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PayPal - The worst customer non-service I have ever experienced

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DaveC1983

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Hi Everyone.

I would just like to share the latest experience from the latest victim of paypigs long line of disgruntled customers.

Earlier today I transacted a deal here on DNF, placing a few links on some of my sites for another member. He paid me via paypal as per a normal transaction.

A few hours later, I login to my paypal account to transfer the money to my bank, only to find my account has become "limited" and all access to MY money has been denied. After an hour of searching to try uncover paypal's contact phone number (as I know they virtually never give any decent response to emails), I found it hidden in a remote part of the site (wonder why they feel they must hide it ey?).

A 30 minute call to a premium rated number revealed them basically telling me to "get screwed, as they own my money". After explaining to them what the payment was for (SEO purposes, ie link building), they instructed me to send them invoices proving that "I own the links that I sold". Have you ever heard anything so rediculous?

I attempted again and again to explain to these arrogant and completely ignorant customer non-service representatives that there were no invoices, and explained to them what link building means and exactly how the agreement for the service was done, they had this to say.

"we reserve every right to freeze your account and hold any amount of money contained within for any amount of time, or indefinitely. You agreed to this when you accepted our terms of service. We will only release the hold on your account once you have provided us with the requested invoices proving ownership of the links sold".

I then proceeded to ask them if getting the buyer to contact them and confirm the purchase and that the service was rendered as aggreed would be proof enough to release MY money. There reply will make you realise 100% why they have so many 1000's of furious customers. They replied the following:

"Will the buyers voice resemble an invoice in your opinion? Or would you like to use the held funds to purchase a hearing aid so that you can actually listen to what I haver told you? Your funds will remain held and your account limited until you provide us with the required physical invoices. Once received, we will review your account and make a decision as to releasing your funds. Our policies are in place to prevent fraudulent transactions like this one taking place, and to make paypal a more secure network".

Basically they are not only thieves, but then they want to tell me that I AM COMMITTING FRAUD??? If there is any fraud going on, it is within the ranks of paypal (surely this type of practice MUST be illegal?). I have had my paypal account fully verified, and have used it to make and receive payments for the past 6 YEARS, without a single dispute or chargeback.

I have never been spoken to like that as a customer before, and as I am sure everyone will understand, I was furious for the way I was being treated as a customer.

I told the paypig customer non-service representative to put me through to his superior, and guess how his reply went? You guessed it, rude once again. He said:

"You have no right to demand to speak to anyone here. I am dealing with the problem as I have been trained to do. We do not tolerate abuse to our staff as you are giving me right now from fraudulent user's of our system. We have every right to hold your money until you prove that this is a legitimate transaction".

So according to that, paypal train their staff to be as rude as they possibly can to their customers?

Luckily, I was still able to use the refund option to return the money to the DNF member who made the payment, but I am now down another £380 which was in my paypal account.

If anyone knows a way that this can be dealt with, so that I can recover my money, please let me know as any help would be greatly appreciated. Like many before me (and i am sure many after me), I have had to learn the hard way that paypal in no way look out for their customer's.
 
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Poohnix

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I really can't say this surprise me very much, I've had my fair share of experiences with PayPal over the previous 7 years, including them limiting my account on several occasions for the strangest reasons.
In most cases I have avoided calling them, but I may have been lucky since on the few cases I needed to, they have at least been nice, even if completely incompetent.
I have a PayPal Pro account, so I'm not sure if it applies to regular accounts, but I know PayPal has an "PayPal Office of Executive Escalations" (at least PayPal UK does) - but how to contact them I unfortunately can't say. I was put in contact with them by their Merchant tech support when I experienced a severe case of incompetence from their Account Review department in a hacker case a while ago.
 

DaveC1983

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Thanks for your reply. Surely this is against the standard banking code of practice, and illegal? It cannot be legal for them to steal money from people anytime they feel like it.

Another problem now is that my main source of income is from ebay, and now ebay as restricted me from selling until I solve the paypal issue (kinda figures since they are partners).

So now not only am I down £350, my main source of income has been suspended as well. Ebay assured me they would remove the restriction once I have resolved the paypal issue, but told me that they could do nothing to assist me with paypal as it is a different company (which is bullshit TBH as ebay own paypal).

I really can't say this surprise me very much, I've had my fair share of experiences with PayPal over the previous 7 years, including them limiting my account on several occasions for the strangest reasons.
In most cases I have avoided calling them, but I may have been lucky since on the few cases I needed to, they have at least been nice, even if completely incompetent.
I have a PayPal Pro account, so I'm not sure if it applies to regular accounts, but I know PayPal has an "PayPal Office of Executive Escalations" (at least PayPal UK does) - but how to contact them I unfortunately can't say. I was put in contact with them by their Merchant tech support when I experienced a severe case of incompetence from their Account Review department in a hacker case a while ago.
 

jasdon11

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What makes them think you've acted fraudulently?
 

Poohnix

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What makes them think you've acted fraudulently?

