I have a similar story. I was selling jewelry online and have 100% feedback with no negatives or neutrals.
I don't sell very often, and I withdrew $2,500 of my sales and left some money in the account. On November 12 I received an email from PayPal stating that my account had been limited and that I would need to furnish more information. I did this. Next they asked me to supply my original invoices.
Here is where it gets unpleasant: I bought the items for cash from a trader who is simply not in the habit of giving me invoices. (As a side note, I notice he is quite the disorganized type who spends an inordinate amount of time trying to find things.) I called a representative and explained my situation. At the crux of it, she said, "Sure you have an invoice." Um, yeah.
So I reconstructed a list of the items I purchased with the vendor's details and sent a letter to PayPal, which by this point had trapped $2,800 of my money in the account. I realized that this was going to be a lengthy process, so I refunded some customers and briefly informed them of the situation I was experiencing with PayPal. But even after that, I still had a net $2,052.81 trapped with PayPal for items I had shipped, with confirmation within 24 hours of receiving the money.
PayPal said the reason it had limited the account is that several buyers complained of suspicious activity on my account. I never received such complaints from anyone, and without adequate information from PayPal, I think they are not telling the truth.
I have chased several phone calls with them and have not gotten any further. All the operators on the phone can refer to is that somewhere deeply hidden in their terms and conditions, apparently, I run the risk of them holding my money for whatever reason they deem appropriate.
I cannot get past this part with PayPal, and I suspect that the money will not be returned to me. (I have heard stories of people who have had money held by PayPal for over three years.) Seeing as I live in San Jose, CA, and PayPal is in the same jurisdiction, I am taking them to court. I'm not sure how I will fare, but the process server says I have a fighting chance of getting them to settle the net funds owed. Apparently they are skittish about having things go to court.
If there are any other individuals who may be experiencing the same problem, we need to get together and take our cases to the same court and have the hearing booked for the same date (this is quite plausible). I would like to hear from other individuals who have experienced the same treatment from PayPal. I think we can take this further and make an example of their cheating behavior.
Thanks for reading this. I look forward to your responses.
0 comments