220 days and paypal hasnt returned my money

[smicko]

My account has been limited and contains a decent amount of cash for over 220 days now. I was never able to provide photo id to verify my identity because i foolishly used a first name and last name on the account the same as my ebay username so it isn't even a name. I tried to fudge the photo id but it never worked.

I was told after 180days i would receive an email on how to remove my funds, i never did. I contacted paypal who said they still need photo id to release the funds, when i said i could not provide that and that i had made it under my ebay username or essentially a business name they said to fill out a change of name form to have it corrected. I attempted this but they denied it claiming they needed photo id to prove i was the account holder

Where do i stand? they cant hold the funds for ever can they? the user agreement says after 180 days funds will be returned.

Please help

[hondaman350]

I had some accounts limited 180 days and got the money on all of them. How much is locked up in the account. It might not be released because u have a large sum in there under a weird name.

[smicko]

A weird name yes. and approx $1.5k

[bode]

The money is legally yours regardless of any user agreement. It certainly does not belong to Paypal and any court of law will decide in your favour.

User agreements are not worth tuppence in a court of law.

You used a business name so nothing wrong with that.

Demand your money within 72 hours and threaten legal action. Not sur ehow things work in the US but in the UK it costs us £25 to file (which Paypal pay)

Let me know if you are willing to go down this avenue and I can maybe help with a template letter.

[oompaloompa]

for that amount, get id made

is bank attached?

[oompaloompa]

Originally Posted by bode

The money is legally yours regardless of any user agreement. It certainly does not belong to Paypal and any court of law will decide in your favour.

User agreements are not worth tuppence in a court of law.

You used a business name so nothing wrong with that.

Demand your money within 72 hours and threaten legal action. Not sur ehow things work in the US but in the UK it costs us £25 to file (which Paypal pay)

Let me know if you are willing to go down this avenue and I can maybe help with a template letter.

are you talking financial ombudsman or small claims, Bode...have you ever done this with stealth details? under the law you must come to court with clean hands, ie you cant have made up a name and supplied false id..however chances are pp wouldnt dispute it or submit that evidence..but we need more than just theory here

I say, much easier to get good id made before resorting to that....

[smicko]

Bank account is still attached so there shouldn't be any problems there. it was a stealth account so a few of my other details ie date of birth etc are slightly off. I may ring them today and threaten with legal action but its unlikely i could ever pursue legal action.

And yes i did make up ID and send it through but it was knocked back. the name was obviously a giveaway.

[bode]

@oompa....both. Small claims will get your money a lot faster but the ombudsman will charge Paypal a £500 fee so worth it just for that. We can do both - that's for UK only by the way.

I personally don't do stealth details but if his account is fully verified and linked to a bank account he has already proved the account is his.

[smicko]

Success. I left the legal action as a last resort because being a stealth account i could never really backup my id in court if it ever made it that far.
I rang them a said i had accidentally setup my account name as a business name instead of a personal name. I was told to fill out a change name application-that was denied becuase i had no ID of the original name. I rang again and forced the whole 180 days thing from the user agreement but they said my case was different and didnt apply to that , i argued and asked to speak to the supervisor and then got put on hold til i gave up. I rang again and they suggested i change the account to a business account, and then change the contact name to my real name. it took a few days and a fair bit of photoshop but i got there in the end. Funds are back in my bank account paypal account is closed. Thanks to everyone who replied :D

[bode]

Originally Posted by smicko

I rang again and forced the whole 180 days thing from the user agreement but they said my case was different and didnt apply to that , i argued...

Usual Paypal tactic to hold on to your money by all means necessary. They operate illegally and don't even bide by their own user agreement when you throw it back at them. Well done for getting your money back.

[OfficialGenius]

Originally Posted by smicko

Success. I left the legal action as a last resort because being a stealth account i could never really backup my id in court if it ever made it that far.
I rang them a said i had accidentally setup my account name as a business name instead of a personal name. I was told to fill out a change name application-that was denied becuase i had no ID of the original name. I rang again and forced the whole 180 days thing from the user agreement but they said my case was different and didnt apply to that , i argued and asked to speak to the supervisor and then got put on hold til i gave up. I rang again and they suggested i change the account to a business account, and then change the contact name to my real name. it took a few days and a fair bit of photoshop but i got there in the end. Funds are back in my bank account paypal account is closed. Thanks to everyone who replied :D

So it looks like you CAN change the name if you tell them you did a mistake or something

[smicko]

Originally Posted by OfficialGenius

So it looks like you CAN change the name if you tell them you did a mistake or something

you can, it's a nice little loop hole. With a personal name change you can only change a couple of letters if you make a mistake or you can make a major change in the case of a legal name change or marriage etc. The problem with the personal name change is you require photo id for your old name an new name.

Once you have upgraded to a business account it's easy to change the contact name and no photo id for the old name is needed.

[First Edition]

Also, in the future, in case this happens again...

You can go to your local courthouse and get a fictitious name statement, such as a sole proprietor doing business as such and such. That would have been the easiest thing to do, along with faxing your ID.

But hey, awesome. Glad you got your money! You should make them give you interest

[cpm]

Interest Rates this day and age at 0.25%, would be significantly less than PayPal's own rip-off fee on the transaction.

[corleone]

interesting- so they put the money in your bank account and didn't mail a check?

[smicko]

I didnt know about the fictitious name statement.

No check was mailed because the limitation was removed, the account was fully functional under the new business name. I chose to close it and remove the funds.

[NZT]

Thats a funny one that. Usually you can withdraw the money in most circumstances after the 180 days hold.

But well done for getting it sorted out. Have to keep tabs on this issue. I can handle waiting 180 days to withdraw my OWN MONEY but to have to jump through hoops to get to MY OWN MONEY would really really vex me.

Lets hope this doesnt turn out to be more common.

Maybe they will have a plan in the future to donate unclaimed funds to charity (the same as banks do with dormant bank accounts - not charity, they just keep the money!)

A great PR stint for them but very vexing for Paypal users.

Would strenghten the case to withdraw all funds often leaving balance 0 as opposed to keeping a residual sum if there if this was to happen.