PayPal never ceases to amaze me......

DeutscherGeist

I already had a frozen paypal account. They suddenly just froze it some time ago without giving me a letter or email as to why. luckily, I had no money on the account for them to freeze. I could not buy anything, but could accept money. I just quit using paypal. I am no big ebayer anyway and just used checks if I wanted to buy. It was all good.

After so many months, I log into the account again and this is the message I find:

This account has been permanently locked with a $0.00 USD balance. All information associated with this account has been blocked from the PayPal system and cannot be registered with another account.





I find out later the reason for the freeze was because I initiated a charge back. Oh yeah, the item I bought was not as described. At the time, paypal does not deal with problems with "not as described." Those were their rules. I respected them so that is why my credit card helped me out--Thank you CHASE VISA. I guess Paypal felt hurt because I didn't go through them first? Well, they stated in their rules how they can and cannot help. What was I suppose to do. I did not want to get scammed by receiving something not as described. PayPal has since changed the rules where they do help with "goods not as described."--well, good for them, but my incident was in the historical past.

I am part of that class action law suit against paypal, so this drama is not over.

Stone193

DG
Have you talked to a live person over at paypal? I remember you talking about this months ago when it first seemed to surface. They are very interesting and potentially inconsistent.
I went thru the 30 day window and they told me to go thru my credit card company. While I was doing that and got it completed, they too turned around and initiated a charge back which of course confused the issue.
Can you get another account with them or what? Never, have I seen a company in which everything seems to be spun in their favor. Could be wrong, I guess.
I will tell you tho...it's easier to talk to a "live" person.
your friend
Mike

DeutscherGeist

Mike,


You do remember this issue. Yes, I have talked to a live person once. I explained to them why I went to my credit card company. They told me that the merchant complained (probably in retaliation), so they froze my account. They wanted me to send the misrepresented item to them, but I couldn't since the credit card company has the authority over that item now. There are too many people involved in this. I still have not received any type of letter from PayPal. It is customary for businesses to at least create a paper trail if they have issues with their customers, but I heard nothing from them. ZERO! All communication was initiated from my side.

I looked at my credit report recently and saw no dings. I think I am alright as it is. I am sure I can still have a paypal account, but I do not want to deal with any potential hassles. How do I know they won't seize my balance on my new account if money gets transferred on there? Its not worth the risk. I still want to wait for the outcome of the class action law suit. I think after 4 years, no one will care for this incident anymore, so the longer I wait, the better. I do not purchase a lot on ebay and personal checks have been fine. I think if I was ever a seller, I would have to accept paypal. I will worry about that later.

I am wondering if PayPal improved.

The problem you describe is bizzare, but similar to mine in a way.

jrdolan

As recently as a few months ago, it didn't matter if you received a dead squirrel instead of your purchased item. As long as the seller used delivery confirmation and could show the tracking number to PayPal, nothing would be done. At least that's the way it worked last spring when I got a handful of 2004 commons instead of the 1965 Mantle PSA 8 that I paid $950 for.

"Item not as described" was one of your choices when you disputed a charge. But when you chose that, your complaint was routed through an automated "PayPal does not get involved in these disputes" computer hell. The case would be closed without a real person ever seeing your complaint, and you could not file another case on the same eBay auction.

Same thing if you never received your item. You filed a non-shipping complaint, so the PayPal computer sent a notice to the seller asking to see a tracking number. If a number was supplied (any number, even 0000000000, from what I've heard) the case was closed. No human being saw your complaint. If the seller had strung you along for a month, the case was closed instantly (by the computer) because PayPal's policy was not to take complaints more than 30 days after the close of the auction.

On the flip side, unscrupulous buyers knew they could get a chargeback on an expensive item by claiming non-delivery if you were dumb enough not to use confirmation. Again, no real person was involved, it was all handled by software. I lost $550 on an early Mays card this way before I learned to use delivery confirmation on EVERYTHING (signature confirmation on items $250 and up).

I have experienced all of these situations, among others. You think maybe the scammers and sleazy eBay sharks know how to exploit PayPal's policies and its automated handling of complaints? Oh yeah.

As Stone points out, you can and should call. And you should be persistent. The PayPal rep's job is to get you to abandon your complaint without getting any money, but if you hold your ground and make them examine the doumentation, you might get somewhere. PayPal doesn't advertise this fact, but the rep has the discretion to send up to $25 to your account even in cases where you are screwed by the policy. They won't go after the sleazy seller, but they might pay you $25 just to close the damn case. If you only lost $25 or even $50, this may be an attractive option. You need a persuasive case, though.

I'm glad if PayPal is now looking into "Item not as described" disputes. But I'm not surprised if they are still punishing people for getting chargebacks through their credit cards.

DeutscherGeist

jrdolen,

I really appreciate the story and information. I like to learn that way. I am sorry about your losses. Everytime a good guy gets ripped off, I do take it personally.

As far as my case goes, I am not out any money, just time while dealing with the hassle. The chargeback on my credit card was successful because I acted swift and fast. I got my money back. CHASE VISA was great about it!!

So, I am OK, money wise. I am in no rush to get another paypal account right now though. That $25 discretionary option is good. I never knew about that and it is very useful to know.