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  • Report:  #296267

Complaint Review: PayPal - Internet

Reported By:
- Baltimore, Maryland,
Submitted:
Updated:

PayPal
paypal.com Internet, U.S.A.
Phone:
402-935-7733
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
When I signed up with Paypal, I gave them my social security number, my phone number, my mother's maiden name, and my physical address. I went through a verification process at that time wherein they sent me a postcard to verify my identity and physical address. I responded and thought all was well.

Last month, upon trying to send a payment, I was informed that I had reached a spending limit with Paypal. I use Ebay to buy gemstones and supplies for artisan jewelry, had always paid on time and never had or caused a problem and all of the sudden, I was no longer allowed to send payments using Paypal unless I gave them a bank account.

I called Customer Service three times before I got a gentleman named "Todd" who was courteous and helpful. I explained to him that this additional "verification" seemed superfluous and that I didn't want my bank account accessed as the only money that went into that account was for my mother's mortgage. "Todd" reassured me that I could still use my credit card to make payments and that my bank account was only used for verification purposes. Because Paypal is supposed to be the "safe, secure way to send money", I trusted him in that. I submitted my bank account information.

Six transactions later, Paypal started accessing that bank account in spite of the fact that I checked to make sure the funds were coming from my credit card on every transaction. The money wasn't in the bank account because my mother's mortgage had just been paid- each time Paypal hit my account, it cost me $34.00. The bank account took the money, which had been earmarked for the Paypal purchases, off of my credit card. Then Paypal decided to try to follow my original instructions and take the money from my credit card again. When they couldn't get money from there (because it went to fix the bank problem they had caused), they started accessing my checking account again.

In three weeks, Paypal has cost me over $1200.00 with the bank, $400.00 on my credit card, $298.00 on my Paypal account, and my mother's last mortgage payment did not go through because of them.

I sent them an email last week and never received a response. I have been physically ill because of this and am scared to death. I don't have an income at the moment due to a year and a half long undiagnosed neurological disorder- I am still trying to get disability since the doctors can't release me to work until the problem is under control. Paypal has me in financial ruin and could cost my mother her home.

I called customer service and was hung up on when I asked for a supervisor. I called a second time and the woman who answered the phone actually snickered when I told her what the problem was. I insisted that she get me a supervisor which, 17 minutes later, she did. The supervisor told me that I had been given misinformation and that I had no recourse. I asked for her supervisor and she hung up on me. A third call elicited similar responses, at which time I finally lost my temper and yelled- and was once again hung up on.

Paypal lied to me, has cost me a fortune that I cannot pay back, has messed up my excellent reputation on ebay, caused problems in my family because of the bank account problem and the ensuing fees associated with failed transactions and the returned mortgage payment for my mother's house, has caused undue physical, mental and emotional stress that only exascerbate my existing condition, and has destroyed my faith in online business transactions. I can't eat or sleep for worrying- and they think it's funny. I feel violated.

My credit card has been cancelled, and I am working with the bank to close that account and set up some sort of payment plan- although I've no idea where the money will come from. I am literally ill from worrying and stress. The money was on my credit card until Paypal accessed my checking account, I made sure of it. I made sure that each transaction with Paypal was funded by my credit card, and they won't help. Because of lies from PayPal's "Customer Disservice" personnel and unauthorized access to my bank account, I am at a total loss.

Juliet

Baltimore, Maryland

U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on PayPal


14 Updates & Rebuttals

Siashay

Southington,
Connecticut,
U.S.A.
This is what you need to do.

#2Consumer Suggestion

Thu, January 10, 2008

Trust me on this, First you go to your bank, you tell them this is unaurthorized purchase. You claim it is fraud. Do the same with your credit card company. If you write a check out to the store, you don't have funds in the bank to cover the check. The store can only try on other time. Twice that it is. Paypal has to follow those same rules. Call paypal tell them you are filing a class action suit. They listen then. Tell them you will be on every news station who will listen to you. Then do a charge back on paypal. Trust me paypal cannot do a thing if you file a charge back. PAYPAL IS NOT A BANK. If u need anymore info let me know.


Siashay

Southington,
Connecticut,
U.S.A.
This is what you need to do.

