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

MJM · #**331** 12-20-2021

Hi HangInThere. I have recently got banned on PayPal and funds held for 180 days. Would you be willing to assist me.

Trimph · #**332** 01-13-2022

This is the best post on this platform. I will call it the gold standard and the most altruistic post ever.

I will appreciate if you can share the letter privately so i can start from there.

Abby

**SaiJin** · #**333** 01-13-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJM

Hi HangInThere. I have recently got banned on PayPal and funds held for 180 days. Would you be willing to assist me.

THere's nothing you can do but wait the 180 days.

Make sure you have a bank account in your PP already so you can withdraw when the time comes

HangInThere · #**334** 01-25-2022

Hi all!

OP here. Just a quick update.

As of last week, we've now had our account limited three times - two of them resulting in permanent limitations (and 180-day holds). While we were able to recover from all three (on the same account) and are currently in good standing, I am now finding it totally ridiculous how disruptive and unreliable PayPal are for business.

Getting limited and banned once? Okay fine, mistakes and misunderstandings happen - that's why there are dedicated Appeals & Executive departments. Getting limited and banned a second time? Well, that's an utter joke, and you've probably never heard of it - it's proof that they have no concern for loyalty, prior limitations, or the severe impacts on a business. But after that point of being reinstated (again), should there even be trust or risk issues? Well apparently yes, and they still choose to freeze the flow of payments on your account while they wait for answers. This is our treatment after 3 busy years, with no change of business activity...

I've learned that temporary limitations are completely pointless (unless regulatory), and just as some people have described it across the forum, the questions they ask are simply to gather more data about you and your business so that it's easier & quicker to catch you in the future. You know this is true when they only allow you 1000 characters to save your business, and you know it's pointless when they're always asking the same questions (e.g. "upload your ID", "confirm your bank", "explain your business", "explain your transactions" etc). I've now adapted to the PayPal flow to the point that whenever we get hit with a limitation, I'm already drafting an appeal letter, as the ban is imminent. The "temporary" limitation is the con that catches almost everyone (unless for regulatory purposes); the undisclosed process that follows is the only way to get out of it.

I'm aware that there's an ongoing lawsuit against PayPal for this exact reason, and by all means, they very much deserve it. I hope something will come out of it, as the current solution - although viable - is almost not worth the effort.

In summary, I can't stress enough to not put your full faith in PayPal. Undeniably, they are a great solution for your customers but try to avoid a position where they're your exclusive payment processor, as you can never know what to expect (clearly from above). As a matter of fact, they've wiped out every other business in our industry, and as already mentioned, they made 2 attempts to take us out too, but that's what to expect when you allow monkeys to dictate your future with PayPal; there is so much power in an appeal, but only if you do it right, and only if you are in the right.

The guide I originally posted is still what I go by, although I am in the process of drafting a simpler & more informative version from scratch, based on everything learned from our own experience, as well as the hundreds of messages and experiences from other users on the thread. I feel like my original post had way too much waffle, and didn't give enough attention to what matters most, which is writing the appeal - this will be the focus of my next revision, which I intend to be a future-proof resource.

I remain forever grateful to this forum and owe much to its users for the inspiration, guidance, and outcome it led to three years down the line. I can only pay back this debt by helping others in the same position, which I hope I have done already, but will conclude with my next and final revision.

Thanks for reading!

drakehound · #**335** 01-26-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by HangInThere

OP here. Just a quick update.

HangInThere!! Thanks for dropping by again!! It's somewhat comforting to see you still around.

I agree with everything you say: I am a proponent of small government, but in this case I think the government really needs to step in. This is exactly the kind of thing that antitrust law was created to deal with. PayPal is a *de* *facto* monopoly in much of the world. There are no real alternatives. There is Venmo, but PayPal owns them too! (Seriously?!)

I have no idea why the situation has been allowed to go on for this long. I have no idea how PayPal executives thought that there was any chance that they could get away with this. If there were a viable alternative, I'm sure customers would be running for the doors by now. What nonsense!

