*Transcendental *Logic

Weird day. Still not feeling real hot, but I’ll survive. Schedule is intact, though I actually overslept during a *nap* today (by about 20 minutes), which is weird.

So, in lieu of real thinking, here’s something mildly useful: A conversation with Google about the safety of their “Google Checkout” service — yeah, the one competing with PayPal.

If you’re like me, you’ve heard and read WAY too many scary stories about PayPal to be comfortable using it. My bank account is everything I’ve got, and PayPal has been known to freeze access to your account and/or withdraw money from it without notifying you, in the event of a dispute, which then takes them weeks or months to “investigate” and resolve. It’s such a well-known problem that there’s even a revenge how-to out there that suggests sending your enemy some PayPal money and then calling PayPal to dispute it, thus locking up their bank account.

So I won’t use PayPal — or rather, I haven’t since back when I had a throwaway bank account set up specifically for that purpose (I used to use PayPal for business). I’ve been looking forward to Google Checkout as a possible alternative, but the question remains (even after reading their FAQ and TOS): Will Google really be less evil than PayPal?

Well, they say they will be, is the long & short of it. I had a conversation with the Google Checkout Team (full text of which is after the cut) and just asked them flat-out. They were predictably reticent, this being a financial service, but they got back to me promptly every time and did answer the questions I asked. And their answer was, in summary, that Google Checkout is tied to a credit card, not a bank account (which matters less for those of us who use the credit/debit cards on their bank account for such things), and that they will never freeze the account, or withdraw anything unless you buy something. Unfortunately, we’re just going to have to wait and see if they end up meaning what they say, but it’s nice that they’re willing to say it with no fuss.

So a tentative booyah there. Also a tentative booyah for SanDisk, the company that makes my USB stick-drive; when I wrote them to ask if they would send me a replacement cap for the thing since I couldn’t find any for sale, they simply mailed me some, no questions asked, no hype, no nothing–just wham, two new ones in the mail. They got the size wrong (and I found one to borrow from a friend in the meantime anyway), but still, that was pretty cool of them.

Read the rest of the post to see the emails…

————————

Subject: Account Freezes?
Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:36:37 -0000

Hey — I really want to use your service, but I have one unanswered
question that I need resolved first. PayPal, as you may know, is
notorious for freezing its customers bank accounts whenever there’s any
sort of dispute (and sometimes when there’s not), and then taking months
and months to resolve the issue. Being a working parent, I certainly
can’t afford the risk of my bank account being inaccessable for any
reason, hence why I don’t have a PayPal account and probably never will.
I read your ToS and FAQ but couldn’t find any assurances that Google
wouldn’t ever freeze my bank account. Can you clarify your stance on this
for me?

Thanks,
PD

—————————-

Hello,

Thank you for your email. Please be assured that Google Checkout does not
freeze bank accounts. Additionally, your payment and account information
is securely stored on Google’s servers. All of your purchase information
will be encrypted during transmission with industry-standard SSL (secure
socket layer) technology over HTTPS.

You can learn more about the privacy of your information at
https://checkout.google.com/files/privacy.html.

We are always happy to help, so please feel free to reply to this email if
you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Nicole
The Google Checkout Team

—————————————–

Golden Apples Everywhere
to Google
More options Oct 4 (5 days ago)
Hi Nicole,

Thanks as always for your team’s prompt response. I would additionally appreciate it very much if you could show me where Google’s policy specifies that it does not freeze bank accounts–? I’m sure you can understand my desire to “see it in writing”.

Again, thanks for your time!

-PD
- Show quoted text -

Google Checkout Team
to me
More options Oct 5 (4 days ago)

——————————————-
Hello,

Thank you for your reply. I understand you are concerned about Google
Checkout freezing your personal bank account.

To allow us to help you, please respond directly to this email to further
explain your use of freezing bank accounts.

Sincerely,

Jean
The Google Checkout Team

——————————

I mean freezing like this [link], where PayPal suddenly locks your access to your own bank account, or withdraws money from it, without your knowledge or permission. I find that a completely unacceptable business practice. Whether or not there is an investigation or dispute, it should take reasonable cause and a warrant to deprive someone of their money that way, especially when for many of us the money in our checking accounts is our livelihood.

Looking forward to your reply,

PD

———————————
Google Checkout Team
to me
Oct 7 (2 days ago)
Hello PD,

Thank you for your reply. I understand you are concerned about Google
Checkout freezing your bank account.

Please allow me to clarify the situation. When you sign up for a Google
Checkout buyer account, you only enter your credit card information.
Please rest assured that Google Checkout does not ask for, nor do we have
access to your bank account. As such, we would not lock your access to
your bank account, or withdraw money from your bank account without your
knowledge or permission.

Since Google Checkout does not ask buyers for checking account
information, our terms of service and policies may not address the topic
of freezing bank accounts. I hope this addresses any concerns you may have
about this issue.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Eileen
The Google Checkout Team

——————————–

Golden Apples Everywhere
to Google
More options Oct 7 (2 days ago)
Thanks Eileen, I continue to appreciate your answering my questions. While your answer does solve my issue with bank accounts, it brings up an analogous question that I’d also like clarified before I sign up: Will my *credit card* account ever be manipulated without my knowledge, including withdrawals and/or “freezes”? Especially with credit-card company interest rates being what they are, I would want to make sure that nothing happened with my credit card that I didn’t previously authorize. (If the answer is somewhere in writing, I’d appreciate a pointer to it as well.)

Thank you again. I promise this should be the last question, or getting there!

Sincerely,
PD
———————————-

Google Checkout Team
to me
More options Oct 8 (2 days ago)
Hello PD,

Please rest assured that Google will not manipulate your credit card or
make withdrawals or freezes without your knowledge. Google only charges
your credit card when you make a purchase on Google Checkout. In the event
that your credit card becomes lost or stolen, we will stop processing
Google Checkout orders to your credit card at your request.

Sincerely,

Eileen
The Google Checkout Team

——————————-

…So, what do you think? Was their answer satisfactory? Should I bug them for any further info?

This entry was posted 2 years, 1 month ago on Monday, October 9th, 2006 at 4:20 pm and is filed under consumer warfare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.