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Should I voluntarily close my account?
 

I'm wondering if I should voluntarily close my account. It is completely legit, real name, real address, real telephone number, real bank account linked, real debit card linked, they have my social security number, etc. 100% completely legit and above board.

I received an email from them the other night, copied below:

We have received several complaints regarding your PayPal Account for
non-delivery and/or not as described products that have been paid for
through our service.

During our review of accounts that receive complaints, we measure the
complaints received in relation to the volume of sales. The "complaint
rate" determines whether your account will remain in good standing. The
ideal complaint rate is less than 2%. To remain in good standing, all
members must maintain a complaint rate of less than 3%.

At this time, your complaint rate is 47.21%. Our goal is to help you
understand our policies to ensure successful experiences with PayPal.
Therefore, we respectfully request that you resolve all outstanding
complaints and refrain from any activities that may cause an increase in
your complaint rate. Accounts with an excessive complaint rate may be
limited, and/or risk possible closure.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to review our site
policy governing a seller's obligation when receiving funds for payment
of goods or services. The policy can be found by clicking the "Legal
Agreement" link on any PayPal webpage and click "User Agreement."

We appreciate your business, and the efforts you take to reduce your
complaint rate.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

First off, I can't see how this is possible as I have had maybe 50 transactions over a 10 month period, and at best only 6 disputes, all of which were amicably, expeditiously and successfully resolved. Furthermore, to achieve a 47.21% complaint rate, I'd have to have had 24 disputes. Is the complaint rate a monthly average? Because three of the six came in between this week and last.

With all of that being said - should I voluntarily close my account to avoid limitation or suspension? There is no money in it to speak of, maybe $10.00 at best. Could I voluntarily close this account, and then say 30-60-90 days later decide to open a new PayPal account? I could use a fresh address, phone number, bank account, etc. at that point. The only variables that would remain the same would be my name and SSN.

My eBay account has been restricted due to low DSR's, so I'm dead in the water as is. I'd like to streamline away from PayPal anyway and go the merchant services route.

Help!

Well...I would try to keep that paypal account open just in case you need it for anything later on in life. Might as well just leave it alone and let it sit until you could use it for other purposes rather than ebay.

^^^Agree with Philly. Leave the paypal open especially since there is an SSN attached. It may be of use some other time. Once that SSN is supplied is nearly impossible to use it again with paypal.

I know looking backwards rarely helps, but if you knew that this account had so much of your real info attached to it, you probably should have used it a little more cautiously =/ I wouldn't close it either, as that just makes it look worse, but I would certainly stop using it in any fashion that could lead to further issues.

Yes, keep the account open for a future use. I had the same question a while back and I am very glad that I did keep it open.