After my account was restored, it was permanently limited again ten days later. I hadn't used the account at all during that time. Indeed, I have not used it in over two years. That was December 17th that I was permanently limited for the second time. I opened another BBB case right away this time. They just replied with the same response as before: something that I had bought had violated their AUP. I know that that is completely impossible. Anyway, I can't prove a negative. As far as I am concerned, these limitations were caused by some kind of glitch, and no one at PayPal has any desire to dig into it and try to sort it out.

This company needs to be regulated, broken up... They should be made to pay PUNITIVE damages to all of us.

...looking forward to your updated guide.

GJC · #**336** 02-12-2022

Morning guys.

After some advice. I have read every page on here, and must say it is one of the clearest threads ive read in terms of how to attack.

I have a fixed business in the UK, a workshop for motor cars. We have used Paypal for 10 years including using Paypal Here card reader.

We got hit with temporary limitations, answered everything and uploaded the correct documents (including tax return and bank statement which Im not 100% comfortable with).

We then got permanent limitation this morning.

I wrote an email today and sent to:

ppelce@paypal.co.uk
ppelce@paypal.com
europeanservices@paypal.com
executiveoffice@paypal.com

I did not get an auto response from them, wondering if its because it is a Saturday or do I need to email a different email?

The only thing I can think of why we got limited was we recently had a customer spend £13,000 and they had to do several transactions due to card limit. This was an accumulation of invoices over 3 months. And compared to our usual card traffic I suppose got flagged.

I provided invoices for everything via a google drive.

Im praying we get re-instated as Paypal is integrated heavily into the business.

Many thanks

rsot · #**337** 02-12-2022

Welcome to the forum GJC - all the best as you master stealth

YouTube (Short URL)

I would wait for weekend to pass and keep trying - you might have to call as well. It's hard to fight against a permanent limitation but perhaps you will have a sympathetic and competent agent.

@NasterXchange · #**338** 02-21-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJC

Morning guys.

After some advice. I have read every page on here, and must say it is one of the clearest threads ive read in terms of how to attack.

I have a fixed business in the UK, a workshop for motor cars. We have used Paypal for 10 years including using Paypal Here card reader.

We got hit with temporary limitations, answered everything and uploaded the correct documents (including tax return and bank statement which Im not 100% comfortable with).

We then got permanent limitation this morning.

I wrote an email today and sent to:

ppelce@paypal.co.uk
ppelce@paypal.com
europeanservices@paypal.com
executiveoffice@paypal.com

I did not get an auto response from them, wondering if its because it is a Saturday or do I need to email a different email?

The only thing I can think of why we got limited was we recently had a customer spend £13,000 and they had to do several transactions due to card limit. This was an accumulation of invoices over 3 months. And compared to our usual card traffic I suppose got flagged.

I provided invoices for everything via a google drive.

Im praying we get re-instated as Paypal is integrated heavily into the business.

Many thanks

Why are not using payment processors like STRIPE for your card payments?

HangInThere · #**339** 02-22-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJC

Morning guys.

After some advice. I have read every page on here, and must say it is one of the clearest threads ive read in terms of how to attack.

I have a fixed business in the UK, a workshop for motor cars. We have used Paypal for 10 years including using Paypal Here card reader.

We got hit with temporary limitations, answered everything and uploaded the correct documents (including tax return and bank statement which Im not 100% comfortable with).

We then got permanent limitation this morning.

I wrote an email today and sent to:

ppelce@paypal.co.uk
ppelce@paypal.com
europeanservices@paypal.com
executiveoffice@paypal.com

I did not get an auto response from them, wondering if its because it is a Saturday or do I need to email a different email?

The only thing I can think of why we got limited was we recently had a customer spend £13,000 and they had to do several transactions due to card limit. This was an accumulation of invoices over 3 months. And compared to our usual card traffic I suppose got flagged.

I provided invoices for everything via a google drive.

Im praying we get re-instated as Paypal is integrated heavily into the business.

Many thanks

I believe that's all the emails you need, and I also don't recall there being any auto-responses, which makes the matter even more frustrating.

