posted on October 28, 2009 08:46:21 AM new
Hi, paypal is holding $2300 on us since January this year the reason they are saying they doing that because of risk factor, they telling us to call after 120 days and they will review the account and make decision about if to release the funds or not.
I did have some charge back in January that came from international buyers, since then I do not sell or ship international and my charge backs went away.
Now every time we call paypal to get these funds back they keep telling us that we have to wait 4 more months.
any advise please help.
I'm afraid to take this to my lawyer in case they they will give us the funds and then decide to close our paypal account.
please help with advise.
posted on October 28, 2009 10:12:01 AM new
I'd write the BBB and the Attorney General's office in your state. Maybe even the FTC b/c these transactions likely took place over state lines.
Sounds like Paypal is committing fraud and earning interest all the while. I would also document everything. Keep every email you may have from Paypal that says they are holding funds, reasons why they are holding funds, etc.
Once you get the State Attorney Generals office and/or FTC involved you will likely see some movement. Paypal doesn't want any government agency sniffing into their business as it could open a whole can of worms they don't want anyone to see.
posted on October 28, 2009 10:24:01 AM new
Thank you, you think they will end up closing my account after?
after I need the paypal account I do allot of transactions with paypal.
posted on October 28, 2009 01:56:37 PM new
any particular reason other than they won't do it? do you have this in writing from them?
Does Paypal still process your other payments? Do you have access to those payments (withdrawals/debit purchase)?
i wouldn't call them back, but rather file the complaints as I suggested. The BBB, the Oregon (where I live) Attorney General, and FTC all have a simple online form to complete including what your complaint is about and how you want it remedied. I would request they refund it and pay you interest on it. If it is your money, then they shouldn't be holding it for so long.
There is no reason for them to hold money since January under any circumstance unless they give you written notice that the payment was declined. Do you see anything in their terms and conditions regarding such holds and time frames they give? If so, I would print it up and/or save it in a pdf file so you have a hard copy of it (in case they change the policy).
I wouldn't worry about getting a lawyer involved. First off, you need to get your money back if you are entitled to it. Second, if you let this go b/c you want to continue to use Paypal, what is to say they won't do it again?
I wouldn't waste another minute with them, go directly to filing complaints. It has worked every time I have done so against a company. They don't want a government agency investigation or an audit. Trust me... if they aren't playing by the rules, they won't mess with you any further.
posted on October 28, 2009 03:33:19 PM new
What kind of volume are you doing?
I can't believe that I'm defending Paypal, but in my opinion it would seem reasonable to set aside something like 10%-30% of monthly volume in a "risk pool".
.
posted on October 28, 2009 04:07:44 PM new
merchant account providers can hold back funds if they deem the account is high risk,too many chargebacks,disputes and poor credit risk.
Sometimes it has to do with the kind of merchandise you sell and how you sell them like in cyberspace,dropshipping .
If you recall when you sign up with Paypal you agree that Paypal could pull a credit report on you!
Do you ever own a retail store?Did you have merchant account with a bank before using Paypal and selling on line?
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
[ edited by hwahwa on Oct 28, 2009 04:09 PM ]
posted on October 28, 2009 05:47:09 PM new
Back in December last year I did $64000 with paypal alone and I had 5 charge backs from international credit card buyers on my web site,I was stupid to process credit cards with pay pal instead of my merchant Bank, paypal called me and convinced me then to process credit cards with theme and I did it.
after these 5 charge backs they decided to hold 5% from every transaction for 4 months and they told me they will review my account after 4 months.
Four months past I called and hey told me they are not going to hold 5% instead they will take $2300 out of my account and put it in reserve for another 120 days, 120 days past I called and the reason this time they saying that I gave 2 refunds and they want see 60 days with no refund and no charge back.
I'm still able to use paypal and withdrew funds only new funds that comes in.
I try very hard not to accept paypal only if I have to.
posted on October 28, 2009 05:55:02 PM new
I own Jewelery store and I sell watches,I have legit business registered in state of NJ no problems at all, I been in business 18 years and selling with yahoo merchant for 10 years, I use to sell on ebay many years ago, but now I only sell on e bay from October to February
posted on October 28, 2009 06:25:02 PM new
5 chargebacks on high ticket items, no wonder they withold 2300 dollars.
