Paypal Total Ripoff Frozen Account No Good Reason Holds money up to 180 DAYS!! Internet
Wow! what an eye opener!! I am a newbie to Ebay and Paypal and I can only be glad that they decided to rip me off before I have a significant amount of money in there. Apparently everything is great with them as long as you are a buyer SENDING money or a seller that doesn't remove any money.
I just starting selling this past weekend and sold jewelry form a company that I USED TO BE a rep. for over two years ago. I sold 6 Transactions. NONE of the transactions were over $30.For those of us that are trying to make ends meet that measly $150 would have been a help right?? WRONG.
Yesterday (Mon.) I get the form letter vague "your business exposes itself to too much risk letter" that now I am seeing all over the internet! They give me the proverbial list 9 miles long and included in the list they want "Invoices for my supplier" Wow! I called and said I will definitely look but, my goodness we are talking about costume jewelry that I purchased over 2 years ago. How many of you women have receipts for your costume jewelry (if you haven't lost 1 of each pair like me, you may not even have the jewelry!!)
But whatever, I will look through the boxes since we moved 6 months ago. They also wanted my ID- now mind you I have a "premier account" a "verified bank account" "verified credit card complete with their address on file" and a "verified address" But, once again whatever It takes.
SO, today I get a letter that states "Appeal denied and that they will try to not disrupt my "company" anymore than necessary but, they might keep my measly $120 - by now from all the ebay fees etc. for UP To 180 DAYS!!!-WHAT? You're kidding? NOPE they're not.
So, I get hold of the jewelry company, get all the invoices, receipts, my id, my ss card, my credit card info, my HUD closing statement (just in case) Everything but my first-born son (since he is already in Heaven otherwise they might have asked...) and send it in. Guess what I get?
You got it Another FORM LETTER stating they received my info and will review it and make a decision. I ask you what decision? Whether my business of selling now 8 (2 more sold today) items of costume jewelry is a risk to our nation ? Isn't it interesting how they will still continue to RECEIVE money in the account just now RELEASE money? Oh yeah, this whole thing began because I transferred (or attempted to transfer) a whopping $50 to my (verified) checking account. They promptly cancelled the transfer- funny I thought if was my money.
I just decided to jump on Rip-Off report tonight and what an education!! How do these people get away with it? I mean in one aspect it is reassuring to know that I am not the only one being treated like Bonnie and Clyde but, geez what a SCAM!! I only wish I had looked them up on this site BEFORE I sold anything.
I sent an email to EBAY tonight and gave them this whole scoop but, I don't expect much. There's gotta be somebody out there that can stop these people from screwing the little people over?? I mean Ebay advertises "The average house has about $2,200 worth of "stuff" around the house that they can sell" The only thing they don't say is that You better Dang-Well have receipts or invoices for that 4 yr. old VCR/DVD player or Paypal (which they encourage you to use and even pay incentive for you to use) will freeze your account for "exposing them to too much risk"!!
Doesn't this qualify for some kind of monopoly or coercion or just plain old RIP_OFF laws?
I was amazed at how many there are out there that are having the same thing happen! Can we band together to get this stopped??
Amazed and Confused
Phyllis
Phelan, California
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Phyllis
Phelan,California,
U.S.A.
This site saved my Bacon!
#5Author of original report
Fri, May 11, 2007
Ok, so there's good news and THERE IS A WARNING! The Good News is after two weeks of phone calls, faxes, emails etc. etc. I went onto the other sites regarding PayPal that this site recomends and got some phone numbers!! These phone numbers were to actual people(not recorded messages or "clerks" that don't know what they're doing if they have to talk off-script)in upper-level management at PayPal. And when I finally got to some people in-the-know Voila! everything was fixed within 24 hrs!!!
So now my account is unfrozen (although I will NEVER keep more in there than I can afford to lose again!) and everything is hunky-dory! I promised the guy that I wouldn't relay his personal phone number but, I JUST GAVE YOU THE KEY TO FINDING HIM IF YOU NEED HIM!! Get on the website Paypalisaripoff or any of the other sites that give you names and numbers of upper-level management!! That is the ONLY way to get a problem fixed!!
