BetterHelp online issues & Paypal questions

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So I joined BetterHelp and I wish I hadn't. I joined it because it's ranked the highest on multiple lists for online therapy as being the best. I had some issues such as:

-Cost never being presented before entering my credit card details.
-Cost being set on a full month from the get go, which they later apologized for and changed my subscription without me saying anything about it, just asking for a refund.
-Ginormous costs that even in America are expensive.
-When I asked for a retour they did it in 2 rounds without previously asking me if I just want a better offer, which charged each transfer with a fee and each conversion with another fee because they sent it in dollars. Do they really want to help people or are fooling around with offers?
-I received an email that I have a free week and other weeks free if I invite friends and friends get one too. But there is no information about the fees of me taking up those offers or scheduling appointments with the therapist I was matched with at this point, only a warning that I'll get feed 15$ if I cancel my appointment or if I don't show up before making it.
-Gosh they try hard its hard to resist especially since they say its free now. I lost my trust in this site though I cant do it. And the therapist I was connected to doesnt know or even ask the staff the questions i asked her, she seems to only be after money. Much different from these Romania psychologists who do first free sessions or even agree to follow up free because they recognize my financial situation and the mess in my life and actually are after more than money and nice and even agree to change websites if my app can't be installed. I swear to god, some American psychologists...



My overwhelmed fiance said in his last breath after I accidentally replied to him and it was like 2 am at night and I wanted to share the success of the refund with him that I should use Paypal, how does it work? Does anyone have exp with it who is not from America preferably, but all info matters? I know it may be worked with by some banks but mine probably doesn't work with it. Just looking for some intro into it, I may read and ask my bank about it or other means to cover up the number of the credit card and stay safe in online purchases later.

Also, does anyone have online exp with therapists or sites for therapy who are cheap from US or using English language? The costs in Romania are much lower but I'm still interested, also for when I move to America and will likely prefer dollars.

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My Pepe Le Skunk. I have so much faith in our love for one another. Thanks for being an amazing partner. x

Any topic, PM me; mind my profile.

Re Paypal... it is many years since I set mine up so some things may have changed.

Setting up a new account might be a bit of a faff but it does cover up your financial details. I don't believe there is any way for a seller to take more funds once the transaction is complete.

You also have a choice of methods so it can either draw directly on your bank account, debit card or credit card. You may find that in order to verify the funding method a small amount is taken from your bank/card balance which has a code with it. This is to verify that it belongs to you.

I very strongly recommend against any service that allows unregulated or unaccountable parties to automatically withdraw money from any pool of your money you aren't prepared to lose at any moment.

Awhile back I read a thread where a ton of people recounted their horror stories with Paypal specifically, where a person/company who interacted with their Paypal account previously started making arbitrary charges to the Paypal account, which then drew money from their main bank account.

If the charges had been to the bank, they would have been able to take measures against the offender, but Paypal had insufficient means to either get their money back from the offender or give the victim money in reparation.

What I would recommend you do is to set up a 'risky purchases' account where you only put in enough money to pay for those, and the account is set up to outright decline any charge beyond what the account can pay so they you don't get hit by overdrafts and whatnot. You should use this account for dealing with online purchases that aren't from well reputed companies, and the same when dealing with things like small shops, gas stations, when traveling especially at tourist destinations, and ATM machines not placed within the confines of a big bank.

Also try to find a bank and account type with strong measures that protect you from unsolicited charges. Some will allow you to just call a special service number and ask to have a certain charge to your account removed in case of fraud and then the bank takes care of the rest. I'm not too familiar with bank apps for smartphones, but I know that some countries have banks with fantastic service from just the bank app, giving you notifications any time a charge is made to your accounts and giving you a very accessible way to decline/chargeback fraudulent charges.

If you can't find any good info regarding Paypal's current system of accountability and you aren't able to slog through their lengthy and indiscernible user agreements, it might be worthwhile having a brief chat with a financial advisor. Just ask or email before you sit down for a session about whether they have knowledge regarding your concerns, so you don't just end up paying for the advice of "Buy an account/service at my affiliated bank!". Ask specifically if they will recommend the services of different banks, whether they know about their fraud-prevention services, or if they can tell you about Paypal specifically. What you're trying to establish is that you are asking for a specific product, which is information, so that there is proof if they aren't able to deliver.

E-mails are a pretty easy and simple way to establish a paper trail (if their email account is somehow tied to their real identity, like the company email account of a well-established business that won't disappear anytime soon). If someone refuses to allow you to establish a paper trail, that's a good indication that they're untrustworthy or that their company has policies preventing them from speaking officially about certain matters, which either way means that their service and information is self-serving at best. Under-the-table stuff CAN be reliable, but that's a whole other can of worms.