posted on January 18, 2002 11:04:53 PM
I am getting completely screwed by paypal for $5000 in current orders and $33,000 in pending orders.
Paypal has restricted my account my business partners account and his daughters account...
We have been restricted because a old roommate of the business partners daughter had a paypal account and he owe paypal money. Since he used the computer at my business partners daughters house they have restricted all accounts that have been accessed from that isp and that includes 4 accounts totalling $38,160 dollars .
too make things worst the accounts were to be used for auction payments and now the buyers (13 of them) are emailing our business and wondering if we are fraudulent??
We are SquareTrade approved and Verified ID with ebay and have a perfect Billpoint record and perfect 100% feedback.
We have all sent in the restriction information needed to verify our accounts but they then replied with a note stating that we have outstanding balances owed on our OTHER accounts.
After waiting 48 minutes today on the phone I spoke with JOHN of the paypal dept and he said that they were going to forward the information to the investagator somewhere in california.
I didnt get a call, I have contacted paypal 27 times since last week both on email webform and telephone to get absolutely no remedy.
I now may have to go through the arbitrage system.
Please if anyone can help please forward any ideas or thoughts on this website,
Thanks below is my reply to the note they sent..
___________________________________
--- PayPal Customer Service <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Dear Mr. xxxxx,
>
> This email confirms that we have reviewed your fax.
> Your appeal is denied
> at this time for the following reason:
>
> 1) Your other PayPal accounts with negative balances
> will have to be payed
> back.
>
> If you have any further questions, please feel free
> to contact us again.
>
> Sincerely,
> PayPal Account Review Department
>
I do not have any negative balances in any accounts.
I now understand that you believe that an account from
a person Mxxxxxxx and ALxxxxx are related to me and my
daughter Ralxxx Txxxx, and my business partner Scott
xxxxxxxx.
We are not in anyway affiliated with Mxxxxxx or
ALxxxxx, I have shown you my personal information
proving my identity and all the information I have
sent proves this to be true.
My duaghter has also faxed her info to PAYPAL and
proved her information and today you have closed and
resticted my business partners account Scott xxxxxxxx
and he will now prove his information.
Scott has infomred me that this is all based on the
fact that Mxxxxxxx had used the computer at my
daughters house while he was rooming there.
Mxxxxxxx no longer lives at my daughters house, and he
is not apart of my dealings , Ralxxx's dealings or Scotts dealings in anyway.
Why have you restricted our accounts when obviously
the problem is related to Mxxxxxx and his account.
xxxxxxxx's actions have NO BEARRING ON MY ACCOUNT OR THAT OF SCOTT xxxxx OR RALxxx xxxxx.
Please advise of what we need to do to get this account reopened?
We no longer have contact with Mxxxxxxx nor no how to get in contact with him at this time or any time in
the future...
posted on January 19, 2002 08:03:11 AM
TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH!!!!!!!
you and your business partners and their daughters and boyfriends etc etc etc,dont let unauthorised personnel use your pc and your ISP.
you said 13 buyers are complaining,the fund in paypal accounts are for auction payments,are you a dropship seller??
do you need the fund to pay your vendor so you can ship the goods to these 13 buyers??
borrow the money from somone ,buy the goods and ship them ,else you will get thrown out of ebay,buyers will file reports with authority and they will do chargeback,you will never see your money again.
good luck
posted on January 19, 2002 08:25:44 AM
If what is owed to paypal isn't an outraegous sum pay it and then you go after the person that owes you money. The sooner you get things on an even keil with PayPal the better, then you can continue on. To many hands in the pot. You need one bookkeeper that has control of your finances.
As I go back and read your posting I see it says PayPal Accounts. Good Luck
posted on January 19, 2002 09:04:32 AM
Every day you learn something new -- including me. Now I know not to let anyone access their PayPal account(s) with my PC through my ISP. I bet most people will never have thought of this potential PayPal problem maker.
With that much money you're making (or collecting), get a merchant account.