I would also like to point out to the man that helped me (if he is indeed monitoring the sites that are talking bad about PP) that I am filing an update!!! Here it is!! His reply to me when I said that I got his number off the website was "Well, you know people are quick to file complaints but, they never update and tell you if the problem is solved. PP has 1.5798709334687644- gazillion(my editorial I don't remember the number) customers and only .00001 (my editorial again, some miniscule number) of complaints". My response to that is "Then it SHOULDN"T be so difficult to get the small amt of problems fixed-right?""
Oh yea, and I almost forgot- One of the main reasons that my "account was such a high risk?"" I had used pictures from the catalog on SOME of my pieces of jewelry because I am a lousy photographer and it just came out way better (I know now, that it probably was copyright infringement yada, yada, yada, we are talking about 3 pictures of stuff maybe worth $50- so I get it OK?)
Anyway, when the upper-management guy pointed this out I told him "It would be nice if PP could post some rules-o-the-road for us Newbie non-computer types so that we avoid the pitfalls BEFORE our accounts are frozen" His response??- READY??
"We aren't going to tell criminals how to avoid being caught before we catch them"???? Are you still laughing?? Remember, at this time my grand-total of sales was under $150 and I STILL had only about $30 more listed for sale!!!! I guess I've gotta be the smallest of the small-time criminals EVER!! Oh well, it's OVER thank GOD and it just goes to show if you want something fixed you really do have to go above A LOT of heads to get it done!!!
Thanks and BE CAREFUL where you store your money-however small it may be....
Phyllis
p.s. Thanks Larry from W.Sacramento! you made an excellent point! They weren't freezing my ability to sell- Only to receive the money for the sales!!
Larry
West Sacramento,California,
U.S.A.
No, Mike
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, April 25, 2007
Ebay allowed (and continues to allow) Phyllis to offer goods for sale without any objections. EBay takes her money after completion of the sale and allows their subsidiary, Paypal, to collect the money from the buyer. It is only after the merchandise has changed hands and the money is in her Paypal account that anyone questions whether the sale is legitimate.
If eBay has a concern about these auctions, the time to ask the questions is before the sale is complete.
I have bought and sold on eBay since 1999 and used Paypal without any problems. But, from what I have seen on the ROR, Paypal has become a risky payment method for the seller. The biggest problem is that there is no legal oversight. If you have a dispute with Paypal you are on your own to resolve it.
Phyllis
Phelan,California,
U.S.A.
That's what I would LIKE to think-WRONG!
#5Author of original report
Wed, April 25, 2007
Hi Mike,
Yes, I would also LIKE to believe that Paypal is only looking out for the buyers! OK so, now I have submitted EVERYTHING- is there a reason to believe that $130 worth of jewelry is stolen when I have produced over $700 worth of (wholesale) purchase receipts and invoices? NO?
Well GUEESSS WHAT? Paypal sends an email "Wanting to close my account forever because it exposes itself to too much risk" AND "they will Hold my money for 180 days IN CASE I need to pay for anything!"
I WOULD be surprised except for jumping on this site last night and seeing all the negative about Paypal. I also went on PayPalIsAScam and NOPaypal (or org or whatever not a computer whiz) and More of the same! Thousands of people who have had this or worse happen! People who have had thousands of dollars held!
THere is ONE GOOD THING out of all of this- There is a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. AGAIN (one settled awhile back AGAINST PayPal) and I intend to join it! It is not my measly amt. of money (although I am sure I can use it Way more than PP) - It is the Principal!
Sorry Mike, not attacking the messenger just the message. Well, actually not attacking anyone but a really morally corrupt company!
Thanks,
Phyllis
Mike
River Edge,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Protecting the buyer
#5Consumer Suggestion
Wed, April 25, 2007
What Paypal is doing is trying to ensure that the jewelry you are selling is not stolen. If one person sells one or two pieces of jewelry it's not a big deal, but when one person sells a large quantity of jewelry, they would like to know where a person is getting their supply. By asking for invoices, etc, they are asking for proof that you haven't stolen anything or selling fraudulent pieces, due to the high rate of stolen and fraudulent pieces being sold on Ebay.
If you were a buyer, wouldn't you want PayPal to provide this verification to ensure you aren't buying stolen or fake merchandise?