PayPal

[ClassyGlassy]

So my wife and I broke down and opened a PayPal account in order to come into the 21st Century and pay for things online and Ebay. We go through the whole process of upgrading to a Premier account, added our checking account to it, added the wife's social security number, and the associated Visa as back-up funding. We're "Verified", whatever that means.........

We make our first purchase to a member on CGOA.com for some Classic Glastron parts in the amount of $15 and everything goes smoothly. Then we get an email from PayPal:

Dear Mrs. Holcomb,

As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the
PayPal system. During a recent screening, we noticed an issue regarding
your account.


We are very sorry, but in accordance with the PayPal User Agreement, we are
no longer able to have you as a customer.

We have had to close your account for the following reason:

We have observed activity in this account that is unusual or potentially
high risk.

We apologize for any inconvenience this account closure may cause. You may
still log in to PayPal to view your transactions history and personal
information for a limited time.

The funds in your account will be held for 180 days, due to the risk of
outstanding chargebacks and complaints. After 180 days, any remaining funds
will be available to you for withdrawal.

For your protection, we have limited access to your account until
additional security measures can be completed. We apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.

To review your account and some or all of the information that PayPal used
to make its decision to limit your account access, please visit the
Resolution Center. If, after reviewing your account information, you seek
further clarification regarding your account access, please contact PayPal
by visiting the Help Center and clicking "Contact Us".

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand
that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your
account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,

PayPal Account Review Department

WHAT?????

So today we call customer service and they tell us, "It's nothing personal but we just don't want to do business with you because of what we seen in your account activity as being potentially hazardous"......

WHAT?

So we ask them what was "potentially hazardous" about our activity of sending $15 to another customer of theirs that we purchased through an online forum and they couldn't give us an answer! We are totally confused and we were told that this account is in "NO appeals" status.......

How many of you use PayPal? How many of you have had problems with PayPal?

We seriously have opened this account in the past 10 days and it is closed for NO apparant reason.........

I can't even figure out how to pay for things on Ebay now.........

-Totally Bummed Out Boat Owner

 

[JB]

Re: PayPal

Wow! That really surprizes me, Tubtoy.

I have been a member of PayPal for about 12 years and have had zero problems paying or receiving payments there. That goes back to waaay before PayPal was acquired by eBay.

If fact, I had a problem with one purchase on eBay that turned out to be misrepresented. I returned the product and Paypal immediately credited my account. The details are a little vague (I have a perfect memory. I just forgot where I put it.) but eBay may have intervened in that one, too.

I wonder if now that they are owned by eBay they consider purchases from someone else to be "risky".

 

[ClassyGlassy]

Re: PayPal

We are very confused! It doesn't make sense..... In fact, they kept telling us that we did nothing wrong, they just don't want to do business with us and recommend us using a different online payment source to pay people with. First question I asked was, "What other online payment sources can we use to purchase things on Ebay with?" and we were told "I don't know, contact Ebay and ask them".........

Are you kidding me?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: PayPal

I have to echo JB's experience and have never had any real issue with paypal except I do not like their fees.

Maybe this is the new trend

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: PayPal

never had a problem. have had disputes with sellers and buyers, but i always won.

i would call again and get a supervisor.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: PayPal

Did they run a credit check on you? How is your credit by the way?

Did you happen to make changes to your account like changing the credit card after you signed up?

 

[cribber]

Re: PayPal

Something about your paypal profile flagged your account and you should contact them via telephone at their customer service phone number to get this resolved. Good luck!!!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: PayPal

Okay..... where did you get the telephone number for customer service????

There are MILLIONS of pay pal scams...... did the email direct you to sign in and provide a link?

I am VERY VERY suspicious. Please re-check it tomorrow for your safety.

Paypal's telephone number is 1-402-935-2050

 

[Brent S]

Re: PayPal

This is why I don't use E-bay any more. I was unwilling to give paypal access to my account due to bad expieriences in the past with ANYONE having the ability to debit my account. E-bay said they were sorry but they knew they would loose customers like me when they went to the new policy. They feel it's worth it. maybe it is, but I no longer shop there.