Just a heads up that any responses are now probably going to come through the Message Center on your PayPal account, so you could literally be speaking to the Executive Office through a PayPal chat (although not instant). If the right department doesn't respond, ask them to forward it to the Executive Office, and they surprisingly will - this is what happened with our last limitation (out of many), which resulted in success.

majorflv · #**340** 03-29-2022

Howdy, I sent an email over to executiveoffice@paypal.com and got a response less than 24 hours later of:

-------------

"Thank you for contacting PayPal in regard to the issue.

To ensure that you have money in your account to cover any new payment reversals, the funds in your account will be held for a period of up to 180 days. We'll contact you by email around 2022/08/27 with information on how to withdraw any money in your PayPal account. Once you receive the email, you may log in to your PayPal account and click 'Withdraw' to receive your funds.

Thank you for choosing PayPal for your payment needs. Please feel free to contact us if you require further assistance.

Sincerely,
Rokky
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal"

-------------

A background on my situation, I started a dropshipping store on Shopify last week, we did about $25k in sales over the weekend and PayPal wanted more information on our account. We provided them with everything except "Proof of Payment to Supplier" since our store is still only 5 days old and we haven't actually paid our supplier yet and now weren't able to since... our PayPal account is on hold! Called PayPal twice over the weekend to see if it was okay that we didn't have that information and the customer support reps said that we should be fine and the final rep submitted my account for review for me with "a note on my account" explaining why we don't have "Proof of Payment to Supplier" on Sunday afternoon. Well, Monday (yesterday) at 6:00am (less than 24 hours after the customer support rep submitted our account for review) we got a message saying that our account is permanently limited with over $5,000 in it.

Submitted a complaint to the BBB at 8am yesterday and sent an email to executiveoffice@paypal.com at about 6pm, to which we got the reply that I put above. Anyone have any recommendations at to what I should do? Wait for the BBB? Send more emails?

**SaiJin** · #**341** 03-29-2022

What kind fo suspension did you get from Paypal exactly?

@NasterXchange · #**342** 03-30-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by majorflv

Howdy, I sent an email over to executiveoffice@paypal.com and got a response less than 24 hours later of:

-------------

"Thank you for contacting PayPal in regard to the issue.

To ensure that you have money in your account to cover any new payment reversals, the funds in your account will be held for a period of up to 180 days. We'll contact you by email around 2022/08/27 with information on how to withdraw any money in your PayPal account. Once you receive the email, you may log in to your PayPal account and click 'Withdraw' to receive your funds.

Thank you for choosing PayPal for your payment needs. Please feel free to contact us if you require further assistance.

Sincerely,
Rokky
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal"

-------------

A background on my situation, I started a dropshipping store on Shopify last week, we did about $25k in sales over the weekend and PayPal wanted more information on our account. We provided them with everything except "Proof of Payment to Supplier" since our store is still only 5 days old and we haven't actually paid our supplier yet and now weren't able to since... our PayPal account is on hold! Called PayPal twice over the weekend to see if it was okay that we didn't have that information and the customer support reps said that we should be fine and the final rep submitted my account for review for me with "a note on my account" explaining why we don't have "Proof of Payment to Supplier" on Sunday afternoon. Well, Monday (yesterday) at 6:00am (less than 24 hours after the customer support rep submitted our account for review) we got a message saying that our account is permanently limited with over $5,000 in it.

Submitted a complaint to the BBB at 8am yesterday and sent an email to executiveoffice@paypal.com at about 6pm, to which we got the reply that I put above. Anyone have any recommendations at to what I should do? Wait for the BBB? Send more emails?

I'm sorry for what happened to you.
Unfortunately, if you submitted already a complaint to BBB and they replied with this answer, there is actually not much you can do apart from waiting for the 180 days. The good thing, you can be sure they will not "disappear" with your funds for AUP reasons or such. Make sure you keep your phone number active on the account til you remove your funds.

rsot · #**343** 03-30-2022

Welcome to the forum majorflv - all the best as you master stealth

YouTube (Short URL)

majorflv · #**344** 03-30-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaiJin

What kind fo suspension did you get from Paypal exactly?

