This will be my 8th MS150 bike ride!
April 9, 2006: On May 7th 2001 I started selling things on Ebay. I always thought Ebay was an honorable company. I only sell a few things a month so I can't really justify paying a credit card service to accept credit cards. There were a few services but Paypal seemed to be the best. I decided I would accept Paypal.
The Paypal system was good for me I got the payment fast and I take pride in fast shipping. You can read my feedback on Ebay I have never had a negative. Most people are amazed at how fast I ship things. You can check out my feedback. Nothing bothers me more than to buy something and wait forever for them to ship the thing. I bought it I want it. A few years ago Ebay bought PP. I tried to things on Ebay with honesty and integrity.
I have bought things on Ebay and the seller would not take Paypal and they had nothing kind to say about them. I sent a money order or check and waited I was not happy because I had nothing but good experiences with Paypal.
I had a couple of auctions on Ebay and came back from a weekend trip and noticed they sold. I had a couple of emails from the winners saying they could not pay me because Paypal said that I could not accept payment at this time. I signed on to PP and noticed it said my account access was limited. It said to visit the resolution center.
I visited the resolution center and it wanted me to do 3 things. Add a bank account, which I did probably in 2001 when I signed up. That was checked ok. It also said to fax in the cover sheet they make up with some information. I did that although it took 4 days before they acknowledged they received the fax. They also wanted my callback number so they could email me a password and call the number. They called the number I put in the password but they say I failed that test. You only get one time to do this test.
I got a call from Authentify inc 847-709-0211 and put in my password that Paypal emailed me. The recording said I failed the test and would send a letter with a code. I have yet to receive that letter.
I didn't think it was a big deal I figured I would clear it up in a day or so with a call to Paypal.
I called Paypal and after a struggle got to talk to someone and they said wait for the letter and fax to go through. They were rude and really had no explanation to why my account access was limited. I emailed them and called them a number of times but got a runaround. Finally I got an email that said my account was limited because of my other email address @hotmail.com and @yahoo.com but their privacy policy prevents them from revealing the email address. Could they pick any other generic addresses. I have had the same email and domain since 1997. Any internet savvy person who does a whois can find that out.
They won't really say why my access is limited. On the phone they avoid most questions. I even got hung on once. They say do what it says on the resolution center. I can't if they don't send the letter.
So I start to research this online and find out I am not the only one. See paypalsucks.com or paypalsucks.org. It seems as though Paypal just freezes your account and takes your money. It's not a big amount so you can't really do much. They have 60 million accounts so if they freeze 2 percent of them that's quite a bit of money they can take. They are not regulated by the banking rules. They also state it's in the user agreement. I am sure we all read that and understand it.
Paypal ripped me off big time. I was a good customer. I would advice everyone to research Paypal. The things you will find out is more terrifying then most scary movies.
It's kind of sad really. I have read things that were written by ex-employees and others like me. Paypal just doesn't care. I think they should be sued by the best class action attorney. I would hope he attacks them with an unprecedented passion. We can't let a dominate industry bring us to our knees. I know the oil industry does but we don't need Paypal. Where is Mike Wallace and 60 minutes when you need them? We need someone bigger than me to bring them down. Let them rip off a congressman's kid and they will all be laid off on the street. Maybe Geraldo Rivera will go after them. I sure hope someone does. I know I will do what I can.
They think one man can't do anything. I say "They have underestimated my passion"
April 17, 2006:
As of this date April 17th, 2006 Paypal has not sent letter they said would be mailed on March 31st and take ten days to get to me.
They will not give any contact information other than an anonymous email address and a first name. So far I have contacted
three better business bureaus in the states they do business in. I have also contacted the attorney generals of the states.
I have heard from one of them.
Paypals response to the BBB not to me.
Dear Mr. Thomas Kelly,
RE: BBB Complaint 248557
I sincerely apologize for the difficulties you have encountered while using PayPal. The company values your business and I want to do everything possible to resolve your complaint. I have reviewed your PayPal account and your recent inquiry to the Better Business Bureau. Please allow me to offer further explanation concerning your issue.
A review of your PayPal account, under the email address ebay@ideaman-usa.com shows a limitation placed on March 31, 2006. We regularly review PayPal accounts to identify the types of activities occurring on our payment network. In accordance with our User Agreement, PayPal may place a hold on funds in your account, limit funding sources and payments, limit access to your account and any or all of the account's functions (including but not limited to the ability to send money or making withdrawals from the account), limit withdrawals, indefinitely suspend or close your account and refuse to provide our Services to you if we are unable to verify or authenticate any information provided to us, if we believe that your account or activities pose a significant credit or fraud risk to us, or if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for yourself, our users, or us.
