, which I can understand, but \"like-new\"? Please.
And is that any worse than the douchebag sellers who list regular, no-extras Wii systems as including 5 games (because the single pack-in has five different sports) and 2 controllers (because the controller splits in two)? I don't think so.
/rant
Sally Mae looks downright bad, like they ruin peoples' lives.
Ebay, meh. Just don't shop there if you don't like it. It's not like there aren't 500 other online stores to shop at that don't have nigerian scammers all over them.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-203062-100x100.png\")
@Trai_Dep: I think its worded correctly. Most people say something worth discussion. Obviously there are always exceptions. cough.
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I'm not voting on this one. I've used both and had pleasant experiences.
@SuffolkHouse: I was in the same position as you, but I do remember paypal holding my debit card for 3 months a while ago, so I voted for them. But I take it back. I'm sorry paypal. Sallie Mae keeps dropping my rates because I pay on time. Bastards :)
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I am moving from undergrad to graduate at the end of the year. A big reason is so that I don't have to pay off my student loans for another couple of years. I don't currently have anything with Sally Mae and after reading these stories I hope I never do.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-398346-100x100.png\")
Hmm, they are both bad.
But Ebay has known and lied about the extent of the fraud problem for years. Paypal has a checked reputation as well., although used properly it can be a good tool.
Ebay gets the vote this time.
My grad school loans are through Sallie Mae. So far, so good (knock on wood). I voted eBay/PayPal because I have been burned by them so many times. I guess we'll see if I vote differently in the 2009 contest.
The Upromise thing is worth it to me. I've paid off like $3.00 of my student loans just by buying things I was going to buy anyway after only being in the program for two months, and the spam emails only come once or twice a week. I'm sure my name's on a list somewhere, but then my name's already on a few lists I don't get anything for. At least this way I'm paying off principal and reducing interest without having to do anything.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-306825-100x100.png\")
I don't like eBay/Paypal, but...
My college used Sallie Mae for loan processing and made it seem like there were no other options (I now know better). Now that I am stuck repaying my loans with Sallie Mae, I've experienced first hand the poor customer service, botched credit reporting, payment issues, and so on... so Sallie Mae wins hands down.
I've used both: I have student loans with SallieMae and have bought through eBay recently.
I had to vote eBay FTW... SallieMae seems like it has more long-term and damaging horror stories and the recent credit score fiasco didn't help, but if you brought eBay/Paypal to the scale of SallieMae (ie $10,000 - $50,000 transactions) it would be a FAR worse company. Rampant fraud, poor dispute resolution, zero customer service.
Speaking of Upromise, I definitely thought it was sketchy at first and I was hesitant to register my credit card with them, but once I started using it, I was thrilled with it. Every time I get gas, a small percent, like 10 to 15 cents gets deposited into an account that I can use to pay off my loans. When you make bigger purchases it's a couple dollars. If you have self-control and only use the shopping website when you were gonna buy something anyway it's a nice little bonus. SallieMae is a company I actually don't mind doing business with.
@Bladefist: Try re-reading my first para again. More slowly?
The second one - pains me to have to point out something so obvious - is for the chuckles. Figures that's the one you take issue with. Sigh.
If I promise to give you a vigorous hate-f*ck, will you leave me alone?
Not that the issue matters greatly - it's Consumerist's call and a small thing.
let's see... one that can affect the life of a young adult, and one that affects people that use the internet to get scammed.
Tough choice. Sallie MAe it is.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-369198-100x100.png\")
@krom: Actually, eBay's ridiculous fees is what's keeping the old kind of sellers off the site and items sold for $25 shipping (to avoid fees). It's eBay's fault the site has become a nest of scam artists.
Sallie Mae Vs. eBay and PayPal? Two against one. Tag team wins.