#3Consumer Suggestion

Thu, January 10, 2008

Trust me on this, First you go to your bank, you tell them this is unaurthorized purchase. You claim it is fraud. Do the same with your credit card company. If you write a check out to the store, you don't have funds in the bank to cover the check. The store can only try on other time. Twice that it is. Paypal has to follow those same rules. Call paypal tell them you are filing a class action suit. They listen then. Tell them you will be on every news station who will listen to you. Then do a charge back on paypal. Trust me paypal cannot do a thing if you file a charge back. PAYPAL IS NOT A BANK. If u need anymore info let me know.


Siashay

Southington,
Connecticut,
U.S.A.
This is what you need to do.

#4Consumer Suggestion

Thu, January 10, 2008

Trust me on this, First you go to your bank, you tell them this is unaurthorized purchase. You claim it is fraud. Do the same with your credit card company. If you write a check out to the store, you don't have funds in the bank to cover the check. The store can only try on other time. Twice that it is. Paypal has to follow those same rules. Call paypal tell them you are filing a class action suit. They listen then. Tell them you will be on every news station who will listen to you. Then do a charge back on paypal. Trust me paypal cannot do a thing if you file a charge back. PAYPAL IS NOT A BANK. If u need anymore info let me know.


Siashay

Southington,
Connecticut,
U.S.A.
This is what you need to do.

#5Consumer Suggestion

Thu, January 10, 2008

Trust me on this, First you go to your bank, you tell them this is unaurthorized purchase. You claim it is fraud. Do the same with your credit card company. If you write a check out to the store, you don't have funds in the bank to cover the check. The store can only try on other time. Twice that it is. Paypal has to follow those same rules. Call paypal tell them you are filing a class action suit. They listen then. Tell them you will be on every news station who will listen to you. Then do a charge back on paypal. Trust me paypal cannot do a thing if you file a charge back. PAYPAL IS NOT A BANK. If u need anymore info let me know.


Juliet

Parkville,
Maryland,
U.S.A.
Paypal Lies and Daniel's thoughts

#6Author of original report

Tue, January 08, 2008

I appreciate your insight, both of you; however- the initial postcard confirming my address was sent by Paypal as an option for verification when I opened the account since I also opened a merchant account in case I wanted to sell things as well- and has no bearing on the situation at hand beyond being sufficient verification of my identity. NO, I am not a victim of identity theft or phishing, I am a victim of dishonest practices on the part of Paypal. 1. Before submitting my bank info on the Paypal Website, I called the Customer Service number on their website to see if there was another way to verify myself. When "Todd" said no, I asked him if my credit card would still be used for funding to ensure that my bank account would NOT be used for funding but merely for verification and was assured by "Todd" that I was safe, they would NEVER touch my bank account. 2. On every transaction, I confirm that the funding source is my credit card. 3. My credit card had sufficient funds, they hit my bank FIRST- which did not have the money in it and automatically withdrew money from my credit card to cover the $34 fee for EVERY transaction (there were 6, totalling $162.00, my credit card had $300.00 on it- a birthday gift- I'm very very careful with money) that Paypal tried to send through them- which is what the bank is supposed to do. In the two days before I caught the problem, Paypal sent those transactions through my bank twice (12 x $34= $408) which depleted my credit card, eliciting fines there as well. 4. Until my probelms with customer service and Paypal's re-sending transactions through my bank every single working day since then, I was willing to view it as a glitch in the system, a minor error that we could fix. I've experienced glitches before where Paypal got money from my account, marked an item as paid, and the money didn't show up on the other end. The seller and I were able to resolve such situations quickly using the automated system. 5. Paypal isn't perfect, no system is. I would have accepted an "Oops, I'm terribly sorry, our system made an error." I cannot accept that they find the problem amusing and in spite of repeated attempts to contact them regarding the problem, it is ignored and added to. They are still trying of access my account in spite of the fact that it is closed and their lack of response or even caring that a glitch in their system has caused so much damage is reprehensible. Had they responded to my messages in mid-December instead of continuing to ignore me and continuing to re-send those transactions, I would not be in this situation. 6. You are incorrect in assuming that Paypal doesn't initiate withdrawals, the following is copied directly from my account in the details section of their most recent attempt at my bank: "Note: This Add Funds has been initiated by PayPal." 7. I am not a fool, I don't answer emails requesting information, I checked every time I sent money via Paypal to make certain that my credit card was the funding source, and I always made sure that I had enough money on my credit card to complete transactions by checking my balance before entering the Paypal payment system. THIS IS NOT MY FAULT, except that I trusted a company that CANNOT BE TRUSTED because it doesn't acknowledge concerns or complaints and refuses to take responsibility for system errors, or stop the s****..


