Fun with Paypal

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by markshan, Feb 4, 2020.

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  1. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I got an email with the following title...

    We noticed an issue with your account

    It said in part...

    On February 02, 2020, you sent a payment (****6733) for the
    amount of $25 for, "Ahmad and Wes." Please provide the following
    information:

    • The date of birth for Ahmad.


    It seems they think I am involved in human trafficking as when I went to my account I found the following notice there...

    Your account access is temporarily limited
    You may be buying or selling goods or services that are regulated or prohibited by the U.S. government.
    We would like to learn more about your business and/or some of your recent transactions.


    I sent the following response...

    Ahmad is Ahmad Jamal. According to Wikipedia, Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For five decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. This would make him 89 years old if my math is correct. BTW, "Wes" is Wes Montgomery. Please let me know if you also require his Wikipedia information.

    Seems kind of Orwellian, doesn't it?
     
    Goldy, cwitt1980, tmtomh and 4 others like this.
  2. Bradd

    Bradd Now’s The Time

    Location:
    Chester, NJ
    Something like that happened to me. I also collect military miniatures and I sent a payment to a friend for some Sudanese figures and marked it “For the Sudanese”. He had to explain to PayPal what it meant. Since then, I don’t add notes to payments, other than thank you and the like.
     
    tmtomh and markshan like this.
  3. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I was rather proud of the line "Please let me know if you also require his Wikipedia information." Seemed to strike just the right balance of smarm and factuality.
     
    no.nine, melstapler, Simon A and 3 others like this.
  4. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    It seems my explanation was adequate for them as my account is functional again, at least for the moment. You'd think they would have sent me some sort of note about it though, something like "We are sorry we were such doofuses, we'd like to say it won't happen again but of course we can't".
     
    tmtomh, Dave, Strat-Mangler and 2 others like this.
  5. jhw59

    jhw59 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rehoboth Beach DE.
    Paypal restricted me when I paid our cleaner which was my usual method. I had to send them a picture of my driver's license to get it restored. Absolutely baffling to me.
     
    tmtomh and markshan like this.
  6. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Reminded me of this. Sounds like it's right up your alley. A bit tough to read but definitely worth it.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    ^^^ All I needed to see is that the person in question was an accountant.
    The rest explains itself.
     
  8. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I need some advice.

    I saw some items on a selling app from a seller overseas, about a $150 package. The seller was willing to sell to me, although they said they'd prefer if I just pay them directly through PayPal G&S in order to save on fees. A few hours later, the seller messages me, saying their account was locked due to "limits" and "suspicious activity" - whatever that means. I figured I was still covered due to Goods & Services being used.

    The seller told me that they sent over a refund but for some reason the funds were taken out of their bank account balance rather than their PayPal balance, which seemed strange to me, but again, I didn't think too much about it because I believed I was covered by Goods & Services. The seller said, at their bank's advice, to remove their bank from their PayPal to stop unauthorized payment methods. Again, weird, but again, I assumed I was covered by G&S.

    The seller said they would ship the package if the refund could not be completed. The refund showed as pending for the estimated 5 days, and this morning I got 3 emails from PayPal informing me that my refund couldn't be completed. I messaged the seller, who has been pretty responsive, incredibly friendly and apologetic throughout this whole process, and I have not heard back yet.

    One email I got states that the refund is taking "longer than expected" and another one includes the transaction IDs and sender's information, followed by "For more information on this refund, please contact the sender".

    "Please contact the sender"?! That's PayPal's big advice? I'm trying to remain calm, but at this point I am frustrated. PayPal makes such a big deal about being covered in the event of a G&S transaction going wrong, but it seems to me like they have no solution here.

    I tried calling the customer service center and after attempting to get a live agent I was told their offices are closed, despite calling 30 minutes after they were stated to open.

    What are my options here? Has anybody dealt with anything like this before? I've been using PayPal for about a decade and have never come across anything like this before.
     
  9. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    I've had refunds take two weeks.
     
  10. Chee

    Chee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver
    Try to find a link to put money from your bank account you put money into from Paypal back into your Paypal account.
     
  11. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    Your seller needs to change his/her settings on Paypal's site to accommodate the incoming and outgoing payments to/from their Paypal balance. If they had a credit card on Paypal they can completely remove their bank as a functioning financial institution, but because they don't Paypal will fault to their bank account which does take time. They sound like a fairly inexperienced seller not to know this. Be patient, you're covered with Paypal's 180 day for creating a never received or not as described, refund.
     
  12. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    What was the source of the funding? If you paid with your credit card through Paypal you can charge it back through them. Paypal wants the money they gave the seller back from him before they pass it on to you, and he's cut off paying them back by unlinking his bank account. That makes them unhappy but it's not your problem at the end of the day. They want to drag their feet before paying but as long as your payment was Goods and Services which triggers Paypal protection you will eventually get it back one way or another. I'd wait it out a bit more.
     
  13. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    But if I got the emails saying that the refund didn't complete does that mean they'll automatically try again? Because it does look like they asked the seller to send the refund again. I reached out and the seller said they'd send the package, but I asked them to tell me when they planned on shipping.

    The only thing that worries me is one of the emails said the seller needs to send the refund again. If I don't get the package or my refund and I do file a claim, they can still get me the funds back even though the seller has removed their bank account?

