PayPal
Ripoff Why cant I get my gift certificate money back? Account closed for fraud, now I have lost money, not my fault

It all started about 3 months ago, right after christmas.

I got a fraudulent looking email from PayPal. I reported it like I was supposed to to spoof@paypal.com. They limited my account. After 3 weeks of jumping through hoops, I got it back to normal status. Two weeks later I got another fraudulent email. I again reported it, and again they limited my account.

After 2 more weeks of hoop jumping, I again got it fixed. The next week I got another fraudulent email. I contacted paypal by email and asked them about my security concerns. I was at that point prompted to close the account and open another one. So I did.

Today I went to purchase a CD and I went to use my gift certificate that I had purchased under the old account and it would not let me process the payment. I called paypal at the number given to me in the 'contact us' section. Needless to say It was not toll free (thank goodness for the free nite time minutes on my cell phone). I was on hold for a good 35 minutes when this doll of a lady came on and told me that since I closed the other account, everything associated with that account terminated when I closed it, thus loosing the substantial balance left on my gift certificate. I asked the nice lady since it was closed bacause of fraud it there would be an exception. She said she would fill out a service request and I should know within 24 by email the decission.

My question is is this LEGAL? Can a company just keep your money because you close an account. You would think if there was a credit on the account when you closed it, they would issue a refund. I know it does say in the contract that all funds would be forfieted, but come on. I was prompted to close the account and reopen. I even reopened it with the same exact information as I just closed it. Anyone else have this problem or suggestions on how to handle it from here? I will write back by the end of the week and let everyone know how the 'service request' turned out.

Company: PayPal
Country: USA
Site: www.paypal.com

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