The suspension is a permanent limitation on the account, holding the funds 180 day

Quote:

Originally Posted by @NasterXchange

I'm sorry for what happened to you.
Unfortunately, if you submitted already a complaint to BBB and they replied with this answer, there is actually not much you can do apart from waiting for the 180 days. The good thing, you can be sure they will not "disappear" with your funds for AUP reasons or such. Make sure you keep your phone number active on the account til you remove your funds.

Luckily I haven't heard back from the BBB yet, the response that I put in my original message was the response to an email I sent to executiveoffice@paypal.com

phaz0rz · #**345** 03-30-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by majorflv

The suspension is a permanent limitation on the account, holding the funds 180 day

I doubt you'll be getting that account back. A dropshipper taking in thousands of dollars per day on a brand new account is the highest possible risk scenario Paypal can be exposed to. You really have to take it easy at first and build up, otherwise you're just showing Paypal that you're a huge liability.

majorflv · #**346** 03-30-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

I doubt you'll be getting that account back. A dropshipper taking in thousands of dollars per day on a brand new account is the highest possible risk scenario Paypal can be exposed to. You really have to take it easy at first and build up, otherwise you're just showing Paypal that you're a huge liability.

The account wasn't new though, it was opened just about 1 year ago and has done over $10-20k in transactions since it was opened including $3k+ in the month prior to this suspension. The only thing that was new was our Shopify store.

@NasterXchange · #**347** 03-31-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by majorflv

The suspension is a permanent limitation on the account, holding the funds 180 day

Luckily I haven't heard back from the BBB yet, the response that I put in my original message was the response to an email I sent to executiveoffice@paypal.com

OK then let's wait for the result from BBB.

abdulatif · #**348** 04-01-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by @NasterXchange

OK then let's wait for the result from BBB.

I also make complaint to BBB, waiting for it.

**SaiJin** · #**349** 04-01-2022

If I were you I'd not expect much and move on

majorflv · #**350** 04-11-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by majorflv

Howdy, I sent an email over to executiveoffice@paypal.com and got a response less than 24 hours later of:

-------------

"Thank you for contacting PayPal in regard to the issue.

To ensure that you have money in your account to cover any new payment reversals, the funds in your account will be held for a period of up to 180 days. We'll contact you by email around 2022/08/27 with information on how to withdraw any money in your PayPal account. Once you receive the email, you may log in to your PayPal account and click 'Withdraw' to receive your funds.

Thank you for choosing PayPal for your payment needs. Please feel free to contact us if you require further assistance.

Sincerely,
Rokky
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal"

-------------

A background on my situation, I started a dropshipping store on Shopify last week, we did about $25k in sales over the weekend and PayPal wanted more information on our account. We provided them with everything except "Proof of Payment to Supplier" since our store is still only 5 days old and we haven't actually paid our supplier yet and now weren't able to since... our PayPal account is on hold! Called PayPal twice over the weekend to see if it was okay that we didn't have that information and the customer support reps said that we should be fine and the final rep submitted my account for review for me with "a note on my account" explaining why we don't have "Proof of Payment to Supplier" on Sunday afternoon. Well, Monday (yesterday) at 6:00am (less than 24 hours after the customer support rep submitted our account for review) we got a message saying that our account is permanently limited with over $5,000 in it.

Submitted a complaint to the BBB at 8am yesterday and sent an email to executiveoffice@paypal.com at about 6pm, to which we got the reply that I put above. Anyone have any recommendations at to what I should do? Wait for the BBB? Send more emails?

This account got unlocked about an hour ago, looks like the BBB complaint did it! Thank you guys in this thread so much, I love you

rsot · #**351** 04-12-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by majorflv

This account got unlocked about an hour ago, looks like the BBB complaint did it! Thank you guys in this thread so much, I love you

Congrats

HangInThere · #**352** 04-13-2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by majorflv

This account got unlocked about an hour ago, looks like the BBB complaint did it! Thank you guys in this thread so much, I love you

Congrats! And thanks for sharing - it was starting to get a bit pessimistic over here