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While I support refundable deposits in concept, implementation I do not.  You would need to trust HPD with payment info.  The best method I can think of is phone number confirmation, then limit how many appointments one phone can have.  You don't need 10 acquire permits a month...

NO.

If you bothered to read my post, the scheduling site connects to the payment processing service.  You can even use PayPal with a credit card even if you don't have a PP account.

I did this on a Class Reunion site I created.  The payment processor handled all the financial info.  What my site received was a transaction record without payment method details.

So, if someone has a household of 4 each with a cell, and an office with a 6 line phone system, your solution gives them 100 reservations max?  So much better!   

NO.

If you bothered to read my post, the scheduling site connects to the payment processing service.  You can even use PayPal with a credit card even if you don't have a PP account.

I did this on a Class Reunion site I created.  The payment processor handled all the financial info.  What my site received was a transaction record without payment method details.

So, if someone has a household of 4 each with a cell, and an office with a 6 line phone system, your solution gives them 100 reservations max?  So much better!   

Paypal can scam people. Bad payment option.

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Paypal can scam people. Bad payment option.

PayPal, just like guns, is just a tool.  It's the user (and the ignorant victim) who shoulder the blame for scams, not PayPal.

If you abide by the ToS, you also get PP's fraud protection.  And if you funded the PP purchase with a Credit Card, you get their protection, too.

Trying to "trick" the system to avoid a small fee or to send money for a restricted or prohibited transaction is where you wind up on the losing end of that "calculated risk."

Or just maybe...if we think logically of other explainations.  All reservations in one category are the same "time blocks"  so an appointment to acquire will take a carry timeslot.

I saw a just-canceled appointment for today very early this morning.  So, I left it alone and checked all the other categories.

True that the length of appointments vary from 10 to 30 minutes, but at least all the 10 minute appointments should be able to use the same time if the scheduling periods are "pooled".

Both PTA and Registration appointments for 3 guns or less are 10 minutes in length.  While I saw a PTA available, no Registrations were.  That proves that the entire system is not using a single pool of appointments.

Could the registration and permit appointment have 2 separate pools since they are two different locations at HPD?  Potentially.

The issue I see is that with 10, 20, & 30 minute appointment periods for different categories, the overlap would be unmanageable.  Unless the larger appointments are booked first, the smaller ones would fragment the time pool, making it difficult to find contiguous segments to schedule larger periods.

Example:  If 1:00-1:30 is open, and someone schedules a 1:10 3 or less PTA, the time between 1:00 and 1:10 can only be used for another 10 minute appointment.  Likewise, a 30 minute appointment won't fit from 1:10 to 1:30.  I can't see them using a simple pool of times when the length of individual appointments vary by 10 or 20 minutes.  It severely complicates the process.

Given the number of windows at the permit desk, I can assume they anticipated multiple customers, telling me the reservations for each category overlap.

I saw a just-canceled appointment for today very early this morning.  So, I left it alone and checked all the other categories.

True that the length of appointments vary from 10 to 30 minutes, but at least all the 10 minute appointments should be able to use the same time if the scheduling periods are "pooled".

Both PTA and Registration appointments for 3 guns or less are 10 minutes in length.  While I saw a PTA available, no Registrations were.  That proves that the entire system is not using a single pool of appointments.

Could the registration and permit appointment have 2 separate pools since they are two different locations at HPD?  Potentially.

The issue I see is that with 10, 20, & 30 minute appointment periods for different categories, the overlap would be unmanageable.  Unless the larger appointments are booked first, the smaller ones would fragment the time pool, making it difficult to find contiguous segments to schedule larger periods.

Example:  If 1:00-1:30 is open, and someone schedules a 1:10 3 or less PTA, the time between 1:00 and 1:10 can only be used for another 10 minute appointment.  Likewise, a 30 minute appointment won't fit from 1:10 to 1:30.  I can't see them using a simple pool of times when the length of individual appointments vary by 10 or 20 minutes.  It severely complicates the process.

Given the number of windows at the permit desk, I can assume they anticipated multiple customers, telling me the reservations for each category overlap.

Acquire and Registrations are separate. They do not share pools.   From looking at their sheet they appear to have 2 main pools.  One for reg and one for permit.  Looks like everything in those categories fall under those, unless they have hidden sheets. 

How they deal with the 10 vs 30min from my theory is they have 2 timeslots.  They run both at once in each pool.  They have 2 windows at each "station".  They can do a 10min and 30min appointment concurrently.

Acquire and Registrations are separate. They do not share pools.   From looking at their sheet they appear to have 2 main pools.  One for reg and one for permit.  Looks like everything in those categories fall under those, unless they have hidden sheets. 

How they deal with the 10 vs 30min from my theory is they have 2 timeslots.  They run both at once in each pool.  They have 2 windows at each "station".  They can do a 10min and 30min appointment concurrently.

Any chance you have actual evidence that supports your theory, or are you merely speculating?

How long are the 2 timeslots?  30 min (max possible appt length)?  If so, then they are wasting 20 minutes of every half hour to reserve a 10 minute appt.

Any chance you have actual evidence that supports your theory, or are you merely speculating?

How long are the 2 timeslots?  30 min (max possible appt length)?  If so, then they are wasting 20 minutes of every half hour to reserve a 10 minute appt.

I don't work at HPD, but if we were in a legal betting state I would put a sizable bet on the line.  (regarding 2 pools separating registration and acquire.)

The other theory is just a theory.  I don't have proof beyond a reasonable doubt, on how they structure the pools of appointments within the categories.

I don't work at HPD, but if we were in a legal betting state I would put a sizable bet on the line.  (regarding 2 pools separating registration and acquire.)

The other theory is just a theory.  I don't have proof beyond a reasonable doubt, on how they structure the pools of appointments within the categories.

I researched the scheduling service HPD pays to use: Acuity Scheduling.  Based on the behavior of the scheduling app and the well-documented user information, they are using the simplest set-up available. 

When you look at the length of time for each category within Permits (ignoring the Registration pool), the overlapping lengths of appointments would have many gaps.  Instead, they likely have a pool of times for each category as well, since there are more than one person working the permits windows.  Hence, taking an appt for 4 or more guns would knock out 3 appts for 3 or less.

So, my EXPERT opinion, based on actual research of the app, the service's features and the behavior of actual appointments is that the categories all have separate times available.  That means that there are 3 times as many 3 or less appts available than 4 or more appts (10 min vs 30 min), and 2 times as many as Joint PTA appts.

PayPal, just like guns, is just a tool.  It's the user (and the ignorant victim) who shoulder the blame for scams, not PayPal.

If you abide by the ToS, you also get PP's fraud protection.  And if you funded the PP purchase with a Credit Card, you get their protection, too.

Trying to "trick" the system to avoid a small fee or to send money for a restricted or prohibited transaction is where you wind up on the losing end of that "calculated risk."

Sarcasm was implied.

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Sarcasm was implied.

Lots of people here hate PayPal for a variety of reasons.

Didn't want to assume.