In my experience, any transaction that doesn't fit the "normal" pattern of the account (or the BUYERS account) can make PayPal limit the account and demand more info. In my cases, the info required at least has been somewhat reasonable - not like it sounds in this case.
(Although they limited my account TWICE for the same thing a couple of months ago... First I did everything they asked, and they lifted the limitation, then a couple of weeks later they limited it AGAIN, asking me to do what I already had done the first time... Nuts.)
 

DaveC1983

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According to them, the fact that I am unable to provide them with proof is enough reason for them to class the transaction as fraudulent. That's after 6 years as a customer, having received and paid for well over 1000 deals through them, withour a single dispute or chargeback.

What makes them think you've acted fraudulently?

If the requirements were in any way reasonable, or even possible, I would be more than happy to supply them with their requirements. But how on earth can I provide invoices proving I own the links? Unless I actually DO commit fraud and make up some fraudulent invoices (which I refuse to do, as I would then be stoopoing to their level), it is not physically possible.

I am sure this must be illegal, as all banks must have a legal court order to freeze a person's account

In my experience, any transaction that doesn't fit the "normal" pattern of the account (or the BUYERS account) can make PayPal limit the account and demand more info. In my cases, the info required at least has been somewhat reasonable - not like it sounds in this case.
(Although they limited my account TWICE for the same thing a couple of months ago... First I did everything they asked, and they lifted the limitation, then a couple of weeks later they limited it AGAIN, asking me to do what I already had done the first time... Nuts.)
 

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They asked you to provide proof of originating payment? Unless the sender of the funds issued a dispute Paypal would not freeze your account over regular transaction activity. Not sure if this is the full story.
 

Poohnix

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They asked you to provide proof of originating payment? Unless the sender of the funds issued a dispute Paypal would not freeze your account over regular transaction activity. Not sure if this is the full story.

Actually, they do.
They don't freeze the whole account when a buyer files a dispute, only the funds of that transaction.
It's when they regard the whole account suspicious for some inexplicable reason, perhaps suspecting money laundering, but even for transactions that are much smaller than that would need to be. It's a lottery, really.

I'm a Merchant turning over about $70K a month in PayPal transactions, still they tend to find things to limit the account for from time to time.
They even file claims on the buyers behalf sometimes - if they find a transaction doesn't fit the buyers normal pattern and suspect his account may be hacked.
 
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DaveC1983

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They asked you to provide proof of originating payment? Unless the sender of the funds issued a dispute Paypal would not freeze your account over regular transaction activity. Not sure if this is the full story.


No, they are asking me to provide proof of ownership of the product (the links) I sold. If you do a quick google search, it will take you less than 2 minutes to see how many people have had their accounts limited for rediculous reasons like this. There was no dispute launched on the account, and has never been for the 6+ years in which I have used the account
 

jasdon11

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No, they are asking me to provide proof of ownership of the product (the links) I sold. If you do a quick google search, it will take you less than 2 minutes to see how many people have had their accounts limited for rediculous reasons like this. There was no dispute launched on the account, and has never been for the 6+ years in which I have used the account

Ok, so they want you to provide proof that you have 'ownership of the product'...I can understand this as I have had TM issues with domains at Ebay (Paypal's owners) so if I were you, I would bombard them with ownership proof of the domain (whois links etc) where the links are displayed.

As they say, 'bullsh*t baffles brains' - once you've done this, and I wouldn't stop at just providing whois details - throw as much stuff at them as you can - I would let them know that if they don't reinstate your account, you are more than happy to go legal.
 

DaveC1983

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Thank you, I intend to do that. And I will fight this until the end. Even if it causes me to lose more money than I gain back, I will not be stolen from. I will take legal action if that is waht it takes to get justice. I would rather pay lawyers £1000 than allow paypal to keep the £350 that they are attempting to steal from me.

After reading all the complaints on the internet, I am actually considering getting a very large group of people together to file a lawsuit against them, as this type of criminal activity cannot just be allowed to happen.

In my opinion, they think that because they are so large, a little small claims court suit from some gut will not even bother them. I wonder if they will have the same attitude if they receive a multi-million dollar lawsuit from 1000s of disgruntled customers?

The more I read about this on the internet, the more disgusted I become to realise how many people paypal actually steals from for absolutely no reason.

Ok, so they want you to provide proof that you have 'ownership of the product'...I can understand this as I have had TM issues with domains at Ebay (Paypal's owners) so if I were you, I would bombard them with ownership proof of the domain (whois links etc) where the links are displayed.

As they say, 'bullsh*t baffles brains' - once you've done this, and I wouldn't stop at just providing whois details - throw as much stuff at them as you can - I would let them know that if they don't reinstate your account, you are more than happy to go legal.
 

jasdon11

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Thank you, I intend to do that. And I will fight this until the end. Even if it causes me to lose more money than I gain back, I will not be stolen from. I will take legal action if that is waht it takes to get justice. I would rather pay lawyers £1000 than allow paypal to keep the £350 that they are attempting to steal from me.

