Paypal - A Law Unto Themselves

beatz · 09-11-2006, 09:37 PM

Well al i can say from my experience is Paypal is almighty.

I once had an incident years ago with Paypal were i sold a domain in the $xx,xxx region.

As before that sale my Paypal transactions had been rather in the $xxx league and *because* i was aware about their automated unpredictable "red flag" system i called Paypal up, let them know about the soon to be expected payment that i would receive and all the other details of the sale.They assured me the red flag would not show up.

Fine.

Payment comes.

Guess what.

Instant red flag.

Meaning my account got instantly frozen with $xx,xxx stuck in it.

I will spare you the details but i can assure you to say it was a nightmare to get the account unfrozen again would be the biggest understatement ever.

I had to fax zillions of bank statement copies, ID's, house bills and whatnot to them.
Called them a zillion times.Had the buyer call them.And so on.

The worst part was first, despite what they had promised me before the transaction all the support staff that i had to deal with because of this acted either as if i had never informed them or - worse- as if they personally could not do anything.

Second, i could not count anymore how often i got their standard reply of "Sorry sir but i can't help you with this, this is our standard procedure".

Third - at least as worse as the above - was that everytime they wanted me to fax something over and i thought ok thats it and faxed it, there was something new they wanted me to fax; which of course they had not demanded or even mentioned the day before.

I finally decided to do, give, fax, write everything they would ever ask me to no matter what, no matter how stupid the demands were, no matter how often i already had explained something to them just because i sensed that otherwise they would just keep my account frozen.

Oh yeah, another reason was one of the numerous PP reps i had to deal with when asked if i would not comply would they keep my money then answered:

"Yes, sir."

I swear i can't remember when the last time had been i had felt so completely powerless and at someones mercy.

In the end, it took my i believe like 1 1/2 months to get the account unfrozen again.

And from what i've read elsewhere i was even lucky with that.

The only good thing about this was that - what irony - *after* all this mess i now had a personal Paypal rep with direct extension phone number that i could call anytime should something like this happen again.Of course it never happened again.

This was in the days when Paypal had not yet been bought by ebay and they had no german department.I wonder where i would have been with them if my english would not have been good enough - they probably would still sit on my money.

I never had a major problem with them again since, but that incident has been burned in my mind forever so i don't forget that Paypal is the almighty Big Brother and i am at their will.

Lessons learned:

- Paypal is almighty.

- Be prepared to spend days on the fax machine and on the phone in case you have a problem like i had.Better take off a week or two from work.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/250162-paypal-a-law-unto-themselves.html

- Be prepared to repeat everything a hundred times to hundred different reps and to stay friendly now matter how ignorant they are.

- MOST IMPORTANT: Be prepared to do everything they ask you to.Don't even think about getting upset or not complying with their demands no matter how stupid those may be.Just give them what they want.Everything.

I ain't kidding i swear.

weblord · 09-11-2006, 09:42 PM

at least they figured out how to give warnings to spoof email, this was sent to my inbox, but i don't even have a paypal account
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=250162

Quote:

Warning: This message may not be from whom it claims to be. Beware of following any links in it or of providing the sender with any personal information. Learn more

We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information about your business to allow us to provide uninterrupted service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Why is my account access limited?

Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):

# We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-186-524-109.)

How can I restore my account access?

Please visit the Resolution Center and complete the steps to remove limitations.

Completing all of the checklist items will automatically restore your account access.

Copyright © 1999-2006 PayPal. All rights reserved.

sllik · 10-23-2006, 11:03 AM

guys, can anyone give me a phone number to paypal... I can't find it anywhere on their site... I was scammed several times with buying sites and paypal is not doing shit with their disputes... I won the disputes but apperantly the seller has no money on the account... what a surprise... now what?

AGS · 10-23-2006, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by sllik

guys, can anyone give me a phone number to paypal... I can't find it anywhere on their site... I was scammed several times with buying sites and paypal is not doing shit with their disputes... I won the disputes but apperantly the seller has no money on the account... what a surprise... now what?

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_contact-phone USA

**mis_chiff** · 10-23-2006, 11:56 AM

I've had issues with PayPal in the past, my biggest beef
with them is when I have a "refund" coming back to me, they freeze
the funds and in the 1st email it says it takes 3-4 days, yet in the 2nd email they say it takes 6-8 days??? is this a loophole they have? they can get the money out of my "bank account" in 2 days, yet they hold the money for an additional 8 days (always the maximum amount) why is that? they are big enough now they could have perfected that better....and with my transactions, what are they stealing from me...2 cents in interest? Is it worth it? I guess in the grand scale - if they do that to everyone - then they make a ton of interest daily!
But I'm not understanding with EVERYONE that has had a problem with PayPal, how come they just sit on their thumbs? They act like their god!
You call them and I have yet to speak to someone who is "listening" to me - instead of trying to read the "policies" to me. As for the comment about the 2 emails with different dates for finalizing the refund, the comment I got was, "we can hold your money for 30 days or more if we want to, the email dates are irrelevant!" come on??? irrelevant?? then why have policies in place if you don't have to follow them....we have to if we want our money, I feel like I'm over a barrel and their holding the whip!
Phew...just had to vent

AGS · 10-23-2006, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by mis_chiff

They act like their god!

They virtually are in internet terms because they are thousands of times more popular than any of their closest rivals.

That is where the root of the problemn lies.

ukguy · 11-07-2006, 02:46 PM

paypalsucks.com

read this and I guarantee you'll be that close to closing your paypal account. Literally thousands of posts on people who, mostly innocent (I'm not naive to say all) have found themselves at the mercy of paypal. Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, tall, short, female, male they mainly have one thing in common... they have done NOTHING wrong.