Due to the recent credit score mishap, I'm voting Sallie Mae.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-108858-100x100.png\")
I vote Sallie Mae only because they're more life altering. If you get screwed by Ebay, you're out some money, maybe even a lot of money. But Sallie Mae can harrass you at home and work, infiltrate your bank account, fuck over your credit score, AND they pretend to be a caring sympathetic corporation. At least Ebay says \"buyer beware.\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-37033-100x100.png\")
@Trai_Dep:
Speaking of Nigeria...were it not for Ebay, how would Nigeria have risen in the American consciousness to become as loathed as it is?
Ebay has been the vehicle by which an entire country has gained infamy.
@nardo218:
I voted Ebay, on a guess. I'm guessing that they've screwed over more people...enough people to outweigh the damage caused by Sallie Mae.
My complaint isn't so much eBay (hey, if I don't here from a seller within a reasonable time, I consider it fraud - saved my bacon once) but with Paypal.
Paypal works well for me, except that EVERY time I use it, I get basically the same damn phishing email. I would hope that eventually they might figure it out, but no.
I now keep their fraud email address saved in Outlook.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-113647-100x100.png\")
Ebay/paypal is a company that even when a transaction goes well you end up screwed. Sallie Mae has had some issues, but nothing ever happened to me.
Now this is a contest!
I'm going with eBay/Paypal, because they consistently fight regulation, even though they seem to be so completely unwilling to selfregulate. And they took two companies who were full of promise (and in the case of eBay, even fun) back in 2001 and turned them into a dump full of scammers.
Well, that and the whole craigslist thing.
Some ebay-alternative site ought to allow new sellers to transfer over their Ebay feedback rating. There would go one big disincentive for people to leave Ebay.
eBay/Paypal sucks, but Sallie Mae killed the American economy. A good portion of the whole subprime fiasco can easily be laid at their shortsighted, greedy feet.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-277413-100x100.png\")
Wow, I cannot BELIEVE ebay is winning this one. It's funny that SallieMae's initials are S&M, cause dealing with them is always so painful. Ha ha ha. But anyway, noone forces you to buy shit online, but SatanMae is often the only option for poor students. They assraped me years ago, fraudulently I might add, for 2 grand. The school I went to sucked so I quit & had them use my Pell Grant to cover the 2 months I went there. I had them send the SM loan back, and was told I owed $0. Lo & behold, I get a collections letter several months later! Apparently I owe SM for a loan that I never even recieved. I told them the whole story, including the fact that my child's father's bitchy new wife was one of the financial people at the school who dealt with my loan(suspicious? I sure am), but did they care? Hell no. The manager actually said \"We don't care how it happened, we're gonna get our money either way.\" Colossal bitch from hell. Needless to say the customer service was nonexistent. I refuse to pay this loan. I have my paperwork that says I owe $0 & they can just take me to court if they have something to say about it.
It is SHAMEFUL what these assholes are doing to good people who just wanna go to school & better themselves. You know SM is the sole reason that I haven't gone back to school after the fiasco 3 years ago. Now that I know I have other options I'm going to look into starting vo-tech in the fall :D
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-258324-100x100.png\")
Boy, we've got us a horse race here...but I've gotta go with Sallie Mae once again, thanks to the wringer they put me through...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-325254-100x100.png\")
Man, there's nothing wrong with Ebay. I do business with them all the time and I make tons of money. I'm voting Sallie Mae.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-37281-100x100.png\")
eBay/Paypal wins this one hands down. While student loans may be evil, at least you can pay them by check or direct deposit. eBay is getting ready to force Australians to use either Paypal or COD for all of our auctions, in a move which has the nations Reserve Bank, Bankers Association, Consumer Groups, and the Consumer and Competition up in arms.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-6908-100x100.png\")
This vote was tough!!
SallieMae has consistently been a bear to deal with on my student loans, my last issue with them required 8 phone calls to resolve it. They'd be a shoe-in for my vote if it weren't for the inclusion of PayPal, they seem criminal in their highly suspect judgment over how my money is handled. In addition, they have consistently raised fees while lowering their level of service.
While SallieMae is an aggravation, I hope PayPal rots, I voted for \"Ebay/PayPal\".
