posted on October 20, 2000 11:58:34 AM new
What does it take to get a straight answer from Paypal customer service? Is there a phone number to call and talk to a real customer service rep?
Here's my problem: I decided I want to open a premier account to handle my auction payments. I don't want to upgrade my personal account, because I still want to use that for non-cc and non-auction related stuff.
I opened a second email account and a second bank account to use with the paypal account. But when I tried to open a premier account with this info, I got a message saying "Sorry, you already have an account." I don't want a business account - I'm not a business, and I don't have a tax ID etc. or any of the other info they ask for. Paypal's terms of use say that you can have one personal and one premier or business account - so why can't I register for a premier account?
I wrote to customer service on Tuesday- after 3 days I got this response: "You may indeed have one each of a Personal and Business account, however, they may not share information such as email addresses,
banks, or credit cards. I hope this information is useful to you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again."
Besides having to wait 3 days for an answer for a registration help question, they didn't even help me solve the problem! Not to mention I wasn't asking about a BUSINESS acct., I was asking about a PREMIER acct. And I would contact them again, if they would just tell me how. Or maybe I should just go back to my original conviction of no longer accepting paypal- that's what I did with my last month's worth of auctions, and it didn't seem to hurt me any.
posted on December 8, 2000 03:07:18 PM new
Would you like to wade through my nightmare? Be my guest! My knuckles are red with blood from biting them! THis is a copy of my last email to them and no it's not yet settled! Have fun...
____________________________________________
===========================================
Original message follows:
customer message: My husband and I each have a separate
paypal
account. When I went to transfer my money to our checking
account, it wouldn't let me, saying that I need to send to a
different bank account. I DON'T HAVE ANOTHER ACCOUNT to
which
to
send it to. Please remedy this for me immediately as I very
much
need the money in my checking account NOW! HELP! PLEASE!
DD Menu Item: Withdrawals
----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 11:39 AM
----- Original Message -----
From: JackiesGlass
To: PayPal Customer Service
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 9:27 AM
Subject: Re: PayPal Auction Update
Dear Joan, I tried what you said but it doesn't work. We took the joint bank account off my husbands PayPal account and tried to add it to mine and it won't take and I get an error message that says the bank account number is taken. I have written several emails but get some automated response. PLEASE HELP! I need my money and I don't have a fax. Sincerely, Jacqueline Winch PS If you need verification of who I am just go to my website www.jackiesglass.com. That's me and you can see by the email links that that's my email address.
----- Original Message -----
From: PayPal Customer Service
To: ron winch
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 12:38 PM
Dear Ms. Winch,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
I do apologize for the problems you are having. I did just email
you with the Business Accounts telephone number.
Several suggestions. One, do you have a savings account that you
could add to your PayPal account?
The other, did you try to close down your PayPal account? Once
you do this the funds will be mailed by check for the final
balance of your account to your street address.
Another suggestion, is for your husband to remove the bank
account registered with his PayPal account. You then can add it
to your PayPal account and send the funds to your husband's
account. Once you have completed this, you may remove the bank
account information from your account and your husband may add it
back to his.
If you have further questions, please reply to this email and I
will be glad to help you.
Sincerely,
Joan
PayPal Customer Service
===========================================
===========================================
Original message follows:
-------------------------
Dear Joan, I understand that you're trying to help but it didn't
work. We're so frustrated. We tried your instructions to remove
our bank account from my husband's account and then add to mine
but it would still not accept it. WHAT GIVES? Now my husband's
account has no bank account associated with it and I have funds
in my account that I cannot have. The account will not allow me
to close it and this is just plain stupid. I have money that is
mine and all I get are messages saying I can't have it. I can't
even close the account! It won't let me do anything! Can you or
someone help us PLEASE!? Can't we call someone or have someone
call us to help us? We've wasted so much time on this. Why is
your site so unfriendly? Someone sent me money and it got
cleared so let us have it! Thank you for your attention.
Jacqueline Winch
----- Original Message -----
From: PayPal Customer Service
To: ron winch
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2000 12:38 PM
Dear Ms. Winch,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
I do apologize for the problems you are having. I did just
email
you with the Business Accounts telephone number.
Dear Mr. Glass,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
We're sorry to hear you're thinking about closing your PayPal
account. We value you as a customer, and we hope that you'll
reconsider. If you are considering closing down your PayPal
account, we ask that you carefully consider your decision. If
you do opt to close your account, any pending money requests that
you've submitted will automatically be canceled. Upon closure,
PayPal will mail a check for the final balance of your account to
your street address.
If you think there is a chance you may want to use our service in
the future, it is not necessary that you shut down your account.
You're welcome to use your account as much or as little as you
wish.
