Scam by Paypal

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Tried to access my account today. No dice as they claim to require further ID. I won't go into the details of the Anti-Money Laundering Act which they claim to be complying with but the upshot is anyone trying to send 1000+ dollars has to cough-up more ID. Until then your money is their money, so they claim. And you can bet your life they'll take as long as they like to verify your ID submission!
I complied with their odious demands, despite receiving no prior notice, and still they refuse me access to my account.
Given the length of time they've had to ask for further ID (Dec 13 2007!!!), it just strikes me as a scam to hang onto dodgy money for as long as possible and use the "processing request" excuse to keep honest users cash in their own pockets.

[MuntiNZ]

Mate paypal are dodgy as!!!
They always has been.
I never go near them.

[iceman]

How can you make that claim?
There's millions of people using them every day.

I've never had a single problem and have used them for years.

[Vartigy]

Same.
They've even refunded, protected and stopped security purchases.

[Kevnool]

There good to me with no probs but then i dont give them huge sums of money either.

[multiweb]

+1 . Resolved many payment issues with them over the years. They've always been helpful and fair. Always used them and will in the future.

[astroron]

I have nothing but praise for PayPal, I had trouble with a company who gave me every excuse as to why they could not refund my money:mad2:
One call to PayPal and the money was in my account within 48 hours of my complaint:)

[Karls48]

I have used PayPal for number of years and done lot of eBay and other transaction. No problems so far, except one purchase from China that took about three weeks to pay the seller.

[Tandum]

When did this come in? Last time I sent over $1K was march '09 and that worked fine.

[torana68]

you may have been wormed, paypal doesnt do this, Id suggest contacting them asap
Roger

[rogerg]

I agree with torana68 - you've likely been had. I wouldn't be surprised if you were entering your details on a Phishing website which means now your real paypal account and details are compromised, through no fault of Pay-Pal themselves. If you thought it was ridiculous then you were probably right and shouldn't have entered your details or complied with what they asked. Potentially a big mistake.

[MuntiNZ]

Yeah yeah paypal are like a staffy coz they are always great and wonderful with the kids and oh no they just bit my leg off!!!!
See http://www.paypalsucks.com/

3. Their terms of service are not completely disclosed upon signup and some key "conditions" are not disclosed. They fail to mention their total lack of security to prevent your account from being compromised by phishing & spoof sites. That if your account is accessed by a criminal using one of these methods, PayPal will hold YOU monetarily & legally responsible! Also, no place do they openly tell potential members that their money is 100% at risk. That PayPal can, will, and has in the past, completely cleaned out customers' accounts, (including your checking or savings account) with no appeals process available. Instead they bury in the fine print of 37 pages of their "Terms of Service" (ToS) where they disclose to you that PayPal can close your account for any reason what-so-ever, or no reason, and then you have to wait 180 days to get your money. Think that'll never happen? Think again. That's what everyone thinks till it happens to them.

[jjjnettie]

I've had no problems with Paypal either.

[torana68]

that doesnt help the guy though... and that live link set my anti virus off :(
(oops refering to the pay pal sucks thing)

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Nope. I entered direct from their website. They already had all my original details on file.
Called them in Nebraska.
Unless there's a sham outfit with the same phone number as on their website and on Google, its them I talked to.
Patently refused to refund to my bank. If you don't believe me try transferring $1001 into your paypal account. If you joined before Dec 13 2007, you SHOULD be OK. If not, you'll likely wind up with your hard-earned sitting in their account for who knows how long.
I'm not the only one with this hassle: Enter "Paypal+Frozen Accounts" into Google.
They've resolved disputes for me too. At that level they're fine. But at a corporate level, they've chosen to apply the law, not as written, but as it suits them. Today, March 31 was the FINAL day for compliance with the AML/CTF regulations, they could have asked me when I joined or anytime in the past year for extra ID, but waited until the 11th hour and then froze my account. They further claim they cannot refund my $$ to the bank, which is pure nonsense.
Also they have some discretion, in that, if there are no suspicious purchases (just telescope and camera stuff in my case) they can let you trade happy as until they receive your info.
If you're happy with Paypal, fine. But this is a real issue and a real concern. I was due to pay Mr. Gooley for my TRex today. I promised him I would and now I have to go cap in hand with this excuse.

[rogerg]

Fair enough, I hope you sort your issue out one way or another.

A further word of caution - there are many stories of scammers who set up fake offices with fake phone numbers, so there is a chance you were not talking to Pay-Pal, but sounds like you have a clue, so you probably had it right.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

I'm (notionally, theoretically, sort) in charge of my company's Internet Security for SE Asia, so I'd BETTER have a clue! :lol:
Actually, I think I'm just the "Blame Point".

