Here is a rant and a warning to everyone that uses paypal:
Last week I received an email saying my paypal account is being limited? So I went to their site to find out what that means and it seemed like they were shutting me down so I called them to find out why. After 5 minutes of working through the computer operator and waiting I was finally able to talk with a kid that wasn’t very helpful. All he kept saying was that I violated paypals security protocol ?? I tried for 10 minutes asking the same question in many different ways hoping to get to the bottom of this issue and hoping that someone didn’t hijack my account like my credit card was hijacked twice in 2 months recently. He did assure me that my accounts that were linked to paypal were safe. He said that I could appeal and I would get an email about it in 24 hours. The next day I received an email “appeal denied” . I got back on the phone with the computer operator and after entering my info I was directed to a phone line that was purposely disconnected, and they told me so. I ended up there twice. The third time I entered weird numbers and I was able to talk with a woman that was much more helpful than the kid the day before. The short of it is my account is linked to someone that did someething to violate their policies. She assured me that it was not a hijacking of my account but someone in my household that is linked to me via a address, bank account, phone number or IP address. I explained how I have been a good customer for years and have paid them lots of money in fees and how I use paypal for business on Ebay. Didn’t matter. She couldn’t tell me what the violater did to get me banned for more or less life just that it was a security violation. She did point out there are other ways to conduct business on Ebay but Paypal is so linked in with ebay like most people I have no idea what they are.
Imagine having roommates and you all use the same computer with the same IP you are all banned. Imagine your kid doing something wrong and because he lives under your roof and you have the same phone number you are banned and booted. WATCH OUT!!
My only recourse, no time frame was given, is to submit a letter to the overlords of paypal and explain that I distanced myself from the offender by they having moved or I physically move and then they will reconsider the BAN. I’m not allowed to open a new account.
If I didn’t do so much on Ebay I would say screw em and move on but… at the very least it would be nice to know what the heck happened that was so grievous to get booted off. It’s not like one of us used paypal to donate to the Bin Laden memorial fund.
The household is my wife and I and we have no idea what she or I did, we have seperate accounts, different computers so they linked us with address and phone number.
PAYPAL is lousy and doesn’t give a toot BEWARE
Todd
My account got limited and I am the only one in the house that used it. Shortly afterwards, the account got hijacked and the email and password was changed. I stopped using Paypal.
Todd Haskins said:It's been like that for many, many years.
........... PAYPAL is lousy and doesn't give a toot BEWARE Todd
BTW you get the “limited account” emails even if you haven’t had an account for many years (like me). Anything that relates to PayPal goes straight to SPAM, end of story. Gets emptied once a day together with the other crap regarding lottery wins, millions to be transferred and whatever else has been marked accordingly.
sorry to hear that Todd. I just went through the same type of thing. Email got “HI Jacked”, malware sent out computer killing virus to all wife/I contact list. I have noticed that on Ebay many auctions require payment with “paypal only”. Makes me wonder if I didn’t comply would I get a dead fish at my doorstep? Maybe time for Paypal to get some widespread competion.
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:Todd Haskins said:It's been like that for many, many years.
........... PAYPAL is lousy and doesn't give a toot BEWARE ToddBTW you get the “limited account” emails even if you haven’t had an account for many years (like me). Anything that relates to PayPal goes straight to SPAM, end of story. Gets emptied once a day together with the other crap regarding lottery wins, millions to be transferred and whatever else has been marked accordingly.
And don’t forget that there are hundreds of fake paypal notice emails going around, too. If you EVER get an email from Paypal or eBay, DONT click on any links in the email. 95% of the time it’s a scam.
todd whittier said:I like the one about the dead fish, you know, you could return that to sender. :D
Makes me wonder if I didn't comply would I get a dead fish at my doorstep? Maybe time for Paypal to get some widespread competion.
Bought something from an eBay merchant, told him “I choose the means of payment”. Not a problem. apparently getting a sale trumps the eBay crap if the seller has some gumption. 
If not, that sales transaction is off, have them sue me!
straight to the recycle bin. If it was a legit notice, I know where to find it, anything else that comes on my regular email accounts is spam-o-matic
The last one I got supposedly from PayPal, I sent to their spoof@… and got an email back from them that 'Yup it’s real." There is a phone number on the PayPal sight if you look long enough.
