[Guide] [Account Restored] Permanent Limitation (with 180-day hold)

[@NasterXchange]

Amazing story!
This is a post that everyone should pin!
Will give a try as well ;-)

[rsot]

Originally Posted by gretty

Huge thanks for this guide @HangInThere! It took about 3 weeks but I finally managed to get my account restored and was able to withdraw funds without issue. This thread is a life saver

Congrats are in order

[HangInThere]

Hey everyone! OP here.

Sorry for my absence - it's been a rough year, as I'm sure it has been for many others too.

I've finally had a chance to read through all the new posts since I was last online around 10 months ago, and I am amazed to see so much discussion and feedback flowing since.

To everyone who has contributed their own advice, answers, and experiences (even if ongoing), your input is greatly appreciated and I can see that it has already helped others on their journey. I encourage any new visitor to read through every post on this thread - not just my original one - as there is a wealth of knowledge to be learned from every experience shared by others.

Finally, I would like to both congratulate and thank everyone who shared their feedback after successfully restoring their accounts. It is really great to see, and you are clearly inspiring others too - since the initial post has aged quite a bit, your feedback and updated guidance helps to keep the thread up-to-date and viable for new readers to use as a resource.

I hope all is well, and wish you luck if you have started your journey.


Some recent feedback & advice that might help (Nov 2020 - Jun 2021):

Originally Posted by Kevinh1

OMG, thank you for your help. my account got restored. I lost hope because I called the support and they said that I had multiple limited accounts which is true. About 6 days later after emailing them and this morning I got an email saying my account got restored! If you need help PM me I will give you my email template! Note I had 30k usd locked up and it messed up my cashflow, I kinda felt like giving up but I didn't and kept moving.

My experience timeframe and what I did.

Time frame
Day 1 : I emailed the AUP, Appeals, office and opened a BBB (They have not responded to my BBB yet) and prayed to God daily to help restore my account (I know it sounds corny)
Day 2 : I Revised my email after accepting the fact and calmed down and sent it to the ppelce@paypal.com
Day 7 : I got an email saying that my account has been restored. (they have not responded to my BBB yet)

I am not sure which emails looked at my appeal as I never got a reply but an email from server@paypal.com saying that my account has been restored.

Even though I had many accounts under my name and address that was permanently limited which is against their terms, they still restored my account I want to give hope to business owners who had past accounts that were perm limited.

What I included in my email.

Dear PayPal Team.
1. I explained the current situation with my account.
2. I explained that I agree with paypal decisions to limit accounts to prevent fraud and odd activities making PayPal community safe for all buyers which I am all for it.
3. Explained my business model
4. Kindly asked paypal to review my account once again
5. I provided all my business documents on a google drive. (Business Trade name certificate, Tax returns, All invoices in 2020, all tracking on an excel sheet, Passport ID, CRA Business number, CRA GST/HST Number, my business chart showing QC and order fulfillment process.
6. I summarized everything, asked once again to review my account as I believe this may be a system or human error.

I want to thank Hanginthere for this post which gave me hope. I can confirm that this still works in NOV 2020

Originally Posted by KevKev

Just a quick update on my experience. I successfully had my account restored after a permanent ban. I did not contravene anything on the AUP, so was confident I was banned without justification. The above from Kevinhi is a really good guide. Key Points I have learned from this experience:

1. Be patient

2. Take your time writing your email and provide as much documentation as you think is necessary. I composed it slowly over a few days.

3. Make sure you are not contravening any of the AUP and discuss if you think there may have been a misunderstanding. Provide evidence if necessary.

4. Be polite and professional (and patient).

5. Do not give up!

6. If you successfully restore your account, try and minimise problems for the future (ie. Keep your balance in your PP account relatively small and try and find alternative payment solutions.)

This has been a very stressful and prolonged situation (on top of a very stressful year!).

I want to thank each and everyone on this forum that has participated and offered advice.

Originally Posted by Shadyhero1002

My account just got restored!!!!! Thanks to everyone that helped the guide works. Just email everyone on the list, might have to email everyone seperately since it might not work sending all at once. Sent my first email to everyone on the list on november 25th, and on december 6th sent another email to everyone on the list again, and then on december 23rd i get a message from paypal service saying they partially removed limitations on my account then a minute later received another one saying that they restored my account.

Originally Posted by Mecca365

I want to say thank you for the info on this forum because I was able to have my PayPal account restored, presumably from the steps followed. My account was ‘permanently limited’ without any notice or reason why. The call centre staff were useless and claimed they couldn’t see any info. Based on the recommendation here, I drafted an email detailing how our business was very legit including links to reviews, mentions in press articles and copies of our business registration certificate. I had no idea, and still don’t, what their alleged reason was for limiting my account so I was stabbing in the dark a bit re what points to address in this email.