-
[ edited by springmoon on Jan 19, 2002 09:05 AM ]
posted on January 19, 2002 10:00:18 AM
I'll bet this is how paypal gets such good ratings on fraud prevention. I often wonder what "fraud prevention" means to paypal. I suppose after they extort this money from another hapless paypal account victim it will be reported as another case of "fraud prevention."
dendude
posted on January 19, 2002 10:08:53 AM
I don't know the amount that is owed from this roommate, I cannot get in contact with him nor does he have anything to do with me anyways.
Paypal is simply not looking at the situation with clarity.
All the info and all the transactons ever done by all 3 of these persons are legitamate and they have never had a problem with chargbacks,returns, or anything.
The only problem was that this old roommate wanted to use ebay aswell and logged in from this same isp, What happened if we were in a small community and many people had to go to the local cyber cafe to do their internet shopping would that mean that 40-100 people that have accessed that account from that cyber cafe are all related and doing something bad if one little kid screwed paypal???????
It is EXTREAMLY FRUSTERATING and completely illegal to hold the $38000 hostage..
You would think that they would be bendinf ove backwards to have me as a customer since I do $50-75,000 in sales per month, however they simply brush me off and give no reason or possible solution.
I don't see why I should pay the other person negative balance(s) first off I don't know him second how much is it? and third would you pay for my balance in this sitauation??????
I have applied for a merchant account and it seems that i have got it but some still want to use paypal so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place please advise.....
posted on January 19, 2002 10:16:17 AM
It is not right that you'd have to pay someone elses debt but it would seem the only way to work with paypal. It's probably good advise too pay the debt, clean out your paypal account and start legal procedings to get the extorted funds back. Unfortunately, it's paypal's football and they make the rules (until regulatory controls are put in place).
dendude
posted on January 19, 2002 10:42:31 AM
I agree with the others who suggest you just pay the balance off, to release your funds.
I would then ask PayPal what steps you need to take to prove you are not the person in question and what proof they will accept that this person is not and has never been associated with yourPP account. I cannot see them not having some sort of proceedure in place. If they don't, they probably should have one.
Although this is off topic, I think it's a good example of how easy it is to find yourself being held liable for someone elses debt. A couple I personally know applied for a loan and were denied due to their credit report showing they owed around $4,000 to various utility companies. A shock to them.
Turns out that the guys ex (whom he had not been married to for 15 years) had divorced her second husband, taken back her 1st married name and moved to a new residence and ordered utility services in her 1st husband's name! Since all these companies allowed service to be ordered via telephone and only required a name, driver's license number, DOB and SS number, she was able to furnish the information and get service. When she skipped without paying, all the notices went to the address they had on record as point of service, thus the man did not realize his personal info had been used without his permission before discovering it through the 3 major credit reporting bureaus.
It was finally straightened out, but it took close to a year. Nobody would take his word for it, and he had to "prove" this had been done without his knowledge and/or permission. That's not as easy to do as you think it would be.
Trying to make him feel better, we would tell him he should be flattered that his 1st wife remembered all his personal information after 15 years!
Good luck. I hate seeing anyone held responsible for someone elses actions.
posted on January 19, 2002 11:00:11 AM
The absolute worst part about all of this is that the customers that we have wanting to pay cant pay us and we have the merchandise to ship but wont until they pay.
Some have paid via check and money order and bank wire but the rest want to use paypal or credit card directly.
We have been in perfect communication with all of the 18 people and they understand and we have left them all positive feedback already thinking that they would take this as a good faith justure for waiting, but now they may get fed up and post negative feedback to us and for paypal fault...
Is there any other way to accept credit cards payments like paypal for items of $2500+ in value and 18 people...
And as for the paying of the other ACCCOUNTS of that roommate, I will do it if its $100 or something but not for anymore, the worst part is they dont even tell me anything about his account or anything about the situation, they simply state that they will not open ours accounts unless he pays his bill to them.
AS if I am their debt collector, but I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM OR ANYONE I KNOW.
