posted on June 6, 2001 02:34:22 PM new
i didn't use to hate paypal, in fact, i used their service for a good six months and was totally satisfied. smooth, easy transactions...no problems. as a frequent ebay buyer & seller, paypal was the #*!@, period. then it happened: i made the mistake of accessing my account while on a business trip in the philippines. i received an email stating a paypal payment had been received for a recent item i had sold on ebay: $16.50. cool. sitting in front of my laptop in a manila hotel room, i opened another browser and went to paypal.com to transfer my $16.50 to my checking account. logged in, saw the big money was there and attempted to transfer it. that's when it happened: little nasty red characters popped up stating my account was restricted. restricted? why? no reason or justification given, just "restricted." dammit, i wanted my $16.50 and i wanted it now! Note: none of this aggravation would have occurred if the "restricted" nasty would have been followed with an auto-email stating the reason for the restriction. basic principle of customer service: notify the customer promptly why you are doing something that adversely affects them. so, i shoot off an email to paypal and demand the restriction be lifted immediately. now keep in mind that in the paypal company dictionary "customer service" is defined as follows: the process of treating our "marks" (customers) like the sheep that they are. "Restricted" is defined as "a state where paypal marks (customers) can still give us money, but they can't withdraw or transfer it. finally, a few days later, i receive an email from a breathing entity that tells me my account was restricted because i attempted a transfer while logged in from a foreign country and to lift the restriction i need to fax paypal copies of the following:
drivers license
bank statement
credit card statement
phone or power bill
and of course, all must have the same address as is listed on my paypal account. uh, yeah...i'm going to turn over my complete identity to some dot-com to resolve a restriction on an account worth $16.50? ok, i'm willing to take a chance with a fly-by-night wannabe bank for auction sale pocket change in the name of convenience, but turn over private records like bank & credit card statements? you've got to be #*!@ kidding me! who the hell do these clowns think they are? needless to say, i didn't give them #*!@ (well, there's that box of dog dookie...) and i fear my $16.50 was spent on beer for the weekly paypal friday afternoon party. anyway, if you've had problems with paypal, i encourage you to do the following:
1. file a complaint with the better business bureau. this can be done online at their site.
2. file a complaint with the federal trade commission.
3. file a small claims action against paypal for the monies in question. they are headquartered in palo alto, california (santa clara county). forms can be obtained by mail from the santa clara country superior court.
The Phillipines is not a country that we do business in and it also has a fairly substantial rate of fraud. The account restriction was done to protect you and I do apologize if this has inconvenienced you. This matter can be resolved quickly with the documentation requested and it is asked for to verify the identity.
What you are saying is that there is no chance for paypal to offer their services in the Philippines. do you have any proof that we are that fraudalent? I just can't believe in what you have posted.
posted on June 6, 2001 05:14:47 PM new
Asking a customer in good standing to fax in
Driver License Bank statement Credit card statement Phone or power bill
is overreaching and an unacceptable encroachment on a consumer's privacy. Security is a good thing, but there has to be a balance.
PayPal's requirements do not even closely resemble comparable financial products and services, some with even greater security concerns (credit reports, bank accounts, charge cards).
Most troubling is that the identification requests are issued with great alacrity...
posted on June 11, 2001 10:33:51 AM new
PayPal was not unreasonable in freezing the account in this instance - not necessarily just because "we don't do business in the Phillipines" however. But if you have a US account being accessed from out of the country, I would prefer a "better safe than sorry" approach - but the user should have been notified ASAP as to the status and reason. In this instance, there is no way for notification to have predated the "freeze." However, the extremity of requesting credit card records and three other extremely personal forms of identity which can be used to fraudulently steal a person's identity (not to mention snoop into a person's financial history) is a ridiculous approach. To register, all one needs is to return a mailed form from one's registered physical address. Why can't PayPal send another form to the registered physical address which the customer can return with statements to the effect that yes, it was indeed he who attempted to access his own account? This would still result in a temporary freeze, but would be a relatively easy and secure remedy.
posted on June 11, 2001 11:16:59 AM new
LOL. My post said "fraudulently steal." Perhaps someone has done so with some of my gray matter.
[The reader is free to reformat this user's posts to conform to standards of clear communication.] :^)
[ edited by renata on Jun 11, 2001 11:19 AM ]