    So I can file a claim if I don't get either? I just wasn't sure where the refund would come from if their bank account is no longer linked. I'm fine with waiting it out more as long as I'm guaranteed the package or my money back.
     
  14. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    @rjh_54 Don't kid yourself. Paypal can find the sellers bank account in their records and force him/her to pay what they owe. Just because it's been removed as a source Paypal still knows what financial institution they use having it in their records. It's a pain in the butt, but Paypal can get it done if necessary. Paypal isn't a newborn in the types of scams dept.
     
  15. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    Thanks, that makes me feel much better. I think the poor wording in PayPal's initial email just threw me off a bit. The seller is still friendly and apologetic, and claims they will ship within the next few days. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt regarding the refund mix-up but if they don't ship by next Friday I'm going to file a claim. The refund couldn't be completed so it's not like they don't have access to the money I sent them, despite what they may think.
     
    Dave likes this.
  16. markshan

    markshan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    If they are having issues with PP it's not at all unlikely that they wouldn't have access. I've lost access for no good reason more than once.
     
  17. Vaughan

    Vaughan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Essex, UK
    Not that it helps, but I recently had Paypal troubles. I send money abroad monthly, and it's always worked okay. Suddenly I got a message saying I'd hit some kind of limit, and the account was frozen for money transfers. They wanted a few kinds of paperwork and blah blah blah. So yeah, PP can blow up every now and again.........
     
  18. rjh_54

    rjh_54 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    CT, USA
    I probably should've worded that better - I meant that it's not like they won't eventually have access to the money since it's gone from my account and they are experiencing an issue on their end.
     
  19. Quakerism

    Quakerism Lean into what frightens you.

    Location:
    Rural Pennsylvania
    I’ve tried everything with no success so I figured , what the hey, I might as well ask.

    Recently my cell phone (which is linked to my PayPal account) quit working. I live sort of a simple life and wasn’t really carrying my phone with me much of the time anyway so I just cancelled the service and went on with my life.

    No problem, up until the day I tried to log into my PayPal account and it prompted me to have a six digit security number texted to my old cell phone. I tried to add a cellphone onto my provider and asked for my old number back. Sorry, it’s been more than 30 days and you can’t get that number back.

    I tried PayPal chat.....useless. I tried faxing a letter requesting closing of the account but that fax number doesn’t answer. I tried calling the customer service number. I just get looped around until an automated system notifies me they can’t help and hangs up.

    Anyone have a physical address for these guys where I can send a registered letter? Anybody actually solve an issue with them recently. Seems like the COVID version of PayPal is not user friendly.
     
    Archguy and andrewskyDE like this.
  20. chazz101s

    chazz101s Forum Resident

    @ Quakerism,

    Yes, PayPal chat has proved to be a worthless time sink for me, more than once, recently. Replies are garbage cut&paste done by folks who don't seem to understand English.

    What phone # did you use?

    I had great luck recently with a refund for which PP took 3% because the refunder fouled things up. He stonewalled any fixing of the problem.

    So I called this number: (888) 221-1161

    Talked to a rep in Arizona who understood (and believed) me and fixed the problem quickly.
     
  21. Quakerism

    Quakerism Lean into what frightens you.

    Location:
    Rural Pennsylvania
    The above phone # you provided is indeed the one I have called ....and called.....and called. It is now useless if you need the assistance of a human. I actually did talk to a representative of the bank that services the PayPal credit card. She advised that the customer service number has been unmonitored by humans for a good while due to COVID. But she claimed that her bank was complaining to PayPal and they promised they were starting up real live customer service reps again.

    “We can’t support your inquiry over the phone at this time.....”
     
  22. chazz101s

    chazz101s Forum Resident

    Sorry to hear that.

    I used it a month ago and got the man in Arizona.

    I probably dialed the toll-free, got the damnable voice tree, and began punching zero or the pound sign over and over. Either that, or I just started saying, "Service rep," over and over.

    One of those things, I'm supposing, got me a man in Arizona who quickly refunded me the 3% that PP took, by mistake or by crook, on a PP refund.

    Worth another try?
     
    Quakerism likes this.
  23. Classic Car Guy

    Classic Car Guy - Touch the Face of God -

    Location:
    Northwest, USA
    I had a battle with the some cable company on resolving an account that's open under my name.
    On top of a police report and public notarized document, told them I will never give them a copy of my government issue id.
    They said okay don't give us your photo and ID number. Just an id so I can tell my boss I got all the requirement I need to close the case.
    I put Frampton's picture back in the 70's. :faint:
     
    Quakerism likes this.
  24. Quakerism

    Quakerism Lean into what frightens you.

    Location:
    Rural Pennsylvania
    Thank you for trying to help. I’ve tried multiple times per day, same result. If you want some cheap entertainment.....give that phone number a try again. I’d like to know if you get through.
     
  25. torquerulesok

    torquerulesok Forum Resident

    Location:
    County Down
    Absolutely brilliant!

    “The officer who clocked me in 1974[…] must have held his laser gun upside down […] so rather than at 911kph I was clocked at 116kph.”

    :shtiphat:

    I’d love to visit NZ but I don’t think i could deal with the driving/speed limits...
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
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