I sent it to the email addresses referred to in this forum, but nearly all of them bounced back (probably because the original post was from some years ago), which was disheartening after I spent all the time drafting it. But I then lodged a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman and also on the Ombudsman’s website they list the official PayPal contact email for complaints, so I emailed my response there too. I subsequently realised this email is in the PayPal Ts and Cs document too for where to send complaints to - so I’d recommend looking up the Ts and Cs doc for your country and emailing to that address.

About 1.5 weeks later I received an email from PayPal out of the blue saying that they determined our account was not in breach of the user terms and had restored our account. There was no explanation as to why they shut down our account in the first place, nor of exactly what worked to get it restored. My guess it was most likely the complaint to the ombudsman that did it - because they have to respond to those complaints at law and it’s probably just easiest for them to restore the account to settle the complaint - or alternatively sending my spiel to the email address that’s in their Ts and Cs doc to handle complaints. I agree with the OP’s comments to not bother keeping ringing them and to email instead, because the call centre staff are basically trained monkeys who can’t see any details and don’t care.

I hope this assists others, like the info posted assisted me.

Originally Posted by Matthew Pollock

Our account was un-banned 72 hours after the original ban and less than 24 hours after following the advice here and sending emails to 13 likely addresses. I am very grateful - also extremely grateful to our staff member who found your thread. Without her and you I would have had no idea what to do.

Originally Posted by gretty

Huge thanks for this guide @HangInThere! It took about 3 weeks but I finally managed to get my account restored and was able to withdraw funds without issue. This thread is a life saver

[gopu5]

Might be working for US Citizens but unfortunately PayPal US doesn't offer much assistance to users outside US due to jurisdiction!

[drakehound]

Originally Posted by gretty

Huge thanks for this guide @HangInThere! It took about 3 weeks but I finally managed to get my account restored and was able to withdraw funds without issue. This thread is a life saver

Congratulations. Please provide details.

I would love to know why some are getting their accounts restored, while I have been getting nothing but form letters for the past year-and-a-half.

[HangInThere]

Originally Posted by gopu5

Might be working for US Citizens but unfortunately PayPal US doesn't offer much assistance to users outside US due to jurisdiction!

Hey @gopu5,

I've read through all your posts on this thread and will offer my opinion below. Firstly, here are some segments from PayPal's responses to you that I picked up on:

Originally Posted by gopu5

From you email I can understand that you want to restore your PayPal account. We appreciate your interest in using PayPal. Unfortunately, our final decision is to close your account.

To protect all members of our online community, PayPal reserves the right to close any account reported to be involved in possible fraudulent or high-risk behavior.

Originally Posted by gopu5

I understand your interest towards Paypal , kindly understand that we have other reasons for having denied your appeal, and it does not necessarily mean that you have done something wrong. PayPal’s focus is on providing a safer way for our customers to transact online. We strive to keep our customers accounts and information as secure as possible and to prevent unnecessary risk within our trading platform.

These 2 separate responses from PayPal were addressed to you personally, even though most of the T's & C's were just added on from a template. The emails acknowledge your appeal but are unfortunately backing their decision for different reasons than those you addressed; it is unlikely to find out what their reasons were without the help of a regulatory body to force a reply.

US citizens indeed have access to the BBB as a means of contact, but users from any country can still appeal a limitation directly by email (like we did). Please note that the BBB does not guarantee or force a resolution from PayPal - it just offers a way to communicate with businesses through a more official channel.

Something you also posted suggests that you know the trigger behind the ban, and it's possibly related to a single incident, such as a dispute or chargeback:

Originally Posted by gopu5

They don't give any specific reason for the ban when asked, I was not the culprit here it's the other party then what is this forum post for? I see people got their banned account back after complaining to BBB?

What I get from this is that you had an unfortunate encounter with a customer, who may have reported you or disputed a transaction. The amount of risk it carries towards PayPal depends on many factors, like your dispute ratio, large transactions, account age, etc. You haven't posted any context regarding your ban, but I am so far guessing it was a risk-related reason, which could well have been justified by PayPal depending on the above factors.

I can't advise much more without any context but with regards to your appeal, it was indeed reviewed, but sadly denied.

