Warning about using PayPal
Thread poster: Li Yang
Li Yang
Li Yang  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:49
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
Jun 19, 2018

Warning about PayPal. I had a very hard time getting my payment through PayPal this week. They kept my money pending for 2 weeks, and gave me all kinds of hurdles to jump to get the payment a client sent me. I called them 4 times, and each time the gave me a different answer. After I searched online, apparently I am not the only one that they played this game on. In same cases they just suspend your account and keep the money. Be careful when you use PayPal.

Ava L. Wells-Quantrell (X)
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:49
Member (2008)
Italian to English
See here ! Jun 19, 2018

http://www.paypalwarning.com

Li Yang
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:49
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No PayPal for me, thank you! Jun 20, 2018

I’ve never used PayPal in my professional life. I only accept bank transfers from my customers (no PayPal or similar payment methods, no cheques, no credit cards…).

Li Yang
 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 00:49
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Not necessarily fault of Paypal Jun 21, 2018

I have never had problems with Paypal. I believe it depends on how trustworthy the sender of the money is from the perspective of the bank. There is much money laundering going on, and of course they have to make sure the money is really forthcoming.

Angie Garbarino
Matthias Brombach
Thomas Pfann
Robert Forstag
P.L.F. Persio
Lian Pang
Jorge Payan
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:49
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Li Jun 21, 2018

Li Yang wrote:
I had a very hard time getting my payment through PayPal this week.


PayPal sometimes identifies something suspicious in an account and then requires additional information or an additional wait. A bank would have done the same thing. For how long have you been using PayPal? Sometimes PayPal starts you off on an account type that requires less information, and then raises your profile to something more substantial after you've received a certain amount of money. Is that what had happened here?

They kept my money pending for 2 weeks...


Was it an e-cheque? E-cheques take time to clear (2 weeks is normal).

..., and gave me all kinds of hurdles to jump to get the payment a client sent me.


Can you tell us about these hurdles?

I called them 4 times, and each time the gave me a different answer.


Did you speak to the same person each time, or to four different people?

In same cases they just suspend your account and keep the money.


That is true -- I've heard similar reports, but it usually relates to users breaking the rules.


P.L.F. Persio
 
Li Yang
Li Yang  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:49
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
PayPal nightmare Jun 21, 2018

I would understand that PayPal has its policy and procedure to follow if they just had told me. But no, they lied to me every time I called until I told them that I was recording the conversation.
When I called the first time, they said I had to confirm my bank account. The second time, they said I had to wait for 7 days from the day I called, not the day the payment had arrived, in case my client was not satisfied with my service. The third time, after 7 days, they said the money would a
... See more
I would understand that PayPal has its policy and procedure to follow if they just had told me. But no, they lied to me every time I called until I told them that I was recording the conversation.
When I called the first time, they said I had to confirm my bank account. The second time, they said I had to wait for 7 days from the day I called, not the day the payment had arrived, in case my client was not satisfied with my service. The third time, after 7 days, they said the money would arrive that day before 11:59pm my local time and please be patient. The fourth time I called late that night when the money was still not available, they said I had to contact my client and ask her to confirm that she was satisfied with my service.
I hate to bother my client after my service was done and they paid me, but this time I had to. I emailed my client, and she replied and said : "To PayPal?? Yes, absolutely I will do it now, but this shouldn’t have happened. We never had to confirm anyone’s capabilities or service for the person to get paid." Then after 11 days of constant checking, waiting and calling, I got my payment.
I've used PayPal for 6 months. Never had had problem with smaller amounts. This time, it was about 700USD, and they started this game. And just an FYI, I am in the U.S. I just canceled my PayPal account.
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Tom in London
 
Lian Pang
Lian Pang  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:49
Member (2018)
English to Chinese
+ ...
not sure Jun 23, 2018

What exactly is the basis for them to hold your payment ?

I've been using paypal for 2-3 years, the only time I had to verify my bank and address was when I was near the 2,500 euro calendar year limit and it has something to do with anti-money-laundering laws in EU. I called in once and they resolved it quickly for me.


Angie Garbarino
 
Li Yang
Li Yang  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:49
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I am confused too. Jun 23, 2018

I still don't know why PayPal held my money for 2 weeks. They gave me different answers every time I called. I cancelled my account, and stopped caring.

For those who have had good experience with PayPal, good for you. It is good to hear some positive experience after my negative one.


 
Daniel Frisano
Daniel Frisano  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 23:49
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
@Li Jun 24, 2018

Is your account new? I remember similar issues when I opened mine. Since then it has been running smoothly for years.

Their customer "support" seems to be totally clueless though. Once I asked a simple question (withdrawing USD funds into a USD bank account without converting to EUR) and none of them seemed to even understand the question, let alone solving it.


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 23:49
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Personally, I would not have taken it so personally Jun 24, 2018

Li Yang wrote:
I still don't know why PayPal held my money for 2 weeks.


Well, fortunately it was only two weeks. I don't think we'll ever know the real reason, but fortunately things just kind of sort themselves out after a while, right? Also, one should spread one's income stream so that one is not in dire straits if one's PayPal access gets cut off for two or three weeks.

They gave me different answers every time I called.


From your description it seems to me that you were a victim of classic callcenterism. It is rare to get the same answer each time when calling a call centre four times in a row. Odds are that only one (or two) of the answers you were given, were actually correct, and in the other cases, the call centre agents gave best guesses (because not being helpful is a greater sin in call centre land than giving a wrong answer). This is to be expected from call centres -- there is only a 50% chance you'll get the right answer if you call any call centre. It's no reason to cancel one's subscription, in my opinion. Think of all the good stuff you'll be missing out on.


[Edited at 2018-06-24 20:10 GMT]


Tania Saintive
 
mariealpilles
mariealpilles  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 23:49
Member (2014)
English to French
+ ...
warning against using paypal Jun 25, 2018

It happens all the time with them because they are crooks. To get that sorted out you have to go to the company's regulating authorities of your country and when you dig a little bit further you do find out that they do taht constantly. I now simply refuse to get any payment through them. There are bank transfers and they are much much safer. Within the SEPA zone that costs practically nothing and the sender has to assume costs while with PayPal, you have to give up some of the money you earned,... See more
It happens all the time with them because they are crooks. To get that sorted out you have to go to the company's regulating authorities of your country and when you dig a little bit further you do find out that they do taht constantly. I now simply refuse to get any payment through them. There are bank transfers and they are much much safer. Within the SEPA zone that costs practically nothing and the sender has to assume costs while with PayPal, you have to give up some of the money you earned, which is not fair.Collapse


 


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Warning about using PayPal







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