PayPal Support - Constantly giving incorrect answers

You are very likely to get an incorrect answer from PayPal support when asking questions about things like IPN, API, Adaptive Payments, Micro vs Standard Transactions, and PayPal automated actions based settings in a PayPal account.

So here is what you should know:

1. PayPal reps will often give you an incorrect answer to a support question because they misunderstand what you are asking.

2. PayPal reps will often give you an incorrect answer to a support question because they misunderstand the type of integration you are using.

3. PayPal reps will often give you an incorrect answer to a support question because they are not acquainted with the shopping cart you are using and its integration method.

4. PayPal reps will often give you an incorrect answer to a support question because you ask the wrong questions.

5. PayPal reps will often give you an incorrect answer to a support question... worst of all... because they think they know the answer but are completely incorrect and the answer they give is different than what appears in PayPal's own documentation.

Occasionally they will swear up and down that they are giving the correct answer even when you show them that they are wrong by citing PayPal's own documentation (I recently had a rep pretend that they had given me the correct answer even when shown that answers they had just provided contradicted what was published on their own website).

This may sound like a rant... however, I am providing this insight both from my own experience and more than half a decade of experience working with companies who we have helped process tens of millions of dollars in PayPal transactions.

ALL paypal users should be aware that PayPal support giving the wrong answers to technical questions has been going on as long as PayPal has been popular.

Some reps will simply guess and pretend they know. Others just think they are giving the right answer but are not.

So when you have an issue with PayPal or a PayPal integration keep an open mind and take everything that PayPal support says with a grain of salt. You are going to have to independently verify their answer is correct.

Also be aware that third party service providers (like shopping carts) and script creators, in certain circumstances, may be better suited to help you figure out where to look to resolve your issues than PayPal support so contact them FIRST. They are more likely to understand what the symptoms of your issue actually mean than a PayPal support rep who is not acquainted with the solution you are using.