[krissymissy]

I'd like to thank this forum, if not for Hanginthere post, I could not restore my account. First, I wrote a letter of appeal twice but got a no answer. Then, I filed a case in BBB. I tried to use a California country and filed my case. And then, I filed again using my country, Philippines. And guess what, I did ot receive any reply from Philippines country that I used. I got a reply from the California country. I think, they are not really checking much the country. I uploaded my government Id's, emailed from paypal and supporting invoice too.

I got a reply from PayPal saying that my account cannot be reinstated. I emailed back BBB and explain myself again. After 5 days they restored my account. You just have to be patient, reply with a positive tone. Thank you again! Ciao!

[gopu5]

Originally Posted by krissymissy

I'd like to thank this forum, if not for Hanginthere post, I could not restore my account. First, I wrote a letter of appeal twice but got a no answer. Then, I filed a case in BBB. I tried to use a California country and filed my case. And then, I filed again using my country, Philippines. And guess what, I did ot receive any reply from Philippines country that I used. I got a reply from the California country. I think, they are not really checking much the country. I uploaded my government Id's, emailed from paypal and supporting invoice too.

I got a reply from PayPal saying that my account cannot be reinstated. I emailed back BBB and explain myself again. After 5 days they restored my account. You just have to be patient, reply with a positive tone. Thank you again! Ciao!

What is the email address you used to mail BBB? Could you please explain your procedures? It will help for Non US PayPal users!

[maxtorgr]

ive got this reply from BBB (non US Account)

Thank you for submitting your complaint to the BBB EU Privacy Shield program. BBB EU Privacy Shield is an independent dispute resolution mechanism authorized to arbitrate privacy disputes under the EU-US Privacy Shield and the Swiss-US Privacy Shield Frameworks for U.S. companies enrolled in our program. For a complaint to be within the scope of the BBB EU Privacy Shield program (1) the company must participate in our program and (2) the complaint must concern a transfer of the complainant’s personal information from the European Union or Switzerland to the United States pursuant to the Privacy Shield Frameworks.

If you believe your personal information was transferred from the European Union or Switzerland pursuant to the Privacy Shield Frameworks by one of our participating companies, please provide additional information about this transfer to enable us to process your complaint. Unless your complaint meets both of the above requirements, we will unfortunately be unable to address your complaint within this program.

Paypal does not seem to be enrolled in the Privacy Shield Framework or our program.

[HangInThere]

Originally Posted by krissymissy

I'd like to thank this forum, if not for Hanginthere post, I could not restore my account. First, I wrote a letter of appeal twice but got a no answer. Then, I filed a case in BBB. I tried to use a California country and filed my case. And then, I filed again using my country, Philippines. And guess what, I did ot receive any reply from Philippines country that I used. I got a reply from the California country. I think, they are not really checking much the country. I uploaded my government Id's, emailed from paypal and supporting invoice too.

I got a reply from PayPal saying that my account cannot be reinstated. I emailed back BBB and explain myself again. After 5 days they restored my account. You just have to be patient, reply with a positive tone. Thank you again! Ciao!

That's awesome to hear! Thanks for sharing.

A bit of persistence seems to be able to sway PayPal's "final" decision, possibly by having different agents reviewing your replies, each with a different opinion. The BBB of course plays a part too, as there is an extent to which PayPal benefits from defending their decisions with long and thorough responses - in some cases, it's just easier for them to resolve the complaint in your favor (especially when you don't back down).

[HangInThere]

Originally Posted by gopu5

What is the email address you used to mail BBB? Could you please explain your procedures? It will help for Non US PayPal users!

When we got our account restored in 2019, it was by emailing executiveoffice@paypal.com, however, I think they aren't using this anymore due to excessive, uninvited queries. This was the department handling BBB complaints (Executive Escalations).

Since then, we have had a first-hand experience getting a personalized response from this email: ppelce@paypal.co.uk (Executive Escalations)

And finally, from more recent feedback, it appears the .com variant is also active: ppelce@paypal.com

All 3 of these emails would route you to the same department handling BBB complaints, as far as I know and heard. You just might not get a reply by emailing them directly, as it is not handled as an official complaint - it still worked out in our case though, so feel free to give them a try.

Hope that helps.

[HangInThere]

Originally Posted by maxtorgr

ive got this reply from BBB (non US Account)

I've just read about this now - it appears to be a separate platform intended for privacy complaints between EU customers and US businesses:

Welcome to the BBB EU Privacy Shield consumer complaint system. We help individual consumers resolve privacy complaints under the EU-U.S. and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Frameworks.

