posted on June 6, 2002 04:14:48 PM new
Does any one have any information on any class action law suits going on against paypal? I am totally stupefied by the blatant scam they are trying to pull on me and need advice before I proceed to the legal arena.
On or about April 30th, I contacted The paypal customer service department regarding money transactions that were "swept" into State Bank, a closed account.
I discussed at length with a paypal employee, Vilaphon, who was very helpful and talked with me on a three way conference call with State Bank to determine what happened to the funds.
On May 1st I received the following email from Ms. Vilaphon
Dear Ms. Ekwueme,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
Per our phone conversation, I have contacted State Bank and spoke to
Joanette in the ACH Department. She advised me that since the closure of
your account in December of last year, there has not been any activity on
the bank account at State Bank. I have now escalated the situation for
further research and you will receive an email once we have completed
research. Your patience is greatly appreciated.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.
Sincerely,
Vilaphon
PayPal Finance Department
====================================
I was very grateful for the help of Ms. Vilaphon and waited patiently to be contacted. On May 2nd I received the following email from Ms. Vilaphon.
Dear Ms. Ekwueme,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
I have escalated your situation regarding the withdrawals made to State
Bank. At this time, we have initiated a trace on your funds. If I have
any further updates, I will let you know.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.
On May 3rd, 2002, to my horror, I received the following email from a different individual from paypal, called Julie.
<Dear Rosemary,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
This is in response to the withdrawals that you have requested from your
PayPal account to your bank account. The amounts that were requested were
$71.78, $28.83 and $89.07. These funds were requested on three different
dates. Our records do not show that the funds were sent back to us from
the routing and bank account number that they were sent to. In order for
us to complete the required research on this we will need to have a faxed
copy of the bank statement that reflects these dates. The dates of the
withdrawals were April 5th, April 24th and May 1st. We are not able to
accept an online statement for this process. We will need to have a copy
of your physical bank statement. You are able to fax this into us at
402-537-5780. Please make sure to have your email address listed so that
we are able to locate your account.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.
If Vilaphon has confirmed that State Bank account was in deed closed, what bank statement is Julie requesting from me? Paypal SWEPT money to a bank account that was closed. The bank in question has told Paypal that there has not been any activity in that account since its closure waaaaaaaay before the attempted "deposit".
Despite my initiated complaint and request ..money was still 'swept' to that account a day after my complaint. Since my reply to the May 3rd letter, I have not received any other response from Paypal regarding the whereabouts of the money.
I have sent repeated emails to paypal without response. I cannot even send any more emails from my paypal account regarding this matter because it automatically tells me to contact my clearing house.
This is total bullying. This money may not be much to some people, but I intend to go all the with this. Imagine how many people have lost funds by giving up on paypal. I swear on everything I hold holy that if I dont get this money back, a lawsuit will be filed and I will make sure I get enough people to form a class action lawsuit if none is existing.
posted on June 6, 2002 08:23:25 PM new
Under one of the other topics (I think it was Ebay Outlook), there is some discussion of the class action suit and who to contact.
After reading all of these horror stories about Paypal and having had problems with them myself in the past, I am going to close my Paypal account. I don't feel safe with them anymore.
posted on June 6, 2002 10:00:01 PM new
Another happy EX-PAYPONZI user. They constantly brag about haw many people open accounts, but they never talk about the ones closing theirs.
posted on June 6, 2002 10:55:56 PM new
I'm just waiting for Coonr to step in and tell us all how it was the users fault and that PrayPal couldn't have possibly done anything wrong. I'm just happy that they only got me for $100 and not some astrological number like some people are posting. Good luck getting any help from the PrayPal tyrants.
posted on June 7, 2002 06:47:21 PM new
i think 'swept' means transfer from paypal account to state bank account.
if i understand this thread,the author has an account with paypal and a bank account with state bank and this state bank account was registered with paypal/
fund has been swept from paypal to state bank and if paypal record is correct,then it was done in 3 separte transactions.
author claimed the bank account is closed so why is fund being swept into a closed bank account??
as author is working with paypal to resolve this issue,more paypal fund was swept into the bank account??
it sounds like an invisible hand is at work here,sweeping money from paypal to a closed bank account,once,twice,thrice and fourth time??
so in order for paypal to look into this mystery,it wants the author to fax them a bank statement,not an online statement but the old fashion statement printed on paper and you get them in slow mail.
i am lost,what is the original complaint and why is money mysteriously swept into a closed bank account and who did it and ????
if the bank account is closed and there is fund in the account,can you ask your bank officer to re open the account or send you a check for the balance??
why should anyone sweep money into a closed account??
what does it accomplish??
you can go to your bank and ask them to block any transaction from paypal,whether it is debit or credit.
some bank will consider a bank account closed if there is zero balance but once deposit comes in,it becomes open.
i dont know how your bank works.
posted on June 7, 2002 07:55:23 PM new
does paypal has auto sweep feature??
i know billpoint has auto deposit feature whether u want it or not,but i am not aware you can ask paypal to auto sweep??
posted on June 7, 2002 08:51:53 PM new
PayPal used to have an auto-sweep feature, but they got rid of it last June I believe. However, for users that were using it at that time, they continued letting them use it and waived the fees.
[ edited by andrew123s on Jun 7, 2002 08:52 PM ]
posted on June 8, 2002 05:43:53 AM new
I have talked to the State Bank ACH officer several times. And you can see that they confirmed it with Paypal. None of those alleged auto deposits ever went through, simply because the account had been closed. The account was never reopened!
What really beats me is why I am being asked for a BANK STATEMENT for the period, when it has been confirmed by paypal employee that the account was closed way back in December and there has not been any activity since then.
The fact that paypal has ignored subsequently dealing with this issue is the most disgusting and unprofessional thing I have ever seen. They have not even said to me..here is identifying numbers showing the transaction with State Bank. Deal with it yourself. Or give us time, we are still dealing with it. NOTHING!
So here is my conversation with State Bank.
Me: 3 deposits where made to this account on April 5, April 24, and May 1st. Where is the money?.
State Bank: This account was closed in December. There is no record of any activity on it since then.
Me: This was an automatic deposit from paypal.
State Bank: It cannot be an automatic deposit because the account is not active and therefore no funds can be deposited into it, even if you walked into the bank, you'd still need to fill out forms before the account can be reopened.
Me: Well Paypal said they deposited funds into the account. May I fax or email you their correspondence with me?.
State Bank: (laugh) Am so sorry you will have to take it up with them. We already spoke to someone from paypal regarding the matter. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Me: How can I find out what happened to a deposit that failed to go through?
State Bank: The depositing authority has to have transaction numbers identifying each transaction, right? You should ask the company for that information.
=========
So if I try to bring this issue up with paypal ..am told to go back to the Bank. Talk about a run around.
=========
This bothers with daylight robbery. I am not allowed to send paypal email directly from my email client. I have to email them from my paypal account or "my email will not be answered". I try to email from my paypal account; you need the ID of the transaction. But guess what? When I punch in the ID, the system automatically rejects it! And says "contact your clearing house".
Just what the hack is going on?. I am not a kid. I practiced law for 10 years. Do I have to actually file a law suit to get to the bottom of this? If a law suit is filed, at least, through the discovery process, I will get all the paper work, and I will feel less like a fool.
posted on June 8, 2002 06:19:05 AM new
it sounds like the deposits being rejected by your bank,are sitting somewhere,and that somewhere is what paypal needs to look into.
since paypal is not a bank,all these ACH is going from paypal bank to your bank,any fund which did not go through will sit in an account of that paypal bank .
someone needs to have the transaction numbers,date and amounts and go find them.
asking for a copy of bank statement could be just paypal way of asking you to prove you are the legitimate owner of the state bank account.
let me ask you this,you have opted for the auto sweep feature,and you closed the state bank account,why dont you do some maintenace work on your paypal account so this closed bank account is no longer registered with paypal??
or why dont you shut off the auto sweep feature since as its name implies,it will auto sweep whenever there is fund in your paypal account into the bank account you registered ??
dont tell me someone mysteriously close your state bank account?
can you see the transaction numbers of these deposits in your paypal transaction history file??
posted on June 8, 2002 03:43:59 PM new
Damon, one of your own employees says:
"She [the banker at state bank] advised me that since the closure of
your account in December of last year, there has not been any activity on
the bank account at State Bank."
So, why is PayPal asking for a bank statement? They know the account is closed, so there would be no statement, and they also know there was no activity on the account since it was closed, which they learned from the actual bank. Why are you asking for something that doesn't exist to prove something you already know?
You are probably wondering where the money is going....
Imagine if you will the Capital One commercials with the monkeys and apes frivolously throwing customer's money around that they have robbed. Now imagine that on the door is PAYPAL: Anti-Fraud Division....