Please understand that these requests were not intended to insinuate any wrongdoing on your part nor was it intended to be an invasion of your privacy. Unfortunately, because PayPal is an Internet company, we do not have the pleasure of dealing with our customers face to face; therefore, we have to be certain of whom we are conducting business with. While I am certain that this situation must have been frustrating for you, account access is limited at times to protect all of our members, including yourself. We have a responsibility to all of our members to maintain a safe and secure online payment service. To achieve this goal, we must be able to verify or authenticate all information associated with your PayPal account.
Please understand PayPal placed a limitation on your account due to the severity of the links to the need2leaveaz@hotmail.com and phxsunsdancer@yahoo.com accounts. PayPal would not have placed the limitation if we were unable to substantiate the links between the two accounts. I understand your explanation for the links, but we still feel that there is substantial information linking the two accounts. We cannot release the limitation on your account until the limitation on the linked account is resolved.
In order for PayPal to further review the limitation on your PayPal Account, please complete the steps listed in the ‘Resolution Center’ of your PayPal Account, this includes faxing a clear copy of your photo id and confirming your location.
Again, Mr. Kelly, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this situation has caused. Please feel free to contact me directly at crme@paypal.com if you have any further questions or concerns.
Sincerely, Sally Executive Escalations PayPal, an eBay Company
End of BBB response by paypal.
They say to complete the steps listed in the ‘Resolution Center’. I did that and I am still waiting for the letter to come. I am sure it never will.
They say "PayPal would not have placed the limitation if we were unable to substantiate the links between the two accounts.
They also say "Please feel free to contact me directly at crme@paypal.com" How about here's my direct line, lets work to get this straightened out. Sally does not even have a last name. Does that sound like an honest company.
Megan says the same thing. Poor soul she does not have a last name either.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again
at crme@paypal.com.
Sincerely,
Megan
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company
I am sure when Paypal reads this they will get some lawyer to draft a cease and desist letter. This is how they treat a customer of almost 5 years. There was a company called ideaman who did that. That wanted me to stop using my domain name. They sent me a letter years ago. I had my attorney fire one back. They are out of business now. If they want to haul me off to jail that's okay. That will get some news media looking at them. I'll be sure of that.
Here is my paypal score.
Name: Thomas Kelly
Here is my ebay profile
Member since: May-07-01
Now all of a sudden they don't know me. They freeze a few bucks take away my access. They know I can
open another account or stop taking credit card payments. I am not a big enough seller to justify
paying a lot for a bank card service. They think I am not big enough to fight them. They take a few bucks
from 100,000 people and it adds up. I am sure Sally and Megan something or other get a nice bonus.
I just don't know how they sleeps at night. Who are these people?
On April 19th they froze my wives account as well. That account has $223 locked up for Paypal to use.
Response to me after they received a letter from the BBB.
Date: 4/12/2006 02:49:08 -0500
Thank you for contacting PayPal with your concern.
Although we deeply regret that you may feel the need to escalate this
issue further, as an ethical company, providing a valuable service, and
operating in accordance with all applicable laws as well as the terms of
our User Agreement, we will gladly respond to any inquiry you may feel
the need to make regarding this matter.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again
at crme@paypal.com.
Sincerely,
Response to my wife after they received a letter from the BBB.
Date: 4/24/2006 23:17:57 -0500
Dear Deborah Kelly,
Thank you for contacting PayPal with your concern.
I sincerely apologize that we are unable to assist you further in this
specific matter. Unless the linked account issues have been resolved,
we will be unable to release the current balance within your account.
Although we deeply regret that you may feel the need to escalate this
issue further, as an ethical company, providing a valuable service, and
operating in accordance with all applicable laws as well as the terms of
our User Agreement, we will gladly respond to any inquiry you may feel
the need to make regarding this matter.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again
at crme@paypal.com.
Sincerely,
Email: ebay@ideaman-usa.com (Add email)
Status: Verified (262)
About ebay@ideaman-usa.com:
To protect your security, PayPal offers information on the status of this member.
Seller Reputation: (262) Verified Buyers
Account Status: Verified
PayPal Member For: 4 years 10 months 28 days
Member Profile: ideaman-usa (465)
Feedback score is 100 to 499
Feedback Score: 465
Positive Feedback: 100%
Members who left a positive: 465
Members who left a negative: 0
All positive feedback received: 559
From: cardreview@paypal.com
Reply-to:cardreview@paypal.com
To: "Thomas Kelly" ebay@ideaman-usa.com
Dear Thomas Kelly,
Beth
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company
From: crme@paypal.com
Reply-to: crme@paypal.com
To: "Kelly" paypal@ideaman-usa.com
Subject: Re Re Re Re Request for Additional Information on Case PP-159-726-502 QID384 (KMM46601638V38115L0KM) :kf1 All headers
Beth
Executive Escalations
PayPal, an eBay Company
