posted on April 10, 2002 02:12:26 PM new
I have been using PayPal for the past 2 years with no problems. I don't usually read ebay message boards, so I had no idea that PayPal could restrict accounts whenever they want to. My friend Shawn and I both work for a large camera retailer. Shawn is a buyer, and I am in sales. Our store receives many returned items that can be hard to re-sell, especially and high end items, since the boxes have been opened and sometimes manuals are missing. Much of this merchandise was being sold to a third party to sell on ebay, so I approached Shawn with the idea that he and I could sell this merchandise just as well as someone else. My idea was this- I would put the high-end stuff on ebay, when the customer paid we would buy the item from our company and ship the product. We would split whatever profit we made. I sat Shawn up with his own ebay account, and also a PayPal account. I recommended that we ONLY accept PayPal as a form of payment, in my experience it was easier to keep track of, and most people of credit cards anyway. Everything was working fine for the first week, the money came in Shawn transferred it to his bank account as planned. Then on April 04 we get an email saying our account is restricted. No reason, no phone number, just we don't have any access to our money. At this time we had about $4000.00 in our account, and some e-checks pending approval. I immediately started researching PayPal restrictions, and of course I found all kinds of boards full of messages from people who have had this kind of problem. As far as I know, we have had no chargebacks or complaints of any kind against us. PayPal asked Shawn to fax his bank and credit card statements, drivers lisence, and utility bills and that they would try to unrestrict us in a few days. After at least 5 phone calls, they said that they want receipts and tracking numbers for all of the sales that we made. A few days later and they still say they are looking into it. By this time, we have had a few more payments come in from people I couldn't reach in time, so now our account has $8100.00 that we can't touch. Since we can't get the money out, and our customers have been charged, Shawn had to by all of the merchandise on his own credit card. I feel terrible that I got us into this mess, I never fathomed that this could happen. If anyone out there has ever had their account unrestriced, I would love to hear from you, all I ever see is how PayPal just seems to confiscate people's money. If Damon is out there and can offer any advise, please help. This experience has been extremely nerve-racking, I am grateful that we have the resources to deal with this problem, but I can know that having this much money tied up could be devastating to many people.
posted on April 10, 2002 02:48:06 PM new
you could backtrack and find which bidder (s) has complained to paypal and /or file chargeback with his cc company.
whose pc are you using to sell on ebay and accessing your paypal account?
does shawn have access too??if so on which pc??
does your employer know what you are doing??
haev you two been accessing paypal account on store pc??
how many people know what you two are doing??
put on your detective hat!!
I have referred your case to account management. It does look like you have supplied the docs requested, as well as some tracking information, so I would expect resolution shortly.
posted on April 10, 2002 03:59:01 PM new
Thanks damon for answering, but your response is the same one we get on the phone twice a day. ' be patient' , in the meantime we are screwed. stopwhining- thank you as well. I know for certain that no one as complained to paypal or started a chargeback. Yes, our employer knows what we are doing. Shawn's boss is a vice-president, and we are doing this more to help our store, we are not making a lot of money at this. We have used computers at my home, shawns home, our store, corporate headquarters to access the PayPal and ebay accounts. Why does it matter? do they track which computers are used? Maybe PayPal has valid reasons, but why not just state up front the type of documentation they might require?
Thanks again for your help
posted on April 10, 2002 05:03:28 PM new
if both paypal damon and the paypal customer service are saying it has been resolved,then you dont have no worry.
you ask why does it matter which pc you access your paypal account??
read prior posts on how folks get their ebay account suspended ,paypal account restricted because ebay or paypal believe their account is linked to other account(s) .
with ebay,if a person is suspended by ebay,he could set up another account and keep selling,if ebay finds out ,then they will suspend the subsequent account.
with paypal,if they link your account to another account which owes them money,they could restrict your account.
one way to link one account to another is thru the way you access your account,say on same pc and same isp and /or telephone number.
if i were your employer,i would ask you to buy them at a discount and sell them on your own time and on your own pc and NOT ON COMPANY PREMISE.
do not mix personal business with corporate business.
posted on April 11, 2002 05:14:56 AM new
i think the problem is time factor your money gets FROZEN and you have to wait what i feel is an excess time for it to be available again....personally i waited over 60 days to get 2400 back. who gets the interest on all that money PAYPAL now multiply that out by many users that a nice little earner.
posted on April 11, 2002 07:32:40 AM new
it is a very poor policy to let employees run a side business on company premise,on company time and with company merchandise.just think if GM allows its employees to sell returned LEMONS on company parking lot??
posted on April 11, 2002 03:00:39 PM new
Here's the followup, as of this morning our account has been unrestricted. I am not sure why they did it, if it was Damon's input, the twice daily phone calls, or just someone's whim, but I am relieved anyway. I won't feel completely comfortable until the funds transfer to the bank is completed, I have read how PayPal suddenly decides to restrict your account again when you try to take your money out. Stopwhining, you are talking out of your ass now. I never said I was running a side business on company time and property, simply that I would occasionally check on my account from a computer at work. My employers do not mind me doing this at all, quite the contrary. Our company is about to be purchased by a large chain, any merchandise that we can liquidate really helps right now. By your username an attitude, and be reading your past posts, I surmise that you think most people's problems with PayPal are their own fault. It is easy for you to sit there and say I should only login from one computer, but is this really a valid reason for locking up $8000.00 of my money? How would you feel if you went to pick up your check on friday and were told you'll be paid when we damn well feel like it? My problem with PayPal is that I think they have way too much control over people's money. They may cover their asses with their user agreement, but how many people really read those things? If they made it clear that they will arbitrarily restrict your account I doubt they would have many customers. I feel lucky that Shawn is so well organized and had all the documentation to send them, if it was up to me we'd probably be screwed. What if you ship USPS and don't get tracking numbers? Stopwhining, do you really believe PayPal froze our account for legitimate reasons?, or did they just want to earn interest off my money. Do you always kiss PayPal ass or is it possible that what they are doing is not right? To anyone else who is getting bent over, I wish you luck. Get the phone numbers from paypalwarning.com and call them everyday. Email Damon - [email protected], at least he responds. If anyone gives a rat's ass I will let you all know if we have any problem withdrawing our money.
posted on April 11, 2002 03:38:09 PM new
i dont need to kiss anyone 's #*!@ ass?
read all your own #*!@ posts and see how pathetic you are.
my post addresses both ebay and paypal on how and why they link accounts.
if you dont like the answers ,then dont sell on ebay and dont use paypal.
you said you are accessing company pc at store,at corporate office etc,so you yourself is admitting doing it on company time.no wonder your company is being bot,stupid management.
i will fire you the first mninute i take over the store.
#*!@ stupid idiot
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i work for myself,i write my own paycheck.
i read terms and agreement,go back to school and learn not to be a #*!@ idoiot
posted on April 11, 2002 03:41:30 PM new
Stopwhining, do you really believe PayPal froze our account for legitimate reasons?, or did they just want to earn interest off my money.
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i am giving you the #*!@ possibility on how ebay and paypal can link accounts,not speculating why paypal is restricting your account or collecting interest on your fund.
your ability to read,interpret and conceptualise is so primitive,no wonder you work for a loser company
posted on April 11, 2002 10:59:54 PM new
Stopwhining, you've shown your true colors now you illiterate hillbilly! I've made my mistakes and learned some lessons but now I'll move on. You can stay here and spew your lame drivel to the next person that gets hosed by PayPal, you ignorant redneck. Get a friggin life!