There are only 10 types of people in the world
Those who understand binary and those who don't
posted on June 8, 2002 05:40:11 PM new
if the bank account is closed last december,then there is no bank statement for april and may of this year.
we expect paypal customer service to be highly trained and sophisticated staff who have ample time to analyse each case,they are not,they are no different than the customer service folks you talk to from visa.mc,worldcom.at&t.
one way to protect ourselves is to keep things simple,if you close your state bank account,then ask yourself what else do you need to do??of course you are going to tell your employer not to auto deposit your paychecks into this account or the guy who manages your million dollar investment portfolio or your social secuirty benefits or your private pension fund.
so do all of us a favor,shut off that auto sweep feature and delete that bank account from your paypal account.
posted on June 8, 2002 06:27:56 PM new
When a user cancels a bank account there are many things you have to update and they might not think of every possible one, especially if they rarely use it if that is the case. Fixing the problem now is a good idea but won't get the money already "misplaced" back.
Most other companies probably wouldn't ask for a bank statement for a closed bank account. PayPal confirmed this with the bank, and they also confirmed that there was no activity with the account. They are asking for something that doesn't exist (bank statements from months after the account was closed) to prove something they were already told by the bank (the fact that tere was no activity since the account was closed, months earlier). It doesn't take a customer service rep with genius IQ to figure that out. The fact that they still haven't responded to any e-mails since May 3rd and corrected this request for information is pathetic.
posted on June 8, 2002 09:59:59 PM new
i wonder if in paypal TOS if they have a specific time they will respond to or make an attempt to clear a problem? 30 days?
just curious refuse to go to www.paypal.com its just another HIT to boost their already surging stock price!
posted on June 9, 2002 07:54:50 AM new
Mrfoxy76, your right.
excerpt from section VI c:
"We will tell you the results of our investigation within ten (10) business days after we hear from you, and will correct any error promptly. If we need more time, however, we may take up to forty-five (45) calendar days to investigate the complaint or question. If we decide to do this, we will provisionally credit your transaction account within ten (10) business days for the amount you think is in error, so that you may have the use of the money during the time it takes us to complete our investigation."
10 days has gone awhile ago, so PayPal should have credited the user's account to comply with their own TOS. They didn't. They can not delay this by asking for documentation that doesn't exist. Also, PayPal has 6 days to finish the investigation or they won't be complying with their 45-day requirement as well.
posted on June 12, 2002 11:13:22 AM new
This is an update on this situation. I got an email from a Supervisor at Paypal Finance. So am going to wait until I hear back from her. This is the first email that has inspired any kind of confidence that this matter has not been swept under a rug.
=====================================
Thank you for contacting PayPal. We apologize for the delay in responding
to your service request.
I am a supervisor in the Finance Department, and your unresolved issue has
been escalated to me for review. I apologize for any inconvenience this
ongoing issue may have caused.
I have reviewed the notes on your account. I understand that these 3
transactions were sent to your closed bank account. Please understand that
the status of "completed" means that the transaction has completed through
our system. We do not receive confirmation when the transaction has posted
to your bank account. However, usually if there is a problem with the
transfer of funds or if it is sent to a closed bank account, it is reversed
back to our system. Because this process has not occurred with your
transactions, we can trace these funds for you.
Our processor requires that we review a bank statement prior forwarding the
trace request to them. This is why you were asked to provide a bank
statement before the trace could be completed. I understand that in your
situation that is not possible because this account has been closed for
some time. I do apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have
caused. I have escalated the trace on these transfers for you. As soon as
I receive any information regarding the results of this trace, I will
contact you.
In the meantime, if you have any additional questions for me please feel
free to reply directly to this email, and I will be happy to assist you in
anyway that I can.
Sincerely,
Carol
PayPal Finance Department
====================================
posted on June 23, 2002 03:52:04 PM new
Pssst. All of you financial web-master wizards.....!! All you had to do was read "PAY PAL'S" intial terms and conditions when they first came on the scene....!!
Translation was/is..... Seller Beware...!!
They can do almost as they wish... When they
state; "accounts can be debited after merchandise has been shipped and received".....!!! What do you expect from that point going forward.....!! Solution:
Personal Checks with time to clear...Money Orders......Bid-Pay (Money Orders) or take your chances with Pay-Pal....!!!
posted on June 23, 2002 07:37:12 PM new
I really don't understand why this is taking so long to resolve. I could understand in my situation when thousands of dollars were involved that they wanted to make sure before taking any action but in this case the resolution seems pretty straight forward.
1. They confirmed the bank did not receive the deposits.
2. The value of the transactions was under $500 and not worth the negative publicity the the run around of the customer is causing.
3. They can verify that the transactions did occur and debited the users account.
4. Whether or not they can figure out what specifically happened to the money they know that the user doesn't haven't and the bank didn't process the transactions into the closed account so they should simply refund the money to the user and close the matter.
The problem is the solution provided in #4 is often too simple for anal corporate types who are oftentimes paranoid. Plus some people do not have the ability to put things in perspective. Much like the government they will spend $2,000 trying to solve a $100 problem.