I peruse Ebay fairly regularly, and am seeing more and more ‘I do not accept PayPal’ sellers. Most are looking to do straight credit card transactions, which has it’s own set of risks. I just may go back to asking if they will accept a U.S. Postal Money Order. If, I don’t need their stuff.
FWIW
Bob C.
Todd,
I don’t even have, nor ever had a payPal acount and I get e-mails regularly saying my account has been “limited”.
You were prolly spammed.
The “Your account has been limited” E Mails I regularly receive come from an address with .fr at the end of it. I assume this is from France.
They usually turn up just a little while after a Pay Pal transaction takes place. I just ignore them.
Bob Cope said:
I just may go back to asking if they will accept a U.S. Postal Money Order. If, I don't need their stuff.FWIW
Bob C.
Ah, I can remember buying money orders! Those were the fun days of eBay back in the 1990s to about 2001 or so. Now it is too much like Amazon, and no longer fun.
I remember reading here recently how someone had received a spam email claiming to be from paypal and limits etc… so that is why I went directly to their website and didn’t click on the supplied link just in case and then I called them to actually talk with someone and get to the bottom of it. I still think it is a lousy reason to drop me and pretty lame. Maybe they wern’t making enough on me so “see ya” kinda like a credit card I had, no fee for 15 years, a good customer and they decide ot charge me $60 bucks a year for the privelege of doing business with them. No thanks.
So I wonder if I bid on something and win if the seller will accept a money order. Depends on the seller I suppose. Currently I owe ebay a few bucks for their fees so I wonder how I will pay them? Maybe I should just buy something and try to pay for it with paypal and see what happens?
Todd,
I just sent the e-mail I received from PayPal on January 13, 2011, regarding Limits and Verification. I DID go onto PayPal website in January using my bookmark, NOT the e-mail link. I saw where they wanted me to link my bank account to them and I said no way! I have used my credit card for PayPal purchases at least a dozen times since January and they haven’t blocked or banned me yet. We’ll see what kind of answer I get about this from spoof@paypal.
PayPal is convenient, but if I need to link my bank account, I just will find another way. PERIOD!
Gary,
I believed that it was PayPal policy for American citizens to base their PayPal accounts on bank accounts rather than credit cards. To open a bank account one needs to have an actual addess. This is why Americans are ‘confirmed’ postal addresses, while the rest of the world who use credit cards for their PayPal have ‘unconfirmed’ addresses. I have had several thousand eBay/PayPal transactions and years later I am still an ‘unconfirmed’ postal address. I am a PayPal premier verified account holder but that means nothing when a seller demands a bidder’s address is ‘confirmed’.
In everyday life there has always been retailers who you do not buy from, for whatever reason.
There is nothing on Ebay that I MUST have or would loose sleep by not buying. Accordingly I do not use Ebay and thus have no need of Paypal. I have seen on-line dealers who ask for payment by Paypal, maybe it suits them but it does not suit me. I find an alternative source or go without. Safer and less stressful. lol
Yesterday I received a genuine notification from PayPal that the investigation into my ‘limitation’ had been successfully carried out, and that I could resume using their services.
I told them to go piss up a rope.
tac
Terry, that is what happens if you get too many Dot Nukes.
How come all the crap happens to you?
The big difference I guess between me and alot of other here is that I have used Ebay to sell alot of items, in that regard having the Paypal account does make transactions much quicker and easier to track. The thing is that if you are selling enough items the trick is to set up a simple seperate bank account thats NOT linked to any other of your daily accounts. My Paypal account is a stand alone account, I have to deposits funds into it by going to the bank and doing so, it has its iown seperate card and access codes. I did that on purpose to avoid any possible hi-jacking of the ebay information. The funds in that account are 99% sales based, which I also use for any Ebay purchases I make so its a closed system. So it IS a bank account but its NOT my regular bank account, might sound like a hastle to some but I’ve found it works out well for me. And Yes, there are some “must have” things I have found on Ebay that I have never seen anywhere else like specific TV show T-shirts ( like the IT Crowd ) that are most conveniently available from ebay sellers
(http://cdn3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/201/060/152/g_Vi5r.jpg)
Guess that being Jewish, half-Irish and a former red-head as well as being left-handed means I’m one of life’s perpetual victims.
Heaven knows, it’s hard…sigh…
tac
tac said:
Guess that being Jewish, half-Irish and a former red-head as well as being left-handed means I'm one of life's perpetual victims.Heaven knows, it’s hard…sigh…
tac
Oy vey, THAT would do it! :lol: :lol: