Originally posted by straightshooter Mr. Posner, you missed the point completely that my complaint was not about PayPal ...
My mistake. When you wrote
"They won't even take PayPal without a verified address," it left the impression you were unhappy about the situation.
Quote: ...but all the hoops I had to jump through to get 7 rolls of film sent to another address and no response to the negative survey.
I've already apologized about the survey oversight. You were asked to verify the ship-to address for security, part of our efforts to deter credit card fraud and identity theft. The issue in this case wasn't so much about the relatively modest film order itself, but what an order like that too often leads to. It's a not-uncommon practice for pirates to test purloined credit cards with modest orders which, if successful and unchallenged, are followed by a whopper. If we verify the modest order, we avoid the whopper entirely and you avoid the really unpleasant experience (of which I have firsthand knowledge) of what's necessary to repair your then- compromised credit history.
Quote: After all, if you are sending me adds by e-mail, you obviously have my address.
How does having an e-mail address, which anyone can obtain from gmail or hotmail anonymously in 30 seconds, correlate with having your address?
Quote: In the survey, I acknowledged understanding about security. I said I realized it was needed as you do sell some big budget items but, as I also pointed out in the survey, B&H seemed to go overboard with it compared to other companies I have dealt with.
As banks make more and more outlandish promises of security to current and prospective card holders they make more and more demands on retailers to ensure this security. This is particularly true for so-called card-absent transaction including mail/phone/web purchases.
Until some clever person figures out a way to abolish card fraud and identity theft, you'll see more and more of this. Stores which don't exercise safe, prudent, & effective security measures are simply gambling they won't become the unwitting vehicle by which some clever pirate abuses YOUR accounts.