Furious With PayPal!!

[sickofit]

Hi everyone. Many thanks for allowing me to register and share my story.

I recently decided to start selling some of my music memorabilia collection due to how the pandemic has impacted on my finances. I’ve had an eBay and PayPal account for a while but only used it for purchases.

A couple of weeks back I listed my first item which was a rare pressing of an LP. I sold it for just over £500 to a buyer in France. When the buyer paid, eBay requested a hold on my funds because it was my first transaction (I understand this is common and usually the case with first time sales)... anyway, I shipped the item using DPD and supplied the tracking info on eBay. Fast forward a few days, the buyer receives the LP and is happy. Leaves me positive feedback. My PayPal account still shows the money on hold by eBay until the next day. As soon as eBay released the funds, PayPal placed a restriction on my account. They asked me to provide proof of my identity, which I did, proof of fulfilment (which I did) and for invoices from a supplier. I explained I couldn’t show invoices because the items I am selling are generally things I have had in my collection for years and were often obtained at fairs etc.

The next day, they permanently limited my account, holding over £500 in MY money. I was in dire need of this money because of financial difficulties. It was to help pay for things for my child. I have now lost a rare LP and the money for it. They won’t give a reason for the restriction. They refuse. I have called them and sent messages in the message center.

It’s having a bad affect on me. I desperately needed that money and now I am totally screwed.

Is there ANY way I can force them to reconsider or release my money? It seems totally criminal what they have done to me.

[agent006140]

what reason did they give for limiting your account?
Did they say you can have your money after 180 days?
Have you contacted Ebay and ask if there is any reason Paypal would do this?

[sickofit]

Originally Posted by agent006140

what reason did they give for limiting your account?
Did they say you can have your money after 180 days?
Have you contacted Ebay and ask if there is any reason Paypal would do this?

They told me I have to wait 180 days to have my money. When I spoke to them they told me the account has been limited to protect PayPal from chargebacks and losses and Incase the buyer was to file a claim. I argued with them that this is my first transaction and the buyer left positive feedback and I proved the order was fulfilled.

They could not give me one logical reason for doing this. I argued with them that it was very suspicious that they didn’t just limit the account right away as soon as the payment was received. This would’ve at least given me the opportunity to cancel the order and refund the buyer and still have hold of my item (if they really wanted to block my account for no reason).

The only logical conclusion I can come up with is that they are doing this on purpose to hold peoples money.

[sickofit]

Ohh and I forgot to mention about eBay - they said there is no issue at their end. This is entirely PayPal related.

[sickofit]

So, I just spoke to PayPal USA who told me that the issue is related to an IP link with an account that is permanently limited. It is somebody who lives in the same building as me but is not linked on my account AT ALL. So, PayPal have permanently limited me purely because someone else who has a limited account used the same IP address.

Surely this can’t be allowed. My account has nothing to do with someone else in my building.

My argument for this is why not flag the account as problematic prior to money being received and ask for verification that I am a separate person to the other account that is linked by IP. They wait until money is in the account and released by eBay until they limit the account. It seems like they hide being a cloak of “security measures” in order to hold funds and generate the interest off it

[bytor3k]

You're correct, PayPal is evil and is holding your money just because they can. You need to accept the fact that you have to wait 180 days to get your money.

Or keep poking the bear and see how that turns out for you...

[glacier922]

Make sure you have a bank account attached already. If you don't, after 180 days, PayPal can still give you problems .

[bugmyday]

another victim of evil paypal =(

[rsot]

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

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Sad story OP - many of us feel you.

"The next day, they permanently limited my account, holding over £500 in MY money. I was in dire need of this money because of financial difficulties. It was to help pay for things for my child. I have now lost a rare LP and the money for it. They won’t give a reason for the restriction. They refuse. I have called them and sent messages in the message center.

It’s having a bad affect on me. I desperately needed that money and now I am totally screwed." - Sadly, PP has heard all of this and these reasons alone aren't going to help you to get the money owed.

You're going to have to keep pushing with PP. Try and see what you can do to be prepared for 180 day policy to remain though :(

[agent006140]

Both Ebay and Paypal use bots roaming its sites,when Paypal catches on with your transaction,it finds your account linked to another account which is banned.
But how can 2 persons in the same building sharing the same IP?
(LP is considered a high risk item prone to scams/chargeback,comics are also high risk)

[bytor3k]

"But how can 2 persons in the same building sharing the same IP?"

Wi-fi included with the rent. Just like having 27 devices on your home wi-fi, they all use the same IP.