Dave

Jacksonville,
Florida,
U.S.A.
I tend to agree Juliet

#7Consumer Comment

Tue, January 08, 2008

I have been a Paypal user for years, and have seen all the phishing scams in the world. Paypal never sent me a 'verification' postcard in the mail. All verification was done online. There are 2 problems that caused this fiasco. 1. You were the victem of Identity Theft, due to a phishing scam that you fell for, or 2. You didn't have enough funds in your credit card to cover the transactions, and they tried to pull it from your bank account. When you send money, Paypal will pull it only from the source you tell it to, UNLESS, that source has insufficient funds, in which case, they will EMAIL you and let you know that the transaction didn't go through, and they will attempt to pull it from your backup source, in this case, your bank account.


Daniel

Las Vegas,
Nevada,
U.S.A.
never heard of this

#8Consumer Comment

Tue, January 08, 2008

I've been using Paypal since before ebay owned it and im pretty darn sure they don't send postcards out to confirm who you are. Asides from that, everyone know Paypal doesn't have support, theres a number of anti-paypal sites out there, enough in fact to make a consumer wonder how good paypal really is. Paypal situates itself in between the buyer and seller of goods yet it claims to be neutral. With this neutral claim it basically ignores any issues posing as a neutral party. Paypal doesn't initiate anything itself. For funds to be transferred through paypal you have to set them up. You are in total control of your paypal account. paypal does NOT require you to add a bank account for normal operations. When you move alot of money through paypal obviously the risk increases for everyone and they do require a bank account to be added. More then likely what has happened is Paypal is not able to transfer the amount of funds you wish using a credit card and it's only method is using a bank account. You probably have "payment or billing agreements" in your account if you view your profile. Each of those profiles have payment methods linked to them. Also adding that bank account automatically makes it a payment method, it might not make it the default method, but it has to be able to use it as a method. It also may be against paypals policy to use it's service to deal in the type of business your using, I know with alot of items that are easily "faked and forged" such as gems etc... sometimes paypal simply doesn't allow it. Best of luck to you, but this isnt' paypals fault.


Daniel

Las Vegas,
Nevada,
U.S.A.
never heard of this

#9Consumer Comment

Tue, January 08, 2008

I've been using Paypal since before ebay owned it and im pretty darn sure they don't send postcards out to confirm who you are. Asides from that, everyone know Paypal doesn't have support, theres a number of anti-paypal sites out there, enough in fact to make a consumer wonder how good paypal really is. Paypal situates itself in between the buyer and seller of goods yet it claims to be neutral. With this neutral claim it basically ignores any issues posing as a neutral party. Paypal doesn't initiate anything itself. For funds to be transferred through paypal you have to set them up. You are in total control of your paypal account. paypal does NOT require you to add a bank account for normal operations. When you move alot of money through paypal obviously the risk increases for everyone and they do require a bank account to be added. More then likely what has happened is Paypal is not able to transfer the amount of funds you wish using a credit card and it's only method is using a bank account. You probably have "payment or billing agreements" in your account if you view your profile. Each of those profiles have payment methods linked to them. Also adding that bank account automatically makes it a payment method, it might not make it the default method, but it has to be able to use it as a method. It also may be against paypals policy to use it's service to deal in the type of business your using, I know with alot of items that are easily "faked and forged" such as gems etc... sometimes paypal simply doesn't allow it. Best of luck to you, but this isnt' paypals fault.


Daniel

Las Vegas,
Nevada,
U.S.A.
never heard of this

#10Consumer Comment

Tue, January 08, 2008

I've been using Paypal since before ebay owned it and im pretty darn sure they don't send postcards out to confirm who you are. Asides from that, everyone know Paypal doesn't have support, theres a number of anti-paypal sites out there, enough in fact to make a consumer wonder how good paypal really is. Paypal situates itself in between the buyer and seller of goods yet it claims to be neutral. With this neutral claim it basically ignores any issues posing as a neutral party. Paypal doesn't initiate anything itself. For funds to be transferred through paypal you have to set them up. You are in total control of your paypal account. paypal does NOT require you to add a bank account for normal operations. When you move alot of money through paypal obviously the risk increases for everyone and they do require a bank account to be added. More then likely what has happened is Paypal is not able to transfer the amount of funds you wish using a credit card and it's only method is using a bank account. You probably have "payment or billing agreements" in your account if you view your profile. Each of those profiles have payment methods linked to them. Also adding that bank account automatically makes it a payment method, it might not make it the default method, but it has to be able to use it as a method. It also may be against paypals policy to use it's service to deal in the type of business your using, I know with alot of items that are easily "faked and forged" such as gems etc... sometimes paypal simply doesn't allow it. Best of luck to you, but this isnt' paypals fault.