Apparently the freezing of the accounts is a tactic they employ often, and the freeze is automatically 6 months before they will then close your account and send you a check (whilst in the meantime enjoying nice interest on the amount).
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=250162

There is no appeal process. And phoning paypal is less productive than banging your head against a wall. They are a real disturbing organisation.

floatingworld · 11-11-2006, 03:43 PM

The one time I got the freeze treatment I was overseas and totally unable to respond with faxes of household bills etc. Yes keep cool, we need to......................

09-11-2006, 09:37 PM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
beatz NamePros Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 158	Well al i can say from my experience is Paypal is almighty. I once had an incident years ago with Paypal were i sold a domain in the $xx,xxx region. As before that sale my Paypal transactions had been rather in the $xxx league and because i was aware about their automated unpredictable "red flag" system i called Paypal up, let them know about the soon to be expected payment that i would receive and all the other details of the sale.They assured me the red flag would not show up. Fine. Payment comes. Guess what. Instant red flag. Meaning my account got instantly frozen with $xx,xxx stuck in it. I will spare you the details but i can assure you to say it was a nightmare to get the account unfrozen again would be the biggest understatement ever. I had to fax zillions of bank statement copies, ID's, house bills and whatnot to them. Called them a zillion times.Had the buyer call them.And so on. The worst part was first, despite what they had promised me before the transaction all the support staff that i had to deal with because of this acted either as if i had never informed them or - worse- as if they personally could not do anything. Second, i could not count anymore how often i got their standard reply of "Sorry sir but i can't help you with this, this is our standard procedure". Third - at least as worse as the above - was that everytime they wanted me to fax something over and i thought ok thats it and faxed it, there was something new they wanted me to fax; which of course they had not demanded or even mentioned the day before. I finally decided to do, give, fax, write everything they would ever ask me to no matter what, no matter how stupid the demands were, no matter how often i already had explained something to them just because i sensed that otherwise they would just keep my account frozen. Oh yeah, another reason was one of the numerous PP reps i had to deal with when asked if i would not comply would they keep my money then answered: "Yes, sir." I swear i can't remember when the last time had been i had felt so completely powerless and at someones mercy. In the end, it took my i believe like 1 1/2 months to get the account unfrozen again. And from what i've read elsewhere i was even lucky with that. The only good thing about this was that - what irony - after all this mess i now had a personal Paypal rep with direct extension phone number that i could call anytime should something like this happen again.Of course it never happened again. This was in the days when Paypal had not yet been bought by ebay and they had no german department.I wonder where i would have been with them if my english would not have been good enough - they probably would still sit on my money. I never had a major problem with them again since, but that incident has been burned in my mind forever so i don't forget that Paypal is the almighty Big Brother and i am at their will. Lessons learned: - Paypal is almighty. - Be prepared to spend days on the fax machine and on the phone in case you have a problem like i had.Better take off a week or two from work. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/250162-paypal-a-law-unto-themselves.html - Be prepared to repeat everything a hundred times to hundred different reps and to stay friendly now matter how ignorant they are. - MOST IMPORTANT: Be prepared to do everything they ask you to.Don't even think about getting upset or not complying with their demands no matter how stupid those may be.Just give them what they want.Everything. I ain't kidding i swear. Last edited by beatz; 09-11-2006 at 09:55 PM.

10-23-2006, 11:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
sllik NamePros Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 84	guys, can anyone give me a phone number to paypal... I can't find it anywhere on their site... I was scammed several times with buying sites and paypal is not doing shit with their disputes... I won the disputes but apperantly the seller has no money on the account... what a surprise... now what?

10-23-2006, 11:56 AM	#5 (permalink)
mis_chiff Membership Director Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 9,207 Follow @mis_chiff	I've had issues with PayPal in the past, my biggest beef with them is when I have a "refund" coming back to me, they freeze the funds and in the 1st email it says it takes 3-4 days, yet in the 2nd email they say it takes 6-8 days??? is this a loophole they have? they can get the money out of my "bank account" in 2 days, yet they hold the money for an additional 8 days (always the maximum amount) why is that? they are big enough now they could have perfected that better....and with my transactions, what are they stealing from me...2 cents in interest? Is it worth it? I guess in the grand scale - if they do that to everyone - then they make a ton of interest daily! But I'm not understanding with EVERYONE that has had a problem with PayPal, how come they just sit on their thumbs? They act like their god! You call them and I have yet to speak to someone who is "listening" to me - instead of trying to read the "policies" to me. As for the comment about the 2 emails with different dates for finalizing the refund, the comment I got was, "we can hold your money for 30 days or more if we want to, the email dates are irrelevant!" come on??? irrelevant?? then why have policies in place if you don't have to follow them....we have to if we want our money, I feel like I'm over a barrel and their holding the whip! Phew...just had to vent

11-07-2006, 02:46 PM	#7 (permalink)
ukguy NamePros Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Posts: 143	paypalsucks.com read this and I guarantee you'll be that close to closing your paypal account. Literally thousands of posts on people who, mostly innocent (I'm not naive to say all) have found themselves at the mercy of paypal. Young, old, rich, poor, black, white, tall, short, female, male they mainly have one thing in common... they have done NOTHING wrong. Apparently the freezing of the accounts is a tactic they employ often, and the freeze is automatically 6 months before they will then close your account and send you a check (whilst in the meantime enjoying nice interest on the amount). ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=250162 There is no appeal process. And phoning paypal is less productive than banging your head against a wall. They are a real disturbing organisation.

11-11-2006, 03:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
floatingworld dawnofthefloatingworld Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: nightlesscity Posts: 3,413	The one time I got the freeze treatment I was overseas and totally unable to respond with faxes of household bills etc. Yes keep cool, we need to......................

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