[sickofit]

Originally Posted by bytor3k

"But how can 2 persons in the same building sharing the same IP?"

Wi-fi included with the rent. Just like having 27 devices on your home wi-fi, they all use the same IP.

Exactly. They shouldn’t be doing this.
I’ve sent them so many messages and they respond each time with the same message which is :

We appreciate your interest in PayPal. Unfortunately, our decision to close your account is final.

PayPal reserves the right to close any account reported to be involved in possible fraudulent or high risk behaviour. In the event of a dispute, PayPal will seek to recover the funds from you by debiting your PayPal balance. If the funds from your PayPal balance are insufficient, PayPal reserves the right to collect your debt to PayPal by any other legal means.

If you have money in your PayPal balance, we will hold it for up to 180 days. After that period, we will email you with information on how to access your funds.

In order to protect the integrity of the PayPal service, we cannot disclose the specific criteria that we sometimes use to limit access to accounts.

For more information on reasons why we might limit access to accounts, please refer to the ‘Closing Accounts and Limiting Account Access’ section of our User Agreement. You can find the User Agreement for PayPal Service by clicking ‘Legal Agreements’ at the bottom of any PayPal page.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause.
Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal

[sickofit]

My argument is - why not limit the account immediately as soon as the IP addresses match, pending enquiries (Which in my case would be instantly because I registered this PayPal account using the connection in my building). Why wait until there are sufficient funds in the account before permanently limiting? Interestingly, I had 20 pounds in my account just sat there sent to me by a friend to cover shipping for an item to the USA. they didn’t limit the account when that money was in there (when the IP link would’ve already been apparent), they waited until a larger amount was in the account before limiting.

This has to be done on purpose by them

[sickofit]

So I called PayPal again. I told them I am not going to stop and that they are holding my money unlawfully. They told me they are getting someone from their back office team to call me tomorrow. I was previously told that the back office team didn’t have phones and they could only answer queries via the messaging area.

I am going to keep pestering them.

[agent006140]

they all use bots ,and there are too many activities going on each day,the best time to take note is when the account has activity and in your case,you received a payment !
you better link a bank account so you can withdraw the money after 180 days.
In the mean time,ask your landlord for a lease agreement which state WIFI included and his wifi bill for the entire building,

[winge00]

To the thread starter

I feel the pain you are in, my advise to you is this
If you are using real details and all is genuine then try taking pp to court or something, I am not sure if you can approach financial ombudsman or some other regulatory authority.

The thing you can do is if you have legal expenses cover or something just speak with solicitor, papal needs some threatening letter and you will get your money.

Pp is very cruel and stubborn, will not do anything otherwise.
They are there to make money not loose.

[james_112233]

If you desperately need that money, speak to your buyer. Tell them what has happened. Plea with them that if you were to issue a refund via paypal could they bank transfer £400 instead of £500 so they are £100 up themselves.

[rsot]

Originally Posted by sickofit

So I called PayPal again. I told them I am not going to stop and that they are holding my money unlawfully. They told me they are getting someone from their back office team to call me tomorrow. I was previously told that the back office team didn’t have phones and they could only answer queries via the messaging area.

I am going to keep pestering them.

Hopefully you get the call and the PP agent wasn't just getting rid of you

[agent006140]

There is no need to go to court,it costs money and she needs money to be released,not spend more money .
gather all the documents to show the building has multiple tenants using the same IP and it is included in the rent- copy of your lease agreement,his WIFI bill,any document which shows the building is multi family structure,even picture of the building showing the address like street number which matches his utility bill .

[sickofit]

They didn't call me today but I have kept the pressure on by sending them messages. I've told them that they are wrong in doing what they are doing because they didn't even give me a reason as to "how" I violated their terms of service.

I managed to get a reason out of the Paypal representative i spoke to over the phone when I called the US paypal (at the suggestion of a user on this forum) and the USA representatives are actually FAR more helpful than the people I get put through to here in the uk.

I told them that she informed me that the limitation happened because a link was made due to me using the same IP address as a previously limited user. I told them that me sharing an ip address with someone else is not a violation of their terms of service.

It certainly isn't cause for them to hold onto my money for 6 months.

I tried contacting the buyer to request that they accept a refund and then send the payment via bank transfer or to one of my friends... but she was unwilling to do that. So frustrating.

[agent006140]

be patient,did you get the bill from your landlord?

[sickofit]

I’ve got a letter saying that the WiFi is shared and to show I am in a shared building.