I had a PayPal account through which I was doing business. My business account was established on 08/16/01. I tried over and over to verify my Social Security number. They claimed the system could not find my number. (Are they kidding?!) Then they requested that I fax them my Social Security card, driver's license, and a recent paystub. I did so, and a week later they froze my account.
I emailed them over and over again, receiving almost exactly the same form email back. No one reads the email that this company receives! There is little or no customer service.
Here is what I wrote to them: "Do you people ever answer your users? (This is a bad business practice on your part.) For my Social Security number verification, I sent you my paystub and a copy of my driver's license in a fax, along with the same letter. I heard nothing, and a few days later my account was restricted from my using it. (Good thing I had time to transfer the funds out of it.) Is paypal.com just a site that collects everyone's 'personal' information? And if so, to what end? I will not be sending any more information in a fax to your company, because what I have sent is sufficient, and I no longer want to deal with PayPal. I also believe that others should know about your restricting accounts for no reason other than someone making a profit."
PayPal replied that, due to phenomenal growth over the past year, it had implemented more stringent security measures that sometimes affect legitimate users, and that it sometimes requires documentation to verify whether a customer is an authorized user of the credit card or bank account associated with the PayPal account. The reply said my account had been restricted due to likely unauthorized activity and would remain restricted until I faxed (402-935-2045, Attention: Account Review - PREV) a copy of my current driver's license, a copy of that email, and copies of my most recent utility bill, credit card statement and bank statement, each including my name, address and account number and matching the information on my PayPal account.
Their reply quoted my earlier message, which said: "I faxed my information in almost a month ago, and now my account is restricted? You may close this account, because I am currently using Propay to handle my transactions with my business. I have heard from many people that you do this to their accounts for no plausible reason, but I never believed it. Now I do, and I believe other people should be aware of this also."
PayPal answered again, saying they understood my hesitancy about faxing my information, that security is their top priority, and that without this information they would be unable to lift the restriction on my account. They said that once they received my documentation, I would receive a notice confirming it and the outcome of my restriction status.
This is the type of service you can expect to receive from this company! I urge everyone not to use PayPal. I did not believe that they would freeze an account for no reason, but they do.
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