Damon has been emailed and I sincerely hope he can fix this situation, if so I will continue to use paypal sinc eit does have great interface and acceptance with the buyers.
posted on January 19, 2002 12:02:56 PM
You certainly have a delemia and I am sure that you need to find that person who's account has a debt in it. If you know his name try doing a 411 search. There has to be someway you can find him. When he was rooming with your daughter did she get any personal information from him? Now you say there is one account but you have two names. Did they both have the same account? Maybe it's time you hire a lawyer. I know that costs but there is no free lunch anymore. When you come here for help this is certainly something you need help with. You talk about going to a cyber cafe where people go to do their shopping. Ebay does not allow that. You have to have a legitimate email account or you can't sell or buy. Even if you see someone using a hotmail or yahoo account they also need proof that you have a legitimate account also. (legimate meaning ISP) Have you tried BidPay or c2it until you get everything straightened out. Good Luck.
posted on January 19, 2002 12:04:18 PM
Just tell the others waiting in line to send you their CC info, so that you can process it with your merchant account.
If that doesn't work, request a check or money order, and deal with your Paypal problem separately.
There is no need to be looking for another payment processor at this time. Most buyers will pay using the method outlined in your auctions.
Check out C2it (http://www.c2it.com) - I am not exactly sure what the limit is.
Also you can go to http://www.paypalsucks.com and tell your story.
posted on January 19, 2002 02:34:26 PM
billpoint will handle transactions over 2500.
you should find this delinquent guy and find out how much he owes paypal,someone should know who he is?? would paypal tell you since they think all of these accounts are linked??
paypal damon does not work on weekend,he may check his email though,why dont you email him and get a headstart on monday?
boy,now i know,i wont let any one come close to my pc,i have only one pc and i use it for my business.
tell them to buy their own pc or go to KINKO or cybercafe-if you are with AOL,you can go to any pc which has aol installed and log on with your email account .
posted on January 19, 2002 04:39:49 PM
vertigoonline, if you sell high priced items, and to buyers all over the world, you might want to look into Anypay - http://www.anypay.com
It is different from Paypal because they don't store your money (like a bank). They are more like a clearing house. It is just like making and receiving payments with checks -- reduces fraud. If you already have a merchant account, you can also configure anypay to use it. Signup is easy, and the site is smooth. Customer service number in USA & Germany is displayed on your account page. Go over there and read more -- email them any questions before signing up if you have doubts.
Right now they are waiving their setup fee of $99.00 until March. There are no other fees for business accounts, except of course transaction fees. It is free for private accounts, but I think there might be limits.
posted on January 20, 2002 07:48:14 AM
the author of this thread raised an interesting point-if we are away from home,and we use a cybercafe or kinko to access our paypal account ,would our account ever be locked up because someone who used the pc at these locations violate paypal terms ??
it is possible,as we are on the road,we could be checking emails and using our paypal debit card?
posted on January 20, 2002 11:41:16 AM
Using PayPal to accept payments for your business is like using a known habitual thief to guard your store when it's closed. It may be relatively cheap and easy, but in the end you'll get burned. They allow known fraudsters to continue to use their service.
posted on January 20, 2002 02:39:07 PM
DAMON mark my words, todays date is Sunday,January, 20th,2002.
I have not received anything from DAMON or paypal in telephone, email, or account being unrestricted meanwhile I have 11 customers threatening me with negative feedback for not completeing the sale....
I have offered them other payment options but they do not wish to use it. only paypal for now...
As for my $5160 in the account and $33,000 pending its all being held and frozen.
I have contacted legal representation and the media and both are interested in this case and story respectively.I will be giving them 72 hours to completely open my accounts and allow business as usual or I will start with 2 actions:
1) Legal representation
2) Media story which won't air until late March but will be on 60 minutes.
(If anyone else would like to have their story repesented on 60 minutes after this 72 hour period expires I would be happy to forward your info to the proper people whi would get in touch with you seperatly to verify each story. Please remember that you will need to have proof of your claim and sign all affidavides and notiorized papers to back up your cliams.)
