It's a lot easier to get a refund on PayPal than a real bank. The one time that I did a charge-back on my credit card, my bank gave me the 3rd degree and made me feel like I was the criminal.

You're right about PayPal helping themselves to bank debits. I have a small eBay business and back when they dealt directly with PayPal, I would have a separate account to receive the funds and as soon as they hit I would transfer the money out. It's just part of the OPSEC that's required when dealing with our new megacorp overlords.