> The payment side is powered by Google Checkout, so the fee structure smacks Apple around all over the place.
Except for the part where as a vendor it's only available in half a dozen countries or so, and several major countries can not pay via Checkout either (does Checkout work at all from canada yet?), and where the customer service is non-existent (a Google constant).
>>Where the customer service is non-existent: Hi. Any specific problem we can help with?
In my experience, "Customer Service" can mean one or both of the following:
1. Actual help to resolve real problems
2. A human voice on the phone to walk you through resetting your computer (or otherwise generally offering moral support)
I find that most folks get nervous when #2 is not available, even if they would never use it or it would be unlikely to solve any of their actual problems.
The big G does not even pretend, and I think that is possibly to their detriment.
I say this every couple of months but no one believes me: Paypal has gotten religion on business support. Fraud sucks for everybody, but they really are making AB effort on it.
I got my account auto locked when an apartment move, sales spike (Valentine's day), and large withdraw all hit at once this week. It took one call and two minutes on thhe phone to resolve. "Sorry Mr. McKenzie, we just saw an unknown individual try moving a lot of money in and out of your account and wanted to make sure it was you. You're good to go."
I'm glad they're working well for you, but I'm not working on rumours - I just spent over a week and about a dozen phone calls trying to fix a mistake they made. Eventually they did accept that the mistake was at their end, but until that point their service was appalling. To their credit, though, they did seem to take a lot of notice of the feedback form I submitted.
Except that Google's forums don't help when Google locked five figures from you on a spiky day, continues to accept money with no way to withdraw, provides no telephone support, and offers only an (apparently overloaded) email support. (Eventually I got my account unlocked and funds released... six months later.)
Coincidentally, I've never had such a problem with Paypal. (My gripes with them generally revolve around the glacially slow history search.)
That was two years ago and it's not worth the effort. It's better just to explain the moral of my story when Paypal vs. Google Checkout debates occur: Paypal at least has a phone line.
Except for the part where as a vendor it's only available in half a dozen countries or so, and several major countries can not pay via Checkout either (does Checkout work at all from canada yet?), and where the customer service is non-existent (a Google constant).