DAMON mark my words, todays date is Sunday,January, 20th,2002.
posted on January 20, 2002 03:20:13 PM
vertigoonline,
May I make a suggestion? While I feel your ultimatum is completely appropriate... I would NOT return to "business as usual". As soon as your account is re-opened, I would accept your pending payments, transfer them to your bank account and close your PayPal account permanently. Any company that illegally tied up that much money of mine would no longer retain me as a customer. Even if some of your customers would prefer to pay through Paypal, you can always explain what happened to you. I wish you the best of luck with your situation. I truly hope that some day Paypal gets what they deserve.
posted on January 20, 2002 08:00:56 PM
If I don't have the accounts opened and access to the funds this will proceed and I will definately post the 60 minutes show time.
I cannot belive this company does not simply contact me or any of the people involved and inform us to what they want?
We have done everything they have asked at our expense and time and they expect us to track down one of THEIR customers.
As for paying for this guys bill I have asked about his account but got no info they said they cannot tell me anything about his account.
Also I do not see why I or anyone but him should pay for his account balances.
Lets see what happens with this ordeal.
I have no idea where the guy is or how to get ahold of him.
posted on January 20, 2002 08:56:15 PM
how can they insist you and the other paypal accounts are related and yet refuse to disclose who he is??
if they tell you the name of the account,you may be able to find him.
i think someday,there will just be one account per person,person meaning one physical person/unless you are a siamese twin,then you may get 2.
physical person=physical body.
astral body,mental body,body of light,egyptian ka,ba,ankh are not counted as body,neither is german doperlanger,double,familiar spirit,alter ego,alter conscience,sub conscience,petite soul,big soul as in voodooism.
spirit,soul as in mysticism.
posted on January 20, 2002 09:02:14 PM
vertigoonline,
if you go to different shows and talk about this experience,are you not afraid they will laugh at you -how amateurish and un professional you are in running a business.
letting anyone comes near your pc -your partners,their duaghters,some boyfriends and you dont even know who did you in??
is this like ASHCROFT returning from a press conference and find the ebay item he bot was delivered laced with anthrax because he did not follow paypal buyer protection program.
posted on January 20, 2002 09:56:30 PM
VOL, in my opinion you are screwed. Good luck with Paypal and let us know when the 60 Minutes piece will air.
The most secure payment service I know is BidPay.com. They accept a credit card, and send the seller a money order. BidPay doesn't get involved in disputes, and there are no chargebacks to worry about. Also great personal customer service.
posted on January 20, 2002 10:01:01 PM
StopWhining, I doubt that many people have control over who uses their business partner's daughter's PC. Think about it.
posted on January 20, 2002 10:15:34 PM
If you read one of the original posts he talks about two people using the computer, besides the daughter, then as he gets furthur down it is only one person. (I think). Now something I don't understand if it was the daughters roommate were they living in her parents home or somewhere else. It probably goes back to an original credit card that was used by both of them, or maybe she let them register at paypal with her credit card and maybe her password. There is something that is missing here, but we will never know the whole story as PayPal doesn't come in here and err their dirty laundry. PayPal is trying to CYA. If they open this account then they would be obligued to open other accounts. PayPal accounts are supposed to be secure and if they weren't they wouldn't be in business. It's like going to a bank and asking a banker to open someone's account to see what the activity is. With identity stealing businesses have to be very careful. Who knows vertigoonline is no doubt honest, but you never know about the other person. I bet when Damon open's his mail tomorrrow he'd wish he would have called in sick. One think I must say about him is that he seems to be very patient and tries very hard to accomodate everyone.
posted on January 20, 2002 11:08:14 PM
The reason for the restriction is due to the ISP's being the same on a number of occassions.
The business partners daughter 's EX ROOMMATE (not boyfriend) had used the ciomputer at the shared house.
On occassion the business partner well in that house on occassion would log in aswell and I have looged in mostly recently at that house . Due to this problem....
The roomate is not related ossiciated or part of us. And has even not paid for the last months rent at this house and thats partially the reason he was kicked out.
I hope to hear from DAMON and if not will not email them again and proceed my way, if things are worked out FAST things can be resolved ....
