Adult game developer’s PayPal funds held for over a month despite being legitimately sold on Steam [80k GBP]
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That’s why I deleted my PayPal account last year. Fuck them
Yep, same, I did some competitions with a friend, they sent me my half of the winnings via PayPal, his account is hacked and the hacker for some reason tries to claim back all the winnings. Even though the hacker only got access once and my friend was in constant contact with PayPal, they still dragged it out for months and months, every week sending me warning about my account being in debt despite the fact my friend had already told them about the hack and proven his identity.
It’s funny that a hacker with a random IP and no verification can fuck my life up for 6+ months with a single click, but my friend with all is documents and login history can’t convince PayPal they need to stop trying to take ~£60k off me.
As soon as it was finally sorted I deleted my PayPal.
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No, you’ve never actually shown that there’s recourse against bad actors. You brought up small claims court, but dropped the subject - likely because there’s no legal framework for that; then you mentioned nebulous “consumer protections,” but still can’t manage come up with any description of how a bad actor would be held to account in such a situation.
With a credit card, for example, this is typically a very easy process that can be accomplished via one’s bank’s website, supported by financial regulatory frameworks.
What “bad actors”?
How does this differ than using cash? Or credit card. You are not being clear. What recourse do you have when using cash, for example?
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What “bad actors”?
How does this differ than using cash? Or credit card. You are not being clear. What recourse do you have when using cash, for example?
Are you trying to make a joke? Have you actually completely forgotten what the original post is even about?
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Crypto doesn’t ensure you get the product. Like with real cash, other party might just run away with money
Which is why intermediaries exist and why crypto isn’t in any way a solution for the problem this entire post is about. And why bringing it up randomly is complete tech bro wankery.
Are you concerned that Valve runs away with your money?
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Are you trying to make a joke? Have you actually completely forgotten what the original post is even about?
The post is about the *payment processor* being the bad actor. In that case, crypto is an alternative because it bypasses processors entirely.
If the bad actor is the *merchant*, then you already have consumer protection laws, and beyond that the legal system, same as with cash, crypto or credit cards.
You haven’t shown how cash or credit cards are inherently less risky than the Lightning Network. With cards, you can be debanked or have your account frozen by the processor (which is what happened in this post). With cash, a merchant can just take it and not deliver. Crypto doesn’t make this worse. In fact, it removes the risk of being debanked while functioning like digital cash (crypto payments can be made directly, not just through custodial processors).
Chargebacks exist with cards, but they’re double-edged (e.g. fraud, arbitrary reversals, censorship).
If you don’t understand crypto or don’t see the problems it solves, that’s fine, no one’s forcing you to use it. But dismissing it as “less accountability” doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
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This is Financial violence. Seriously GNU-Taler, Any fucking time now
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And what recourse do you have?
The same as paypal, but you’ll have more freedom & responsibility, since You ARE the bank now
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Friendly reminder for people with SEPA capability that https://bezahlbrudi.jetzt/ exists. Don’t use PayPal. Just use your bank. (Doesn’t help with shops, but at least for that pizza night where John paid for everyone and now wants your share for the big pepperoni)
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Valve? Not concerned. Random company selling something I need for a good price? Sure.
The intermediaries are useful when dealing with less trustworthy merchants.
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As much as I believe PayPal would do this (they have closed accounts without warning and stolen all pending funds many times in the past, which is why it’s commonly recommended to avoid them if you’re making decent money), the only source for this article is a Reddit thread that doesn’t name the game or company.
There’s a decent chance this is just someone’s creative writing exercise using the current scandal to get attention.
It is probably real, since PayPal clearly states that you need pre-approval to accept payments from mature content.
https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/paypal/acceptableuse-full