[DavidU]

:lol:

[supernova1965]

Another vote for Pay Pal there is no way I would give out my credit card to everyone I want to deal with online and I have found them to be very reliable and trustworthy :thumbsup:

[MuntiNZ]

When ya read the storys the trouble is that every one always says "Ah paypal is great i never have probs!!" then they have a problem with paypal and are screwed coz when things go wrong they go totally wrong.
ya never see "I had a problem with paypal but we sorted it ok now they are great again".
Its always " I loved paypal they were great then they screwed me over totally and now I hate them coz they took all my cash!"
So beware.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Thanks Daz!! My point exactly.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Purchases by CC are pretty well protected. I notice that none of the "I love Paypal" posters have claimed to have succesfully deposited, and had access to, $1000+ in their account tonight:).
I mean, if there was no issue, you'd just claim it back right?

[Jules76]

Wow, got to love the conflict of interest on that website. They make it sound like they are an advocacy group trying to protect you from the evil that is Paypal, but their real motive is to sign you up to their "alternatives". Note how they say "alternatives", like they are trying to show no bias and give you options, yet there is only ONE, some "National Merchant Bancard" of which I've heard some mixed stories about.

I think the site should really be called: http://www.paypalsucks-scam.com

Sorry but I don't trust the word of some website with obvious ulterior motives for bagging Paypal.

[TrevorW]

Never used PayPal have never had the need and in the last 20 years I've made hundreds of purchases from US and UK companies with my credit card direct without issue so I can't comment either way

[bmitchell82]

I use pay pal myself, though i don't sit there and give them my money. criky if you want to give your money to a 3rd person go for it, other wise use a DEBIT CREDIT CARD. move the money you need to give the person pay with that, leave nothing else in the account. easy as and that is why i never have problems with online purchases.! Use your Money the way You want to...

there are very few company's around the world that will not accept a VISA or Master card Credit card.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

I don't have any ulterior motives for slagging paypal Jules. I care not one wit whether you use Paypal or BPay or gold doubloons. Paypal sell themselves as a reputable company where your money is safe. Nowhere in their sales spiel do they say: "We can take your money at any time for any reason and do with it what we please".
If I'd known about their scam, I'd have used my CC instead.
"Money where your mouth is" my son! Try depositing $1000+ into your Paypal account for a non-US transaction. Providing you registered after 13/12/07, I'll pay $50.00 to anyone who does it with no hassle!!!!!!

[mozzie]

ive never had a prob with paypal and on occasions that i was using cash money id get the sellers details and go to the bank and deposit it into there account!!!!

[GrahamL]

I havn't had a problem with them but also try to use alternitives when possible ..the money skimmed on converting currancies sure goes into somones pocket .

There are some rather unpleasant stories out there .. Surely they all can't be competitors trying to drum up buisness.

http://dan.tobias.name/thenet/paypal/

[rat156]

No, actually you do have a motive for slagging them.

You didn't read their terms and conditions and they have frozen your account for some reason, now you are whinging about not having read their terms and conditions.

Do you really think that a company as big as Paypal (and Ebay, as they are the same company) really want your $1k? What they want is for you and everyone else to have a great time using Paypal so they can rip you off on the fees, just like any other bank.

Why were you depositing money into your Paypal account? I've used it hundreds of times (for significantly larger sums of money than $1k (but don't tell customs that) and never deposited money into the account. I have a credit card that I like to use, but also have my Bank account linked. I don't see the reason to drop large amounts of cash into my account.

For that reason I won't be responding to your challenge, as I see it as pointless.

Cheers
Stuart

[cfranks]

The main reason I use PayPal is they charge my credit card in $Aus whereas Westpac, getting a charge in $US add a 3.5% fee to convert it. I too have never had a problem with PP.
Charles

[Omaroo]

Peter - why are you calling them in Nebraska? You're an Australian PayPal customer, I would have thought, http://www.paypal.com.au/au and as such they operate in this country under our laws.

Just call them on 02 82239500 or if you have a business account with them 1800 073263

[Jules76]

A. I wasn't replying/directing it to you.
B. Re-read what I said:



:thumbsup:

[MuntiNZ]

Hehe hehe this is always how it gos!
"Paypal are great they have always been great for me and I dont get why some people hate paypal!"
Then 'What?? Paypal have frozen my account or my money has gone and paypal said tough poo to you!!!"
"Paypal is bad!!!"
:lol::rofl:

And mate on that paypalsux site they said lots of times that you should use cash, check money order etc to pay people if ya can and not to only use there own service!!

[White Rabbit]

I wont pay for anything off ebay if they dont have a Paypal option.

I've never had a problem with them.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Rightfully complaining about a company freezing your assets with no warning is hardly whinging.

Hands up if you've all read every paragraph of Paypal's TOS.

I paid for my TSA 120 in February($4100) with paypal - no problem.
The problem is: According to paypal as of 31/03/2010 new anti-money laundering laws came into effect. They did not. March 31st was the final day for compliance with EXISTING laws regarding identification.
I transferred the money 5 days before hand and not word one was said about needing more ID before 31/3. They just chose to freeze the account, THEN tell me.
You daft-as :Pif you think any company doesn't want to hold your money, however small the amount, to their benefit. Hundreds or thousands of small amounts make a great-big amount on which they can earn interest.

[AdrianF]

I paid for my North Group scope using paypal without any problems at all that was $1200 plus. I have used paypal many times with no hassle to either pay out or receive funds.

Adrian