WARNING!!! Do not use PayPal on Hautelook before reading this!

Nothing to Disclose

I am not sure how many of you use PayPal Smart Connect. PayPal Smart Connect is a secure online credit line that you can use at most merchants that accept PayPal. It can really come in handy when there is something you need to buy TODAY but aren't getting any money deposited into your PayPal until tomorrow (or next week or next month).
***BEGIN RANT*** Do not use PayPal on Hautelook unless you plan on using your PayPal balance. Hautelook's billing agreement with PayPal does not allow for PayPal Smart Connect, EVEN THOUGH WHEN YOU LOG INTO PAYPAL DURING CHECKOUT IT SHOWS THAT MY PAYMENT OPTION IS PAYPAL SMART CONNECT, NOT MY PAYPAL BALANCE. This happened to me three times in the past month. Unfortunately, I did not notice until I checked my PayPal balance this morning and it said ZERO. There are other merchants out there that do not allow for PayPal Smart Connect, but I was notified of that everytime I went to check out because it showed my funding source as PayPal Balance and I was not able to change it to PayPal Smart Connect. I don't place any blame on Hautelook. Nor do I place it on PayPal Smart Connect (which doesn't appear actually be owned by PayPal, my payments go to GE Capital). I blame it solely on PayPal because all of these issues occurred when I logged into PayPal's website during the checkout process. I called PayPal to complain, and the dick that answer basically told me there was nothing he could do. I said that I didn't want PayPal to do anything with my account, I wanted PayPal to FIX IT so it didn't happen again to me or anyone else. I asked to speak to someone who could fix it and he said there was no one, then proceeded to explain to me again why it happened. I was screaming with frustration and in tears by this point. I explained (again) that I understood why it happened, I just wanted PayPal to FIX it! I asked again to speak to someone else and he denied that there was anyone I could talk to. I said put your supervisor on the phone. Which he did instantly - why couldn't he have just done this in the first place? I explained to the supervisor what happened (again). I explained that I understood why it happened (again). I told him I no longer had confidence in PayPal, and that it wasn't this specific incident I was upset about, it was the PRINCIPLE of the issue. This could happen again to me or ANYONE ELSE that uses PayPal Smart Connect, since I knew for a fact that the option is disabled when I check out with certain other merchants. He said he understood, that he would bring it up at his weekly meeting (he was actually really nice), then asked me to use the feedback button at the bottom of the PayPal website, because the more people that complain about the problem, the more likely it would be fixed. (MORE LIKELY?) So I ask ANY of you that have PayPal Smart Connect to submit feedback using the link at the bottom of the webpage. All you have to do is indicate whether you would recommend PayPal to a friend, and why. Heck, even if you don't have it, submit feedback! What if this happens to someone who doesn't have money in their account, so the money is automatically withdrawn from their checking or savings account? What if that person needed that money for necessities? The entire reason I use PayPal and PayPal Smart Connect is so that I can purchase stupid things that I don't really need. No one needs 5 Urban Decay nail polishes just because they are on sale on Hautelook for $5.00 each. But I chose to make those purchases because I was able to use the small amount of money that I make with this blog. That purchase, small as it was, drained my PayPal balance and I now have explain to my husband what the small amounts of money I keep paying to iTunes are. (Damn you,Carleen, for getting me addicted to Covet!) ***END RANT***

UPDATE: Hautelook tweeted me only minutes after I posted. Their twitter team has always been so awesome!

Disclosures: polish insomniac at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page.

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