Thinking of using Stripe for your startup? Think again
ultimatemember.com
ultimatemember.com
BTW, it's not particularly moving to me that they reinstated him after this hit the front page of HN. Also, the 5 day "grace period" offered here is meaningless because all of the funds will be held for 90 days. Since many small businesses simply don't have a 3 month runway, for a lot of businesses this email might as well say "Stripe has decided to destroy your business. Sorry about that."
The really sad thing is that I'd be more upset at Stripe if every other business you deal with starting an internet company didn't do the same thing over and over again. Never mind the ease of integration, are there any payment processing companies out there who make it easy speak to a human being in possession of common sense and the ability to make decisions if there is a dispute regarding your account, without having to get famous first?
Fortunately for the guys involved, when they post something and it goes somewhat public then suddenly all companies are so eager to solve your problems.
So what about us underdogs that really don't have anything remotely famous enough to get their attention? We are screwed basically.
This really speaks loudly about Stripe that they kept sending canned responses until the threat of public shaming was looming over their heads. Then they suddenly are swift to solve the issue? even with a phone call?
Not cool.
But, on the other hand, I felt that the tone was a little bit strange. Stripe doesn't have to do business with you, or anybody else. It's not offensive to my sensibilities that Stripe has it's own processes and concerns as it relates to it's customers (not to mention regulatory requirements).
And this bit stuck in my craw "..So overnight without warning Stripe had decided to stop us from using their services after 5 days.."
That email was your warning. You did, in fact, get a warning. You got 5 days to change payment processors.
Stripe is a provider, yes. They can choose who to do business with, yes.
But the way to handle this is basically giving no recourse to the customer? I mean, like the post says, not even an email where you could at least argue your case for those times when there are misunderstandings at least?
I think it's not so much about kicking the off Stripe as much as the way they did it and how they left no alternative to these guys (except for public shaming, which apparently worked just as expected).
I have no idea what kind of transactions he was performing, and whether cutting him off is ultimately justified. What's concerning is a TOS agreement that provides no means of arbitration, with notice comes via an email (what happens if this goes in the spam filter?).
We're using Paypal for our web game at http://clickerheroes.com/ and we have a pretty high number of disputes and chargebacks compared to average businesses (for obvious reasons, people want to get the paid stuff in the game for free).
We got a call from Paypal once when they noticed this, and they just wanted to know the reason for the high dispute/chargeback rate. I explained it to them, they understood, and that was the end of that.
Maybe the bad PR they used to get has made them change their ways. I doubt they'd ever do anything like what Stripe just did to the OP.
What? Like locking up someone's funds for a long period of time? Cutting people off with little to no notice? Yeah, PayPal would NEVER do something like that. /s
Add on to that the idea that processors like paypal, stripe and the like basically hold you by the short and hairies and can at any point destroy your business by saying "we don't like something, we are cutting you off and holding on to your cash" is disturbing.
We really need a better alternative. Practice has shown that Bitcoin isn't it, so far.
Stripe has taken steps to improve their fraud protection, but as someone in the field of protection, I can say that I'd happily take PayPal's over Stripe's.