About once a week I have someone spell their avatar name wrong or put in the wrong email address for PayPal.
This isn't much of a problem if it's a wrong avatar name - I just need the person purchasing Therebucks from me to 1.) figure out that that's what they did and 2.) email me clearly about what they did, what the wrong name was and what the right one should be. Assuming I'm there at the computer when I'm emailed about this, I can correct the avatar name spelling right away and payment will be very prompt after that - well of course also assuming that the avatar name they put in doesn't belong to someone else, in which case the person who made the order will need to contact the person with the avatar name they put in and maybe also contact there.com, but usually the misspelling doesn't result in the wrong person getting paid - that has maybe happened twice in six years, once being fixed by the avatar who received the payment and once being fixed with a little intervention from There.
It's slightly more of a hassle but still not too bad if someone put in the wrong email address, especially if they realize it right away and I'm there at the computer so it's easy for me to go in to PayPal and find the transaction and cancel it (assuming someone else doesn't have that wrong email address AND has it registered with PayPal, but I don't think that has EVER happened in six years.)
When it is a real problem is when people are using MassPay. MassPay is great if you have a larger transaction because it could save you $30 or more in fees that you would normally pay, however IF YOU SPELL YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WRONG I have no way to go into PayPal and cancel this transaction. I've called them on the phone about this, and they have also refused to cancel the pending transaction manually. What happens if you put in the incorrect email address is that the transaction hangs there for 30 days and then cancels automatically. THEN I can go in and resend it. So it's not that you will never receive the money, but if you were counting on receiving in less than 30 days you may experience some distress/disappointment.
The reason I am mentioning this now is that recently I have had this happen with two rather large transactions, and apparently it is MY fault (I have even been accused of I guess going in to my own database and purposely changing the email to be incorrect) and I am a scrooge and a mean and cruel person for not magically canceling these transactions. People seem to think it's not that I CAN'T cancel them but that I WON'T, presumably because I like to watch people suffer and ruin the Christmases of their children and grandchildren and don't place as much value on money as other people do. (I'm just paraphrasing a few choice emails I have received blaming me for these situations.)
I can't stress enough that while it is great to save all that money on PayPal fees, it is VERY important to double and triple check the spelling of your email address when using MassPay! I swear to you I am not out to ruin anyone's holiday gift giving plans or whatever, and I am certainly not changing email addresses before sending payments.
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