PayPal Screen Changes Causing Confusion with Payments

Whenever you make a payment to us, such as to purchase SO$, upgrade to a premium membership, or start a 3D Web Hosting subscription, you are automatically redirected to PayPal's Web site to complete the transaction. Recent changes in PayPal's format has caused a lot of confusion, so we wanted to explain what you need to do in each case.

Please note that THE CONFUSION IS A DIRECT RESULT OF CHANGES THAT PAYPAL RECENTLY MADE TO THEIR PAYMENT & SUBSCRIPTION SCREENS. In both cases, their changes have made the credit card info the most prominent feature on the screen, while drawing attention away from the standard PayPal login.


WHEN MAKING SINGLE PAYMENTS (e.g. purchasing SO$):
The screen that comes up presents you with two options: you can choose to use your PayPal account, or choose to pay using another method (either Bill Me Later or credit card). However, by default it now presents you with the options for Bill Me Later/Credit Card, making it APPEAR that you must enter that information to proceed. This is NOT TRUE. To use your PayPal account, you simply click the “Have a PayPal Account?” link located near the top (see the image below for single payments).

WHEN STARTING A SUBSCRIPTION (Premium upgrade, 3D Web Hosting):
Starting a subscription takes you to a different screen, but one that is equally confusing. Beneath the subscription information is a section where you choose a payment method. At this point you should choose the radio button option “I already have a PayPal account”, and click to continue. However, once again the default on this screen is to have you create a PayPal account, and the majority of the screen is dedicated to asking you for your credit card information and billing address, again making it seem that you are required to enter that information. And once again, this is NOT TRUE. (see subscription image below)

YOU CAN HELP!
We as a company have no direct control over these screens. Although we have explained the problem to PayPal, at this point they are unwilling to make changes unless they hear enough complaints from others. Therefore, we are asking you to PLEASE contact PayPal by clicking the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of their Web page, and either call or email them. Please encourage them to make their screens more understandable, either by not showing the credit card fields by default, or by allowing the "use Paypal" option to be set as the default.