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-409315-100x100.png\")
Sallie Mae killed a whole bunch of people's credit recently. If you have a graduated payment plan, they changed their reporting to \"pays as agreed\" instead of \"pays in full or on time\" etc. So that it looks like you are behind on your payments when credit agencies look at it! ARGHH
@kabuk1:
Exactly.
Lets say you're screwed by all two/three companies.
Ebay and paypal might steal your money, and while that sucks bad,compare it to the damage of getting screwed by S&M (ha): It wont involve damage to your credit report, or the suspension of your professional license.Neither can Ebay/Paypal seize your tax refund.
BTW, you dont have to buy stuff on Ebay.But good luck dodging student loans with modern tuition rates.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-5270-100x100.png\")
Most of the negative Sallie Mae comments have nothing to do with the company, but rather third-party debt collectors.
FYI - send any debt collector a certified letter asking them to send all further correspondence through mail and they have to stop. You'll find their address on your credit report, which you can check for free at least once a year. Not at Freecreditreport.com, which is a scam, but annualcreditreport.com or a service provided by your bank or credit card company.
Sallie Mae has supposedly fixed their reporting issues, but have they fixed the cascade of problems it's caused for people?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1161-100x100.png\")
Rita writes:
\"Reading many of the comments listed, my experience with Sallie Mae is one of a legal issue. They have broken the law, especially the Contracts we signed when we took out these loans,\" in good faith.\" Little did we know they never intended for our accounts to be paid in full. They are in the business of collecting interest.
They have refused to hand over the Notes for Paid in Full loans, and \"reconstruct\" payment histories to cover-up the fact that they continue to charge interest for loans that are already \"Paid in full.\" My accountant took one look at their ledger and stated, \"This is off, doesn't make sense, you should have someone in the legal profession look into it.\" Loans go off, then reappear, they sell them to their own subsidies in other states. They have a difficult time applying interest to loans that have varying amounts of interest and are horrible at simple arithmetic.
Their consolidation offers are unworthy and stupid, as if we would want to upgrade 7% loans to 8-12% to be paid off in a lifetime?
Finally, the higher up you go, the more corruption you will encounter as actual proof, hard data, canceled checks are totally devalued and ignored by state ombudsmans. I heard of a case in Florida where a senior citizen was still paying interest on loans after twenty years, had all the checks, etc., and was told there was nothing that could be done to remedy his case. No one \"in charge\" means no one had the authority to stop his insane situation. When one attempts to \"inform\" others they are in disbelief, even hostile, \"How could that be? It doesn't make sense, paying interest on loans over twenty years old, in America? What about banking laws?\" I had a home mortgage at two times the amount borrowed on my student loans and I hit the principal after ten years and in 5 more, the house was paid. I've been paying interest on student loans since the 90s, and most of the debt was paid in lump sums.
The credit bureaus, HESC, even, will only acknowledge payments that Sallie Mae states are valid. You could have banking statements, letters up the kazoo, it means nothing. Sallie Mae is so corrupt it should held accountable by our \"elected\" officials. And where did Mr. Bush begin his campaign? Wilkes Barre, Pa. the home of Sallie Mae. Sallie Mae is Bush country, they do whatever they want, they're covered.\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-211131-100x100.png\")
I really really hate Sallie Mae. Like others have said, if you're in college and your parent(s) can't pay the full cost, and the scholarships/grants aren't cutting it, you're fucked. I think the school fucked me over just as much as Sallie Mae, because Texas decided to deregulate tuition (smart move, assholes) and so the tuition soared each year starting with my freshman or sophomore year.
Everytime I log onto their Web site and see my \"amount owed,\" I want to cry. It's ridiculous. I almost wish I'd started at community college first.
I have had the worst experiences in my entire life dealing with paypal more so than sallie mae when they decided to close my account for no known reasons and hold my funds for 120 days! I felt totally out of control and ripped off. Non wonder they have so many Paypal sucks websites on the net. I joined everyone of them to rant!
________________
Air Force Ones, Jordans / Jordan Shoes, Jordan Release Dates and Nike SB Shoes.
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I hope eBay/Paypal win, I hate double-dippers.