Paypal Locked My Account Too

By Michael Imler

I have been an upstanding Paypal account holder for more than 4 years and haven't had a complaint in over a year {out of more than 100 transactions in that time} and the one a year ago wasn't legitimate.

I have also been a holder of an ebay auction account for more than 5 years and I have a current feedback rating of 757 and haven't had a negative on more than a year. that's my credible background.

Recently, {about 3 weeks ago} two friends of mine made note that two different game systems {Nintendo Ds and Playstation 2 slim version} were selling at much higher prices on ebay than the items could be purchased for in the store. Target, Wal-Mart and other stores were selling them at the suggested retail price of $149.99 + tax. These two systems were selling for an average of over $200 apiece on ebay plus shipping. The reason for the high price was due to a shortage across the country and a high demand for them only a few weeks before Christmas.

So we decided to see if we could acquire some of these items and resell them to make a few extra dollars. Well, we made a deal that if my friends purchased the items I would list them and ship them due to my high ebay rating helping to make me a credible seller. So my friends managed to scrape togther a total of 38 systems after driving to every Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy within 100 miles.

I listed about 6 to 10 a day and they were selling pretty well with a 1 day listing and a gaurentee to have them delivered before Christmas. As the items were paid for I was transferring the money from my Paypal account to my regular bank and I was going to withdraw it the traditional way to split it up. I made good on my shipping promise as well and I was shipping every item within 24 hours of payment and in most cases the same day.

I insured the packages and was going to put a delivery confirmation on each one also but the post office told me it wasn't necessary since I was insuring the items for more than $50 {$150-230} because they said they could track it with the number on the insurance slip. I was fine with this and everything seemed to be going smoothly. I had sold 32 of the systems as well as several other items of my own just to make some extra Christmas cash. Then on Sunday Dec. 19, 2004 Paypal put what they called a "Limited Access" on my account due to what they termed to be "Suspicious Activity" and stopped all transactions of money and even reversed some of my withdrawals.

I was requested to send them a good many items via fax { Copy of my Driver's License, My Social Security Card, Copies of proof of shipping, my business account number, proof of inventory for items being sold {ae the game systems} and an expanded use number via a credit card billing they did to my card. I did all of these things and I called them 6 times to try to get to the bottom of this.

Every time I was on hold between 20- 65 minutes before talking to someone. The first three times I was informed to just send in the required information and a review team would make a determination in 3-4 days. They could not give me an answer as to why all of this was going on other than "an increase in activity in my account". I was unsatisfied with that answer and on the 4th and 5th call I requested to speak to a supervisor. Both times I was put on hold for 20-30 minutes and then given a voicemail recording to leave a message. I did on both occasions requesting a return call but I recieved none.

The 6th time I called and told the person I wanted to speak with a supervisor and not get a voicemail. An hour {I am not exagerrating} later I spoke with someone that informed me that there had been a great deal of fraudulent selling of these systems lately on ebay and they were holding my account as a "precautionary measure" to protect themselves as well as my buyers.

I then informed them that I had sent ample proof of my mailing of these items and told them they were welcome to contact any of my buyers to see if they got their item as well. They informed me that I had to have a delivery confirmation tracking number otherwise they could hold my money up to 180 days "just in case" anyone filed a complaint. They had at this point $3471 + held up in their system that I could not access. I told them that I did not see how this could be legal and she read me the user agreement which has a very vague statement in it which according to them gives them the right to do this without any reason. I was stunned.

I went through a very long and drawn out process of proving the items were shipped and the woman told me she would not release the account at this time but they would review it and I should hear something in a few days. She said they would email the buyers to get feedback on whether or not they received the items. I said that was fine.

I waited two days and today Dec. 22, 2004 I finally got an email that stated "Paypal has decided to discontinue doing business with you. Your account will be closed and the funds you have available can be disbursed by one of two means." I was given the choice of either refunding the money to my buyers or waiting the 180 days and they would send me a check. All of this was done to me when I had done nothing illegal and Paypal nor Ebay had received no complaints from anyone. Just like that I was stuck with a loss off the $3471 in the account they are holding + the fees the charged me to take that money + the ebay listing fees + the shipping fees. My total loss was over $4000.

It is now December 22, 2004 and I am searching for help with this problem. How can they do this without any reason. As stated, I have done absolutely nothing illegal and I have all of the evidence to prove it. I even sent ebay a request to look into this but they probably aren't going to help since they own Paypal. I told ebay they could contact every buyer I've had for the past year to see if they were satisfied.

Anyone that can advise me please do so because this is completely unfair and I am sickend by this entire thing only days before Christmas. My friends and I can hardly afford this kind of loss. Most all of the items purchased were purchased via credit card with the intent to pay them off as soon as payment was received. Now we are all left wondering what to do.Anyone that has a classaction lawsuit going against them please contact me at buzmike@yahoo.com

Michael
Coloma, Michigan
U.S.A.