Juliet

Parkville,
Maryland,
U.S.A.
PayPal lies, steals, and has nonexistent customer service

#11Author of original report

Tue, January 08, 2008

I have sent twelve emails to Paypal over the last few weeks, begging for a response since their phone customer service operators are so incredibly unprofessional and inept. They say they'll respond within 48 hours, and I have yet to receive a response to any of my messages, which I started sending on December 15, 2007. Paypal is NOT a safe and secure payment method. The following is my most recent email: You are not now, nor have you ever been authorized to remove funds from my bank account. In self-defense, before you get me any further in the hole than you already have, I have closed the checking account and credit card associated with my Paypal account. You have abused my trust, destroyed my finances, caused a possibly irreparable rift in my family, nearly cost my mother her home, and caused further damage to my already bad health. You have, not counting your "negative balance", cost me over $2000.00 in fines and fees because of your irresponsible, unethical and dishonest business practices and your very, very bad customer service. You say you will respond to email communications sent via this system within 24 hours, and I have yet to receive any kind of response from you to any of the messages I have sent begging you to stop accessing my bank account and offer some kind of response as to a solution to this problem. This is my 12th message since December 15, 2007.


Juliet

Parkville,
Maryland,
U.S.A.
I am positive

#12Author of original report

Wed, January 02, 2008

I think you misread the complaint- all calls to Paypal were initiated by be: first, in concern over the "verification" process when they wouldn't allow me to send payments without my bank account information (which showed up on their site when I tried to send a payment) and then when they, in spite of assurances otherwise, sent transactions through the bank account instead of through my credit card as they were supposed to do (again, via transactions on their site.) I've never received emails requesting information and I'm very security-minded which is why I was shocked when a company I trusted (Paypal) lied to me and caused me so many problems then shrugged it all off as if it were nothing. Perhaps a few grand isn't a lot of money to a multi-billion dollar corporation, but it's a lot of money to me.


Juliet

Parkville,
Maryland,
U.S.A.
I am positive

#13Author of original report

Wed, January 02, 2008

I think you misread the complaint- all calls to Paypal were initiated by be: first, in concern over the "verification" process when they wouldn't allow me to send payments without my bank account information (which showed up on their site when I tried to send a payment) and then when they, in spite of assurances otherwise, sent transactions through the bank account instead of through my credit card as they were supposed to do (again, via transactions on their site.) I've never received emails requesting information and I'm very security-minded which is why I was shocked when a company I trusted (Paypal) lied to me and caused me so many problems then shrugged it all off as if it were nothing. Perhaps a few grand isn't a lot of money to a multi-billion dollar corporation, but it's a lot of money to me.


Juliet

Parkville,
Maryland,
U.S.A.
I am positive

#14Author of original report

Wed, January 02, 2008

I think you misread the complaint- all calls to Paypal were initiated by be: first, in concern over the "verification" process when they wouldn't allow me to send payments without my bank account information (which showed up on their site when I tried to send a payment) and then when they, in spite of assurances otherwise, sent transactions through the bank account instead of through my credit card as they were supposed to do (again, via transactions on their site.) I've never received emails requesting information and I'm very security-minded which is why I was shocked when a company I trusted (Paypal) lied to me and caused me so many problems then shrugged it all off as if it were nothing. Perhaps a few grand isn't a lot of money to a multi-billion dollar corporation, but it's a lot of money to me.


Bart

Springfield,
Missouri,
U.S.A.
Are you sure

#15Consumer Comment

Wed, January 02, 2008

you didn't get an email (which I don't think paypal ever sends out) from a scammer asking for this info and that is causing your problems? I have used paypal and never been sent a postcard-or anything in the mail except a check for the funds I withdrew-from paypal. I know I have gotten numerous fake emails from scammers that look like they could indeed be from paypal and I just forward them to spoof@paypal just to be sure.

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