After reading all the complaints on the internet, I am actually considering getting a very large group of people together to file a lawsuit against them, as this type of criminal activity cannot just be allowed to happen.

In my opinion, they think that because they are so large, a little small claims court suit from some gut will not even bother them. I wonder if they will have the same attitude if they receive a multi-million dollar lawsuit from 1000s of disgruntled customers?

The more I read about this on the internet, the more disgusted I become to realise how many people paypal actually steals from for absolutely no reason.

This is where your plan falls down. It's near impossible to get a crew behind you as they all have their own agendas etc.

Just give them (Paypal) the info; let 'em know you're serious, and be grateful when you get your account back, and move on.

Lots of people have issues with these big companies, but there is a cycle to the issue. You would need to find other people who are at exactly the same point on the cycle as you, and, who are willing to take the same action...it aint going to happen...get your account back and forgetaboutit...IMHO.
 

newvista

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This is where your plan falls down. It's near impossible to get a crew behind you as they all have their own agendas etc.

Just give them (Paypal) the info; let 'em know you're serious, and be grateful when you get your account back, and move on.

Lots of people have issues with these big companies, but there is a cycle to the issue. You would need to find other people who are at exactly the same point on the cycle as you, and, who are willing to take the same action...it aint going to happen...get your account back and forgetaboutit...IMHO.

Agree with this, just move on you won't win.
 

HarveyJ

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Try to get an Australian PayPal account if you can.
Seriously, here they have to operate as a Financial Institution, with all the amazingly heavy regulations our banks and lenders receive fom the Govt.
If they ever treated customers like that here, they'd be out of business so fast it'd make their share drop last October seem miniscule. Sometimes, a little regulation is a good thing.

Anytime I've had to deal with their customer service, I've had an absolute breeze of a time, and had the problem sorted within 48 hours.
 

wussadotcom

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Hi Everyone.

I would just like to share the latest experience from the latest victim of paypigs long line of disgruntled customers.

Earlier today I transacted a deal here on DNF, placing a few links on some of my sites for another member. He paid me via paypal as per a normal transaction.

A few hours later, I login to my paypal account to transfer the money to my bank, only to find my account has become "limited" and all access to MY money has been denied. After an hour of searching to try uncover paypal's contact phone number (as I know they virtually never give any decent response to emails), I found it hidden in a remote part of the site (wonder why they feel they must hide it ey?).

A 30 minute call to a premium rated number revealed them basically telling me to "get screwed, as they own my money". After explaining to them what the payment was for (SEO purposes, ie link building), they instructed me to send them invoices proving that "I own the links that I sold". Have you ever heard anything so rediculous?

I attempted again and again to explain to these arrogant and completely ignorant customer non-service representatives that there were no invoices, and explained to them what link building means and exactly how the agreement for the service was done, they had this to say.

"we reserve every right to freeze your account and hold any amount of money contained within for any amount of time, or indefinitely. You agreed to this when you accepted our terms of service. We will only release the hold on your account once you have provided us with the requested invoices proving ownership of the links sold".

I then proceeded to ask them if getting the buyer to contact them and confirm the purchase and that the service was rendered as aggreed would be proof enough to release MY money. There reply will make you realise 100% why they have so many 1000's of furious customers. They replied the following:

"Will the buyers voice resemble an invoice in your opinion? Or would you like to use the held funds to purchase a hearing aid so that you can actually listen to what I haver told you? Your funds will remain held and your account limited until you provide us with the required physical invoices. Once received, we will review your account and make a decision as to releasing your funds. Our policies are in place to prevent fraudulent transactions like this one taking place, and to make paypal a more secure network".

Basically they are not only thieves, but then they want to tell me that I AM COMMITTING FRAUD??? If there is any fraud going on, it is within the ranks of paypal (surely this type of practice MUST be illegal?). I have had my paypal account fully verified, and have used it to make and receive payments for the past 6 YEARS, without a single dispute or chargeback.

I have never been spoken to like that as a customer before, and as I am sure everyone will understand, I was furious for the way I was being treated as a customer.

I told the paypig customer non-service representative to put me through to his superior, and guess how his reply went? You guessed it, rude once again. He said:

"You have no right to demand to speak to anyone here. I am dealing with the problem as I have been trained to do. We do not tolerate abuse to our staff as you are giving me right now from fraudulent user's of our system. We have every right to hold your money until you prove that this is a legitimate transaction".

So according to that, paypal train their staff to be as rude as they possibly can to their customers?

Luckily, I was still able to use the refund option to return the money to the DNF member who made the payment, but I am now down another £380 which was in my paypal account.

If anyone knows a way that this can be dealt with, so that I can recover my money, please let me know as any help would be greatly appreciated. Like many before me (and i am sure many after me), I have had to learn the hard way that paypal in no way look out for their customer's.

Can we refund a mass payment when our account is limited?
 
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