PayPal help?

Well I've defended PayPal for a long time, and always used it as my preferred method of receiveng payments. Well last night I come home and my account (along with the ~$500 in it is locked) of course I can't talk to someone because its after 10pm. So I call this morning and aparently they took it apon themselves to lock the account because something I shipped (to a member here) came back to me for not having enough postage, even though it was shipped through paypal shipping service. The package came back to me, and I added the required postage and sent it back... the problem is that paypal sees the tracking number as sent to MO but delivered in CA (back to me for more postage) This isn't that big of a problem because it should be updated today or tomorrow when the member receives the card) The problem now is that they want tracking numbers for payments received that werent even for physical items (services, money owed to me for random reasons, etc).

They also want invoices showing I legally purchased all of the items I've sold. These items range from items purchased on CL to goods I've received for free through other sources. This is an impossible feat, yet they said my account will remain locked untill I can do so.

So what's my next move here? My lawyer will send a letter of intent for a flat fee of $85, an option I've used several times to resolve other monetary issues.

I really don't know what to do with them at this point. Theres no way I can provide invoices for **** I bought months ago from craigslist.

Argh

That is a crappy situation.

The only thing I can suggest is to have the issue elevated as far as you can. Hopefully talking to the highest member of management you can get a hold of will allow you to explain your case to someone who has the authority to make a judgment call.

Thats extreme for nothing more than wrong postage amount.

My advice would be to never leave money in your paypal account anymore.

CGR said:

Thats extreme for nothing more than wrong postage amount.

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Well that's apparently what set it off... As soon as I gave them all my info they transferred me to some person that tried to convince me I was selling stolen goods. Right... because 2 year old computer components fall of the back of trucks all the time

I just need to calm down and call them back tomorrow, I just don't take being acused of criminal activity too lightly. The whole thing is bogus, and just horrible timing as I was about to withdraw the balance of my account to pay some bills.

CGR said:

Thats extreme for nothing more than wrong postage amount.

My advice would be to never leave money in your paypal account anymore.

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I highly recommend this as well. And I've never used their postage dealy, and now I'll make sure I never do.

I remember someone tried to charge back something. Fortunately I don't keep any money in the account and it had already successfully transferred. I just said "F this", went to by bank, put a stop payment so they wouldn't release anything to Paypal, and closed my account.

Conversely, I bought a 4 port hub on ebay about 6~ years ago and the guy did not send me the power supply... refused to acknowledge he was wrong and Paypal refused to refund my money because they had a tracking number (which could have been for a box of twinkies for all they know.) Since then, I only use my credit card so that I can reverse payments if need be. (Except in the classifieds here, where I'll use instant transfer.)

NOT to get off topic... but what are the fee differences between accepting credit card and direct transfer? As I recall, I get hit with a 3% fee either way...

Yeah I was the guy who ordered the GPU, once I get the card if paypals still being stupid ill send them a email stating that I did get the package.

TehGoober said:

NOT to get off topic... but what are the fee differences between accepting credit card and direct transfer? As I recall, I get hit with a 3% fee either way...

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If you have regular account, can only accept non-cc paypal, but no fee. Premier account can accept cc and non-cc paypal, but there's a 3% fee.

Wow, $500 in Paypal account suspended over a miss-tracking and it sucks that you were about to use it for paying bills.

Well at least the lesson here is if you have any funds in Paypal account, transfer it out of there asap especially when it's more than $20 bucks.

(this is my 3rd time in a row seeing bad Paypal disputes)

wow that sucked big time. Paypal is known for being an extremist when it comes to accusation of "criminal" activities. If the issue isn't resolved I would send them a very strongly worded letter that you would take LEGAL actions next if they do not release the FUNDS owed to you. I also wouldn't hesitate to contact BBB, and FTC, as well as your local media group. Paypal has taken some bad PR in the past.

I wouldnt blow up too much I would definatly try the sweet approach first and hope you get someone nice. if you are angry or say too much of this or that they might put a note on you account aka a red flag then everytime you call you wont have a chance.

I Know paypal makes money off holding other peoples money and gaining intrest on it while disputes are going on etc. but this is the first time I heard of them holding it and asking for proof. I make a living on ebay so I cant afford to loose my paypal account and I would take the hit on teh money as long as my account was able to get back in order. But your situation may be different.

All you can do is try to talk to someone nice if you arent getting anywhere with one guy hang up early and call back till you get a nice lady, the smarter they are the more chance they have good ethics and care about doing right and most of all are smart enough to understand your situation.

Good luck I really dont like reading about this stuff like I said i live off my paypal account so I would crap the big one if something like this happened to me.

Yeah I got them to drop the whole invoice thing, I just had to repeat myself to like 4 people. So now I just need to wait for a few more items to say delivered and they said they'd release it... we'll see.

Either way, there will never be more than $20 in my account from here on out.

I haven't had any issues like this but a friend of mine did. He was collecting money for webhosting from a group of 10+ friends. Unfortunately, 2 of these people marked their payment as being for goods and he couldn't provide a tracking number. Paypal locked his account and required him to provide proof of tracking for a collection of transactions over the last year. They then wanted emails from each and every person who had donated to the hosting confirming that they did indeed donate money for that purpose. It took about 4 weeks to get it sorted out. Scary situation really. I hope you get it sorted 100% soon.

my advice is after receiving payments withdraw it asap. just like what happened to my friend his money has been froze because someone filed a dispute the dispute run for a month. Its a good thing that he won over that dispute and withdraw the remaining money in his account.

jessieruiz said:

my advice is after receiving payments withdraw it asap. just like what happened to my friend his money has been froze because someone filed a dispute the dispute run for a month. Its a good thing that he won over that dispute and withdraw the remaining money in his account.

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Even better, open a new bank account specifically to be used with Paypal. If Paypal decides against you, they legally can and will withdraw the funds from the bank account tied to your Paypal account. I've seen people talking about taking legal action against Paypal for this and much less - but they never read the agreement that they "signed."

Even if u take the money out as soon as you get it....They can reverse the transaction.
I have been burned too many times with paypal and refuse to deal with them.
Google Checkout has been working quite well for me whan I sell ES chips or other parts.
The fees are lower as well.

Does google checkout charge you a fee when you say use it to recieve payment from an ebay sale? I hate how much paypal charges me and how they put my money on hold for 21 days after each large transaction

I've seen paypal pull these kind of stunts way too many times. I never have any money in my paypal account anymore. If I'm planning on buying something, I just let it charge my paypal and withdraw the funds from my bank account. If I get money, it's transferred into my bank account day of.

For such a big company, they're really bad at keeping their customers happy and safe... hell... safe from paypal themselves...

Exige said:

I've seen paypal pull these kind of stunts way too many times. I never have any money in my paypal account anymore. If I'm planning on buying something, I just let it charge my paypal and withdraw the funds from my bank account. If I get money, it's transferred into my bank account day of.

For such a big company, they're really bad at keeping their customers happy and safe... hell... safe from paypal themselves...

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Im with you there.

Steven-1979 said:

Does google checkout charge you a fee when you say use it to recieve payment from an ebay sale? I hate how much paypal charges me and how they put my money on hold for 21 days after each large transaction

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I'd like to know the answer to this also, since I am sick of paying paypal money.

Ach3r0n said:

Even better, open a new bank account specifically to be used with Paypal. If Paypal decides against you, they legally can and will withdraw the funds from the bank account tied to your Paypal account.

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100% false.....PayPal cannot touch your bank acct....the only thing they can do is put your PP act in the negative, and possibly start collections against you if it stays negative.