It is not just Paypal,it could be any merchant account provider such as banks,they will do the same,5 chargebacks is 4 chargebacks too many.
Those 5 credit card transactions which ended up as chargebacks thru paypal ,if you have processed them thru your merchant account,would they result in chargebacks?
Your bank would have charged you a higher fee for chargeback ,anywhere from 25-100 and Paypal I believe is $10 dollars.
Paypal is just protecting itself,if your average transaction is in the thousands,holding back 2300 may just cover one chargeback,what if come this Decemeber you sell another 64k worth of goods and download them to your bank account,close it and then chargebacks come in,Paypal will have to come after you legally .
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on October 28, 2009 06:30:51 PM new
5 chargebacks on high ticket items, no wonder they withold 2300 dollars.
It is not just Paypal,it could be any merchant account provider such as banks,they will do the same,5 chargebacks is 4 chargebacks too many.
Those 5 credit card transactions which ended up as chargebacks thru paypal ,if you have processed them thru your merchant account,would they result in chargebacks?
Your bank would have charged you a higher fee for chargeback ,anywhere from 25-100 and Paypal I believe is $10 dollars.
Paypal is just protecting itself,if your average transaction is in the thousands,holding back 2300 may just cover one chargeback,what if come this Decemeber you sell another 64k worth of goods and download them to your bank account,close it and then chargebacks come in,Paypal will have to come after you legally .
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on October 28, 2009 06:48:48 PM new
5 charge back we are talking about average of $80 an item that is not high ticket, cheap watches 2 shipped to Canada express mail and I proved that they got there and they still agreed with the buyer, the others Europe with no tracking number was first class mail
posted on October 28, 2009 07:22:31 PM new
may be like watchguy said,it is based on volume and you said you did 64k in December thru Paypal and currently you are using paypal a lot.
I have seen worse cases,on Yahoo shopping someone who sold PC and notebooks,the bank withheld over 10k and he had one chargeback.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on October 28, 2009 07:39:41 PM new
You said you have a merchant account which you use in your store,is there any chargeback?
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on October 28, 2009 08:43:50 PM new
It's a pity you didn't use your merchant account but going forward, I would protect my Paypal "privileges" and try to stay under the radar, especially during the Christmas season. If they lift the hold, I would ask for the interest they certainly accumulated. Edited to add: in retrospect, perhaps it would have been cheaper to grant the disputed cases a full refund.
[ edited by pixiamom on Oct 28, 2009 08:49 PM ]
posted on October 29, 2009 05:49:25 AM new
what difference does it make,whether he used Paypal or his own merchant account?
Unless these overseas buyers were in his store and signed the credit card receipt,he is not protected.
With overseas chargebacks,they can take 3-6 months to reach the merchant account provider,then Paypal ,then the retailer.
This is probably the reason they want to hold on to his fund 4 months!
BTW,Paypal is not a merchant account provider,it is just a service which has merchant accounts(s) with banks.
When some one files a chargeback and win,bank will withdraw fund from Paypal and if Paypal cannot get it back from its subscriber,then it will eat the loss.
All the talk about buyer and seller protection is only good if the amount is small,when it gets over a certain amount,Paypal will just say too bad,you lose the chargeback so you have to pay,or for buyer,it would say seller does not have enough fund in his account,so bla bla bla.
*
There is no 'Global savings glut',only wild horses and loose bankers.
posted on October 29, 2009 06:11:24 AM newnow I only sell on e bay from October to February
I'll bet that's your answer there. Because you didn't sell on eBay since February, a month after the funds were held, you do not have a track record that will prompt them to release the funds. Perhaps you need to display 4 months of positive selling experiences? A thought anyway .... that being the case, they should release the funds in February 2010.
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posted on October 29, 2009 07:54:00 AM new
I totally agree I do not have big track record but I'm still doing 12K a month with pay pal no charge backs and my merchant account I do not have any charge backs in 2 years,I check every transaction and if it looks suspicious I just don't charge the customer anything, also I do not do international orders so that eliminate allot of possible fraud.