Try using this link: https://www.bbb.org/file-a-complaint/1216-210387

[maxtorgr]

Originally Posted by HangInThere

When we got our account restored in 2019, it was by emailing executiveoffice@paypal.com, however, I think they aren't using this anymore due to excessive, uninvited queries. This was the department handling BBB complaints (Executive Escalations).

Since then, we have had a first-hand experience getting a personalized response from this email: ppelce@paypal.co.uk (Executive Escalations)

And finally, from more recent feedback, it appears the .com variant is also active: ppelce@paypal.com

All 3 of these emails would route you to the same department handling BBB complaints, as far as I know and heard. You just might not get a reply by emailing them directly, as it is not handled as an official complaint - it still worked out in our case though, so feel free to give them a try.

Hope that helps.

you can also try crc@paypal.com or europeanservices@paypal.com

[gopu5]

Originally Posted by maxtorgr

you can also try crc@paypal.com or europeanservices@paypal.com

Thanks will give it a shot!

[maxtorgr]

Originally Posted by HangInThere

I've just read about this now - it appears to be a separate platform intended for privacy complaints between EU customers and US businesses:



Try using this link: https://www.bbb.org/file-a-complaint/1216-210387

i sent here, but havent recieved any confirmation email even after 48 hours. only a case number , where can i check status?

[gopu5]

Originally Posted by HangInThere

When we got our account restored in 2019, it was by emailing executiveoffice@paypal.com, however, I think they aren't using this anymore due to excessive, uninvited queries. This was the department handling BBB complaints (Executive Escalations).

Since then, we have had a first-hand experience getting a personalized response from this email: ppelce@paypal.co.uk (Executive Escalations)

And finally, from more recent feedback, it appears the .com variant is also active: ppelce@paypal.com

All 3 of these emails would route you to the same department handling BBB complaints, as far as I know and heard. You just might not get a reply by emailing them directly, as it is not handled as an official complaint - it still worked out in our case though, so feel free to give them a try.

Hope that helps.

PayPal sent me response via message center (I tried each & every mail but PayPal is very smart as they are not sending direct mail response, not working out)

From: PayPal Customer Support
RE: Fwd: PayPal Account Limited
07/07/2021 at 10:24 am
Hi GOPA KUMAR RAVI,

I am glad you reached out. My name is Firdose and I am happy to help you with your concern.

I understand your concern and apologies for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

I checked your account carefully and find that our system flagged your recent transaction(s) as a violation of our acceptable use policy, so the account is permanently limited.

Sincerely,

Firdose

PayPal

[rsot]

Originally Posted by gopu5

PayPal sent me response via message center (I tried each & every mail but PayPal is very smart as they are not sending direct mail response, not working out)

From: PayPal Customer Support
RE: Fwd: PayPal Account Limited
07/07/2021 at 10:24 am
Hi GOPA KUMAR RAVI,

I am glad you reached out. My name is Firdose and I am happy to help you with your concern.

I understand your concern and apologies for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

I checked your account carefully and find that our system flagged your recent transaction(s) as a violation of our acceptable use policy, so the account is permanently limited.

Sincerely,

Firdose

PayPal

Rough to hear but why do you think you got accused of violating AUP? Category or type of items sold - what is it?

[gopu5]

Originally Posted by rsot

Rough to hear but why do you think you got accused of violating AUP? Category or type of items sold - what is it?

I sold digital products for that I received the payment from the customer (but the customer reported against me in PayPal which led to this situation).. PayPal play around with different reasons for permanent ban.

[@NasterXchange]

Originally Posted by gopu5

PayPal sent me response via message center (I tried each & every mail but PayPal is very smart as they are not sending direct mail response, not working out)

From: PayPal Customer Support
RE: Fwd: PayPal Account Limited
07/07/2021 at 10:24 am
Hi GOPA KUMAR RAVI,

I am glad you reached out. My name is Firdose and I am happy to help you with your concern.

I understand your concern and apologies for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

I checked your account carefully and find that our system flagged your recent transaction(s) as a violation of our acceptable use policy, so the account is permanently limited.

Sincerely,

Firdose

PayPal

Hi
Yes it seems it's "luck"... they can still deny... they don't care.

[ellandax]

I was limited a few days ago with some balance I have sent an email and received an answer about a possible revision I have already responded to the answer wanting a revision I will wait for an answer.

[ellandax]

How many days does it take for a responder by BBB
I have already made my complaint but I did not receive any notification by email
I only received a case number

[@NasterXchange]

Originally Posted by ellandax

How many days does it take for a responder by BBB
I have already made my complaint but I did not receive any notification by email
I only received a case number

could take up to 2 weeks. Good luck!