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: PayPal

Yeah I agree with Bob on being suspicious, if they were that vague to the point where it sounds almost rude from your posting, I'd be doing some inquiries to someone higher up the chain of command, and checking my bank account...Promptly

FWIW...I recall when I first opened my pal pal & ebay accounts, sold an old parlor guitar for $1250 to a dealer with an excellent rating, pay pal direct deposited it and I sent the package next day air as a bonus{happy it sold}. Buyer gave a great rating back and all was swell....3 days later I'm at the bank and they say the money was pulled back via pay pal....Come to find out PP decided since it was my first transaction that they wanted more security info...Nice warm feeling...now they want it, not when I signed on...and then not to alert me to it either.....needless to say, I don't use either anymore, got me a separate debit card just for such purposes, works for me.

 

[JustJason]

Re: PayPal

I have paypal, and don't have any issues with it. I never had to give paypal my SSN either, And unless your using paypal for a line of credit I wouldn't think you would have to.

 

[OnTheWaterNow]

Re: PayPal

I would keep an eye on my bank account. I would look up the pay-pal number for my self and call them. I would google (pay-pal coustomer service scam) see what you find.

 

[ClassyGlassy]

Re: PayPal

I know it isn't a scam because when I sign into the PayPal account it won't let me send money or anything. I got the phone number by clicking on the "contact us" link at the bottom of the PayPal account page. I had to give them the Case ID number when I called in and they verified I was who I said I was by asking for the last 4 of my checking account and the last four of my credit card.........this is NOT a scam!

My credit has NOTHING to do with this, but if it did it wouldn't effect something like this. I have been on the phone again with Customer Service and asked for a supervisor and they said that because we sent money to another client for our first and only transaction it flagged their system and whoever reviewed it decided it was risky and therefore immediately closed my account. I was told they have been having issues with new accounts sending money to other new accounts and then they are closed before the money is pulled from the bank account causing PayPal accounts to be overdrawn and then closed.

It's a new automatic system that flags this type of situation and I politely notified the supervisor that I would pass that on to as many people as I could and that even if they could straighten this out, I WON'T be using paypal anytime soon. I asked for a letter in writing to ensure my accounts won't be billed for anything, ever..........I have notified my bank and credit card and there has been a "PayPal" block put on both so that nothing will ever be allowed to go through!

I would be very watchful for those of you that use PayPal......if they'll do this to someone new, they'll do it to you!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: PayPal

So..it was the other account being new as well!

Interesting!

 

[ClassyGlassy]

Re: PayPal

This person had opened his account to recieve a payment from someone else for some decals and wanted me to send him money the same way, I was reluctant as I've never done this. I always send USPS Money Orders so they can be cashed right there at the Post Office. So I set up an account, sent him the money and he mailed me some decals that are AWESOME

Then PayPal freaks out and shut us down. I'm glad kind of, because now I have a reason to keep off of ebay!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: PayPal

To be honest, I can kinda see their point. Two people set up accounts...do a couple small transactions and then wham...do a $1000 one. I can see that they may have been burned a few times by this.

I love ebay. Been a buyer and seller for over 10 years. Have over 1400 feedback.

 

[roscoe]

Re: PayPal

I too have had no problems with paypal in 9 years.

I took my own security measures when signing up.
Opened a new separate checking account just for ebay and paypal.
I can go online or in person with my bank, and transfer only the needed funds into the "online use" checking account.

When I sell on ebay, I transfer my PayPal funds to my checking account asap, then go online with my bank and transfer the funds to another account.
So this account usually has less than $50 in it.
Even if there was a security breach, scam, or PayPal dispute, they do not have access to my funds.

 

[nlain]

Re: PayPal

I have used PayPal for years and never had a problem, I will say I have never given them my checking account, I go on and pay with debit card, no automatic anything, I do it all manually. Made several purchases with ebay last year with no problems.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: PayPal

if they'll do this to someone new, they'll do it to you!

Um no. You already explained exactly what occurred, and while it is indeed pretty dumb, it is a situation unique to new users.

 

[roscoe]

Re: PayPal

To be honest, I can kinda see their point. Two people set up accounts...do a couple small transactions and then wham...do a $1000 one. I can see that they may have been burned a few times by this.

Not sure I buy that scenario.

PayPal never fronts any money for the transactions.
They take your money before they send it to the transferee.