The new "Grinch"

Okay, my last post was about how I like to do good things, and how some people just suck. Well here is another example.

I follow Regretsy. It is another blog. It is for all of us craftards out there. They feature some truly hideous stuff. They also do a metric ass ton of good things. They run a monthly program where they can help an Etsy artist in need of money for things like surgery or rent. I love that site. I like the community, and I adore what they are doing. So this year when they announced that they were gonna do a toy drive for Regretsy kids. You could nominate your own family or someone else's. I chose to nominate someone else's kids for toys. All was well and awesome, until today.

Enter the Grinch...

Paypal. The site that you love to hate. I know many people use it simply because it is the biggest and the most convenient. Well what I have to say may change your mind about that. This giant of the payment processing, has decided that Regretsy can no longer use the 'Donate' button and forced the lady who runs the site to refund hundreds of $2 donations. But here is the really shitty part. Paypal kept a portion of the donations when they were made, and they kept a portion when the donations were refunded. Yeah for double dipping. That alone was enough to make my skin crawl, but on top of that, they have now decided that Regretsy can't even use the 'Purchase' or 'Buy Now' buttons and have frozen their account.

All over rules that make Calvin Ball seem simple. See according to Paypal, you can accept donations for a worthy cause like, oh let's say, a sick cat. But you cannot accept donations for poor kids. Apparently their ability to speak has removed them as viable candidates for charity. Within hours of this hitting the Regretsy site, Paypals facebook page was covered in comments about how much ass they are sucking right now. I have even seen other sites that are devoting space to this issue. I think that it is worthy of attention as well.

Lately it seems as though people around the holidays have lost their damn minds. People have gotten rude, they have quit paying attention to anything that has to do with someone else. And I know that companies are coming out of the woodwork this time of year, looking for money, but those who want to contribute should have a say in where they can contribute, and I don't think that any payment processing place should have a say in what goes where. They make their money by moving money, but in this case they managed to triple dip a charitable cause.

As I finish writing this, Paypal had un-frozen the account, and has given a half-assed apology along with what I am sure will be an only slightly compensatory donation for all of the grief they caused.

I still don't believe they have grown a heart.