If you've decided you want to close down your PayPal account,
please follow these instructions:
1. Log into your account. You can do this by visiting
http://www.paypal.com and entering your email address and
password in the Member Login box.
2. Click the "Profile" subtab.
3. Click the "Close Account" link on the left of the screen.
4. Click the "Continue" button.
5. Click the "Cancel Account" button.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact
us again.
Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department
First of all I am not Mr. Glass. I am a woman and my last name is Winch. Secondly, after all PayPal has put me through, I am surprised by this email. I would love to have an account but you people have made my life totally miserable since the moment I opened it. I received emails from your customer service that directed me to do things that didn't work (text below) and I must say that my experience with PayPal has been most unproductive, unpleasant and downright frustrating. If you want me to keep my account, then allow me to use it! I will keep my account on the condition that I receive a call to discuss the matter by phone. Obviously email communication is just not working. Sincerely, Jacqueline Winch (see below for examples, thank you. I have highlighted text which is exceptionally confusing and misleading and downright wrong)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of course my name is on the account! Why on earth would I put a bank account on my PayPal which wasn't mine? You say if it wasn't this would have caused the problem. Well it IS my account and I still have the problem. You told us to remove our bank account from his PayPal and then put it on mine. THAT doesn't work either. PayPal wouldn't let my account accept our bank account number on my account even after we removed it from my husband's paypal account. That's what you told us to do. Why would you give us WRONG information like that? Now he has to wait several days to get the account verified again back on his, meanwhile my account still sits with money in it and I CAN"T GET IT OUT! We called your office and were told to fax utility bills with my name and address information to verify where I live. All our utility bills are in my husband's name. So that won't work. I've been very frustrated by your erroneous information and by taking it, we are further inconvenienced. If you didn't know the answer you should not have told us to do this. You told me for the umpteenth time to make an electronic transfer to my husband's account but it wouldn't let me. You told me to add a credit card to my PayPal account so that I can get the money out. That didn't work either. Why do you keep giving me directions that do nothing but upset and frustrate us? WHY?
----- Original Message -----
From: PayPal Customer Service
To: ron winch
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 2:41 PM
Dear Ms. Winch,
Thank you for contacting PayPal. We apologize for the delay in
responding to your service request.
I am sorry for this problem and the inconvenience it has caused
you . Is your name on this bank account which is registered to
your husband's PayPal account? If it isn't this would have
caused the problem. If it is, the PayPal system may have not yet
processed the removal of this bank account, causing it to show
still registered to your husband's account. It may take up 12-24
hours for the PayPal system to remove this information from its
data base.
PayPal allows all members to withdraw funds from their account by
requesting a check. Withdrawals are sent by US mail to the
address listed on the account. Effective October 31st, PayPal
will require additional verification in order to receive a check.
This is to ensure that PayPal remains the safest online payment
system possible.
As an alternative to adding a bank account to your PayPal
account, you may be able to verify your mailing address by
sending us confirmation of your mailing address.
PayPal's electronic funds transfer only takes 3-4 business days
compared to the 1-2 weeks it will take for a check to arrive in
your mailbox. We suggest that you also consider using an
electronic funds transfer to withdraw money from your PayPal
account. To make an electronic funds transfer, you will need to
add a bank account.
Unverified members can only request a check withdrawal to an
address that matches a credit card billing address for a credit
card listed on the account. Unverified members who do not have a
credit card listed on their account will NOT be able to request
that a check withdrawal be sent to a P.O. Box.
As an alternative to adding a bank account to your PayPal
account, you may be able to verify your mailing address by
sending us confirmation of your mailing address.
We appreciate your cooperation and patience during this process.
Our technicians are aware of the problem you had closing your
account. Please try to close your account in a week or so. If
you still have problems, please feel free to contact me and I
will check on the status of the problem. Thank you for your
patience.
If you have further questions, please reply to this email and I
will be glad to help you. You may also contact our Customer
Service Department at 402-935-7733. Hours of operation are: 6
a.m. to 10:00 p.m., PDT., Monday through Friday.
Sincerely,
Joan
PayPal Customer Service
===========================================
Dear Ms. Winch,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
I am sorry for the inconvenience, but a bank account can only
be
used on one PayPal account, so if your husband already has
this
information on his PayPal account, you will not be able to
add
it
to your account.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to
contact
us
again.
Sincerely,
Lori
PayPal Customer Service
===========================================
Our utility bills are in my husband's name. Any more suggestions?
Dear Mr. Winch,
Thank you for contacting PayPal. We apologize for the delay in
responding to your service request.
If your wife has an account with us, she will be able to add a
credit card that has a billing address that matches the street
address or she can fax us a copy of a utility bill showing the
address corresponds to the name on the PayPal account.
We apologize, but these are the only options available at this
time.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us
again.
