Green Web Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Paypal are withholding my funds for 21 days because they suspect I'm a terrorist due to infrequent use and activity on my account. After speaking to them they say that my account is not linked to Ebay, and because of this and the infrequent large amounts of money been used with my PayPal account the system automatically flagged it as a suspicious pattern often associated with terrorists activity. After phoning 0800 3587929 and been on hold for half an hour, before i could go ahead with my complaint I was quizzed where i got their free phone number from, and they couldn't deal with my query unless I provided proof, I explained it was from a friend, which it was, they didn't believe me but in the end they gave up and I was allowed to proceed with my complaint. I then explained to PayPal I mostly use my Paypal account for Discogs.com sales as it is the preferred payment method for the majority of my customers, this still wasn't satisfactorily and the only way to stop my funds been withheld for 21 days was to use Ebay and provide proof of postage. I have 100% feedback on Discogs and Amazon, I simply do not operate this way and find it unbelievable a bank merchant can impose these sanctions on my account, can they legally do this? Gonna now ditch PayPal but need a convenient alternative, any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenyweeny Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Yes google checkout is a good alternative,paypal sucks at times i had same problem.I just gave up in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splodgeyAl Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Good luck finding a service that isn't either already rubbish, or becomes rubbish shortly after you start using it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emerald1978 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Paypal are getting worse last week they froze my account and reversed payments due to suspected fraud. After emailing them my account was back up and running but would give no reasons as to why my account was frozen as it was confidential. I've had nothing but trouble with them for the last few months they really are a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 When I first started using eBay about 7 years ago I despised Paypal, but I soon learned it was easier than sending cheques for payment which often would go "walkies" c/o Royal Fail till I cottoned on that it was safer to send them recorded delivery, buyer/seller not in to sign for them? Not my problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I have 100% feedback on Discogs and Amazon, I simply do not operate this way and find it unbelievable a bank merchant can impose these sanctions on my account, can they legally do this? Gonna now ditch PayPal but need a convenient alternative, any suggestions? Paypal aren't a bank merchant. In the words of Peter Theil, founder of Paypal: "PayPal is not a bank because it does not engage in fractional-reserve banking. Rather, PayPal's funds that have not been disbursed are kept in commercial interest-bearing checking account" In the states there have been several class-action lawsuits against Paypal's practices, including one regarding the freezing of funds & even an Anti-trust suit regarding the monopolistic relationship between Paypal and Ebay. Basically Paypal can do what they want because they're not held to standard banking codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amaranthus Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Surely if they really suspected you were a terrorist they wouldn't tell you that. They'd make something else up so as not to alert you whilst they investigate and until they could get MI6 to kick your door down while you're sleeping naked, extradite you to the US (at this point you won't be completely naked, you'll be allowed to wear a sack on your head), transport you to Guantanamo Bay and imprison you until you can prove you don't use PayPal to conduct terrorist transactions! Personally I don't believe you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Get in touch with MI6, tell them you have reason to believe you are terrorist... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Get in touch with MI6, tell them you have reason to believe you are terrorist... Just in case you don't know how to do this, pick up your landline phone and say "I think I'm a terrorist" They'll be round promptly Parts of this post may or may not have been redacted for reasons of national security. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Web Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Surely if they really suspected you were a terrorist they wouldn't tell you that. They'd make something else up so as not to alert you whilst they investigate and until they could get MI6 to kick your door down while you're sleeping naked, extradite you to the US (at this point you won't be completely naked, you'll be allowed to wear a sack on your head), transport you to Guantanamo Bay and imprison you until you can prove you don't use PayPal to conduct terrorist transactions! Personally I don't believe you... exact message pasted below Dear .............................., We're writing to let you know about a change to your PayPal account. Starting 11/04/2012, money from payments you receive will be placed in a pending balance for up to 21days, After 21 days, you can withdraw money from each payment as long as the money can be accounted for, no customer has filed a dispute, chargeback, claim, return, or reversal. We can confirm that the item was delivered and 3 days elapse. This gives the buyer enough time to review the order and file a dispute if necessary. Your buyer leaves positive feedback. (Applies only to eBay items) This change isn't necessarily permanent. We'll review your account every 35 days and re-evaluate if we should continue to hold your payments. If we decide to stop holding payments, we'll email you to let you know. Why are my payments being held? This is because of the infrequent large amounts of money been used with your PayPal account, our system has automatically detected suspicious patterns forming often associated with money laundering and terrorists activity, by doing this we're making sure that you can't access the money right away, so please verify your orders quickly and communicate with us and your customers. We reviewed your account and also determined that there's a relatively higher than average risk of future transaction issues (such as claims, or chargebacks, or payment reversals). We understand that it may be inconvenient to have your payments temporarily held but please know that we didn't make this decision lightly. Before deciding to hold payments, we consider many factors. These factors include account and transaction activity, the rate of customer disputes, the type of business a seller runs, average delivery timeframes, customer satisfaction, performance and history. Questions? Let us know We understand you’d like to have immediate access to the money you receive and we’re here to answer your questions about this change to your account. For more information and tips on what you can do to avoid having your future payments held, please see our Frequently Asked Questions. To speak to a Customer Service representative, log in to your PayPal account and click “Contact Us” at the bottom of any page. Thanks, PayPal Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page." Seems to be common practice, are all these other unhappy customers lying? http://www.screw-paypal.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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